My Class' Observation

It is a cycle-three group consisting of nine students from 15 to 40 years old. Most of them have been with me for two cycles, so they all know each other. The classes are taught every Saturday afternoon from two to six. Last class was mainly addressed to have students give directions and use prepositions. Finally, we had the last quiz of the cycle where the oral and written skills were evaluated.

Directions were mainly taught by using maps where they had to place a guy and guide him to the place he wanted to get. Body language was applied to convey meanings and translations were also used when the meaning was complex to represent or when there were some distinctions to make. This activity helped them so much to understand and assimilate most of the directions they were expected to learn. Then we decided to make two groups where one of them had to choose one participant from the other and guide him/her. The goal was to check if the student could understand the directions and instructions given by the other contestant. There was a great interaction among them because they were constantly checking what they already knew with his classmates before they were chosen to perform; however, they did not use English to ask their partners, but only when they were in charge of guiding the other participant. After that, they were asked to do some written exercises on the book individually and answers were subsequently checked by asking them to read their versions aloud.

To conclude this topic, I asked them to tell me how to get to the places I mentioned taking Praxis as the departure point. I did not address any questions to someone specifically, but to the whole group, so that they did not feel in the spot light and could interact with each other when trying to express what they meant. Most of them did it very well what showed me that they had really understood the topic and that they were already able to use it in a real context. Prepositions were implicitly taught and reviewed as the activities took place.

There are some students who do very well in the written part, but they just cannot do it in the same way when speaking. It is really hard for me as their teacher to grade them in the oral performance because they do not even try. They are quite active when they are asked to work in groups and they even speak if the activity requires so, but the oral evaluation comes into play, they just go blank and keep silence. I have tried many ways to help them, but no one seems to work. Firstly, I tried to do it individually so that they did not feel ashamed of their classmates; then I tried in pairs, but they felt uncomfortable with their partners even though they were the one who chose them. This last oral quiz was carried out as a short debate where they were expected to give their opinions about certain topics and share experiences or comments as much as they could. During the debate, there was one student who spoke much more than the others. I must say that their level of English is not the required for this level, even though most of them are really good at writing. At the moment of the debate, some of them did really good to which I was quite surprised because they hardly ever take part in the oral exercises.

To finish the class, I asked them to show me their workbooks to check if they were working at home. Only three of them took their workbooks to the classroom and two of them had the books with the exercises done. That fact showed me that they are not working enough on the program and that they are not getting enough practice at home. The only time they spend on English is Saturday afternoons and it seems that as soon as the class finishes, they completely forget about it.

As aspects to improve, I would say that there must be some more focus on the distinction between present simple and continuous. I should spend some more time working on that for them to know that it is not possible to use verb to be together with present simple. That is the biggest mistake they usually make. I also think that they should be more often exposed to speaking activities so that they can get used to them and make the oral presentations easier for them.

As a reflection, I would say that teaching should not be always linked to a time curriculum where they just limit the lessons to the activities already arranged in a plan because there are a lot of students who need much more time to assimilate all the aspects of a language. There should be some more time left for some extra activities that will help them to enrich and strengthen the topics being taught.

I would also say that there should be a deeper commitment from them since they do not help themselves. They are leaving all the responsibility to me because they expect me to give them everything.

In conclusion, the group is very attentive to all my instructions and very cooperative with each other. As every group, there are some aspects to be improved. If there were some more time for this cycle, it would be easier for them to assimilate all the topics and for me to carry out extra activities. I hope that their next teacher have them talk more in class so that they can overcome that fear of being in the spot light.

*An Endless Struggle*

It happens very frequently to me that I have some middle-aged students in a young group of learners. This fact has caused me some troubles specially when they do not cooperate in favor of their own learning process. Right now, I have a 45-year-old lady who does not seem to be very confortable being my student. She is always very reluctant to take part in the activities and is always asking things that have just been explained. Her attitude is very annoying since she is complaining about every single aspect of English. Moreover, she wants me to have an explanation for every single structure and sense of the English verbs. I know it is quite rewarding to have a researcher student who demands a lot from ud, but It is different when the learner keeps a negative attitude and pulls a long face all the time.

She asks questions like "Why does this verb have so many senses?" to what I can only come up with one answer "That's the way English is". It is really hard to handle this situation because she makes everything so tough for me and only seems to enjoy having contact with the young men of the class. Not to mention that she is always late and when she does not get the idea of the topic being explained, she just tries to put the blame on me. Sometimes I feel that her only purpose in class is to have social life and get to know one of my students because she really has fun talking to him to the extend of interrupting my classes.

I thought It was my problem and I told a friend of mine about it and he told me that that student was also his and she always behaves like that. However, I really want her to be more committed to her English learning and to help me to make everything easier.

Thanks for reading!!!

*Questionnaire*

1. How do you define learning?
It's sometimes a conscious process that we may undergo in our attempt to develop a skill or
ability with the purpose of reaching a goal or covering a need.

2. How do you define teaching?
It refers to a process intended to give learners appropiate instructions and guide them so that
they can have some basics to facilitate the development of a skill. In that sense, teaching
involves setting a good example for our pupils and provide them with everything they need to
encourage them in the learning process.

3. How do you define language?
It's not only a way of communication, but also the main feature of human beings since
language is a purely human skill. In fact, it's what makes us different from any other specie.
We as owners of the language can make use of it not only by means of communication, but it
can also transfor and create cultures and ways of living.

4. What roles are students expected to assume in your classroom?
The main feature is to be curious and and to be constantly researching about what they are
being taught. In this way, they keep an active position towards the class and contribute to
their own improvement. Not to be conformist is also an important aspect of being a learner
since it keeps them committed to look for the aspects that are not provided in the teaching
enviroment.

5. How do you see your role in the classroom?
Most of the times, I am a very active and creative teacher. I always try to make everything
clear to avoid misunderstandings among my students. I'm also a littel bit demandingto push
them to work hard.

6. What are the qualities of a good teacher?
Patient, respectful, good command of the topics, punctual, tolerant and responsable.

7. What kinds of interactions occur in your classroom?
Students interact between them through dialogues, interviews, presentatins and group work

8. What is the most rewarding aspect of teaching for you?
It's amazing to see my students making use of all the things i've already explained because it
shows me how well thay have understood and it also says that they have a good command of
an accomulative knowledge. I really enjoy seeing my students trying to speak in English
without being afraid of making any mistake because taking risks play an important role in the
learning language process.

9. What kinds of students do best in your classroom?
The ones that are constantly asking and making things clearer. the ones that are not afraid of
making mistakes and just take the risk to test if it works or not.

10. What kind of training do you think English language teacher in our context need?
It would be of great importance to work on Ethics to teach teachers-to-be to keep distances
and not to get involve with the students. What it means is that even though we start teaching at a very young age, we should not treat our students as one of our friends.

11. What kind of support for professional development is there at the place you work?
We don not really receive instructions or advice. We are just asked to teach some units and
finish them on time. They demand punctuality from the teachers and, to be completely
honest, no more than that.

12. What are the best ways to learn a language?
There is no better way than feeling to do it because we know that that is what we really wat to
do. We need to be deeply committed to this process and invest as much effort and time as we
can.

13. What kind of dialect do you think should be taught?
It does not really make any difference in the process because at the end we are the ones in
charge of making the final desicion based on which of them we feel comfortable speaking.

14. What kind of changes would you like to make in your practice?
I would like to work on my patience because I get stressed easily so I want to learn how to
deal with all the obstacles that a classroom enviroment represents.

*Questionnaire*

Testing....testing!!!

*An Inpredictable Change*

My English learning exprience could not be more traumatic! I was not taught English until I was in eighth grade. I was not only worried about my lack of English knowledge, but also I was really afraid of my teacher since she had such a reputation for being really rude, grumpy, and very strict. I did not have a very good reputation either; although I was always an outstanding student because of my grades, I could hardly ever control my temper and that got me into several troubles in my school life time.

Once I met my teacher, I just fell in love with her classes for being the way I like everything in life, demanding. Even though she often spoke in Spanish, she always asked too much of us and that was the main reason for my classmates to hate her.

As I was really into this subject, I became the best of the class and it took me to be asked by my friends to do some homework for them. Of course I helped them! In that way, I made some money for some of my caprices. I finished school with flying colors and I was even congratulated by all the teachers in a special ceremony for the three best students of the year.

I spent the following six months working as a seller until I felt ready to face a carrier and with enough money to afford it. I entered University completely sure about all the things I had learnt at school, but I just crashed into a completely different environment. The guys that were introducing us to the campus and the university lifestyle spoke everything in Eglish and I did not get a word!!! It was really hard for me to face that change. I felt so dissapointed and completely determined to quit; I did not know where the hell I was getting myself into!

I hoped to find someone like me, it means disoriented, but everyone seemed to understand everything. As time went by, I met a beautiful teacher who helped me a lot not to drop out. The first semester, I did not do it really bad, but in the second one I just spent my time on having fun. After comparing my second semester average grade with an addicted-to-drugs friend, I just realized I was wasting my time because I was taking advantage of the wonderful chance I had in front of me.

Now I can say that I am completely proud of all the improvements I have achieved and I can even assure you that I am doing very well.

In conclusion, my own English experience is a moral for me to understand that I can go through whatever it takes to achieve what I really feel.

Thanks for reading this.

Love
Mónica