PIII - Final Reflection - Zentner
- 1. What Happened At the beginning of this journey, I remember feeling terrified and anxious about the sanitary situation due to Covid-19. When I started the practicum period, I did not know if it would be synchronously or face-to-face. The plans were from the beginning to carry it out in a public school, the same one I had attended as a teenager. Unfortunately, for reasons of time and economy, I could not do it. So, I decided to do it at the institute where I work with one of the courses I teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays: Second Juniors, a group of 8 teenage students between 12 and 14 years old. The educational proposal was divided into two didactic units of six lessons each. The first, called 'In the Past', was carried out during May and July, and the second one in August. At the request of the institute headteacher, the resource that I had to keep throughout the units was the class book (English Plus 2, Oxford Second Edition). I decided to use some of its pages and modify and re-think other ones by using different strategies, resources and materials that would make the experience more dynamic and profitable. Luckily, the health situation in our town was favourable, and we had access to face-to-face classes, so my job was to plan lessons, materials, resources and strategies applicable to them. Feelings and Thoughts In the first class, I remember being very nervous because I did not know how the students would react to a lesson taught only in English, in which they would be expected to interact only using that language. As soon as the class started, I realised that they were relaxed and having a good time since the topic was of interest to them, which made me feel better. The following classes were much more bearable. I entered the classroom with the biggest smiles, and I found the learners super willing to work, interact and learn, so those two months of practice were enjoyable. Positive and Negative Aspects I think the best of the practicum period were the topics chosen to carry out the units. In the first unit, we talked about the past. We were able to talk about various aspects such as characters and relevant moments in history, local and world museums, the history of our town, important events in our lives, and people that we admire. In the second one, we focused on photos and their importance, significant pictures for us, the definition of selfies, their influence on culture and their view as a new art form. The students received every topic with great interest and enthusiasm. They enjoyed most of the proposed activities, including timelines, role-play games, photography competitions, blog posts and online murals. Those new tasks greatly encouraged participation in classes, as well as responsibility for homework. Some shy students started to participate more in writing and orally, which I consider an achievement. However, there are things that I was not very happy about. An example can be the writing lessons in both didactic units. Three students did not do their writings satisfactorily or
- 2. did not want to share them with the rest of the class as they felt that they were not good enough. I would have liked to spend more time with them to help and guide them in the writing process, seek and apply different strategies to help them achieve the objective of the class: writing a text thought, planned, written and corrected by them. The lesson that I also consider could have been better is the fifth one of the second unit. We discussed the definition and reasons for posting selfies, their influence on adolescents and culture, and why they are a new art form. The theme was quite broad, and there were many things to do, discuss, analyse and explore. Perhaps, I could have introduced it less focused on information and more on selfies exploration. I would have started the lesson by discussing the definition of selfies and their influence on teenagers and culture and then shown the video of teenagers speaking about the subject and compared our ideas with them. After that, I would have encouraged students to use their phones to take creative and aesthetic selfies, which could be shared with the rest of the institute or on social networking sites, while inviting the audience to share opinions about selfies as a new art form. In that way, I could have worked through a CLIL approach and focused not only on language but also on content. Theory and Practice The theoretical basis on which we worked in the last years in the teaching training course guided me to plan and implement the didactic units. Teaching at secondary levels is a challenge due to all the changes that students go through, their need for inclusion, diversity, to be listened to, speak and share. I consider students had the opportunity to work with topics of their interest, share opinions, beliefs, thoughts and feelings while learning linguistic, historical and cultural content throughout both didactic units. The lessons were thought and put into practice taking into account Bloom's Taxonomy. They started with activities that required students to use their previous knowledge. New contents were then introduced, followed by their understanding and application. There were also instances to evaluate and correct the tasks, closing with play opportunities to create or produce dialogues, discussions or texts based on the lesson's topic. A communicative approach to teaching was also applied. The activities were planned and introduced for students to learn and improve their written and oral communication skills through games, role-play, discussions, among other things. These proposals were designed for students to express themselves orally and in writing, while having fun, interacting and playing with their classmates. Guided discovery work in terms of the form and function of grammatical and lexical aspects in context was encouraged, as suggested by Scrivener (2011). It was beneficial since the students discovered the different structures and use of the past simple and past continuous through exemplifications related to the topics studied. Similarly, they worked with different types of words and their functions. In this way, students were able to put them into practice right away, and even in the following lessons, they had the opportunity to use them successfully in different contexts.
- 3. Different group and seating arrangements in the classroom were also promoted, which allowed students to work with other classmates with whom they generally do not have much contact. It had positive results as students seem to be a more united and confident group in which everyone can work with other classmates in a good way. In general terms, communication opportunities, critical thinking, autonomy, responsibility, and collaboration were encouraged throughout both didactic units. As a result, the group of students seems to be more united, which allows their work in class to be more dynamic and enjoyable. Learning and Teaching Outcomes: Thinking about the Future I learned a lot in every stage of this practicum period: the planning, putting into practice and reflection stages. Regarding planning, now I understand the importance of planning units and lessons in advance and the need to think about every aspect: aims, activities, games, possible difficulties, among other things. In my case, I planned some lessons with a lot of time, and the proposals were interesting for the students. However, there were others that I prepared with less time, and the contents were not fully exploited or enjoyed by the learners. It is something that I will keep in mind for the future. It is not only about teaching the language. It is also about allowing students to learn other things, involving them in their learning process, and encouraging them to participate, play, share and laugh. On the other hand, introducing games enhances linguistic and lexical practise and improves the oral and written expression of ideas. They are enriching opportunities to use the language meaningfully. Best of all, students enjoyed it and were able to use the new language successfully. It is something that I will undoubtedly implement in my future teaching practices. I also emphasize the importance of proposing different types of group and seat arrangements. It is essential to promote autonomy and responsibility by encouraging students to work individually. Similarly, working in pairs or groups favours cooperation and collaboration with others. It is also beneficial to include teacher-whole class interaction to develop discussions, check tasks, or perform different games and activities. Those different group arrangements promote good relationships and communication between students, strengthening bonds and making class dynamics more natural and enjoyable. I also think it is necessary to highlight the importance of observation and personal reflection on what is seen, heard and felt in every lesson. In my case, observing how learners interacted with each other, how they reacted to the activities, their expressions, and the lesson development let me know what I was doing well, what aspects needed improvement and what was necessary to remove/change from my lessons. I could think about what to do in the following ones for the teaching and learning experience to be enjoyable for both the students and myself. I find this experience extremely enriching. I take with me beautiful memories, but also learnings that will help me as a teacher in the future.