Secondary journal

Trainee’s name: Rodriguez Luis
Practicum level: Secondary
Group: 4th
B
Date: 01/11/16
Lesson number: 1
What aspects of the lesson require change / improvement?
I have to admit that the text I chose for the lesson was a bit too complicated. I know it is
a good idea to offer students a challenging text slightly over their level, but this text was
particularly difficult for them to deal with. Nevertheless, they were up to the challenge
and made a huge effort to cope with it.
Choose a moment that was important for you during the lesson. Describe it and
say why it was important.
I have to admit that they behaved perfectly along the lesson. I know they are good kids,
and they usually behave great, but they wanted me to feel proud of them in front of the
observer. It is important because I pay great attention to having a good relationship, to
having a positive and strong connection with them, so having them working excellently
and trying their best along the lesson was really important for me.
Choose a quotation that represents an event, knowledge, insight in this lesson.
“I am really tired” it was quite obvious that they were exhausted, the text was more
demanding than they were expecting and having a teacher observing their performance
made them tense. Nevertheless, something that really surprised me was when a student
said “I disagree” I am used to having student disagreeing but it was the student who said
it was caught my attention, Dalila is a student who does not like talking much in class
and she felt really confident on disagreeing, it was something unexpected but really
constructive and encouraging for others.
Comentado [Cecilia Z1]: What strategies did you apply
to help them?
Comentado [Cecilia Z2]: Could y ou answer the
questions included?
Comentado [Nany Rodr3]: Many times we work on the
strategies we all can use to deal with a text that at first
we think it is impossible. So I reminded them of some of
those strategies; paratext, focus on the words they
already know and try to understand the rest by context,
read more than once among others. In fact, some of the
activities included in the lesson plan deal with some
strategies aimed at understanding the text; matching
images with paragraphs, true/false, etc.
Comentado [Cecilia Z4]: =)
Comentado [Cecilia Z5]: What did she disagree with?
Comentado [Nany Rodr6]: She disagreed with the
text. I mentioned it as it is more typical to hear students
being compliant with the material. Moreover, she does
not talk too much and she did it perfectly and really
confidently.

Group: 4th
B
Date: 02/11/16
Lesson number: 2
Choose a moment that was important for the students during the lesson. Describe
it and say why it was important.
The language awareness part became clear from the beginning for them, they are
used to discover structures by their own. So when they had to imagine the future of
the town using the structure presented, they became very imaginative, they even
made some jokes about future scenarios for some of them in particular, or just
laughed about really improbable things that maytake place here. I think they had a
good time performing the activity, they were a bit tired due to a previous lesson and
they became very active during this stage of the class.
What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
Given the fact that we could not finish what I had planned for the last lesson, I admit
that reassuming the lesson where we had left it was really important for the students.
I could have left what we could not finish for homework and demand it later, but the
fact is that students had manydoubts about the text, it was not easy, so during the
second lesson we read it again and we worked together in order to cope with it
successfully.After all they just needed time and some help with some confusing
vocabulary. They made it clear that now it was clearer and the text became less
“impossible”.
“We are the future ofAlumine” Iknow it was meant as a joke, I think they know it is true,
they are aware of the fact that they can change and modify their town. Right after the
sentence was uttered they laughed but then they stood silent for a minute, I believe they
were thinking and reflecting upon that. Nevertheless, they had a good time imagining the
future of their town, they made great sentences and very impressive ideas for the future.
Group: 4th B
Comentado [Cecilia Z7]: Great!
Comentado [Cecilia Z8]: Wise observation!
Comentado [Cecilia Z9]: Interesting!!!

Date: 08/11/16
Lesson number: 3
The whole lesson became important for the learners, I had promised them to work with
music in the classroom, but we could not do it for varied reasons, so it was really
important for them and for me as I could finally did what I had promised to do. Some of
them liked the song others not so much, yet they enjoyed it as they actually paid
attention to the lyrics.
What teaching strategies did you use? Which ones were effective? Why / why
not?
As mentioned before I made use of a popular song to make them focus on some
grammatical feature we had to develop. Moreover, I appealed to their prior knowledge of
the artist and the song, this way they perceived that I can learn something from them,
and that they are not empty containers waiting to be filled with knowledge. They were
guided on language awareness but they made inferences and drew conclusions about it.
All in all, they were effective as the lesson developed greatly.
Describe this lesson in terms of a metaphor.
The lesson was like a hanging around at some friend’s house. I mean that it became a
relaxed and enjoyable lesson. They were tired as they had had a difficult day, yet they
cooperated and appreciated the fact that we dealt with a song. They also liked the song,
not all of them but some. The metaphor relates to a personal experience when a friend
and I would listen to a song on TV and we immediately wanted to know what it said, so
we tried to figure it out, we did not have internet, by the way.
Group: 4th
B
Date: 09/11/16
Lesson number: 4
What do you find useful of this lesson that will help you plan the next one?
Comentado [Cecilia Z10]: What criteria did you apply
to choose the song? How did they react to the activities
proposed?
Comentado [Nany Rodr11]: I hav e to admit that I
chose the video based on worldwide popularity rather
than my students’ interests. Nevertheless, I knew some
of them liked the artist as I heard it in class before.
At first, some were reluctant to the song, as they prefer
other things, yet they ended up enjoying it, two of my
students told me that the son was really catchy and that
they were the whole day humming it.
Comentado [Cecilia Z12]: Was this the only criterion?
Comentado [Nany Rodr13]: As mentioned before I
relied on the fact that the artist is quite well known and
a pop icon.
Comentado [Cecilia Z14]: Reference?
Comentado [Nany Rodr15]: Teching strategies;
Appealing to prior knowledge, inference and different
learning styles; some students learn better through
audio-visual material.
Comentado [Cecilia Z16]: =)

I think that timing is something that I need to improve, but during the lesson I could manage
to cope with time available successfully by respecting students’ time and at the same time
leaving some activities as homework for some students, once I checked they have
understood the features presented. So I am thinking about having some activities as
possible homework for those students who need more time to process the concepts and be
able to continue with the lesson. This way avoiding students, who finished early, waiting
impatiently and those who need more time feeling pushed or rushed hindering
comprehension and eventually, learning itself.
Include a photo of a moment in the lesson, or a task students did, a picture from
the board or any other lesson component you would like to share, and describe it.
In fact I cannot attach a photo of what I want to show you as it is the face of some students.
These students were not participative, at all, along the year. They did not like much of the
activities I took to the class, they did not want to participate yet this class they were eager to
participate, it may be possible that they are behaving like that as we are reaching the end of
year and want to pass the year. Maybe it is also because I have never made a review like
the ones I am doing for my practices, I tend to do it in a rush, due to the time of year and
also because I thought they preferred a more systematic and grammatical practice. It’s
important for me to realize this as I could actually understand what they need and how they
react. Their faces made my day, I could see that they had understood and were confident
enough to participate. They just needed time and a change in the dynamics.
I think it was important to make a review of the contents in a different way.As mentioned
before, I did not use to make review lesson like the ones I am doing for my practice. It was
important for the students to have time to revisit concepts seen beforehand in a different way
and in a different context. They could see that language features apply to more than one
context and to more than one function. The context seen during the first part of the year may
not have been appealing or attractive but during the review I change it and they enjoyed a bit
more and understood better.
Group: 4th
B
Date: 16/11/16
Lesson number: 5

What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
Taking into consideration that we could not finish the lesson we had started the previous
class, it was a good idea to part from where we had finished. Students were relieved that we
review the structure one more time as they felt they were “understanding it really well” before
we were interrupted. Sometimes, when interruptions or any other problem takes place, I tell
them to do it for homework in order not to go behind the year schedule, yet it has proved to
be quite useful for them to revisit and reassume lessons.
As mentioned before, they were managing the structure when we were interrupted, so
reassuming the lesson was important for them. They had time to reflect and to practice a
bit more. They cope with it successfully and they achieved a great management of the
vocabulary and the structure.
Choose an audio / video segment from the lesson, and reflect on what is viewed
or heard.
At first you cannot listen to them, they were really quiet writing about they were doing
yesterday, but then they were really noisy asking questions; they spontaneously started
to inquire their partners as if they were a police officers dealing with suspects, a good
idea that I did not come up with. They had fun, at least some of them.
Group: 4th
B
Date: 17/11/16
Lesson number: 6
What aspects of the lesson require change / improvement?
Comentado [Cecilia Z17]: Is this the word you mean?
Comentado [Nany Rodr18]: Sorry ; resume
Comentado [Cecilia Z19]: ?
Comentado [Nany Rodr20]: Resumming
Comentado [Cecilia Z21]: What about the socio-
cultural value of language? Was it included in this
lesson? Remember that a structural view of language
may result incomplete.
Comentado [Nany Rodr22]: You are right,
nev ertheless by relying on authentic material they are in
contact with language with real purpose and with
relev ance in its use. I try to show my students other
lifestyles or just other peoples’ projects that can actually
inspire people from any corner of the world, yet the
lesson focused, may be too much on the structure
basically because it was the revision of it.
Comentado [Cecilia Z23]: Looking forward to watching
it!

As you well mentioned it; timing was an issue during the lesson. During the year my students
did quite well with the language features presented along the lesson, yet some of them
needed this review lesson to really master the comparatives and superlatives structures.
Sometimes I tend to think that they are going to finish the activities too quickly, as they
actually do sometimes, and give them too many activities to do. I also try to provide some
different activities as controlled practice for them to actually get some control over the
structures, but once again, they were too many and they were too tired.
I was surprised that the language feature presented as review was already quite clear and
they remembered the lesson when we dealt with comparatives and superlatives structures
the first time. I tried to make it memorable that time and took a video about incredible
animals for them to compare and I also took a fish tank to the classroom. They remembered
that, ergo the lesson.
It was like actually remembering some random past event and then relating it to subject
content. They start remembering the lesson where we dealt with the grammar feature
and they recalled it really easily. It was quite smooth the way we carried the review.
Nevertheless, they had some aspect to correct about the concept given so having the
opportunity to work with it once more time was really appreciated by the students.
Group: 4th
B
Date: 22/11/16
Lesson number: 7
What teaching strategies did you use? Which ones were effective? Why / why not?
During this class I tried to appeal to their inborn curiosity in order to discover about the topic.
I also tried to address to previous knowledge they may bring to the lesson. Moreover, I also
made an effort to relate the content of the lesson to their daily lives, to some common,
everyday aspect of anyone’s life as superstitions are. Last but not least, I tried to focus on
Comentado [Cecilia Z24]: Is the focus on structures
only ?
How can y ou strike a balance and cater for fast
finishers?
Comentado [Nany Rodr25]: No, I get what you mean,
but I mentioned structures as it was key on the lesson.
Howev er, I may have focused too much on them.
Vocabulary and communication in order to compare two
places which are truly relevant for them, as they are
close and which are usually compared. I may plan other
activities which focus on giving opinions, this way they
may use the structure but at the same time give them
more freedom to choose vocabulary and/ structures.
Sometimes fast finishers are willing to do some extra
material, some other times they are not. I consider that
giv ing students some free time after the activity as a
recompense may have a positive effect on motivation,
teacher-student relationship and also boost their
confidence.
Comentado [Cecilia Z26]: How did they react
motivationally speaking?
Comentado [Nany Rodr27]: They reacted really well
as they felt they knew what they were talking about.As
mentioned before it was a boost for their confidence;
they actually acknowledged it as something “well learnt”
Comentado [Cecilia Z28]: Please, monitor tenses
when writing.
Comentado [Cecilia Z29]: in which
Comentado [Cecilia Z30]: How are the EFL lessons
contributing to their understanding of the world and
themselves?
Comentado [Nany Rodr31]: A big question to be
answered shortly, yet I try to do it on every lesson by
dev eloping different topics and providing them with new
structures and lexicon to finally express themselves on
any issue and in every possible context.
Comentado [Cecilia Z32]: What topic?
Comentado [Nany Rodr33]: supertitions

the cultural view of the world and in order to broaden theirs, that is to say, to show them how
similar yet different we are in different parts of the world. Moreover, by knowing about
different customs from other countries I can stimulate and encourage them to develop
integrative motivation.
Choose a moment that was important for the students during the lesson. Describe it
and say why it was important.
I think that having plenty of practice along the lesson was something positive for them, but
also to see the language feature in a different context from the one we saw on the previous
lesson. They achieved a great command on the structure which allowed them to play the
game at the end of the lesson almost uninterrupted looking up for verbs or expressions.
“Who loses?” this questions was uttered by a students who, as you predicted, did not see
the purpose of the “game” I had planned. Nevertheless, I improvised something; I told them
that the one who could not come up with a sentence after the second time it was his or her
turn, would have to put all the chairs on the desks after we left. It worked!!! They had fun
playing the game, yet they were a bit reluctant to stand up and form a circle they ended up
having a nice time.
Group: 4th
B
Date: 23/11/16
Lesson number: 8
How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and the materials?
How did they react to the lesson?
The lesson started quickly as we did not have much time, only 40 minutes. At first they were
a bit distracted so the warmup stage was vital for them to be set on what we were going to
do. Then, after they finished activity after activity, the lesson ended, just like that, they did
Comentado [Cecilia Z34]: Great!
Comentado [Cecilia Z35]: Interesting idea! However, it
is necessary to make every aim / purpose explicit, and
to foresee possible 'difficulties' and possible 'solutions'.

notrealize it was so short. I believe that it is a good sign that they were focused and
entertained working in class. The sequence of activities was coherent and they went through
them quite smoothly. All in all, it was a successful lesson, as they reacted positively.
My students were really concerned about my practice, they asked me after each of the
lessons “how did we do it? Are we making you look good?” I am really proud of them
because that kind of things shows how the year had been; students working really well and a
teacher having a good time doing his job. After the lesson ended they were sure they had
made an excellent job, they were even a bit arrogant, saying that they were the best. Not so
much, yet they made a great job.
It was like being the coach of a team going through a winning streak. “Teamwork” would be a
word that describes the year with these students, beyond the fact of having a great
relationship with them, they responded incredibly when academically demanded. I think that
they had a good time as they learnt along the lessons; lesson after lesson they worked really
hard and cope with each class successfully. They get along quite well, and many of the
problems that we have been through were solved altogether. I strongly believe that having a
good relationship with your students pays off and for me this particular group was the proof
of that. When a team keeps working hard, together and enjoying what they do, results are
always positive.
Comentado [Cecilia Z36]: Congrats, Luis!
Comentado [Cecilia Z37]: Did this 'humanize' their
v iew of you? Did it help create a stronger bond?
Comentado [Nany Rodr38]: I think it did and we
strengthened our bond; we had a great relationship
before and now it is even better. I strongly believe that
bey ond age and roll, we are really similar.
Comentado [Cecilia Z39]: Indeed, Luis!!
We hope you have found this experience enriching!
You may upload this journal to the campus (make sure
y ou correct language mistakes before).
Keep reflecting and developing. :)
Best
Your tutors

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