The document summarizes journal entries from an observation of teaching lessons at an elementary school in Argentina. In the first lesson, the observer notes that the teacher uses a PPP approach and natural language teaching. Activities include singing, reviewing homework, games to practice vocabulary. Students seem engaged. In the second lesson, the observer assists with activities and tests. Students warmly say goodbye. In the third lesson taught by the observer, activities go well at first but students get bored with exercises from the book. However, they tell the teacher they enjoyed the class.

1. Taller de Práctica Docente 2016
Journal
Alumno residente: Gómez Antonella Belén
Tutores: Zemborain Cecilia y Velazquez Aurelia

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Nivel Inicial
Institución educativa: Instituto Approaches
Autoridades: Cerdán Belén, Cufré Mariel y López Beatriz
Docente a cargo: Szlapski Carolina
Curso: Pre-Children
Turno: Mañana (10:30 - 11:30)
Nivel lingüístico del curso: Beginner
Clase de observación N°1
Fecha: 02/05/2016
★ Section 1: Describing the lesson as it unfolds
During the lesson, I observed that the class is developed through PPP using
natural approach. Students follow a routine for the beginning of the class -
First they sing a song to say hello, following that they copy the date and
what the weather is like.
To continue, if they have any homework the teacher corrects it asking
students all the time about the activity they had to do. For example, they
had as homework the name of different wild animals and they had to draw
them. So, as a way to revise the structure ‘what is it?’ the teacher asked the
question and the students answered. In some cases the teacher asked the
colour of the animals, and the parts of the face.
Next to this, as a way to set the proper environment they sing a song. In this
case it is a song about monkeys, that according to the teacher is their
favourite. With it they revise numbers 1-10. They also do the mimics for the
song. Students seem to enjoy it a lot.
After that they work with the course book and activity book. They continue
with the topic of wild animals, they revise numbers 1-5 and the structure
‘how many (giraffes) can you see?’. They work orally all the time, do
matching exercises and drawing/colouring ones.
Following, they sit on the floor to play some games in order to revise for the
following class test. The games are:
1) Mimic game: the teacher says a feeling and students mimic it.
2) They sing ‘If you’re happy’ song.
3) Simon says to revise parts of the face.

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4) Searching game: The teacher names a school object and students search
for it.
Finally, when they have finished, the teacher asks them to pack up and
they play a final game (Chinese whispers) to revise the animals learnt.
The teacher uses a lot of modeling, eliciting, miming and pointing during
the lesson, and also some translation. Students seem to respond very well
to her way of teaching and they are very comfortable with her. She has
managed to build a good rapport with students and create a comfortable
classroom environment.
I liked the way in which she invited students to speak in English. Whenever
a student asked for something in Spanish she said ‘How do you say it in
English?’ so the student had to ask in English for the teacher to give them
what they wanted. And they responded well to this, since sometimes they
said it in Spanish not because they didn’t know it, but because it is easier.
I also observed the dynamics of the lesson. Everything is very fast and very
varied, always following a topic. They have to be in constant movement
and varying from a quiet activity to a stirring one so that they do not get
bored.
★ Section 2: Making sense of the lesson through relevant lived experiences.
In my case, I greeted students at the beginning of the class and the teacher
introduced me. Students do not seem to like the idea of another ‘teacher’
around at first, but then they smiled at me and asked some questions. I
liked this because it helped me to start building up a connection with them.
As for a moment that was important for students as regards me, it was
when I offer to collect the notebooks the teacher was asking them. They
noticed that I remembered their names and they seemed to like it.
Sometimes is really hard to learn all their names quickly, but for them is
very important.
★ Section 3: Interpreting the lesson in words and images
I decided to choose a quote as to reflect this lesson:
Comentado [1]: This is something you should bear in
mind when designing the activities!
Comentado [2]: Yes, totally.
Comentado [3]: Definitely! It means recognising them
as individuals.

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I hope I can build a relationship with these students and ‘leave a mark on
their pages’.
Clase de observación N°2
Fecha: 04/05/2016
★ Section 1: Describing the lesson as it unfolds
Today’s class had two parts. The first one consisted on a test. It was about
feelings, parts of the face, school objects, adjectives (small, big), colours and
numbers.
In the first exercise they had to match the part of the face with its name. As
they do not read, or read very little, the teacher said the part of the face
and students matched.
For the second exercise they had to listen to the teacher name a part of the
face and they had to circle the correct option.
The third exercise was about feelings. The teacher said for example, ‘I’m

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happy’ and students had to draw the face.
In exercise number four, students had to listen to the teacher in order to
choose the correct of two options. The teacher said ‘big/small’ and a school
object.
The next exercise was about colouring numbers 1-5. So the teacher said
‘Number 1 is blue’, and students coloured it.
The last exercise was about matching school objects with their names.
Everything was very fast, and orally. They only wrote their names and the
date on the test. I liked being part of this lesson because I learnt a way of
assessing a group of kindergarten formally. Students responded well and
they completed everything. The test was individual but they did it at the
same time. I think this was important because nobody wants to be the last
one, and this is a way of motivating and encouraging them.
As regards the second part of the class, it was about revising the contents
learnt in the last class. They worked with their activity book.
The first exercise was about tracing the way from an animal to its
description and then colour it as it said. The teacher read the description
and students matched.
In the second exercise they had a picture in which they had a hidden animal
and two words to choose from. They had to circle the correct option.
Finally, they had a domino game. They had to match the animals that were
the same and colour them. Then the teacher ask them what animal was and
its colour.
On this part of the lesson I was more involved. The teacher wanted to
correct the tests, so I offered to help students with the activities while she
did it. Students at first didn’t know what to do, if to ask me for help or ask
the teacher, but after some time they were all asking me for help. I also lent
them, colour pencils, rubbers and any other object they needed so that I
could gain their trust.
★ Section 2: Making sense of the lesson through relevant lived experiences.
Well, for me an important part of the lesson was when it finished. Students
said goodbye to the teacher and then they came and kissed me goodbye. I
felt great, since I thought that I had done a good job and they liked me a

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little bit more.
As for students, I think that an important part of the lesson was the test. It
was challenging but they managed to do it well, so they felt great about it.
★ Section 3: Interpreting the lesson in words and images
To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.
George MacDonald
I liked this quote to describe the feeling of being trusted today by the
students.
Clase de práctica N°1
Fecha: 09/05/2016
★ Section 1: Describing the lesson as it unfolds
Well, to start with, the lesson was quite good. I have to be honest and say
that I was not satisfied by my performance and the response I had from
students (of course, it was all on me).
First of all, we did the routine, we sang the ‘Good morning’ song, we copy
the date and what the weather was like.
As a warm-up I had planned a game to review colours. There were
flashcards all over the classroom, and as I named a colour they had to run
and touch it. They were very enthusiastic about it and they liked it a lot. So I
felt very confident at this stage.
For the presentation, I took animals flashcards in order to review the ones
they had learnt and to add the new one. I showed them an animal and
asked them ‘what is it?’ and ‘what colour is it?’. They were happy with this
exercise too and they responded very well. Their answers were very
accurate since they had already practiced those questions.
As for the development, we started using their book. The first exercise was
a listening, in which they had to draw a bird and colour it as the listening
indicated. It was a bit hard for them to understand at the beginning, but in
the end they managed to do it well.
Following this, we continued with the book. I asked them about some
animals in a picture before listening to a song. I asked what the animals

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were and their colours. Then I played the song, in which they had to listen
and guess the animal.
Following this I made-up some riddles, which were about colours of an
animal and they had to guess what the animal was. I tried to encourage
them to make a riddle for their classmates but none of them wanted.
Next, again listening to the CD, they had to listen to a description and tick
the correct animal.
At this stage they were already tired of the book and they were getting
bored. So, as we had 10 minutes left I decided to leave the last exercise and
skip directly to the closure game. Here they were happy again. We played
chinese whispers, and they enjoyed it.
When all of them had had the chance to participate I told them to pack up,
and we said goodbye to each other.
★ Section 2: Making sense of the lesson through relevant lived experiences.
As I said above, the lesson was quite good but I’m not satisfied. I didn’t like
the development part. The didn’t like the activities and they got bored. At
this part I felt quite nervous, since it was not what I expected. But at the end
of the class before they left, the teacher asked them if they had liked the
class and me, and they happily answered ‘yes’. They all came and kissed me
goodbye, and I felt a lot better. This was very important for me, because I
was not feeling as confident as I was at the beginning.
I also give some credit myself, since it was the first time I worked with little
children. I have no experience with those ages and I consider myself not
being too good with little children. As I would say in Spanish ‘no tengo
pasta’.
Comentado [4]: You have mentioned that the students
are quite fidgety. So, working with the book for a long
time was probably quite tedious for them.
Comentado [5]: It is a question of experience! Relax!

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★ Section 3: Interpreting the lesson in words and images
I have chosen this image because it describes how I saw the students at one
part of the class.
I hope I can do better next time and feel better with myself.
Clase de práctica N°2
Fecha: 11/05/2016
★ Section 1: Describing the lesson as it unfolds
This time, the girls were less willing to start the class. So it was a bit more
difficult for me to start the class.
The warm-up exercise, in which they had to listen to me and draw and
colour an animal, took longer than I expected, and I didn’t realize to change
it when we were by the second animal.
As for the presentation exercise, it was ‘Simon says’ game. They enjoyed it a
lot. They like all kinds of games in which they have to move around the
class.
Following this we sat on the floor for the pre-listening exercise and the
story. They didn’t like the pre-listening, which were some questions about
the pictures so as to brainstorm. But they enjoyed the story and they
answered correctly to the while listening task, which was to find out if the
elephant was happy.
To continue with the story and the topic of animals, they had to look for the
hidden animals in four pictures. They did it quickly, and as I passed to
Comentado [6]: The important thing is that you are
learning a lot. Take this as useful input to redesign your
lessons.

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correct the exercise I asked them ‘what animal is it?’ They answered
correctly.
Finally, as the last exercise we played ‘bingo’. It was a bit hard for them to
understand what they had to do, so I had to explain it to them in Spanish.
They liked it, but I think that it would have been a good idea to prepare
different bingo sheets, so that they didn’t spend so much time thinking and
drawing.
As I ran out of time I myself copy the homework on their notebooks.
★ Section 2: Making sense of the lesson through relevant lived experiences.
I felt that this time was a bit better than last class. They kept asking me to
play ‘chinese whispers’ and if they could sit next to me to play. Maybe I
should have cut out an activity to play it with them, since then I realized
that sometimes it is not always following the plan but to adjust to students
likes, too.
They left the classroom happy, and it was important for me.
★ Section 3: Interpreting the lesson in words and images
I think that this is the clue, what all this is about; learning together. As I
teach them, they teach me.
Comentado [7]: Definitely!
Comentado [8]: :)

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Clase de práctica N°3
Fecha: 16/05/2016
★ Section 1: Describing the lesson as it unfolds
To start with, as it was planned, the students started the class in their
classroom, where we did the routine part. Then I told them I had a surprise,
so I took them to the other classroom where I had set everything.
Once in the classroom, I explained the first activity, which was running and
touching the thing I named when I stopped the music. They had fun and
they really enjoyed it.
Next to this, we sat on the floor and I introduced the new vocabulary using
the pictures on the wall. They responded very well to this part, too.
Then we did the exercises of the book related to what we had learnt. They
did it, but they weren’t too enthusiastic. So, I immediately changed the
activity to the poster.
They liked doing the poster. Once they finished, I took them to the other
class where we sticked it on the wall. When we came back, as the had asked
me to, we played again the game with the song.
Finally, instead of giving them the homework, we did part of it, as a way to
explain them what they had to do. We also played chinese whispers, and
they used the new words as I encouraged them to do it.
They left the class very happy, eating their lollipops (as I had planned to
gift them) and humming ‘The lion sleeps tonight’.
★ Section 2: Making sense of the lesson through relevant lived experiences.
I liked this lesson, the students liked it and the teacher did, too. I am really
satisfied with it. I know I had mistakes and that it wasn’t perfect, but I
ended the lesson feeling happy with myself, knowing that they children
had enjoyed it.
I think that for them it was important that I listened to what they wanted. I
agreed to play the song game one more time, and to play chinese whispers
as they had asked me the previous lesson and we couldn’t because of lack of
time.
★ Section 3: Interpreting the lesson in words and images
These are some pictures of the lesson I asked the teacher to take.

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I still have a lot to learn (we never stop doing it), but I think I had improved
a lot from my first lesson to this one.

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Comentado [9]: Beautiful!