Journal 3

1. My journal 3
First entry
Date: 29th April
Today was my first observation class at a secondary school. I got
into the classroom and, as students already know me from last year, I
didn't need to be introduced by the teacher. At first students asked me many
questions about our future lessons but then they immediately got to work.
The teacher let me explain them that I had to do my practicum and they
were pleased to help me. Then, the class continued normally, they were
revising old vocabulary so everyone was relaxed. The teacher seems to
have a good relationship with the students and they like her very much.
However, the way the teacher manages the classroom is very different from
the one we've been taught: she speaks Spanish and allows students to
express theirselves in their mother tongue, but I remember from last year
that they won't have major problems when speaking in English. Finally, I
got out the classroom when the lesson finished and some of the students
told me that they were happy to see me again.
Second entry
Date: 8th May
This was my second observation at a secondary school. Once more, I
got into the classroom and sat at the back and watched the whole lesson.
Students were doing a task which was very important as the mark was
going to be taken into account for the report card. They had the chance to
do it in pairs, but in general they are used to work alone, they are always
sitting in six columns looking at the board as it is a rule imposed by the
school. During the lesson, the teacher was sat in her place, at the front of
the classroom, checking some activities done in other years.
Third entry
Date: 13th May
Well, today was my first practice lesson, and I'm really happy as
everything turned out great! The students are very hard workers, they are
very quiet and responsible. They enjoy helping each other and ready to
participate when it is needed. They love reading the exercises out loud to
check all together the tasks and when they don't understand what I'm

2. explaining or what they have to do, they always rise their hands and ask
me. They are very different when they work with me, they participate much
more, and in English! Today I come back home with a huge smile in my
face.
Fourth entry
Date: 15th May
Today we continued learning the Simple Past, but this time I added
the different rooms of a house, and as many of them go to English Schools
they already knew the topic. We practiced through pictures, a video they
loved, even they wanted to watch it twice! And we all together helped the
students that didn't know the topic, but they were only five. As it seems
usual, they wanted to read the dialogue we heard on the video, and as I had
a printed copy they recreated the situation observed in the video. The same
happened with the dialogue in activity 2 between Sophia and her Mum,
they asked me to read it out loud once they finished the task. These
students love participating and they do it very well, so me as teacher can
see they are really paying attention and acquiring the new vocabulary, even
those five students that started from zero with the topic.
Fifth entry
Date: 20th May
This was my first recording lesson, so I was a bit nervous and, as it is
usual, students were nervous too. They need to know that I'm recording the
lesson as they are used to walk around the classroom to ask for an eraser, a
pencil or a pencil sharpener, so they must know they couldn't appear in the
recording. The lesson was fine, quieter than usual as they felt a bit shy as
they were intimidated by the camera, but it didn't prevent them from
working hard as usual. The timing was right and by the end of the lesson I
was surprised when students told me they love my lessons and that's why
they like helping me so much.
Sixth entry
Date: 22nd May
Today it was my third experience, and the topic taught was
countable and uncountable nouns and like+ing. Once more, these students

3. didn't have any problem to understand and acquire the new vocabulary, and
all the activities were completed on time. They still continue being very
talkative and they shouted as usual. When I tried to explain anything and a
student said something wrong, immediately his mates shouted at him the
explanation, so I didn't have the chance to explain it by myself, as students'
corrections were right! This is something that seems to happen in all
subjects.
Seventh entry
Date: 4th November
Well, I had recorded the lesson today, and I think it was amazing!
These students behaved like they had never done before, apparently the
camera worked like a kind of pressure and they felt they had to be excellent
students, so they didn't shout! They worked as always, and their
proficiency level was the same, but this time the lesson was quieter than
before, so I could explain everything without yelling. Working in pairs was
a good idea as they could chat a bit while they worked. The topic taught
was like and would like, we talked about food preferences and they
practiced dialogues to improve the speaking skill.
Eight entry
Date: 7th November
Today I observed the lesson in first year B, I sat at the back of the
classroom and talked to some of the students to try to get to know them a
bit, as I only had this class to watch. The level of the class is lower than in
first year A, but the difference is that these kids are lovely! They asked
what they didn't understand, they paid attention and made silence every
time the teacher asked for it, so I think it will be a nice experience teaching
the last lesson in this class.