2nd Practicum period/Journal Writing

1. Journal Writing:
School: Colegio Nº 738
Teacher: Analìa Perez
Student: Mariana Canellas
Observation:
1) The teacher arrived a bit late because of personal reasons and she didn't feel
well. She spent some time asking for homework and taking notes at her desk,
perhaps because it is the end of the term, and marks are to be required soon.
Meanwhile, students remained in their places, they spoke among themselves or with
the teacher about problems they had at the Institution regarding the schedules
respectfully. Finally, the teacher wrote an exercise on the board for the students to do
individually.: isolated sentences in Present Simple, for them to write the same
information using Present Perfect. She speaks Spanish all the time, and guides the
students’ reasoning by writing some examples and speaking about the process. She
asks them to use the list of verbs they have to remember the past participles of the
verbs. The whole lesson consisted on finishing the activity to hand it in. Therefore I
would say the teacher used Grammar Translation Method, described by Davies and
Pearse (2000) as a very old but effective way of teaching . Students have been
taught grammar rules and they are expected to put them into action, skills are not
integrated.
2) The teaching strategy that was applied was exempliflying, pointing out information,
guiding students to reason by saying what they should think, and walking around in
order to help them and monitor their work. she told me that the students find it very
difficult to interpret commands and instructions, and that is why she speaks Spanish
all the time; I told her that I must try to make myself understood in order to complete
my training, so I will do my best giving simple instructions, using visual aids, and
using body language.
3) Students behaviour was good. They remained in their places during the whole
lesson.They paid attention any time the teacher asked them to do so. So I would say
that their reaction to the object of study and the way in which they practiced what they
have earnt was positive; however, interest and curiosity were not manifested,
because of the Method and the amount of practice. I spoke with the teacher about
other possibilities, such as reading short texts, working in pairs or watching videos,
and she said they will probably succeed.
4) I think I didn’t choose a good day to do my observation, because doing an exercise
is not a lesson. However, we have agreed the schedule previously and I think I could

2. get a general idea about the students’ characteristics and their level of performance,
so as to write an acceptable Report, and base my pedagogical choices on.
5) The challenge will mainly consist of speaking English most of the time and making
myself understood and followed as a guide.
6)I find this observation useful because I have an idea of the students level of
performance, and I could talk with the teacher about my intentions and my
possibilities. I also delivered them a short questionnaire in order to determine
preferences as regards to the type of activities and this will be important to complete
the Diagnosing Report.
_____________________________
Journal Writing:
School: N° 738
Teacher: Analía Perez
Student: Mariana Canellas
Dates: September 15th and 22nd
1st class:
Last class the teacher told me by phone that she was sick so so we postponed my lesson,
and today the students had to decorate the classroom for a celebration, so we agreed on
starting the Practicum period next week.
_____________________________
Journal Writing:
School: Colegio Nº 738
Teacher: Analìa Perez
Student: Mariana Canellas
Lesson 1: September 29th
Pedagogical Principles:
The Communicative Approach underlied the lesson because students were invited to use
the language in Context to communicate, and grammar rules were not taught explicitly. As I
have informed previously students are not used to using the language for communication so
it was expected that they would find it difficult. Activities were designed to guide any
intervention from the students and they participated actively and behaved properly.

3. Teaching Strategies:
Giving simple instructions, using visual aids, and guiding students to participate actively
were the main applied strategies to foster comprehension and avoid using L1. Students’ self-
confidence was built through clear examples of what they were expected to understand and
produce and learning new words through definitions and pictures was effective. Some
students remembered what they knew, or seemed to rely on previous knowledge.
Reaction:
Students reacted positively paying attention to the teacher and participating as they were
required to do so. However, during the whole lesson their voices were heard speaking
Spanish about other things. Perhaps, next class they find working on the same topic
motivating and improve their behaviour.
At the end they told me they were very tired because they are not used to doing too many
activities in only one lesson; however, they were willing to do the homework for the following
class.
Successful Aspects:
Only one activity was omitted, the one that was indicated in the lesson plan as the closure
activity, because students were very tired and the time was almost up. Besides, it was very
similar to the activity they did at the beginning of the class, instead of answering to the
teacher they were supposed to work in pairs with the same questions. I would say that was a
successful aspect because we completed almost everything of what was planned. Students’
attitudes towards the teacher and the lesson was also very good, they accepted the
materials and the teacher speaking English most of the time without complaining.
Changes:
I should improve the use of transitions. I repeated many times the same phrases and I could
be clearer. The text of the video was probably too long and it contained many new words. It
may be better to work with shorter texts or articles and make the students read aloud. On the
other hand, I thin images were catching, and introduce the topic in an innovative and
effective way, that would be necessary to maintain motivation and interest along the
following classes.
Comments:
I should also pay more attention to the students with cognitive problems. I invited the whole
group to do the same activities as it was planned, but I should have observed and helped
these students individually.
__________________________

4. Journal Writing:
School: Colegio N° 738
Teacher: Analía Perez
Student: Mariana Canellas
Lesson 2: October 6th
Pedagogical principles:
The class was planned in order to foster communication and interaction, and it was partially
successful. Students asked and answered questions, in pairs, and they interacted with the
teacher during the different activities; however, two of the planned activities was omitted,
and it became obvious, that they needed much more support and practice. Students
continued working with Present perfect , the use of since and for was explained and they
were expected to participate in order to show comprehension. Context was very important
not to focus in isolated sentences and structures.
Teaching strategies:
The teacher read definitions, gave examples, listened, to each pair of students interacting,
provided a checklist of vocabulary of the video, and asked for the students’ cooperation
reading and giving information. Students really liked watching the video, they paid special
attention and said it was very nice; the activities to work on it might be better designed to
foster communication and interaction, it kept motivation and interest in the topic high. The
use of visual aids was also very important in order to promote the use of L2 in class.
Reaction:
Students paid much more attention in the previous class; there were many absences, and
most of them were very tired. However, they respected the teacher and their peers, doing
what they were asked to. As I said before they found the video motivating. I think they felt
comfortable and respected, because of their behaviour and willingness to pay attention to
the teacher’s demands, and this may be achieved through careful planning and good
choices.
Successful aspects:
I have already mentioned many successful aspects of the lesson in action:
- the applied strategies
- students’ behaviour and general performance.
However, this may be improved, while planning the following lessons paying attention to the
tutor's comments and suggestions.
Besides, most of them did the homework and gave the sheets to me for correction
voluntarily. For next class, they were invited to search for information about an important
athlete and that is more difficult.

5. Changes:
Students probably need to do some written exercises in order to keep on learning.
It may be a good idea to invite students to use dictionaries in order to look up words and
reflect on definitions. The ideas is to work on the values of The Olympic Games and it could
be a good opportunity. Videos may offer ideas to design activities for the following classes
Comments:
I didn’t notice that students with cognitive problems demanded other type of work. I paid
more attention to them than the previous class while they were asking and answering in
pairs and their performance was Ok.
____________________
Journal Writing:
School: Colegio Nº 738
Teacher: Analia Perez
Student: Mariana Canellas
Lesson 3: October 13th
Today the class was cancelled because there were important teachers’ meetings in most of
the schools around.