Journals

Name: Klein, Natalia Soledad.
DNI: 29.251.267.
Practicum Period : Third.
Escuela Secundaria Cet 24.
Observation N° 1.
Topic: Verb To be. (positive-negative)
Date: 29th May, 2015
I arrived at the school at 7.45 a.m. because I wanted to get ready when the teacher
called me to start the class. The bell didn´t ring since it was a change of hour and the
students hadn’t had any break. They waited for the next teacher in the classroom.
I waited for the teacher in the corridor because she was in another classroom giving
classes. The teacher introduced me and told the students why I was there. The students
received me perfectly and immediately they started asking questions to me about my
name, my surname, and so on.
Firstly, I sat next to the teacher because she wanted to show me some things from
the books. Then, I sat at the back of the classroom and I could observe the whole class. I
could observe that the students spoke very little in English and the teacher needed to use
Spanish to make them understand her. The teacher formulated a plan of work on the basis
of students’ needs. The students did the activities well but they are very active and the
teacher was always asking them to sit at their chairs.
The teacher checked every activity which was done. She did it orally and the key for
the activities were written on the board. The class finished and I spoke with the teacher
about the next observation class. She told about topics and vocabulary which could
appropriate to teach during the practicum.

DNI: 29.251.267.
Observation N° 2.
Topic: Verb To be. (positive-negative) + Jobs.
Date: 2nd June, 2015
I arrived at the school at 10,15 a.m. the lesson started at 10,30 a.m. The students
were at their break and most of them were listening to music or chatting on their cells. I
met the teacher in the teacher´s room. The bell rang and we came into the classroom. The
students were absent; they started appearing a few minutes later. It is very difficult to
make them enter immediately when the bell rings .
The class started and the teacher and I greeted the students. They were friendly but
they were moving all the time. It is difficult to make them be quiet. I sat at the back of the
classroom and I started observing the students and the whole class. The teacher started
revising the verb “to be” and the “jobs” orally with some sentences as My father is a ……
and the students should complete the sentences with the jobs. All the sentences were
written on the board and the students had to copy them.
The teacher tried to create an optimal environment to facilitate the process through
the language is learned but it was very difficult for a moments. When the class was
finishing, the teacher made sure that every activity had beenchecked. The students finished
the lesson with all their activities done and corrected.

DNI: 29.251.267.
Class N° 1.
Topic: Verb To be (positive-negative) and Jobs. (revision of topics asked by the teacher)
Date: 5th June, 2015
The class started at 8.10 in the morning. The students received me perfectly. The
teacher gave me some pieces of advice and she sat at the back of the classroom. She helped
me with the video since I had to film the first class. She was very friendly in doing it. I
prepared the class to teach new jobs and revise the verb to be (positive-negative forms). I
brought flashcards contrasting the positive and negative forms of the singular verb to be.
The students understood the idea of the activity and they paid special attention to the
pictures and the sentences. They practiced the verb to be orally making sentences with
people from Río Colorado. I tried to correct the pronunciation of the jobs. The students
tried to do their best.
Then, I tried to make them guess what the article was about through phrases and
extracts from the article. The guessing strategy worked very well and it encouraged them to
speak in English. When they read the article, they could confirm or deny their
expectations. Finally, I taught the students the negative form of the verb “to be”. It is new
for them. I wrote positive examples from the article on the board and they helped me to
write them into the negative forms. They learned the negative forms perfectly.
The only problem was that they couldn´t follow me explaining in English, I had to
use Spanish at timesduring the class in order to help them understand me. They made
sentences using people from Río Colorado as they did in the previous classes with their
teacher. During the class the students worked very well and they asked doubts about the
verb to be and the pronunciation of some jobs. I walked around the classroom, monitoring
their progress.
I had prepared three activities and the closure of the class but I could do only two
activities. Fortunately, I could check all the activities the students had done and they
finished the lesson with all the activities checkedon the board. In my following lesson plans
I will have to plan only two activities because the students took too much time to do the
activities. I will continue bringing flashcards because I could call their attention all the
time while I was explaining and they participated during the class.

DNI: 29.251.267.
Practicum Period : Secondary.
Class N° 2.
Topic: Verb To be (Interrogative form)
New Jobs.
The class started at 10.30 in the morning. The bell rang and the students came to
the classroom a bit later. The teacher and I were already in the classroom waiting for them.
The students sat in a semi-circle in order to foster interaction between them. They started
speaking about the band “Metro 5” presented in the previous class. It was very difficult but
not impossible. Fortunately, I exemplified and paraphrased in order to make them speak
about the band.
Then, I invited them to come to another classroom in the presentation stage where
they could play an interactive game. The game was projected on the wall. The students
enjoyed it because it was new for them; they never used the projector in the English
classes. After that, they worked on the new jobs and an interview, I explained to them the
new structure through the use of flashcards and eliciting answers from the learners. They
worked with the interview in pairs. They did the activities well. I tried to correct their
pronunciation as much as possible.
Finally, I invited the students to imagine they have their own famous band and
answer some questions about it. Some of the students shared their answers. The rest of the
class was still in silence. To sum up, the lesson was successful because the learners could
understand the new structure and they did the activities well. Also, they felt free to speak
when they had been in silence almost the whole lesson in the previous class. It was a
progress in the lesson. I will continue encouraging them to speak through different
strategies and make them feel comfortable during the class.

DNI: 29.251.267.
Class N° 3.
Topic: Places in the City
The class started at 8.10 and it finished at 8.50 in the morning. The students were
already in the classroom, so I asked them to sit in a semi-circle since the class was a bit
disorganized.
In the presentation stage, the students revised the verb to be into the positive,
negative and interrogative forms and also, they practiced personal questions. They started
working in a semi-circle but then they sat in pairs to do a worksheet about an article from
Río Colorado. They worked in pairs perfectly; they seemed to be more motivated than in
groups. I tried to encourage them to speak and read the sentences aloud in order to make
them feel comfortable and free within the classroom.
Finally, I think that the learners are more confident than in the other two classes
and they spoke a bit more class by class. This is one of my objectives since when I started
the practicum the students didn´t speak in English and the explanations were in Spanish.
In my third class, I could give a part of the explanation in English and they understood me.
I used strategies such as modelling, exemplifying, showing and paraphrasing in order to be
understood by them.

DNI: 29.251.267.
Class N° 4.
Topic: There is/There are (positive-negative)
The class started at 10.30 and it finished at 11.50 in the morning. It was a bit
difficult to order the students but finally, a few minutes later, the students sat on the
chairs. Once I could greet the students, I asked them to sit in a semi-circle as every class. It
facilitated the organization and the view of the board.
In the presentation stage the students revised and practiced the places in the city
seen in the previous class and they learned the new structure “there is/there are”. They
worked on an interview done to a neighbor of Río Colorado and they felt comfortable in
doing the activities since they were about their own city. There were some pronunciation
mistakes but they worked well. Also, they did an individual activity practicing the new
structure.
I gave a worksheet to each student. The strategies used were modelling, showing,
pointing, exemplifying. These types of strategies seemed to be useful in order to make the
students speak. When I gave them an example, they made sentences using my example and
they did it well. If I didn´t give them an example for the activity, they would feellost.
Finally, I asked them to sit in a semi-circle again to close to lesson. They worked on a
description of their favorite city and then, they shared their descriptions in front of the
class.
I think I will continue using those strategies to make the students speak and
encourage them to do the activities. The strategies function well but I should continue
working on speaking skills. Fortunately, they understood the complete explanation in
English using the strategies and they used very little Spanish during the lesson.

DNI: 29.251.267.
Period of the Practicum: Secondary.
Class N° 5.
Topic: There is/ There are (Interrogative form)
The class lasted 40 minutes and it started at 8.10 in the morning. The students were
already in their classroom since it was a change of hour and they couldn´t go out.
The teacher and I decided to film the second video that day since the students were
prepared to do that. During the three previous classes the teacher, who was observing me,
tried to film a few minutes from the class in order to make the students feel more
comfortable to do the real video in one of the following classes. The teacher suggested it
because the students became so nervous with the camera in the first class when the teacher
filmed the first video. Another problem was the language; the students were not prepared
to speak in English so I tried to encourage them to speak in English in the previous classes.
I taught them how to express in English and I made them understand me through different
strategies such as exemplifying, pointing, repetition, modelling and showing when I was
explaining a new topic in English since they were used to listening to the explanations in
Spanish.
Fortunately, the students were comfortable and friendly during the class and I
could explain the new topic in English and they could understand me well. It was very
important that they could be able to understand me explaining in English because they
made a progress in their learning. The video was filmed without stops and I tried to use all
the possible strategies in order to make myself understood by them. The teacher who was
filming stopped the video when the secretary entered into the classroom to give some news
to the students. I gave a worksheet with the description of San Martin de los Andes and I
taught the interrogative form taking into account the description given before. The
students understood it well and they could do the two activities proposed. They asked all
their doubts. I adapted one activity which was proposed by the teacher before entering the
class. I couldn´t do the closure since the bell rang before.
To sum up, I think the strategies were effective . They understand me when I am
speaking in English taking into account they spoke a very little in the first class. I will
continue using different strategies and using visual aids which take the students’ attention
all the time while I am explaining.

DNI: 29.251.267.
Period of the Practicum: Secondary.
Class N° 6.
Topic: Places in the house.
When I arrived at 10.20 in the morning, the students were in another classroom
doing a different activity in the previous subject. The bell rang at 10.30 a.m. and they went
to the break. The teacher and I waited for them in the corridor up to the moment when the
bell rang. Then the students came to their own classroom.
I started the lesson revising the interrogative form of the structure “there is/ there
are” since I couldn´t give them their homework in the previous class. They did a role-play
using Rio Colorado, Médanos, Bahía Blanca and other cities which they had visited. Then,
they sat in a semi—circle and I presented the parts of the house through flashcards using
the colors. Immediately, I introduced the new question form “how many…”. They
understood the explanation well.
After that, they did two more activities and they did them in groups and in pairs.
There were students who prefer to work individually. The teacher told me that they were
used to doing it. They worked perfectly together and individually. They interacted among
them and asked doubts freely. There were students who asked in English and others who
asked in Spanish and when I answered in English, they continued speaking as much as
possible in English. I could control and check all the activities. There are pronunciation
mistakes but I tried to correct them and I asked them to repeat the correct pronunciation
after me .
Finally, I think that the strategies are working well and I will continue using them.
Also, the flashcards are very important since I could catch their attention during the
explanation. The students are improving a lot class after class. I am happy because I could
make them speak and understand the foreign language.

DNI: 29.251.267.
Third Period.
Escuela Cet n° 24.
Class N° 7
Topic: Furniture and Prepositions.
Date: 26th June, 2015.
The class startedat 8.10 inthe morningand itlasted40 minutes.Itfinishedat8.50 in the
morning.The studentswere alreadyinthe classwaitingforthe teacherandme.The classwas
friendlyandthe studentswere quietandtheysatintheirchairsas soonas we came intothe
classroom.
The lessonwasbasedon newvocabularyrelatedtofurniture andprepositions.Inthe
warm-upthe studentsrevisedthe given structure withthe introductionof the furniture withthe
prepositions.Theywere interestedinthe new vocabularyandthe startedtalkingabouttheirown
furniture.Some of the studentsspoke inEnglishandothersspoke inSpanishandIansweredin
Englishtryingtoencourage themtospeakin Englishanditwas successful.Theycouldmake
sentencesusingthe prepositionswiththe classroomfurniture suchaschairs,doorsand windows.
The studentscoulddoall the activitiesandIcouldcheckall of them.I wrote all the answersonthe
board inorderto make themcheck theirownactivitiesfreely.Iinvitedthe studentstointeract
amongthemand it wasgreat since theytriedtomake dialoguesspeakingabouttheirfurniture
and houses.
The class finished fantastically.The learnerswereinterestedinthe new vocabularyand
the prepositions.

DNI: 29.251.267.
Third Period.
Escuela Cet n° 24.
Class N° 8
Topic: Family Members and Verb “have got” (positive/negative)
Date: 30rd June, 2015.
I arrivedat the school at 10.30 inthe morning.The teacherandI waitedforthe studentsinsidethe
classroomsince theycame fromthe break andtheyarriveda bitlate and it wasdifficultto
organize them.
The lessonwasaboutfamilymembersandthe new verb“have got”in the positive and
negative;singularandplural forms.Ibroughtthemphotographsof my ownfamilyand
immediatelytheygotinterestedinthe new topic.Some of themknew myfamilysotheyaskedme
questionsinSpanishandI corrected theminorderto ask me intoEnglish.The lessonwasbasedon
the listeningandspeakingskills.Iwantedtoimprove theirspeakingskillsmakingthemrole-play
and speak amongthemabouttheirownfamilies.
I continuedworking withthe vocabularyrelatedtofamily.Fortunately,theywere
motivatedwiththe songIbroughtto themand theylistenedtoitcarefullyandtheytriedtodothe
activitieswhile theywere listeningasIaskedthembefore startingthe activity.Theymade some
pronunciationmistakes whichIcorrectedimmediately andthe new grammartopicwas acquired
perfectly.Icouldcheckall the activities.
Finally,the studentscouldspeakabouttheirfamiliesandinteractamongthem.Itwas
fantasticsince itwas one of my objectivesfrommyfirstclassbecause the studentsspoke very
little English.

DNI: 29.251.267.
Third Period.
Escuela Cet n° 24.
Class N° 9
Topic: Family Members and Verb “have got” (interrogative form)
Date: 3rd July, 2015.
It was mylast class.I arriveda bitearlyat the school since I wantedtotalkto the
headmaster.He congratulatedme andhe felthappybecause he couldgive me the opportunityto
finishmy careerinhisinstitution.
The class startedat 8.10 inthe morningand itfinishedat8.50 in the morning.The
studentswere waitingforthe teacherandme.The lessonwasbasedonthe introductionof the
interrogative formof the verb“have/hasgot”.Ibroughtthema familydescriptionfromaboy who
was livinginLondon.Ifounditinthe book calledTeens1. The studentswere interestedinthe
descriptionandthey acquired the new questionstructure well andtheycoulddo the role-plays
greatly.Some of the pairsof studentsstoodatthe front anddid theirrole-playsandotherswere a
bitshy andtheyonlyread themfromtheirchairs.
I couldcheckall the activities.Whenthe bell rangtogo to the break,everyone gave me abighug
and theytoldme that theywill missme inthe followingclasses.Ifinishedthe classcryingandthey
gave me a beautiful picturewithall theirnameswrittenandlotsof heartsdrawninit. Itwas a
fantasticexperience andthe studentswerefriendlyandtheyfeltcomfortable whichwasvery
importantforme

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