UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA DE EL SALVADOR

Subject: Teaching Practicum I

Teacher: Ovidio Torres

Practitioner in Basic English: Velkis Rosales

Tutor: Sara Evelyn de Pacheco

SECOND REACTION PAPER
(second period)

Describe What I could see in this slice of the lesson is that almost all the students paid attention to me; moreover, they were focused on what I was doing in the class. During the grammar explanation they used to write fast what I wrote in the board but they did not like to ask, maybe they did not know how to ask in English but they asked each other in Spanish. On the other hand, I tried to use understandable words because they were beginners and they were going to get lost if I used complex words. The teacher was attentive to see what I was doing and she used to copy all the words or sentences that I wrote on the board maybe looking for mistakes or for pronunciation. The seating arrangement was the horseshoe to keep the students focus in the class. In my second class I had to teach the grammar explanation about the present progressive, the controlled and semi-control practice, I just used the board to write the date, the agenda, the topic and my name; then, I gave the students a sheet of paper for them to practice the present progressive, and then I kept the students working in the book.
(Analyze)		Plan Action
Interpret	Generalize
I think that controlled and semi-controlled practice can help the teacher to know if the students have understood or not the topic if they do not ask in the grammar explanation. I can say that assign not too much difficult practices will help the students to understand better a determinate topic. I think that at the moment to develop the controlled and semi-controlled practice, the teacher has to start from the easier activities until the harder ones. I think that this will help both the teacher and the students to get their purposes.	Based on what I already know about controlled and semi-controlled practice, I think that those activities can help the students to understand better a topic. Based on what I observed, I think that students had many troubles when they work in the controlled and semi-controlled practice because they were not sure about the correct answer. I believe that difficult practices can hinder the students at the moment to put into practice what they learned because they can get confused and they will make mistakes.	So, in the future, I will take into consideration to develop controlled, semi-controlled and free practices which will help the students to practice what they have learned in grammar explanation. In future lessons I will implement practices in which the students can understand better the topic. The next time I teach this lesson, I will be sure to start from easy practices until the difficult ones to let the students to learn and put into practice what they have learned in the grammar explanation.

SUBJECT: TEACHING PRACTICUM I

TEACHER: OVIDIO TORRES

PRACTITIONER IN BASIC ENGLISH: VELKIS ROSALES

TUTOR: SARA EVELYN DE PACHECO

FIRST REACTION PAPER (SECOND PERIOD)

Describe What I could notice in this slice of the lesson is the poor participation that students had in classes. Moreover, they spoke just in Spanish to communicate each other and ask questions. On the other hand, the teacher was attentive to help me in everything I needed. I did not feel comfortable in teaching at this level because of the poor participation of the students, and it was kind of embarrassed for me to push them to participate. The arrangement of the classroom helped me to control what the students were doing. The materials I used were the board, CD player, some sheet of paper and the book. At this level, the teacher told me that I had to use the board a lot because of the level and the little knowledge every student has about English; so, I used the board to give the grammar explanation, and then I asked the students to work in their books where I played a listening to complete an exercise; after that, I gave them a sheet of paper in order to practice some exercises.
(Analyze)		Plan Action
Interpret	Generalize
I started with a short warm up where students had fun, and then I started with the grammar explanation about a topic called: Definite the article “the” I think that as the topic was something new for the students, they were kind of confused at the very beginning, but then they started making the exercises to get familiar with the topic and the class was understandable. So, the practice helped a lot. I think that teaching students accurately let the teacher to feel more comfortable because the students will learn easily. So, I also think that teaching students accurately will help students to learn more.	Based on what I already know about this topic, I think that the topic can be difficult for both the teacher and the students because it is difficult to explain the difference between using A/AN or THE, and it can be difficult for students to understand the difference. Based on what I observed, I think that students generally learn if the grammar explanation is understandable and the practice is accurately. So, it is necessary to take into consideration to apply some techniques and methods to make the class interesting and understandable. I believe that teaching a topic accurately will let the teacher to have more time to practice it and teach other topics which will allows the students to learn more.	So, in the future, I will find new ways and techniques to teach that topic accurately and make it understandable for students. In future lessons I will look for more techniques and methods to teach the students in an easy way and make them feel more comfortable with the topic. Moreover, I will try to transmit self-confidence to my students to get them feel free to ask me any question or doubt about the topic. The next time I teach this lesson; I will be sure of adding more information and ask for more participation to the students who will be the protagonist. In future experiences I will also include more exercises to be sure that the topic has been understandable.