Aguirrezabala- secondary. final reflection

1. INSTITUTO DE FORMACIÓN DOCENTE CONTINUA
LENGUAS VIVAS BARILOCHE (A-052)
Profesorado de Inglés – Opción pedagógica a distancia.
 Subject: taller de practica docente
 Tutor's name: Aurelia
 Student'sname: Nadia Aguirrezabala
 Assignment title: finalreflection
 Deadline:

2. Thinkingback
I started working at “ESCUELA AGROTECNICA”, the director was Maria Ester Chaina and the
teacher of the course was Monica Volpato. They both were kind with me from the very
beginning,whenIaskedthemtoworkthere.
A few years ago I used to work at secondary school. I always used text books. This time was
going to be different since I had to plan all the activities for the whole lessons. It did not scare
me since I love workingatsecondaryschool.
On the observation period I could see that the group in general was nice, they had a good
relationship among them; they participate actively of the activities proposed and engaged with
the subject. In the group there was a student that has a mental disorder, I am not sure of what
is his problem, but he is all the time working with a psychologist, she completes his folders and
helps him with some subjects. He looks harmless, but I felt a little insecure about him since
some teachershadtoldme thathe usedto be aggressive.
Apart from that, a thing that called my attention was that students were constantly having
mate, they went to the kitchen, which is in front of their classroom, to look for hot water to
prepare it again and again. It is rare that the director lets them do so, but I thought that it was
because students are in the school from 8 am to 5 pm, so they have some privileges that may
be studentsfromotherinstitutionsdonothave.
The first lesson was nice. It was about “the circus” and the grammar topic was “comparative
and superlatives”. We watched some videos about Madagascar, the movie and they did some
activities in which they had to compare the characters of the movie and the performers of the
circus.
Although the activities were good and the students engaged with the topic we did not finish all
of them because of the time. They always arrive late to the classroom after the break, so I
alwayslostabout5 or tenminutesandI had to explaineverythingtwice orthree times.
Thinkingoutward
If I had the opportunity of changing something of my development as a practitioner I would
say that I had have to pay more attention to the timing of activities, which was a kind of
problem in the first lessons. I also would try to be a little more sensitive with students, since I
have difficultiestocreate relationshipswithstudents.
This project was really gratifying for my future, it changed the idea I had some years ago about
teaching adolescents. I learned that all the students have a different timingfor learning,it does
not matter if they all are in the same grade, they all need a different kind of accompany and
attention.
In addition to this, the development of this project helped me to be prepared to work as a
teacher at a secondary level. I can now compare this experience to the primary and secondary
school and I felt more prepared than in my first practicum period. I had more tools and
strategies,Ifeel more confidentwhenIamin frontof a classnow.

3. ThinkingInward
I agreed with the results of this practicum period since students acquired the topics I taught
them and they were able to solve the activities proposed, not on the time I pretended but
finally they did. I used all the tools I had, I searched for materials on the web and I used my
ownpreviewsexperience andsome issuesIhave learnedoncoursesandconferences.
Moreover, I think that I have learned a lot from thisexperience, I learned to adapt the topics to
the context and vice versa; I have learned to promote the interchange of information to use
the language as a tool to communicate more than only using the language for grammar
purposes;toteachthe real value of a language.
ThinkingOutward
Although I have many things to improve- I am sure that every teacher has to- I think that I
succeed on this period more that on the previous ones, not only because students learned
something from me, but because I improve the way of relating myself with the others.
Sometimes I can not express my feelings, it is really difficult for me to hug somebody or to
smile to other people; the problem is that I am very shy and many times people think that I am
angry all the time or that I am veryserious.
When I finished the period, the teacher and the students asked me to go the following week to
make the official closure; I felt fantastic because I realized that I could communicate with
them. I left that school not only as a cold practitioner but also as a friend, as a teacher. I am
reallyhappywiththe endingof thisperiod.
I have a lot of ideas for future projects, I want to get my certificate and start working, I can`t
wait for that. Every day I feel that I have chosen the right way, I love teaching and I love
English.
All in all, this experience let a lot of good things on me, not only as an experience as a future
teacher but also it represents a closure to a moment of my life. I am sure that I have to learn
much more, I feel prepared to do so. Ilearned thatevery single student has a different time for
learning, and that does not make him or her less intelligent than others. I could pass my own
barriersand itfeltswell.