Final Assessment Report Kindergarten

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FINAL ASSESSMENT REPORT
KINDERGARTEN PERIOD
APRIL – MAY 2015
TUTEE: CynthiaEstebo
KINDERGARTEN PRACTICUM PERIOD: jardín de infantes
“José ManuelEstrada” (Punta Alta)
OBSERVERTEACHER: Tiara Rojo

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

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Introduction
During the months of April and May of 2015 I did my teaching residence in the
kindergarten“José Manuel Estrada” in Punta Alta, province of Buenos Aires. There, I put into
practice my background knowledge of the language as well as the subjects studied along the
career,especiallythe conceptslearntinDidactics,psychology,linguistics, among other fields I
studied during College. I choose this institution because it is the only one in my city that
integrates English as an extra programmatic subject for the kindergarten curriculum.
I taught toa heterogeneousgroup of 27 4 years old-students , which they had English
the previous year. The group was called “Lunitas” and belongs to the second section. The
regularteacher´sname wasRominaand the EnglishteacherwascalledTiara.Theyboth helped
me a lot and gave me advice not only for the group itself, but also they shared with me their
teachingexperience.Ihave to thank these teachers, the headmistress Patricia and the whole
school staff for receiving me with their arms wide open and for treating with such love and
respect.
The experience allowed me to display my theoretical knowledge and my teaching
philosophyintopractice.AsIhave nevertaught veryyounglearners, thistrainingperiod gave
me the opportunitytounderstandthisage level andrevisit some of my preconceived notions
aboutteaching. In the followingpaper,Iwill developandsummarize my reflections about my
practicum.

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Development
I will base myreflectionsaboutthe teachingexperienceonthe fourdimensionsof
reflectivelearning.
Thinking Back
The original aimof the teachingpracticumisto employ the concepts learnt during the
course of studies andputthemintopractice.Aswe are goingto devote outprofessional life to
teaching, we must learn to plan lessons and carry them out successfully in the classroom. I
basedmylessonplans on The Communicative approach and the PPP method; the resources I
used were to practice the language accordingly. Flashcards, songs, realia, craft activities and
games were the foundations to provoke communicative outcomes. Students loved the
materials which triggered their interaction between the materials and me. Their active
participationandtheiranswersinEnglishshowed me their progress and their involvement in
the class.
In order to deliver my classes effectively, I used my experience as a student and the
theoretical background knowledge to design the classes and to deliver them as well. As my
teaching purpose was to develop students’ ´communicative skills, I resorted to the
Communicative approach. Also, as the students were 4 years old, I tried to be funny to make
the classes more appealing. Beyond the technical support, love and comprehension was
needed, as they are so young that they still look for an emotional support.
This practicum period not only allowed me to see from firsthand experience what
teaching veryyounglearnersreallyis,butalsochallengedme to reflect on the study material
and transform it into a real class to be taught to children. Furthermore, it gave me the
opportunity to receive the love of the students and enjoy learning with them.
Thinking Forward
Of course,there are some things Iwoulddodifferentlyif I had the chance of doing my
residence knowing what I have learnt in this period. I would have searched for classroom
management tips with very young learners beforehand and avoid some issues I faced in the
firstclass.For instance,Iwouldhave talkedtothe childreninL1 before Iturned on the camera
and avoidstudentsgettingdistractedby itand wavingtoit insteadof singingthe “Hello Song”
withme.Nextpracticumperiod,Iwill do furtherresearchon the students ‘age to learn about
their behavior and manage them right from the start.
Basedon thisexperience,Iwoulddefinitely choose to work with very young learners.
Even though it could be really demanding and stressful, students love is the best reward. As
regards goals for the next practicum period, this experience gave me the opportunity to
understandthe interactionsthatare possiblewithinthe classroom.Iwill planmyclassestaking
into account the situations that might happen in the classroom. I will still use the
Communicative approach and the PPP method as it proved useful and real communicative
outcomes on the part of the students were produced.

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Thinking Inward
The experiencewasmeaningful tome notonlyprofessionallyandas a studentteacher,
but also as human being. Teaching very young learners changed the way I thought working
with children would be. I knew it would be hard work and that involved preparing loads of
material because their span of attention was short but I did not know it would be so
rewarding. Listening to 4-yearsold students understanding my commands in English and
answering accordingly shocked me in a way that encourages me to keep doing research on
very young learners’ acquisition and dreaming with the possibility to be able to work in a
kindergarteninanearfuture.Studentsmade me feel loveandtheyappreciatedthe activities I
prepared for them. Really, an amazing feeling!
In all, I believe that I developed my practicum coherently, putting into practice the
conceptslearnt throughoutthe course of studies.I tried to make lively, interesting and funny
classes,which students were able to learn and produce communicative outcomes, as well as
enjoy and have fun in the process. The experience showed me that the activities were
successful,eventhoughsome of themdidnotwork as I plannedbecause students were tired,
as an overall conclusion I think it worked out well for me.
Workingwithveryyounglearnerstaught me how very young learners think and feel.
There are no young children in my family and I had never worked with this age before, so it
was really a new discovery for me and an important challenge. Not only change the way I
believed young children were, but it also made me appreciate them even more. I was
positively surprised how quickly they learn and the ability to grasp information from
immediate context. They make inferences to understand what it is expected from them and
they are not afraid of making mistakes. In a way, I think they manage their learning process
betterthanus because theironlyworryisto learn,notthe mistakestheymake in the process.
I feltsurprisedall the time,theyamazedme withtheirspontaneousanswerand won my heart
with their love and their beautiful smiles.
Thinking Outward
As I developedthroughoutthispaper,the experience wasenrichingandsuccessful to
me.I have not encounterbigproblemsinthe process,onlythoseconnected tosome disrupt
behaviorconnectedtostudents’ tirednessortostudents’´lackof cooperative skillsastheyare
so young.Studentsare beginningtoacquire social skillsandstartingtoexperimentwith
materials,sothe fewproblemsIhadwere connectedtostudents‘developmentonly.The
teachersat the institutiontoldme thatitwasa normal situationandadvicedme touse
differentmaterialsorexplainedme how theyhave managedthose problemsinthe past.Itwas
great forme thattheyhave sharedtheirexperience withme.Ithelpedme alotunderstand
howto face those issueswhencomingintothe classroom.
These problemsgave me experience andmade me reflecton some future problemsI
mightfindwhenteachingveryyounglearners.The conclusions Idrew fromthis, will the
foundationsformyprofessional development.Fromnow onwards,Ihave an onsetexperience
to use as reference andconsultinthe future.

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Personal Conclusions
As an overall picture, I would say that my first practicum period was successful. I was
able to designandteachfive classesof 30 minutes each for a group of 27 4 years old students
who have had little but still some experience with English. I was able to propose and carried
out all the activitiesthatI have designed, even though some of them were a bit untidy at the
beginning,studentsdidthemsuccessfully at the end. They showed interest in the class, they
got involvedinthe tasksandtheyenjoyedthe Englishclass, what for me was one of the most
important. Also, their communicative outcomes were in English which I found wonderful.
I receivedgoodfeedback on the part of the English teacher and the rest of the school
staff congratulated me. I felt comfortable teaching there as the whole community was really
nice to me and helped me in everything I needed.
I know that there are still some aspects I need to improve and re-read some of the
didacticsmaterial learnedduringthe course of studies tomake myteachingbetter.Classroom
management was especially difficult for me at first because I had never taught very young
children.Thankstothe teachersat the institutionandthe advisesfrommy tutors I was able to
improve them.
Finally,the experiencehelpedme withmyteachingdevelopmentandchangedthe way
I understandchildren´s learning needs. Now, I can plan better classes knowing how students
actually think and behave inside the classroom.
In my fifth and last class I taught, I left the institution as a new person and teacher. I
learnt a lot about teaching very young learners and the love and appreciation you receive in
return. When I was walking the corridor of the school to leave the institution, they children
huggedme and waved saying“Goodbye”.Iwill neverforgetthe experience andtheirbeautiful
faces!.