A personal experience in my school

1. BRINGING THE BEST OUT OF DISRUPTIVE AND NON-DISRUPTIVE LEARNERS. .WHAT THEY CAN
REALLY ACCOMPLISH !
My name is ArgemiroEnrique PadillaPriolóandI’man English teacher in 9th
,10th
and 11th
grade. It
has not been long since I arrived to this school, which holds lots of patriotic history, Policarpa
Salavarrieta School, a place where I can say I feel just right at home. Every day hundreds of kids
arrive to fill not only empty classrooms with the purpose of learning and sharing their beautiful
minds,theyalsoremindus“ teachers” that havinga classroomfull of kidswitha vivid future right
ahead of them is a huge responsibility, consequently, part of my job is to encourage and guide
them to continue in the pursuit of their goals.
These same kidsthatseemtohave apromisingfuture,alsoface manysocioeconomicproblemson
a daily basis, No please allow me to be more specific and tell you a little about my studentsfrom
11th
grade. They are a special group of 46 teenagers who find reasons every day to challenge the
world and also encounter many other reasons to feel like giving up their aspirations sometimes
most learners come from a low socio economic background, these kids belong to low income
familieswith difficult access to employment, so there is no doubt that risk of poverty factor may
also affect their behavior and therefore their academic performance.
This leads me right where I want to focus on, the before and after I met these kids with many
disciplinaryproblems.There maybe a numberof differentreasonsthattriggeredsuchbehaviorin
teenagersbesidesthe previouslymentionedbackgroundbutIwantto share how Ihave tackledthe
problem and used it to favor their academic performance.
HowHave Idone itsofar? Well,letme tellwhatexactlythe problemwas.Istartedtoseekreasons
whysome childrenbehavedinappropriately;andthe inquirybroughttoconsiderationthefollowing
factors.The firstfactorI wanttorefertoiswhatall teachersmeetintheirEnglishclassalmostevery
day is lackof interesttowardsthe subject,thiscloselyconnectedtoboredom, learnersmanifested
apathy to the class and the learningof the target language; some learnerswill notrespondto the
activitiesIhadcarefully planned.Somewouldjustshrugtheirshoulders,othersputtheirheaddown
onthe desk,otherswouldfindawaytoprovoke anytype of disruption;suchattitudeswouldmostly
lead to the interest of doing something different such us using their cellphones or other
technological devices to check their social networkaccounts or simply listento music, all these of
course withsecrecysothe teacherwouldnotnotice.Subsequently,the academicirresponsibilityof
not handing in assignments was evident.
Little time did it take me to realize that some serious intervention was requiredso as bring some
meaningfulnesstothe learningenvironmentof thisEnglishclass. Some changeswere necessaryto
bringsuchdisruptive behaviorinourfavor.Some strategieswerethe key note thathelpedme tune
the whole team to change the way they view the English class.
I will nowproceedtomentionsome of the strategiesIstartedimplementinginclassandthe effect
they provoked as the classes developed. Leaners seem to have been used to having teacher-
centeredclasses,andI say so because theymanifestednotbeingusedto doing much in class,but
listentothe teacherandrespondtofinaltasks.Hence,manyactivitiesthatincludingdifferenttypes
of interaction were applied activities mainly focused on the learners with assigned roles and final
outcome.The same activitiesaimedtoinclude all passive andactive learners,includingthose with
some physical or cognitive disabilities (two students with mobility problems and one with a low

2. cognitive problem).Activitiesusuallyhada game componentwhichmotivatesthemto participate
actively.Thusgroupworkactivitieshave encouragedthemtosolveproblemsandpushedthemlittle
by little to use some English in class.
Another change in the methodology consisted in using the tech devices they used to disrupt the
classto favortheirownlearning.Itmainlystartedwithme bringingauthenticmaterial tothe class,
presenting learners videos from TV series such scenes from Lost or short films like Inbox, which
caught all their attention and motivated them to do all the activities; songs from different levels
witha varietyof challengingexerciseswere alsoconsidered,learnersfinallystartedtounderstand
that they did not need to have a high level of English to really findmeaning while developingthe
tasks, it is, indeed a process that requires effort and most of all, willingness and good attitude to
enjoy the English class.
The mainpurpose of the aforementionedactivitiesbesidesforthemtoenjoywas,tomotivatethe
acquisition of vocabulary which was really poor,and now has improved. In other words, this has
contributed to the teaching and learning of vocabulary and pronunciation to be used inside and
outside the classroom.
The use of the techdevicesfornon-academicpurpose diminishedinclassandwhenlearnerswere
requiredtodo theirhomeworkorcomplete a task home theywere advisedand guidedonhow to
use such devicestocomplete tasksand learn,also surf the net to reinforce listeningactivitiesthat
start in classand needto be completedontheirown,all these have helpedpupilstoconnectwhat
they like do and the English learning process.
Inthe same fashion,asyoumayknow 11th
gradersColombiaare usuallytrainedtotake the national
standardizedtestICFES,thistrainingis usuallya synonymof boredomandlong hours of curricular
and extracurricular work. As their teacher I have tried to help them in the training process by
bringing short readings to teach them strategies to answer the type of comprehension questions
theyfindin the test, mainly focusedoncontextualizingvocabulary,Ido my bestin coaching them
in classby simplifyingcontentandTest –taking strategies, an advantage is that the guidance goes
beyond the class, since now I belong to the test training team (Abel Mendoza) having the chance
toassesssome learnersinside andoutside theschoolschedule.NowIcansaylearnershavechanged
theirattitude towardsthistestpreparationandare workingharderto obtainpositive resultsinthe
test.
Nowthat I have startedtalkingaboutthe significantchangesthatmylearnershave hadconcerning
their behavior towards the English class, I allow myself to show how proud I am of their
improvement,Iknowthereisstilllotstodo,thisisalsoonestepclosertohavingsuccessfullanguage
learners and future citizens with strong values.
Iwill nowproudlylistsome of theotherchangesIhave witnessedduringmyclasseswill alsoprovide
some evidence of this. Not onlyhas the level of motivation changedso far, learners are willing to
participate inclass,I am not sayingthere isnodisruptioninclass,butit has significantlyreducedin
class,andIalwaystrytouse this asanadvantage toteachnew expressionsrelatedtosuchbehavior.
Learnersare active andeverybodyisengagedinthe class,despitethe low level of speakingfluency
that remains. Learners do an effort and try to communicate their best.

3. These 11thgradersfromPolicarpaSalavarrietaschool,nowhave changedthewaytheyusedtoview
themselves in the language classroom, they preferred to do launch their 2016 promotion slogan
and mottoin English,bigchange Iwouldsay! Likewise,mykidsare now lookingforwardtohaving
theirEnglishclassona dailybasis,wheneverthe classcannotbe givendue todifferentreasons,are
the studentsthemselveswhomanifesttheirdiscontentandlookforopportunitiesnottolagbehind.
In short, I can say that my learners have improved their performance and have changed their
attitude and behaviortowardsthe Englishclass; teenagerare usuallyview astrouble makerswho
worry little about their academic performance, but in my case, I can humbly say that these
teenagersare nowwillingtobringtheirEnglishlevel up,anddo worry abouttheirgrades now and
assignments are now not seen as a load, but as an opportunity to improve.
I wouldlike toconclude,simplybysayingthatitdoesnottake muchto bringasmall change toa big
community. It is pivotal to create opportunities for students particularly those with behavioral
problems to experience success in their learning and social behavior, and of course make use of
humor, when suitable, to stimulate student interest or reduce classroom tensions.