1. My journal 1
First entry
Date: 24th
April
Today is my first day as an observer, and I must admit that I’m not
nervous. This year I’m going to teach 5-year-old-children instead of 4-year-
old-children, as I did last year.
Now that I’m in the classroom, sitting at the back, I can observe the
whole situation: children are absolutely out of control, they are very glad to
meet their English teacher again, and the teacher lets them show out all
their happiness through shouts and hugs.
The lesson has started, and I’m beginning to feel worried: these kids
have never had a lesson spoken in English before. The students are used to
receiving instructions as well as feedback in Spanish. Some of the girls
have come to ask me my name, and I tried to be as friendly as possible.
Finally, the lesson finishes. I am surprised to observe that no new
vocabulary has been taught, context has been set and the lesson has had no
aim. The children have only sung the Hello song, then they have sat around
a big table and painted some pictures from a book. The lesson’s finished
with a Goodbye song and that has been all .
Second entry
Date: 8th
May
I’m about to get into the classroom to observe my second class. This
time, most of the girls came to me to say hello, most of them were glad to
see me again.
Once more, I’m sitting at the back of the class, so I’m able to observe
everything. One thing I’ve noticed is that there is a boy who doesn’t behave
very well, and he doesn’t play with the rest of the kids. He is sitting alone
with a teacher that is next to him all the time.
The rest of the class is almost identical to the previous one: they sing
the Hello song, and then the students sit around the big table and start
painting some pictures again. Now I’m starting to feel very worried! It’s
going to be tough to change the teacher’s habits; I’m not feeling very well
about it.
Dear Michelle,
As you may have learnt in Didactics, teaching and learning a foreign language involves
different aspects. Among these aspects, students’ exposure to comprehensible input is essential
2. to foster learning. If your lessons give students the chance to be exposed to the L2, it is then
worth the effort.
Third entry
Date: 5th
June
I has not been able to observe a lesson for two weeks as kindergarten
has had no English classes because of a change of activities. So Thus here I
am once more, waiting for the teacher to arrive so we both can both get into
the classroom together.
This time, the girls run straight to me to say hello, I’m happy they
like me! However, my worries have increased are getting worse and worse:
these kids don’t know a word in English, so the teacher, in an attempt to
help me in the future, is going to teach them the phrase “that’s…” but again
she teaches it in Spanish. Despite her explanations, the kids don’t get to
understand the meaning of the phrase very well.
This is the last lesson I’m observing, and at this time I feel it is
impossible to teach a lesson in English. I feel very bad, frustrated, really I
think I won’t be able to make it. These kids have very strong habits, they
have been together with this teacher since they were three, so I think it will
be impossible to change the way they “learn” English.
Dear Michelle,
Your narrative shows that you are more focused on what students cannot do than on what
students may be able to do, if taught well. You should be aware that teaching very young
children requires that teachers develop a wide variety of skills that allow them to broaden their
minds and understanding of what teaching implies.
A teaching journal is a useful resource if used to reflect upon alternative ways of teaching as
well as upon the materials, strategies and activities that best suit students’ learning needs. The
analysis of these teaching aspects help teachers plan effective lessons to foster students’
learning.
Despite the situation you describe, it would have been more constructive to reflect upon what
could be done to teach these children the target language.
Fourth entry
Date: 23rd
June
Today is the first lesson I’m going to teach, I couldn’t sleep last
night, I’m absolutely nervous and I have a stomachache. Now it’s time to
get in the classroom! I wish myself good luck.
3. Well, now the lesson has finished I can say that it wasn’t impossible
as I thought, but it wasn’t easy either. These students refuse to speak in
English because they are not used to doing so. I spoke in English all the
time and I tried to motivate them to do the same: sometimes I succeeded,
some other times their habits were stronger. What matters is that they could
acquire the new vocabulary, and I think this was is the main aim of this
lesson, so I felt satisfied with the results.
Dear Michelle,
Unfortunately this journal entry does not focus on the pedagogical aspects of your lesson; thus it
does not allow for an accurate and deep analysis of your lesson planning and classroom
management: What language items did you teach? What context did you set to teach the new
language items? Were the context and the activities meaningful for students? How did you help
them understand what you told them in English? What materials did you use to teach the L2?
These and other issues should have been part of your reflections.
To what extent do you think your reflections in these journal entries have helped you improve
your teaching? Next time, we suggest analyzing each class from a pedagogical perspective as
this may allow you to make informed decisions.
We hope this feedback stimulates more thoughtful reflections.
Regards
Teté
