Observation and practicum journals

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Observation journals
Taller de Práctica Docente.
Asencio Nadia.
MY JOURNAL
Class number: 1
Place: Jardín Colorín Colorado.
Unit: Birthdays!
Level: Beginners.
First, I noticed that the English teacher only has two classes on a row
with a 5- minute break to finish a class and start another one with another
group. So, she was worried about the time because she was late and she did not
have time to prepare her materials for the class. Although, there is an auxiliary
teacher who helps with the organization and with everything the teacher needs.
Moreover, it is a big group with over 20 students but it seems to be easy
to organize them. The teacher used a lot of English and when she noticed that
some students did not understood understand something, she alternated
between both languages.
The group enjoyed the class and I really liked its context. They have a
puppet called which is a Teddy Bear, and it was his birthday. So, the students
sang the song, eat ate some cake and shared a birthday party. However, the
time is class seemed to be very short; they only have a 30 minutes of class.
That’s why they only completed the routine, opened the Teddy Bear’s presents
and said their names and colours and then ate the cake. I think that This is an
issue that worries me,: to plan such a very short class with little children who
constantly need to the teacher to organize them. Another issue I should bear in

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mind it is that the teacher said that the next week students needed to start
with a new unit (school objects), and that I have had to start this unit. So, I am
quite nervous and excited with all these new experiences.
Taller de Práctica Docente.
Asencio Nadia.
MY JOURNAL
Class number: 2 (Observations)
Place: Jardín Colorín Colorado.
Unit: Birthdays!
Level: Beginners.
Date: 30th
April
The class started with the students sitting down in a circle; the students
always wait for Miss Rocio like that. I had to pay a lot of attention to the
routine and to the songs. I could notice that the students love to move around
and to mime imitate the teacher; it is a group which is easy to organize. They
are 20 students.
This class included moods, (vocabulary related to moods) songs, rhymes
and they started to colour a copy about “Humpy Dumpty”, which they will finish
in a next class. Although, the rhyme provided a context for the class, students
were only asked to repeat it and to colour a drawing with even reviewing the
colours or having specific indications of how to colour it.
I could notice some students, some of them are were quite restless and
the other ones are were clearly leaders of the group. (there were like 6
leaders)

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It seems to be an easy group to work with, which love dancing and moving
around and enjoy rhymes and stories.
Moreover, Thinking about my first teaching practice on the next week,
makes me I am feeling feel quite nervous. I need to learn about the songs that
are part of the routine since I do not know them. Something else Moreover, the
fact that I do not know the students’ names worries me too.
Practicum Journals
Taller de Práctica Docente.
Asencio Nadia.
MY JOURNAL 3
Class number: 1 (practice)
Place: Jardín Colorín Colorado.
Unit: School objects (class 1)
Level: Beginners.
Date: 5th
May.
I was very nervous about not knowing the songs from the routine, so I had
to make up part of them. But the children looked at me in a funny way and they
tried to sing the songs. They did not have any problems with that and they
guided me.
Another issue for me was the fact that I do not know their names, I just
know two or three of them. I think that they did not realize about this but it is
not the ideal situation for me. I want to know all their names, I realized that
this is quite difficult but it is very awkward for me when I tried to speak to a

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certain students and I did not know her/his name. I was thinking about “making
funny mistakes” – The T points to a specific boy and says “you are Spiderman”
and all students laugh and they correct her and told her the real student’s
name.
In conclusion, those students are great. They liked the class and they
participated a lot. I had included a story about Teddy Bear (the classroom pet)
and his friend Gloria at their first day at school, a game to work with the
vocabulary presented (school objects) through the story and a rhyme sing and
dance. Maybe, they need to speak more English. So, I think that I need to
encourage them to do so. I enjoyed the class and I was surprised because I was
very nervous but everything was great (because ss were involved in the
different activities, they had fun and they were quite excited with the “new
teacher”) so I am quite happy!
Taller de Práctica Docente.
Asencio Nadia.
MY JOURNAL 4
Class number: 2 (practice)
Place: Jardín Colorín Colorado.
Unit: School objects (class 2)
Level: Beginners.
Date: 7th
May.

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Today when I got in the classroom I realized that the students were not
there and I found the teacher who told me that the classroom was flooded, so
the class took place in the library. I think that the library was not an adequate
place to have a class since it has not got the essential materials for students to
be organized or the materials to organize the students’ school objects. For
example, as the library has not got pegs, the students’ jumpers and school bags
were all over the place and this was a little bit inconvenient. I know that there
were not any other classrooms for the English class took place to be held and
that sometimes this kind of things could happen and as teachers we need to
adapt our classes. Moreover, I think I am a very organized person and I feel
“weird” when things do not happen as I planned them, and it is an issue that I
have to work on since in this profession unexpected things will happen and I am
very conscious about that.
However, we had a nice class where we danced and moved a little bit more
than the last class and I realized that they really like to move so the students
enjoyed the class. We review the vocabulary presented the last class through a
story and I presented more vocabulary with it too (related to school objects).
Then, to check comprehension we played a game in order to complete a poster.
There was a particular situation where a boy cried and he claimed that he
wanted to dance too but he couldn’t and that was quite strange because all the
class was dancing and singing. I believe that I need to pay more attention to
this student in particular and I think that maybe because he seems to be is a
shy student who communicates through cries.
Taller de Práctica Docente.
Asencio Nadia.
MY JOURNAL 5

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Class number: 3 (practice)
Place: Jardín Colorín Colorado.
Unit: School objects (class 3)
Level: Beginners.
Date: 12th
May.
Today, when I was waiting to go the classroom, the tutor, Cecilia, came to
the school so I was more nervous than the previous classes. When we were in
the classroom one of the teachers told me that the English teacher was not
going to be at school but, luckily, the Spanish teacher stayed with us and I
could give the class.
For this class, I prepared a treasure hunt game to review the vocabulary
presented the last classes and the children were motivated to use the L2 when
they found a card and they have to say: “It is a...........” and I was quite worried
about it since I did not know if the students would behave properly or if they
would understand the activity. But, we could complete the exercise successfully
and they liked it. Then, we did the other activity which was a memory game but
I think that this was not as funny as the previous one; I think that it was too
long and the students did not like it too much. Moreover, in the middle of the
activity I had to reorganize them and to say a short rhyme to move a little bit.
At the end of the class the tutor gave me a feedback and she was right of
about several issues of regarding the second activity: in which the students
which who were not participating could not look at the poster to play where the
game was taking place. So I think that this was one of the reasons why students
did not enjoy the activity. I think that they did not feel included.
Taller de Práctica Docente.
Asencio Nadia.

7. 7
MY JOURNAL 6
Class number: 4 (practice)
Place: Jardín Colorín Colorado.
Unit: School objects (class 4)
Level: Beginners.
Date: 14th
May.
Today I got earlier to the classroom to prepare the class since I have had
planned a lot of different things activities, which the head and since I know the
Spanish teachers would let me carry out they did not have any problem.
The students showed felt very happy when they saw me and they were
quite excited, so this was great for me! Some of them showed were happy to
see me when they saw at school during the last days. They recognized me and
they introduced me to their mothers, it was very nice!
For this class I have had prepared different activities things for students
to moving move around but today they were very distracted, so it was difficult
to organize them and to complete the exercises tasks as planned. Moreover, in
several opportunities I had to reorganize them, to ask them to make silence and
to catch their attention. In some moments I felt powerless at times since
several students were not paying attention and it was very difficult to engage
them in the activity. We could complete all the exercises tasks but not in the
way it was planned.
When, the class finished I spoke with the English and the Spanish head
teacher about this situation the disruptive students and they were agreed with
me, and We could speak this kind of situations could exchange opinions but it is
a reality fact that the children behave in different ways on different days.

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I believe that maybe ss were tired that day or they were tired of the
types of task they were involved, since they were quite similar from the other
classes. I think that my planning should include a more variety of activities to
allow ss to have fun and avoid disruptive behaviour. There are also several
strategies to catch their attention, for example I should always have a funny
nose, hat or glasses to wear to surprise them; I can also use different tone of
voices or I can make a joke!
Taller de Práctica Docente.
Asencio Nadia.
MY JOURNAL 7
Class number: 5 (practice)
Place: Jardín Colorín Colorado.
Unit: School objects (class 5)
Level: Beginners.
Date: 21th
May.
As I knew that this class may be the last one and, obviously, my tutor had
to be there I was very nervous and anxious (again!).
As all the classes the children were waiting for the teachers on the floor
to start the class. I had everything ready to start with the class since there
was a lot of material to work with. We completed the routine and I showed
them a box full of different school objects and every time that I showed them
one, for example glue, I asked them some questions such as: “What is this? Is
this glue? What can we do with glue? Can we cut with it? Can we stick with
it?”Of course that I encouraged them to answer and it is wonderful how

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children understand the language presented in a context and when the T uses
gestures and mimes the action. So, students did not have any issues to
understand the questions or to answer them.
Moreover, the students learnt two new words related with the exercise
explained before and then, we watched a video containing a very nice song about
school objects and what can we do with them. I stopped the video to ask them
some comprehensive questions, and they could answer them with any problem.
However, I noticed that I should apply some strategies for the entire class or
most of it answer the questions since some children were distracted. Even
though, in this particularly age children attention span is shorter. Another
aspect that I have noticed and my tutor as well, is that we watched the video
on my notebook and for some students were uncomfortable since the screen
was not big enough. Nevertheless, everybody could watch the video after I
organized them in a proper way.
Then, we watched another video about a teddy bear since they liked it a
lot and it is their “friend”. We watched twice and at the second time I asked
them to mime the bear’s actions, some of them did this and other students
were too concentrated on the screen so they only watched the video. After the
class finished, the tutor told me that it would be better if students watch the
video one time and in the second time they sing and mime the actions. I realized
that she was right!
To finish the class I showed them a poster that I have prepared to
express thanks and to say goodbye and we stuck it in the English Corner.
This group was a very nice one and I feel lucky to have the opportunity to
know them and to be their teacher.