Cynthia completed her teaching practicum at a secondary school in Punta Alta, Buenos Aires, Argentina. She taught English to a group of 26 17-year-old students over four 120-minute classes. While there were challenges in maintaining student motivation and dealing with disruptions, Cynthia was able to successfully design and carry out engaging lesson plans focused on developing students' communicative skills. This experience helped Cynthia gain insight into teaching teenagers and strengthened her teaching abilities, though she recognizes there is still room for improvement. Overall, Cynthia found the experience extremely rewarding in helping her better understand adolescent learners and feeling appreciated by the students.

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TUTEE: CYNTHIA ESTEBO
SECONDARY SCHOOL: E.E.S Nº 5 “BENITO ANGEL FACETTI”
LOCAL OBSERVER: VIRGINIA FERRER
TUTOR: CECILIA ZEMBORAIN

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* INTRODUCTION………………………………..………………………....PAGE 3
* DEVELOPMENT…………………………………………………………. PAGE 4
* PERSONAL CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………….PAGE 6

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Introduction
During the month of November I did my secondary school practicum in E.E. S. nº 5
“Benito Angel Facetti”, in the city of Punta Alta, in the province of Buenos Aires. There, I put
intopractice my backgroundknowledgeof the language as well as the subjects studied along
the course of studies, especially the knowledge I acquired in the subjects of Psychology,
Didactics, Language, Linguistics and Teaching Practice. I chose this institution because it is a
veryimportantsecondaryschool inmytown,witha verybiginfrastructure thatofferedme the
possibility of teaching with lots of resources available.
I delivered my classes to a heterogeneous group of 26 students, mainly composed of
girls,of about17 yearsold.The students‘level of English was between pre-intermediate and
intermediate,eventhoughsome studentswerebelowthatlevel. This 6th
3rd
course was taught
by Virginia Ferrer, who helped me and gave me advice on the group´s dynamics. I have to
thank her for receiving me with their arms wide open and for treating me with respect.
This experience allowed me to see at firsthand how to work with a large group of
teenagers,andatthe same time,displaymy theoretical knowledge and develop my teaching
philosophy. This training period gave me the opportunity to understand this age group and
revisitsome of my preconceived notions about teaching. I found it quite hard to plan for a 2-
hour class, but this experience faced me with the challenge of achieving the objective of
planning long classes. In the following paper, I will develop and summarize my reflections
about my practicum.

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Development
I will base my reflections about the teaching experience on the four dimensions of
reflective learning.
ThinkingBack
The original aim of the teaching practicum was to employ the concepts learnt during
my course of studies and put them into practice. As we are going to devote our professional
life to teaching, we must learn to plan lessons and carry them out successfully in the
classroom.Ibasedmy lessonplansonThe Communicativeapproach and the PPP method; the
resources I used were intended for the learners to acquire, practice and learn the language
accordingly. Stories, the songs, the video extract, group and pair work activities and games
were the foundations provokecommunicative outcomes. Students loved the materials which
triggeredtheirinteraction amongthemandwithme as well.Ibelieve that students found the
activities engaging as they participated actively in class and their answers in English showed
me their progress and their involvement in the tasks.
I usedmy personal experience asastudentandthe theoretical backgroundknowledge
to design the classes and to deliver them in a way it was interesting for them and that
maintained their motivation high. As my teaching purpose was to develop students’
´communicative skills, I resorted to the Communicative approach. Also, as the students were
about17 yearsold,I triedtobe resourceful enoughtopropose tothemactivitiesconnectedto
their likes and to make the classes more appealing. Of course, I needed to do some class
surveythroughvery simple questions in order to know what they liked, and then, I did some
research on music bands and topics that are in fashion for teens nowadays. Beyond the
technical support, I offered them comprehension, and showed myself open for them to feel
comfortable and speak to me in case they needed me.
This practicum period not only allowed me to experience what teaching teenagers
really is, but also challenged me to reflect on the study material and transform it into a real
class to be taught to this age group. Furthermore, it gave me the opportunity to receive the
love of the students and enjoy learning with them.
ThinkingForward
To be honest,there are some thingsIwoulddodifferently if I had the chance of doing
my practicumknowingwhat I have learnt in this period. I would have searched for classroom
management tips as regards unmotivated students, who did not want to participate in class,
and avoidsome issuesIfacedin the first class. For instance, I would look for a more engaging
game than the one I did for the first class, where these students felt connected to and
naturallywantto participate inclass.Next practicum period, I will do further research on the
students ‘age to learn about their behavior and manage them right from the start. Also, I
would have looked for a box or some other container where students should put away their
cell phones during the class, as they were constantly distracted by this device.
Basedon thisexperience,Iwouldchoose toworkwith teenagers.Eventhoughitcould
be hard-work,students’progressindevelopingtheirlanguageskillsisthe bestreward.As

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regardsgoalsfor the thisexperience gave me the opportunitytounderstandthe interactions
that are possible withinthe classroom. Iwill planmyclassestakingintoaccountthe situations
that mighthappeninthe classroom.Iwill tryout otherapproachessuchas CLIL, TBL and
Project-based,butalwaysunderthe umbrellaof the Communicative approach.Ithinkthat
exploringtheseothers,itwoulddevelopmyteachingskills.
ThinkingInward
I mustadmitthat I was a bit worriedaboutteachingteenagers,becauseIthoughtthat
it wouldbe hard-worktomotivate them.But,actually,thismeaningful experience surprised
me positively.Ithelpedme notonlyprofessionallyandasa studentteacher, butalsoas human
being.Teachingadolescentlearnerschangedthe wayIthoughtworkingwiththemwouldbe.I
knewitwouldbe challenging,that the experience woulddemand fromme preparingloadsof
materialsasthe classeswere long,butI didnotknow it wouldbe sorewarding. Eventhough
studentswere notusedtospeakinginEnglish,Iwassohappy to discover theywere able to
use the language to answerandsolve the tasksI presentedtothem.Theyreallymade the
efforttocomplywiththe activitiesanduse the language neededforthem. Thisexperience
encouragesme tokeepdoing researchonadolescents´acquisition,maintainingtheir
motivationand dreamingwiththe possibilityof being able toworkina secondaryschool ina
nearfuture.Students made me feel comfortable andaccepted,as they showedinterestforthe
activitiesIpreparedforthem.Really,itleftme withasense of achievement!
In an overall view, I could say that I developed my practicum coherently, putting into
practice the conceptslearntthroughoutthe course of studies.Itriedto make lively,interesting
and motivating classes in which students were able to learn and produce communicative
outcomes, as well as enjoy the class in the process. The experience showed me that the
activitieswere successful, even though some of them did not work as I planned due to many
interruptions, but, in all, I think it worked out well for me.
Workingwithadolescentstaughtme how these learners think and feel. It was really a
newdiscoveryforme andan importantchallenge tosee how to manage teenagers’ ´interests
and use them to plan effective classes. Not only did the experience change the way I saw
adolescents,butitalsomade me appreciate themevenmore.Iwaspositivelysurprised to see
howquicklytheydeveloptheiroral skillsandthe ability to grasp information from immediate
context, especially from the texts I presented to them. They make inferences to understand
what it is expected from them, although some of them were afraid of making mistakes. It is
comprehensible as I learnt from previous studies that teenagers always feel awkward when
they feel exposed. I felt amazed all the time by their spontaneous, and sometimes funny,
answers.Theyleftme withasense of achievement and taught me that any group of students
can be awesome if they are effectively guided.
ThinkingOutward
This paper shows my conclusions and describes how enriching and successful this
experience was to me. I have not encountered big problems in the process, only those
connected to some disruptive behavior connected with students’ tiredness or to students’
´lack of motivationasa natural characteristicof thisage.Studentsare finishingschool,somost
of theirworrieswere connectedonwhatwouldhappenthe following year: university courses
or getting jobs, etc. The local observer teacher told me that it was a normal situation and
advised me to be patient and understand their situation, as their minds were focused on

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somethingelseotherthanschool.Itwasgreat forme that she sharedherexperience with me.
It helped me a lot to understand how to face those issues when coming into the classroom.
These problemsgave me experience andmade me reflectonsome future problemsI
mightfindwhenteachingthisage grouplearners.The conclusionsIdrew fromthiswill laythe
foundationsformyprofessional development.Iamreallygrateful tothe local observer,tomy
tutor whoguidedme inthe whole processandproposedtome activitiesforreflectionsuchas
thisreport,the journal writing.Thiswouldbe myreferencematerialwhenI beginteaching
once I get mydegree.Fromnowonwards,Ihave an onsetexperience touse asreference and
consultinthe future.
Personal Conclusions
As an overall picture,Iwouldsay that my practicum period was successful. I was able
to design and teach four classes of 120 minutes each for a group of 26 17-year-old students
who have had some experience with English. I was able to propose and carry out all the
activitiesthatIdesigned,eventhoughsome of themwere notcompleted as there were many
interruptions on the part of the authorities, “Centro de Estudiantes” students, “preceptora”
and so on.I believethatstudentsdidthemsuccessfully inthe end.Theyshowedinterestinthe
class,theygot involvedinthe tasksandtheyenjoyedthe Englishclass,whatfor me was one of
the most important aspects. Also, their communicative outcomes were in English which I
foundwonderful,asthey were not used to using the language to fulfill the tasks and interact
among them.
I receivedgoodfeedbackonthe partof the Englishteacher and my tutor as well, even
though I had to make corrections on my lesson plans. These corrections were useful to learn
and reflect on how to do it better in the future. Also, the tutor´s comments on my journal
helpedme reflectonmyweakpointsandimprove those pedagogicalaspectsIhad not noticed
before. The local observer teacher and my tutor´s guidance definitely helped me in my
teaching development, as I would have never been able to achieve it without their loving
guidance and their expertise.
I knowthat there are still aspectsIneed to improve and re-read some of the didactics
material learned during the course of studies to make my teaching better, but I am sure this
experience and my own reflections are essential components for a more efficient teaching.
Maintainingmotivationamongadolescents was particularly hard for me at first because I had
never taught a two-hour class before. In a near future, when I have another experience
teaching teenagers, I would use strategies such as establishing short-term goals in which
students have an immediate sense of achievement, where they can visualize their
achievementsandprovide them with positive feedback afterwards, highlighting their strong
pointsandencouragingthemtowork uponthe weakones.But most importantly, I believe if I
show them my passion for the language and plan interesting classes for them connected to
their reality, it would be highly contagious!. Thanks to the local observer teacher and the
advice from my tutors I was able to improve them.
Finally,the experiencehelpedme withmyteachingdevelopmentandchanged the way
I understandteenagersattheirlastschool year learning needs. Now, I can plan better classes

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knowinghowstudentsactuallythinkandbehave inside the classroom. As I did some research
before coming into class, I had an overview of they were going to be like. Then, the
observation class allowed me to know the group´s dynamic and the teacher´s pedagogical
choices.But,actuallydeliveringthe classes, gave aclearperspectiveon what it really was. The
experience taught me how to deal with unexpected issues in class, even though I prepared
myself beforehand.
In my last classI taught,I leftthe institutionasanew person and teacher. I learnt a lot
aboutteachingadolescentlearnersandthe appreciation youreceive inreturn.When the class
finished, I thanked the students for their collaboration and they greeted me with a warm
goodbye. Also, they asked me more questions on how distance learning was and what other
options for being a teacher were available. This showed me that they trusted me and that
they felt comfortable enough to see me as someone who can give them advises on choices
connected to their futures. Invaluable experience!!