Finish

1. PRACTICE II, DIDACTICS OF ELT. Prof. Estela N. Braun. PRACTICALS
First term- 2017. Assistant Teachers: Vanesa Cabral, Luján Ramos, John
Brakke.
Reflection on my Practicum experience
 What was the greatest obstacle/challenge you had to overcome during
your practicum?
It was a challenge for me to work with a girl that has Down syndrome, as it was my
first time teaching and at the same time to a girl with that condition. At the beginning I was a bit
worried about how to deal with the lesson as I didn’t have any previous information on how to
teach students with that disorder. Luckily, together with my pedagogical partner we could
manage all the lessons and she worked very well, the level of Down syndrome was very little
and she loved English. We take advantage of working in groups as a way of including her
more, and it was during those moments that she felt part of the class and could give the best!
 Was there any critical incident? Can you describe it? How did you deal
with it?
I don’t consider it as a critical incident but rather a dangerous moment. The break has
already started but I was still inside the classroom keeping up my things. While a student was
going outside, she dropped out a glass jar onto the floor, near her foot. She told me it
happened unintentionally and I told her not to bring those kinds of things any more to the
school.
 What areas did you have to improve?
What I had to improve was the using of English. I improved it by using English almost
all the lesson and encouraging my students to do the same too. I comprehend that we were
the only role model they had, so if we didn’t speak English they wouldn’t. By the last lessons
the amount of English spoken in the class was incredible from both parts!

2.  Which was the class you enjoyed most? Why?
The lesson I enjoyed most was The Pizza Competition Class. We divided the lesson
into groups of four or five students. They were given a “pizza” and they had to create the best
pizza ever for a competition in a restaurant. Learners were so actively involved, all of them
participated and while walking round the classroom we were encouraging them to use English.
All of them were in charge of a task, and all of them worked very hard.
 What instances of students’ learning/motivation could you observe?
Students were highly motivated when the task was appealing to them. When we could
relate the topic we were dealing with to real situation. For example; activities such as fill in the
blanks were boring for them but at the time of creating, drawing on their own they could
expand themselves and do their best.
 How do you assess team work with your partner? What was positive/
difficult about working with a partner? Would you recommend work with a pedagogical
partner? Why/not?
The fact that we could choose the pedagogical partner was of extremely importance
for me, as I could do the practicum with a friend. Communication is a key factor for the creation
of lesson plans and when being in front of the class. Luckily, we could share opinions and
ideas without any problems as we could connect without any obstacles because we know
each other. Also, after each lesson we gave advice each other as a critical construction and
then we enjoyed happily the improvement on us.
I definitely recommend working with a pedagogical partner because as we were
inexperienced we need an opinion, someone that tells us the good points of our teaching but
also the bad ones. To have a partner is a way of polish the teaching role you are developing.
 What were your feelings when you started the practicum/ when you
finished it?
When I started the practicum I felt very nervous, but with great hopes. When I finished
it, I was surer of my future job. I knew I was on the right track.
 How did you feel about being observed? Could you understand comments
in the feedback provided by teacher educators? What did you think about the
conference with teachers after the class?

3. When teachers were observing me I first felt nervous but then I concentrated on my
work and forgot they were there. I think almost all the feedbacks were extremely useful
as teachers wrote tips and advice to improve my practicum.
 Were office hours any useful? Did you feel accompanied by teacher
trainers/ mentor teachers/ the school institution?
The office hours were very useful because we could talk with the teachers in private
and go especially to the point. As regards the mentor teacher I can say she helped us
so much when telling how the students were and the way they used to work, also she
let us work freely.
 Do you feel prepared to teach at primary school now?
Yes. Now that I have had the teaching experience I think I’m ready to work. I
think we improve while doing the job.