Keila Belén Medina completed her teaching practicum over 12 lessons at a bilingual school in Bariloche, Argentina. At first, she felt shy and nervous teaching older students, but grew more confident over time as the students began treating her like one of their teachers. While classroom management was a challenge, she was able to apply strategies from her coursework, like accommodating students with special needs. Through the experience, she learned that older students are not as difficult as she had assumed and that establishing clear limits is an area for her to improve. Overall, the practicum allowed her to put her educational theory into practice and continue developing her skills as a teacher.

1. Prácticas Docentes III
Reflective Cycle
Student: Keila BelénMedina
DESCRIPTION
I didmyteachingtrainingin Woodville School,abilingualschool locatedinBariloche.Firstof all,
Ihadmyobservationperiodwhichconsistedof 3lessonsand2lessonsofassistantship,followed
by my teaching practice that consisted of twelve lessons planned and delivered by me.
Throughoutthe observationperiodIwasable tomeetthe group,conformedby26students.As
the lessons were 80 minutes long, we had a lot of possibilities to bond. Nevertheless, some
students felt more confident around me as time passed by. By the time the teaching training
finished, most of the students treated me as an old teacher for them. It is also important to
mention that I currently work on this institution but in primary level, which means that I was
already familiarized with the teaching methodologies the school adopts as a community.
FEELINGS

2. To be honest, at first I felt very shy and nervous because I never had the chance to work with
older students before. I believe this is because of my own experience with teachers during my
secondaryschool period:I neverhadso young teachersduringsecondaryschool;theywere all
over thirty years old and, as much as I remember, students were always difficult to manage.
During the experience as a trainee in Prácticas Docentes III, I turned twenty-two years old.
Positively,thisexperiencehelpedme tobe more confidentandtolearnthat eventhoughitcan
be challengingtoworkwitholderstudents,itisnice.Itmade me veryhappyto know that most
of the students felt entertained during the lessons. In the very end, I felt encouraged to start
workingwithteenagersandtostopfeelingthattheyare difficult.Iunderstoodthattheyare just
different than younger students because now they face another stage of their lives.
EVALUATION
What pleased me the most is that students were already used to working in English because
they attend school from 7.45 am to 4.15 pm and their lessons vary from Spanish to English -
dependingontheirtimetable-.Thiswasadifferentaspectthanthe previoustrainingsIhad.Also,
even though students worked slowly they worked accurately and were able to develop their
skills.
Onthe otherhand,Ican mentionsomethingsthatmade me feel unhappy.Forexample,mylack
of self-confidence while speaking in front of all the students and also that some students had
the bad habitto interruptthe lessonsandthat wasvery frustrating notonlyforme but alsofor
the students that really wanted to listen and to participate. Fortunately, they were able to
identifythose poorchoicestheywere makingtowardstheirownlearningprocessandtheyare
currentlyworkingonitwithall theirteachers(because thiswasnotaproblemjustwithme,but
with all the teachers and subjects). It seems to me that it is necessary to clarify that they are
transiting their changing of stage from primary school to secondary level. As far as I am
concerned, there are a lot of difficulties being worked on sixth grade and on seventh grade
because of this transition.
ANALYSIS
As regards the relation theory-practice I can say that there are a lot of strategies that I have
studiedinDidácticaEspecíficapara el Nivel Secundariothatwere veryuseful.Firstly,Icame by
withthe factof thatI hada SEN studentwithdyslexiaandwe accountedforthatspecial needin
unitone.I was able towork outthe ideasof writingjustthe necessaryinthe whiteboard,tolet
students work in pairs or groups so that student felt calmer while trying to compose a writing
activity. Also, I applied the study of diversity (cultural) or ICLT/interculturality which was also
included in Didáctica específica para el Nivel Secundario (unit 1, Dario Luis Banegas, 2019). It
was very satisfying to work some topics such as traditions, cultural differences and similarities
through CLIL. Students were very involved and motivated to participate because all the focus
during the lessons were created with a specific purpose and a clearer target language than if

3. working the language based just in rules (as in Scrivener on focus on meaning and use of
language).
Moreover, I can relate the use of a variety of materials with content we studied on EAP. For
example, the lessonwe workedaround a short story and then we studied how to perform an
acting(videos,preparingthe performance,actingoutthe scene);orthe lessonwe designedone
pagersalsorelatedtothe storythe studentswere reading(drawing,writing,use of creativity).
I strongly believe that all the content and topics we discussed and studied about during the
entire teachingtrainingprogramwere the basis to construct the knowledge Ineededsoas for
being able to immerse myself into training older students accurately.
CONCLUSION
If Ihadto emphasize alearningI achievedduringthe practicumperiodthisyearisthatnomatter
how much theory you know, or the time you spend studying teaching strategies, neither
practisingnor speakingEnglishlanguage,the actual teachingpractice is the onlythingthat will
allow you as a teacher to evolve and to mature all of the things you already mastered in your
mind. That is, theory can be a perfect ten for you but that does not grant a perfect teaching.
There are a lot of thingsI needto change or improve. Forexample, Iam well aware of my lack
of limitestablishmentinsome cases,andthatthisissomethingIneedtochange because being
notsure abouthowismore effectivetocall the students’attentioneventhoughIknow the limit
isthere isjustthe firststep inordertobe stricter. Thiswassomethingthatmostof the students
spottedas a piece of advice for me: “youdo not have to be so nice to us”. Obviously,thereisa
small line dividingkindnessandstrictnessandImust finditduringthe rest of myjourneyalong
with other big milestones I am sure I will achieve.