Reflection

1. Secondary practicum reflection
What did I do?
I did my practices in 4th year of the secondary school, “Sagrado Corazon”. During my
first week as an observer I paid attention to different situations in the classroom. I
observedthe dynamics between the students and the teacher, how they worked in each
activity, how the teacher presented the main topic, strategies used by the teacher, how
students were sitting (in pairs, alone, in groups), the material that the teacher used, the
macro-skills developed during the lesson, etc. Besides, I interviewed the secretary and the
headmaster to know better the school. I made them different questions such as; how many
students assist to the school, what goals they have for this year and for the next, how the
school is organized, if they have meetings during the year , what their main purposes are for
the students, etc. All the answers helped me to know the school better and to develop a
complete institutional report.
How did I do it?
Every class, I entered to the classroom, greeted students and took the attendance. Then,
I started the lesson with an introduction and presentation about the main topic. I usually
used visual aids like posters, pictures, video, and paper strips to begin with the class. This
helped learners to understand what I was saying or asking and to follow me. These
resources also helped me to motivate students and so they wanted to know more about what
I was telling them. My first class was about a brief introduction of the situation of Africa in
1652. I used several pictures with dates, places, and words related to the topic. Then I
showed them a video about what Apartheid means and then they completed a text with all
the information that was presented. Although they had a low level they could work well and
finished the activity without problem and I think that this was because of the helping of the
posters. The next classes they worked with listening and reading tasks. My main objective
was to develop and to improve their listening and reading skills. In this class, I started to
develop reading skills by reading only some questions and the answer of them. I used a
simple strategy to motivate them to read. This was a game, they had to pass a ball and when
the music stopped the students who had the ball had to read a question and chose a mate to
say the answer. They liked the game and so they were so relax and read all very fluently
without being nervous. I also applied comprehension strategies to prepare them to read part
of a chapter alone and understand it without much problem. So, I asked them to look at the
title of a chapter, look up dates, places, names, words in bold, etc. They also listened to a
chapter and ordered the paragraphs and then they read them. The last classes, they
completed a chart to summarize a chapter and worked in groups to make a conceptual
network on a poster and presented it orally. Besides, I gave them homework and I added a
little difficulty in each class. One of the last homework was to read part of a chapter and did
a multiple-choice task. They could do it and I think that it was maybe for the previous
preparation that they had to read alone.

2. What can I do differently?
I believe that I have to organize the time better, I usually did not have enough time to
develop an activity and so I had to postpone part of the lesson for the next class. Besides, I
think that I have to improve the beginnings and endings of the lesson. Perhaps I need to
give a more fluent and connected introduction.
What plan should I implement?
I should implement a constructive and dynamic plan in which students have an active
participation in almost the entire class. I think that it is also important to include the four
macro-skills in each class and improve them step by step giving students several tools to
develop their abilities of reading, listening, writing, and speaking. I also think that the
warm-up period should include a brief and comprehensive introduction with visual aids
that helps the teacher to expose the main topic and helps students to understand better.
Then I will include one or two activities to exploit the develop period in which students
expand their knowledge and vocabulary and, at the same time, they develop one or two
of the macro/micro-skills. To conclude, I believe that homework is very important to keep
practising outside the school. I also think that it can be something easy to resolve that do
not frustrate learners and so they can resolve it by their own.