solange cortese

1. Final reflection: From my start of the year expectations to what I learnt during
my practicum. Solange Cortese.
Looking back at the short reflection with our hopes and fears that we wrote at the
beginning of the year, I want to highlight a specific fragment that I consider
particularly relevant and analyze it:
“I hope to acquire the skills needed to become a successful teacher and to
make lessons meaningful for students.
However, I have to admit that the idea of being in front of a class still makes
me a bit nervous.”
Down below, I’m going to divide the fragment in smaller bits and comment on them.
“I hope to acquire the skills needed to become a successful teacher”: During
the whole year, we have learned a lot of useful concepts to apply in our classrooms.
Just to mention a few, Scaffolding by Bruner; Multiple Intelligences theory by
Gardner; Jeremy Harmer's Theory of Motivation; Total Physical Response method,
Classroom management; and so on. Undoubtedly, these concepts have been
extremely practical and changed completely our perception of teaching. However,
theory is not enough when it comes to teaching. In order to acquire the skills needed
for teaching, we need both theory and practice. Also, we have to bear in mind that
each classroom is a unique different word and not all theory can be applied in the
same contexts. Only through experience we can become flexible enough to adapt
ourselves to the different classroom environments.
“and to make lessons meaningful for students.” If at the beginning of the year, I
would have been asked to plan activities for an english class, I would have came up
with the typical activities such as: fill-in the blanks, matching, etc. That’s the way we
have been taught and we take for granted that’s the only way, but actually those
activities don’t promote any critical thinking skills or production skills and they are
dull and empty. But thanks to Barboni’s theory, we have learned that lessons can be

2. meaningful if the students’ local context is taken into account. Grammar notions are
still present because they are part of the language, but they become concrete and
meaningful as long as they are related to students’ lives. Considering the success of
our Intercultural project, I can affirm that this expectation has been fulfilled.
“However, I have to admit that the idea of being in front of a class still makes
me a bit nervous.”: Our first experience as teachers has not only impacted
favorably on our teaching skills but also on our self-esteem. Standing in front of a
class has improved our presence as teachers, as well as, it helped with our oral
presentation.
After recapping my expectation for the year, I can say that my past self would be
proud.