- The document describes a trainee teacher's observations and reflections from her first five English lessons with kindergarten students. - In her first lesson, she was nervous but enjoyed getting to know the students. She realized aspects like timing needed improvement. - Subsequent lessons covered topics like wild animals and colors. The trainee experimented with techniques like using images and group work. - Throughout the lessons, the trainee focused on student engagement and used feedback to strengthen her teaching strategies and lesson planning.

1. Instituto de Formación Docente Continua
Lenguas Vivas Bariloche (A-052)
Profesorado de Inglés – Opción pedagógica a distancia
Subject: Taller de la Práctica docente
Tutors´ names: Cecilia Zemborain and Aurelia Velazquez
Student's name: Gisela Restivo
Assignment: My Journal- Period 1

2. Trainee´s name: Gisela Restivo
Practicum level: Kindergarten
Group: 5 years old
Date: Monday 25th April
Observation
Today I went to the kinder and it was a fantastic experience. There are 15 students who
are really kind. They are very active, talkative and they seem to enjoy all the activities.
They were working on wild animals, after they
listened to a song, they prepared a mask of an
animal and they were supposed to say “I´m a ....”
while wearing their masks.
As regards to the classroom and the class time, the
room is small and they only have 30 minutes of
class, so time runs!
I cannot choose a special event or moment; in fact,
the whole class was valuable as I could know the
students and their space. I observed how they work
and their teacher let me know what the following content to be taught is. Therefore, I am
in conditions of starting the development of my lesson plans.
Next Monday, I will go again and we will tell the students that I will be their teacher the
next five classes. I will pay special attention to their names, so that they feel comfortable
with me.

3. Trainee´s name: Gisela Restivo
Practicum level: Kindergarten
Group: 5 years old
Date: Monday 9th May
Class 1
Section 1: Describing the lesson as it unfolds
What aspects of the lesson require change / improvement?
Well, there are many things to change since I am not so happy with this first class. To
begin with, as you have suggested, I need to provide a meaningful context to introduce
new items. In fact, I have already been working on that lesson plan.
Moreover, I need to improve the timing of lesson because, in this opportunity, the activities
demanded less time than expected.
Section 2: Making sense of the lesson through relevant lived experiences
Choose a moment that was important for you during the lesson. Describe it and say why it
was important.
Without doubts, the moment I entered into the classroom was very important. I was really
nervous, not because of the idea of working with young learners, but due to the fact of
being observed by the everyday miss of the children, by their teacher of English and by
you through my cell phone! Then, after a few minutes, I forgot and I tried to enjoy myself.
Section 3: Interpreting the lesson in words and images
Describe this lesson in terms of a metaphor.
My first time…It was like the first time I got into a classroom to teach English. Although I
have been teaching for many years, I could feel as nervous as that time.
In addition, the idea of beginning the practicum, reminds me that I am near the end of this
four years race!

4. Trainee´s name: Gisela Restivo
Practicum level: Kindergarten
Group: 5 years old
Date: Monday 16th
May
Class 2
Section 1: Describing the lesson as it unfolds
What pedagogical principles supported the planning and delivery of this lesson?
The lesson plan was developed under the light of Communicative approach and it followed
the stages of the PPP procedure (presentation, practice, production). At the beginning,
students were presented the topic with a photo of the wolf, and then there was practice as
they were doing the activity. In fact there was not production from students, but they will
continue working with parts of the body the following classes.
Section 2: Making sense of the lesson through relevant lived experiences
Choose a moment that was important for the students during the lesson. Describe it and
say why it was important.
Well, I think that listening to the story was a nice moment for them. Their Miss told me that
they love stories; however they are not so used to being told stories in English.
Although they were not so comfortable and they were very talkative at the beginning, they
were able to pay attention and enjoy the story.
Section 3: Interpreting the lesson in words and images
This is a photo of Delfi´s wolf. Delfina was very concentrated while she was doing the
activity. She could repeat phrases such as “the wolf´s nose or the teeth”, before I gave her
the parts of the face to stick.
I laughed a lot with the wolf ´faces! Some of them seemed crazy or dangerous wolves, but
this one seems inoffensive! Don’t you think??

5. Trainee´s name: Gisela Restivo
Practicum level: Kindergarten
Group: 5 years old
Date: Monday 23 rd May
Class 3
Section 1: Describing the lesson as it unfolds
What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
As the previous class, I used my tablet in order to show my students some images. I
decided to use it as a flashcard, because I am not able to print in colour at home. This
resource resulted really comfortable due to its portability; it allowed me to show colourful
pictures in order to present the target vocabulary. Moreover, I consider that using well
known characters helped me to create an engaging context.
Section 2: Making sense of the lesson through relevant lived experiences
Choose a moment that was important for the students during the lesson. Describe it and
say why it was important.
Showing their monsters was an important moment for them. They always look for my
approval when they finish their tasks. They say: “te gusta seño?”, for example.
However, to tell you the truth, it was difficult for me to make them talk. In addition, it was
really funny to hear: “three ojos”, as an answer to the question: How many eyes has it got?
Section 3: Interpreting the lesson in words and images
Choose a quotation that represents an event, knowledge, insight in this lesson.
When re reading the materials of previous years, I found this quotation which helps me to
develop my class. In their book “Success in English Teaching”, the authors Pearse and
Davies state: “If Communication in English is to be perceived by the learners as the main
goal of the course, English should be used for real communication as much as possible.
This means introducing English for genuine communication early in the course, for
example, that needed for routine greeting, instructions and request.”
This quotation reminds me the importance of speaking as much as possible. As you,
know, it is a big challenge for me and I am working hard in order to establish English as
the language of the class.

6. Trainee´s name: Gisela Restivo
Practicum level: Kindergarten
Group: 5 years old
Date: Monday 30th
May
Class 4
Section 1: Describing the lesson as it unfolds
How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and the materials? How did
they react to the lesson?
Students are always enthusiastic but today they were a bit more. They enjoyed the lesson
and they liked the materials. When they entered into the class, they noticed the animals on
the wall.
I followed your suggestion of taking something to the class, to use it as binoculars and I
also changed phrases into visual aids as prompts to elicit sentences, as you told me and it
worked!.
Section 2: Making sense of the lesson through relevant lived experiences
Choose a moment that was important for the students during the lesson. Describe it and
say why it was important.
The song was a nice moment for them and for me, too. As far as I know, they listened to it
in a previous activity (I do not know if the last year or during the current year), so, I think
they found it familiar. However, this time they were supposed to perform a different task
during it
For me, it was fantastic to see their eyes when they discovered which animal was being
named.
Section 3: Interpreting the lesson in words and images
Include a photo of a moment in the lesson
Here, I leave you a photo of the materials I prepared for the
class, the set of flashcards and the cards of the game. Despite
the fact it took me a lot of time to prepare them, it was really
worth doing because I felt students were engaged during the
lesson!

7. Trainee´s name: Gisela Restivo
Practicum level: Kindergarten
Group: 5 years old
Date: Monday 6th
June
Class 5
Section 1: Describing the lesson as it unfolds
What teaching strategies did you use? Which ones were effective? Why / why not?
During this lesson, I activated students’ previous knowledge. Learners have already learnt
colours, so, when I showed them the pictures of the different clothes, I asked “What colour
is the scarf’” and they could answer successfully.
Moreover, as previous classes, I applied to cooperative work. I gave students the
opportunity of working in groups and so that they learn from each other.
Section 2: Making sense of the lesson through relevant lived experiences
Choose a moment that was important for you during the lesson. Describe it and say why it
was important.
In fact, the entire lesson was special because it was the last one! I enjoyed it a lot. When I
finished, I thanked the teacher for opening me the doors of their Kindergarten.
The fact that I have finished the first period makes me feel that I am nearer the end!
Section 3: Interpreting the lesson in words and images
Choose a quotation that represents an event, knowledge, insight in this lesson.
Cristina Crego, our teacher of Literature, explains many reasons to use Literature in the
English class. She claims that Literature is motivating; it expands language awareness and
helps teachers to integrate the four skills.

8. And that knowledge becomes true during this lesson! Students listen carefully to the story
and then they could answer some questions about it. I could notice them motivated
because they could understand a story in English and use the language to answer about it!