Ana Eccheri reflects on her secondary level teaching practicum experience. She taught English to a class of 24 students of varying English ability levels at a private school in El Bolsón, Río Negro. The practicum challenged her ability to engage distracted students not used to classes taught entirely in English. Through using visual aids, group activities, and focusing on communication, she worked to fit different learning styles. While students enjoyed activities, she realized she should have better assessed their levels and planned simpler explanations. Overall, she learned the importance of reflection to improve teaching future classes.

1. Taller de Práctica Docente 2018
Tutora: Aurelia Velázquez
Reflection on my secondary level practicum period - Ana Eccheri
My Secondary Level Practicum Period was a very dynamic event as well as an exigent and
demanding experience which I enjoyed and appreciate since it enriched my comprehension
and ability to teach and work with young adolescents and also taught me that there is a
close reciprocity between looking back on past experiences and thinking forward to make
better ones.
My learning experience took place within a group of twenty-four students that are in the
first year of their secondary level education at Colegio Pascasio Moreno, a private school
located in El Bolsón, Río Negro. Although a small group of students have been in touch
with the English language for quite a while, most learners are at a very elementary level,
showing very limited knowledge of the target language.
During the time of my class observation, I came to realize that this practicum stage was
going to be the most challenging, as it was going to test my ability to attract the attention
of a large group of effervescent and very chatty young people who were also easily
distracted. What is more, I also noticed that the students were not used to classes in
which only English was spoken since the predominant language heard during the whole
lesson was Spanish.
While carrying my practice I made use of an ample range of resources trying to fit in with
the needs of all students as well as their different intelligences and learning styles. Due to
their basic level of English and as a means to facilitate lexical and structural
understanding, I mainly used and developed visual and audiovisual presentations and include
illustrations to most of the worksheets’ tasks. In addition, to foster communication and
collaboration, I included group activities that promote learning by doing such as puzzles
and projects.
Even though at times students got distracted and talkative and I had to call their
attention, I think that for the most part they enjoyed the lessons as by and large they
actively participated in all the activities, especially in those in which they had to work
collaboratively and help each other in order to achieve the expected goal.

2. In general, translating words or instructions was hardly necessary as in most cases the
same students provided the Spanish analogues for them. In addition, many learners who at
first were reluctant to an all English class, before long got familiar with it and developed a
thrill out of resolving their tasks.
During the whole experience, I learned from all the people involved in the process, from
my tutor recommendations, from the school’s principal suggestions, from my local observer
comments and observations, from my own thoughts and feelings and most importantly from
the reactions of the students to my performance as a teacher.
I had the opportunity to this practicum all over again, I would put more emphasis into
properly assess the level of understanding of the foreign language of all students right
from the beginning. Since my first impression was misguided by paying attention to those
who were quick to respond or eager to participate in class, I ended planning activities that
were a bit difficult for the less advanced students.
To promote engagement and avoid students’ frustration, another thing I would do is to look
into the type of activities students are not familiar with and prepare simpler and easier to
understand explanations.
Thinking retrospectively, I also found that to foster students’ involvement, I need to work
on making the change from one activity to the other more appealing and interesting and
also develop better classroom managing strategies, like making better choices when
dividing students into groups, so to encourage collaboration and more active participation
from both, less and more advanced students.
Reflecting on the experience I have learned that it may take a while for students to get
accustomed to listening to their teacher speak only English as well as to read texts to just
get the gist of it without having to translate word by word or to work in activities that
require real communication. However, I believe that if the teaching purpose is to
encourage language acquisition, stimulate students active participation in their own
learning process and also promote learning autonomy, it is worthy of consideration.
Bearing in mind all what I have mention, I think that the only way I have to be able to
make sense of my secondary practicum experience, is to properly close the reflective
circle by giving careful thought to all its aspects, those that did not go as planned and
need change or improvement as well as those that turned to be successful and met the
desired outcome. Undoubtedly, to improve myself so as to be a better teacher I must
always remember that using a critical eye when looking at past experiences is paramount to
make my future experiences more efficient, enjoyable and successful.