The student reflects on their experience completing a practicum at a secondary school. They observed a quiet and shy group of pre-intermediate English students. This experience helped the student think of strategies to engage introverted and extroverted students alike, such as using varied resources like videos and pictures. The student created lesson plans focused on communication and including skills and learning styles. Students seemed motivated by the planned activities. The observer was supportive and the student worked to improve lessons after reflection. Overall, the practicum experience helped the student gain confidence in their teaching ability.

1. • Taller de Práctica Docente – Aurelia Velázquez
• Mandatory Assignment –Reflective Cycle (by David Kolb)
• Student: Paula Pilotti
Personal reflection: Secondary Practicum
My experience in the secondary school “Gustavo Martinez Zuviría” as a trainee let
me know myself better and try my creative side as a teacher.
The observation period, was relevant for the following stage of the lessons plan.
The group of students I met was quiet and shy and the context they were learning
in was positive to develop different kind of activities including varied resources.
As I observed in the three levels, there were some extroverted students and
some introverted ones. This characteristic made me think about the use of
different strategies to join them and improve their speaking skills exploring
actual topics to generate debate between them. The resources they have in the
school, such as a projector, loudspeakers and a movable white board, were useful
to work. Moreover, I consider them necessary to arouse interest in the group and
they allowed me to plan motivating activities. Some other characteristic related to
the group of students is their level of English which is “pre-intermediate”. From
the point of view of their listening skills I consider they easily manage those
activities that involve the comprehension of tasks since their teacher speaks
English all the time and they were acclimated when I taught. Anyway, at the
beginning they had some problems to read aloud, to come to the board and create
personal opinions. For that reason, I focused my attention on speaking activities to
make them participate actively. Themes like emotions, feelings, empathy and
dreams were included in my lesson plans to reflect about their own life and create
a comfortable atmosphere to express our opinions and feelings. It was quite easy
to include new vocabulary working with pictures, videos and cards. Also, the use of
gestures and body language helped them to remember the words when it was
necessary. Some students go to private institutes and they easily understand the
tasks so they guided the rest of the group with their active participation but I
always encouraged those who didn´t study English outside the school.
My lessons were based on PPP and the Communicative Approach, using specific
sequences, trying to include all the skills and learning styles as possible each
lesson, including videos, songs, posters, flashcards, group and individual activities.
They enjoyed the activities I planned since they don´t usually work like this. I was
happy to see the group motivated and engaged with my lessons. The observer
made me feel comfortable and free to organize the material, she was enthusiastic

2. with the way I developed my lessons and I think she could take advantage from
them. She realized how important is the use of technology in the classroom and
how adolescents feel enthusiastic when they watch a video, an advertisement or
any kind of material connected with their interests. After each meeting, I came
home and I reflected on my practice in order to improve my lesson plan for the
next day taking into account the suggestions the teacher wrote in the return.
That was an essential part in my practice since I could develop my lessons better
and challenge myself. Taking into account those aspects, I had more confidence in
my practicum period which is a key factor when teaching. I organized all the
material in advance, checking each detail. The proper organization I had, made me
feel relaxed and enjoy each moment with my students.
Reflecting about the positive and negative aspects in our teaching job is a must to
improve our lessons. First, I stand out the use of L2 at all times. Then, my positive
attitude and my creativity allowed students to enjoy my lessons and learn in a
lovely atmosphere where the respect between us was outstanding. Moreover, I
could improve the warm-up stage considering different strategies to exploit
videos or songs like working with more questions and go deeper into them. I think
that a weak aspect that I can enhance is the pronunciation of some words that I
don´t frequent. In spite of checking their phonetics in advance, I realized that
they didn´t sound naturally.
To conclude, I will never forget this experience that touched my heart and taught
me to be passionate. When it occurs, teaching will be a world of creation and
amusement.