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.

SUBJECT: TEACHING PRACTICUM I

TEACHER: OVIDIO TORRES
PRACTITIONER IN ADVANCED ENGLISH II: VELKIS ROSALES
 TUTOR: GIOVANNI BLANCO
THIRD REACTION PAPER

Describe What I could see in this slice of the lesson is that many students had problems with the controlled and semi-controlled practice about relative clauses. Why? Because it is a topic which have different ways to use and different options; so, the students were like lost because they were constantly asking for the correct answers. On the other hand, the students paid a lot of attention to me and the teacher was attentive to help me in everything I needed, by the way the teacher told me that if I had any doubt about something, I could ask him and that was not going to affect my grade, but fortunately I could manage everything. I felt comfortable and worried at the same time because I was afraid that the students asked me something I did not know, but I did not have any problem on that. The seating arrangement was the horseshoe. As the activities I developed were controlled and semi-control I just used the board to write the date, the agenda, the topic and my name; then, I used a handout to develop the different kind of activities, and I used a chart with some sentences they had to complete.
(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 a determinate topic. I can say that assign not too much difficult practices will help the students to understand better a topic. I think that at the moment to develop the controlled, semi-controlled and free practice, the teacher has to start from the easiest activities until the hardest 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 practices, 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 worked in the controlled and semi-controlled practice because they were not sure about the correct answers. 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 easier practices until the hardest ones to let the students to learn and put into practice their knowledge.

SUBJECT: TEACHING PRACTICUM I

SECOND TEACHING PRACTICUM
TOPIC: RELATIVE CLAUSES

TEACHER: OVIDIO TORRES

PRACTITIONER IN ADVANCED ENGLISH II: VELKIS ROSALES

TUTOR: GIOVANNI BLANCO

Describe What I saw in this slice of the lesson is that all the students focus in the grammar explanation, they were attentive to ask and give their opinions if they had doubts. On the other hand, the teacher was using his laptop to see if I was following the instructions he had given to me. The environment was good because I used the horse shoe to keep them focus at the moment of the explanation. As my job was to give the grammar explanation about “relative clauses,” the materials I used were the board, markets, eraser, and pieces of paper with some sentences they had to complete in order to know if they had understood.
(Analyze)		Plan Action
Interpret	Generalize
I think that teaching grammar is not an easy task as many people believe since the students need to be focused and pay attention if they want to learn. As the topic was new I thought that it was going to be difficult to explain the grammar structure, but as the students are in an advanced level, I could notice that after I explained the first sentence, they started making sentences by their own. I think that is important to give clear explanations for the students to understand the grammar structure, in that way the activities would be performed accurately.	Based on what I already know about grammar, I think that it is important to find ways to keep the students interested in the topic and paying attention at the same time. Based on what I observed, I think that students generally learn faster if you give a good explanation and you apply the right methodologies to teach them. I believe that using visual aids also can help the teacher to give clear explanations and at the same time can help the students to understand the topic.	So, in the future, I will use colorful charts and posters to call the attention to the students and keep them interested in learn grammar structures. In future lessons I will continue applying methodologies that can help to give clearer explanations about grammar structures. The next time I teach this lesson, I will show more confident to the students where they feel freer to ask and give their point of view because the last time they were afraid of asking and they were like shy. In future experiences I will also include more examples and activities where they can practice more what they have learned and keep them busy.

SUBJECT: TEACHING PRACTICUM I
TEACHER: OVIDIO TORRES

PRACTITIONER IN ADVANCED ENGLISH II: VELKIS ROSALES

TUTOR: GIOVANNI BLANCO

FIRST REACTION PAPER (DAPA)

Describe What I could notice in this slice of the lesson is that almost all the students had a good communication each other and they had good knowledge about English. Fortunately, the students paid attention to me and that was good; on the other hand, the teacher was attentive to see what I was doing in class. I felt very comfortable because the environment was really good since students transmitted confidence but especially the teacher who was attentive to help me in everything I needed. The arrangement of the classroom was in the normal way, the students were sitting near to each other. The materials I used were the board, handouts, and posters. I used the board to write the date, the specific objective, the new unit “Character Counts”, my name, and some new words. Then, I used the handouts to explained the students a little bit about the new unit, and then they discussed some items, after that I used a poster which had some questions the students had to discuss in small groups and then discuss with all the class.
(Analyze)		Plan Action
Interpret	Generalize
Since I started a new unit which was almost about discussion, I could say that discussion is very important in class because it helps the students to practice the target language. As the unit I taught was new, the students felt comfortable and attend to learn and give their point of view. I think that if students feel free to give their opinions and point of view, then they will lose their fear to speak. This will help students to learn more because they will learn how to express themselves.	Based on what I already know about discussion, I think that it helps students to express in front of the class what they think about an specific topic and share with others their opinions. Based on what I observed, I think that students generally are interested in learn how to express themselves; moreover, they like to learn new things every class. I believe that giving feedback and motivate the students to learn and practice really help to their learning because they will feel free to give their point of view and share their opinions with others.	So, in the future, I will find new ways where the students do not feel afraid of expressing themselves and give their point of view about a topic. In future lessons I will try to transmit self-confidence to my students to get them feel free to express their ideas and point of view. The next time I teach this lesson, I will be sure of make analytical discussion where students have to analyze more their thoughts; moreover, in future experiences I will also include more visual aids to get the students more involved in the activity and teach them some techniques they have to take into consideration to express ideas.

IMPORTANCE OF WARM-UPS

The importance of warm-ups is that the teacher can introduce a new topic with an activity, and also he can know the knowledge the students have before starting something new for them. To make a funny warm-up is really important since it raises energy levels, also produce relaxed, less inhibited students. So, if a teacher creates the right warm-up, he will have created a positive atmosphere to practice and experiment with the language.

Now, based on the warm-ups developed, I can use them with intermediate levels because the students have a little knowledge about the language, and they will understand easier the activity. 

The last warm-ups presented in classes were really good; moreover, I felt relaxed, comfortable, and it increases my energy level. What I really liked from the warm-ups were that they were really funny, also they were not so long because a long activity gets the students bored, also they were focus  into the topic or target language of the lesson; moreover, students could share with others, and also everyone could participate in the activity.

However, I would have done some warm-ups in a different way. For example:

1. A good warm-up takes about 10 or 15 minutes to be developed; however, some of them take about 20 minutes and it gets the students bored; if the warm-up takes too long, the valuable time gets lost from the main focus of the lesson. Students have less time to acquire the new material.so, I would have taken less time.

2. a warm-up  must be well organized to avoid making a lot of mess; I could noticed that some students were making a lot of mess because of the activity; so, I would have organized very well the activity to avoid those kind of things.

3. To make a good atmosphere with all the studentsit is really important to share with all of them; so, I would have done all the students work together and with students they do not work together in classes.

In adition, it is necessary to start with a warm-up because the students need to raise energy levels, also produce relaxed and they can have a relax moment. A warm-up at the start of the lesson deserve more attention than they usually receive. In fact, the initial activities that start the class are very important.

In the slice of the lesson I could notice that the causatives verbs were a topic really difficult since I saw that the students were confused. I heard the answers to my questions about the topic and the students made some mistakes, but it was because they had many doubts about the topic. The students were doing not only exercises to understand the right form to use the causative verbs, but also dynamics to feedback their knowledge. While I were helping them to explain some doubts they had about the topic, the environment was great because students were interested to learn the way to use the causative verbs. The arrangement of the classroom was good because it was big and I had many space to develop the activities, but to explain better the activities, I used photocopies to practice the right form to write sentences using the causative verbs, I also used the board to write some examples of the topic. The photocopies and the board helped the students to understand better the topic.

I would like to keep on working in the material I presented in class because it is very interesting; moreover, I can make a funny class put into practice the topic and the students will learn a lot, and at the same time they are not going to get bored. The most interesting thing about the topic is that students can learn in an easy way, and I can make a funny class. The next time I teach this lesson I would like to put into practice the lesson planning I presented today, the lesson planning was long, but it has many options to learn the causatives verbs without complications.