secondary

1. INSTITUTO DE FORMACIÓN DOCENTE CONTINUA
LENGUAS VIVAS BARILOCHE (A-052)
Profesorado de Inglés – Opción pedagógica a distancia.
MATERIA: Taller de Práctica Docente
Nombre del alumno: .Nadya Rutherford
Tutor: Aurelia Velazquez
FINAL REFLECTION – SECONDARY PRACTICUM
THINKING BACK
The original aim of this experience was to be able to teach a group of secondary
students and to use all the strategies and methodologies we have been learning
throughout this teaching course.
I feel I learned a lot because I was in contact with real students, who attend a public
secondary school for adults in my city. I believe it was a very beneficial experience
for the learners as I could speak English all the time and, although they were not
used to it, in general they did not have any problems for understanding the tasks.
They are a shy and quiet group. They did not speak any word in English, but
sometimes they did not even speak in Spanish, which made me a bit uncomfortable.
I believe this is due to the fact that they do not attend school regularly so they are not
a united and strongly conformed group. Most of them work a lot or have children so
they cannot go to school every day. It was difficult to teach the whole group the
same lesson because they were not always the same people.
THINKING FORWARD
If I had the opportunity to develop this practice again, I would choose another school.
However, this was the only choice considering the problems this province is having.
Anyway, if I taught this group regularly, I would choose a book or set of copies so
that they have a support when they cannot attend school. Every student should learn
at their own pace, working on the topics they do not understand and moving forward
whenever they are ready for it. Group activities are possible but very hard for this
group and type of school.
Now, I know what it is like to teach secondary students who attend a ´Escuela
Nocturna´ nowadays. I thought it was going to be complicated before this experience
and I confirmed my idea. I wouldn´t like to work in a school like this in the future
because I have the feelings that the students go there to get their degree and not to

2. learn, and the saddest part is that the teachers do not seem to motivate them to
study more or to become better students.
THINKING INWARD
This project was meaningful because I had the opportunity to confirm the theories
and methodologies I have learned during this course of studies. Now I understand
the importance of the Communicative Approach and I could see it is not used in this
school, the students are not used to communicating with each other and I think it
needs to be taught and trained regularly. Apart from that, the teacher does not
I felt anxious the first lesson but a lot less than in the previous levels. I believe having
this experience is essential to get my teaching degree because I must be prepared
to teach all levels.
THINKING OUTWARD
Personally, I think English teachers should speak English all the time in class for the
reason that the learners understand the tasks very well, do not complain or have
problems with the language. After one lesson, I asked the students if they had
understood me and they said yes but not everything. I told them that if they had done
the exercises correctly, they had understood me, but it seemed to me that listening
to only English made them anxious because they are not used to it at all.
I told the teacher, like in the previous levels, that I was surprised about the fact that
the students understood everything I said and I spoke in English the whole class,
hoping that she will think about it and, maybe, start to do it in future lessons.
As regards public schools here in Santa Cruz, the conflict with the government is still
on. Most of the teachers from school were on strike because they were not paid their
whole salary so many students did not attend school only for English. One day there
were only five students in the whole school. I think it is very sad to see the schools
so empty and the students so quiet about this.