VI. When things go wrong in class
The following tasks will be carried out individually. Each member will
submit an entry for this task.
§ Look at the list of
things that can go wrong in a class.
o There was an internal
disturbance.
o There was an
external disturbance.
o The class went out
of control.
o An activity took
too long.
o You had extra time.
o An activity didn’t
work
o An activity was too
difficult.
• Which of these situations did you face in your
teaching practicum?
Describe what happened in and how you dealt with it.
Did you follow any of the the tips presented on chapter 8? Do you think the tip(s) could have worked for you? Explain.
KAREN CALDERÓN
Describe what happened in and how you dealt
with it.
When an external disturbance happened was for a
problem with the pipelines of the school, so the plumber made a lot of noise
when he was fixing the pipelines.
Other
problem was that I lose the control of the class in three classes. There was a
specific group of kids that always started to bother other kids, and they made
funny and silly noises or the just started to laugh for a joke. It was really
hard to put them under control but and the end they paid attention to the class
and worked in the activities that I prepared for them.
An activity took too long, this happened to me
twice because if you start the class with a dynamic that kids really like they
want to do it more than once. I explained them that he have to continue with
the class to follow my lesson plan, you know that sometimes they want to play
more but if we have to be careful with that because or target as a teacher is
teaching an specific topic, so for make it more interested for them we can use
puppets, a fairy tale, a game, etc.
An activity was too difficult. When I gave them
the topic ¨geometric figures¨ the majority of the pupils have the same problem,
recognize the different shapes because they still get confused when they are
trying to identify which one is. But I take my time explaining the topic and
trying to make them understand I know that is difficult than them understand
first the name in Spanish and recognize the shape and even more difficult
learning the name of the shape in English.
Did you follow any of the tips presented on
chapter 8? Do you think the tip(s) could have worked for you? Explain.
I did, I follow some tips of chapter 8. I think
that some of the tips really helped me in my teaching practices. For example
when my went out of control I read a short fairy tale, the idea of this
activity was trying to calm down the pupils and made more interesting the
class.
The other tip that really helped me was when an
activity took too long. The first that this happened to me I decided to
continue the activity because I wasn’t sure how to act, but when this situation
happened again I told to the pupils than we are going to practice the activity
in the next class or if we have time at the end of it we can make it again.
Another tip that took in count is that if my
pupils felt really frustrated because the topic is really difficult to
understand I cheer them up, I let them know that maybe the topic is difficult
but they are doing great so the y have to practice and if they do this they are
going to understand and improve all the things than they are learning.
VIII. Write an assessment about how useful the
TVYL practice is in your way to become an
ELT teacher.
I really think that
TVYL practices are really useful and important to make it. Because all the
experience that you get doing the teaching practices help you in some many
ways. For example: since the first moment when you plan your class you make
like a schedule of all the this than you are going to do in your class and how
many time you are going to spent doing each activity, so this help you to be
more responsible in the way that you allocate the time because the idea of this
than you have to carry out with all the thing than you put in the lesson plan
to have a successful class.
Being in touch with
the pupils or even in front of them when you are given the class is really
important because you start to learn how the act and you can see which activities
you can use with them to make more interesting the class. Working with young
learners is not easy at all because you have to be instuastic, all your
activities have to prepared for kids and make it interesting for them this is
the moment when you have to teach them playing to make it jazzy for them
X. Self-assessment and evaluation of your own
learning in this course / recommendations to
better this teacher training course………………………12
(One per each student)
I learned
many things with Didactic and the most important is how can i teach to the
children from 6 to 7 years old because they are so energetic, for that reason i
had to make different lead in, and warm up i really love teach English and
everyday made a difference with the class because i did my job in a funny way,
i tried to get the attention of the pupils with games or with puppets and it
was fantastic, i cannot erase the big laugh of the children when i did
something funny according to the topic.
one
recommendation is to have a practice with all the classmates in front of the
teacher because we need to increase our way to teach it is so important to have
a different opinion and we have to be able to learn everything new, i hope put
in practice all the methods that i have learned it is important shared with my
other classmates my knowledge and all the mistakes that i did in my teaching
practice for example, the use of the lesson plan we need to be focused in every
class.
It is
important to be a disciplined teacher but at the same hand we have to be
patient because the students doesn’t know whatever topic so we need to explain
twice or more times, we need to be a good teacher with different way to teach.
SILVIA GARCÍA
: I faced 2
situations during my teaching practice; there was an internal disturbance and
an activity took too long.
1)At the
beginning of my teaching practice I faced the situation that while I was explaining
a topic my pupils used to lose their attention very quickly because near their
chairs there were toys recipients very handy. They used to take them to their
desks and play with them. What I did to deal with it was to take away the toys
at the beginning of each class.
2)Another
situation that I faced was that an activity took too long. I was doing an
activity and I forgot to be aware of the time. When I realized that I didn't
have enough time finish my class I had to skipped some of the activities that I
had planned. Since that time I learned that is very important to keep an eye on
your time so I learned to manage my time correctly.
During my
teaching practicum I followed some tips presented in chapter 8:
-Group and
pair work is needed to keep all children actively
learning.
-We have to
look at the various stages in the process of planing teaching around a theme
and investigate how to maximise language use and language learning.
-The
management of the classroom activity and use of sources.
learning.
-We have to
look at the various stages in the process of planing teaching around a theme
and investigate how to maximise language use and language learning.
-The
management of the classroom activity and use of sources.
ASSESSMENT
ABOUT HOW USEFUL THE TVYL PRACTICE IS :
I consider
that the TVYL practice is very important in our way to become ELT. The TVYL
practice provides us opportunities for activate participation, it helps us to
develop our personal teaching competence, the practicum enables us to acquire
beginning teaching competencies. It prepares us for the realities of student
teaching by providing us with a clear understanding of the context for
schooling.
It is
trough the practicum experience that we develop important professional
knowledge such as knowledge of sources, knowledge of ourselves, self control, interpersonal
sensitivity, independent problem-solving, etc. Trough this experience we learn
how to link theory and practice, and to acquire the understanding and skills
necessary for teaching effectively in a range of classroom situations.
When I
started my practicum I was a little bit scared, because is not the same read
some handouts about teaching that being in front of a group of kids and have to
teach them, but I quickly got adapted to the new experience. During my practice
I learn many useful things about teaching, I have learnd a lot about teaching
kindergarten children: the importance of have a good rapport with them, how to
create routines, how to deal with little behavior problems, and how to envolve
and motivate children into the lessons. I can say that my practicum has helped
me to get more mature and confident as a mentor.
The
practicum helped me to be oriented into a school context, it helped me to try
out and see where, when and why I went wrong and what I could do a lot better
in, I could observe and have time to talk with the teacher about my lessons, I
also had time to do research and prepare for the "real thing" because
practicum wasn't just about 2 months teaching, it was an integral platform for
me to get ready for my career.
SELF-ASSESSMENT
AND EVOLUTION OF YOUR OWN LEARNING IN THIS COURSE:
During this
course I have learned a lot about teaching, some of the techniques that I
learned were really useful for me when I started my teaching practicum. I
really enjoyed that experience, it was very meaningful on my way to become an
ELT. I learned about each topic that we
studied and I think that every activity
that I did in the classroom will be very useful in the next course. I worked
hard during the course but I think that I have to better some things, for
example, my puntuality. Also I have to participate more during the class, I
have to put aside the fear of being wrong in order to better my speaking skill.
For me, the
classes were excellent because they were always interesting and dynamic.
ALEJANDRA MARTÍNEZ
Well, I had many of those
problems when I was teaching to kids. One day I was teaching the lesson when
suddenly two boys started to fight. I didn’t know why they were fighting, so I
separated them and asked them “what’s going on?” One child told me that he was
angry with his classmate because he was taking his color pencils without asked
him first. I talked with both boys and finally they were hugging to each other.
In other class, I had extra
time because the kids were finished the activity pretty quickly; so what did I
do was that I had planned an extra dynamic for the topic. I did the dynamic and
all was ok.
In other occasion, an
activity didn’t work because the kids were bored coloring and they weren’t
continue coloring. What I did was motivate them to color, telling them that who
finished coloring would win a lollipop. Sometimes, the activity took too long
and I told them that it would be homework for the next class. The kid who
brought it next class, I gave him a candy or a star.
ü Did you follow any of the tips presented on chapter 8? Do you
think the tip(s) could have worked for you? Explain.
When I had a problem in my
teaching practice, of course that I followed the tips presented on chapter 8;
but when the problem was one that the chapter didn’t presented, I tried to find
the best solution for the problem.
The tips that chapter 8
presents, worked perfectly when I put it in practice, according to the problem
presented. Those tips work very well as long as we know put them in practice to
solve future problems that may arise when we are teaching.
VIII.
Write an assessment about how useful the TVYL practice is in your way to become
an ELT teacher.
I think that TVYL practice is so important because we are
practicing and learning how to teach to children at the same time. What we
learn in classes, we put it into practice immediately.
It is a good opportunity for us as future teachers to know what
being a teacher is. As students we have many questions about what a good
teacher does, but this experience helps us to understand and inspires us to be
a dedicated teacher to student; teachers who live for their students and help
them to find that passion for the study.
If we are not sure at the beginning of our careers if we want to
be teachers, this teaching experience helps us and influences in this decision.
Personally with this experience I learned to trust myself and to develop skills
that will help me in the future as a teacher.
I learned to solve problems among children, and I am pleased
because I was part of the teaching-learning process of English language of
them. At this stage it is very important because it is their first encounter
and experience learning a new language and I think that is very important to
have a good first impression to motivate kids to continue learning.
IX. Self-assessment and evaluation of your own learning in this course/
recommendations to better this teacher training course.
Personally I learned a lot in this course, things that I have
never heard about how to teach to children; now I can implement those things
and be better in this process of becoming a teacher.
I know there is still a long way to go in this process, but thanks
to this course I have the first step and the first experience in teaching. Some
things that I knew about teaching children, I could put in practice and even
improve them for better performance when I was teaching.
The only thing that I think to improve is the time of beginning
the practices. It will be better if students can start their practices early
even though this are the same 20 teaching classes.
ROCIO ORELLANA
I had extra time.
During my practice time in kindergarten I had almost no problem with children.
They were very well behaved, always did everything I asked of them.
My children were very intelligent and always ended on time activities,
and always did to perfection.
Children are very competitive among their classmates; when they finished
something that I asked them, they always run to show me and I asked me who had
done the best or which was nicer.
I remember a couple of times when they finished a practice that I made
them before the time.
On one occasion all ended quickly a worksheet I take them, and I even
had a few minutes to finish the class, and they were so energetic that day. I
could not leave them like that, so I thought to do other activities to keep
them entertained while the time was coming back home.
- Did you follow any of the tips presented on chapter 8? Do you think
the tip(s) could have worked for you? Explain.
Of
course they worked. In fact I remembered the activities emergency talking in Chapter
8 of the book, it says what I have to do when I have extra time in class with children; So I
put it into practice.
The kids were so full of energy that day, the lesson was the colors, so
I quickly thought about doing another activity according to the subject being
taught.
The book mentioned several activities
such as reading a book, tell a story or
play a game, so based on what I had read and also with the energy and attitude
that children had that day, I told them that for completing the lesson quickly
and being very intelligent children were playing a game called Simon Says. So
start the game saying that Simon was saying to seek the green in the classroom,
and they ran to get some of that color, then I told them that Simon was saying
to seek the red and they ran to look for the red color. It was very fun for
them, laughed and seemed very happy.
To my point of view I do think that the tips are in the book that helped me a
lot that day, they are very good tips and are very helpful for us that we have
no experience in such these kind of cases.
Write an assessment about how
useful the TVYL practice is in your way to become an ELT teacher.
After having
concluded with my practice TVYL which lasted about two months, I can say that
during this time I learned a lot of things which have been very useful on my
way to becoming a teacher ELT.
The TVYL practice was very interesting; there are so many things to
learn on the road to becoming a teacher.
This practice was very enriching for me; there are many aspects which I
consider for my next practice and many tools that can be used for a class to be
successful.
Making a personal assessment of the practice I can say that it is
important to perform these practices during the process to become master
teachers. So much to know such as the attitude we should have toward students,
the first impression is very important because that will determine the attitude
of children towards the teacher, as well as also the voice that we use to
students, the tools that we use when teaching the classes, the activities that need
to be adapted to students according to their age and according to their mental
abilities and physical.
This practice also showed me how every activity you do and every goal that put
me should be focused on student learning, since they are the priority and to
motivate them to learn.
IX. Self-assessment and evaluation of
your own learning in this course / recommendations to better this teacher
training course
Having finished this course I can say that to be my first time as a
teacher, I have enjoyed a lot and has been one of the most beautiful
experiences in my life.
Has been so great my learning both as a teacher and as a human being; as
a teacher I had no idea really how was the process in each class.
From my point of view as a
student I supposed to teach a class did not require more effort, I thought a
teacher needed only search for a topic and read about go I teach the class; I
now see that it is not, to teach a class a teacher must prepare well, seek out
a strategy for students to learn, because it depends ages that students have,
so must be the tools, activities and theme the teacher should impart.
In this period I had the opportunity to teach English to some wonderful
children in the kinder garden, as I said before, it was
an incredible experience. I learned so much from them and they learned a lot
from me. I can safely say I did very well and I put into practice what they
have learned during my didactic classes and what I read in the books, which
were a guide to when teaching my classes. I'm totally sure what I say because
end of the course I made a written and oral evaluation my students to see how
much they learned and thus also check if I did my job well as a teacher. I am
very proud to have used this time in the best way, and fills me with much
happiness have been useful for my students to whom now I have much affection
them and they to me.
My recommendations to improve this course are first to have more practice in
the classroom before starting with our practices in schools, that way we can
have a little more experience when delivering our classes, classes in the
classroom would be using all the tips that are studied in the class book. I
think that way we would be more prepared when interacting with our students.
Also look for other tools to teach students to control different from the rest
capabilities, should meet students like those during our practices.
YANDY ABIGAIL
•Which of
these situations did you face in your teaching practicum?
Describe what
happened in and how you dealt with it.
In my case ann
activity took too long, an activity didn’t work, and an activity was too
difficult. These three situations happened in my class. One day, I remember
that I presented a cut and paste activity and my students could not do it. They
were so confused about what they have to do with the drawing they had to cut.
At the beginning, they were kind of confusing with the activities, but with the
pass of the days were understanding my instructions. I love my students because
they always were participating and collaborating with me. The other aspects did
not happen in my classes because they were always paying attention.
•Did you
follow any of the tips presented on chapter 8? Do you think the tip(s) could
have worked for you? Explain.
I used
"emergency talking activity" like three times in my class. Chapter
number 8 helped me a lot because sometimes I did not know what to do with my
students. I remember of my classes
because I was so nervous for the students reactions. I did not used the
activities presented in the book because I used activities that were kind of similar
to my topics. For example, when I taught them the Safari Animals, we played a
game that involves making animal noises and animal gestures, that was so fun.
At the end of the class, they were saying the names of all of the animals in
english, and I was so happy for that because the game worked out really well.
•Self-assessment and evaluation of your own
learning in this course / recommendations to better this teacher training
course
I learned a lot from
this subject because I learned a lot of new vocabulary. This subject prepared
me for the stage that I want to accomplish in my life, I mean to become a
teacher. I am going to be honest, but I was so nervous because I am the type of
person that does not get along well with kids. I am kind of shy when I am with
little kids, and I do not know why, but during this procedure (Teaching in a
kindergarten) I learn a lot from my students. They taught me a lot of things
that almost make me cry. They were so humble, kind and sweet with me even they
do not have anything to give me; however, they
always shared their things with me. I learn to o be patient with them
because we do not know if "the class" is the only safe and happy
place they have in their lives, and also to teach the new topics in a fun and interesting way.
For me there are a
lot of aspects to consider, but one of the most important for me is that always keep in your mind that they see you as
their mentor, guide or the person who knows a lot, so their are going to be
excited to know you and how you are and
you have to be always motivated for them in order to create a nice class
environment.
LORENA MARTÍNEZ
Personally,
I think that I had few problems when I was giving the class but I´m going to
mention some of them.
I
didn’t experiment any external disturbance instead I experimented some internal
disturbances because when I was explaining the topic two or three children were
fighting, playing with a toy and even one day when I was explaining the
activity that they had to do one child suddenly was playing with a whistle so
what did I do was that I asked him to give me the whistle and be quite. I think
that every day of class was very exciting and I was with high expectatives of
what could happen. There were days in which the children were anxious and talking
loud so what I used to do was the following: I just said children I want to see
your little finger while I put my finger on my mouth and they did exactly the
same action. So when they were talking too much I just said I want to see your
little finger and they knew that they had to be in silence.
There
were some times in which the activity took too long especially when the
activity was relationated to painting because some of them especially the girls
were perfectionist. They liked to do the activity slowly in order to have a
good result. So what I used to do was asked for the drawing or say to them that
we didn’t have enough time so they had to finish quicly.
I
don’t remember follow all the tips presented in chapter 8 but I remember
especially one of them. When I was teaching the alphabet I remember that it was
a little difficult for them because there were 26 letters that they had to
learn by heart, so what I did was that I divided the 26 letters in three
groups, so every class they learned at least nine letters. I remember that in
one of those classes I forgot the speakers at home and I needed to play a song
but fortunately the teacher lent me her speakers. I played the song for them
because I considered that listening and watching the form of the letters was an
easy way for they could learn. But I agree with the fact that all the tips are a
wonderful help for the future teachers because you can avoid a lot of possible
mistakes in front of your students.
How
useful the TVYL practice is in your way to become an ELT teacher.
“The
mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher
demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
―
William Arthur Ward
First
at all I think that it′s a big challenge and a big responsibility because you
have to be very focus on what you are saying and teaching because children are
like sponges and absorb everything you say. I believe that teaching to very
young learners is a way in which you can discover if you will be a good
teacher, if you will be the kind of teacher in which your students will trust
and had confidence, you will discover if you have the aptitude and attitude to
carry out your job. Also is a step to learn and develop the knowledge that
you’ve been acquiring. Personally, I believe that was a gratifying experience
because it helped me to throw away my fears and do what I want to do. I
recognize that I made a lot of mistakes in my teaching practice, but I´m on my
way to be better and earn the right and the ability to help others learn. I
learned how amazing is the child’s world and some techniques and methods that
will help me to improve my teaching process.
This
was an amazing opportunity to put in practice what I′ve learned and confirm
that this is what I want to do for living. This is what I love. I know it won′t
be easy but it′s not impossible and I have to learn more and deal with every
situation.
Someone
says that” a true teacher is one who, keeping the past alive is also able to
understand the present” so, I think that if I keep remembering my past mistakes
I will be able to take out the good and bad mistakes and turn them into
positive.
Through this course I really
learned a lot. I learned how the different methods and techniques that I need
to know in order to become an excellent teacher. I want to say thanks to our
teacher because she helped me to see what I couldn’t see and what I could be. I
don’t have anything to say except thanks for every class that she taught me. In
this course I adopted a positive mental attitude I learned that you need to be
positive about any situation that you might have in your teaching practice or
job. I learned that I need to work out in some areas that could affect my
teaching process. I learned that I need to organize every lesson class that I
will develop in order to have good results and operate efficiently. I learned
that I have to identify the right learning style for my future students in
order to get good results. I think that make learning more fun is very
important because students are more motivated to learn and feel less pressure
and we can do it easily through flashcards, interactive learning materials,
posters, etc.
