UNIVERSIDAD DE PLAYA ANCHA FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES EARLY ENGLISH TEACHING PRACTICE 2009 OBSERVATION STAGE Name of student teacher: Elvira Saa Espinoza Name of School: Colegio Patmos Number of students: 33 Date: 20 de Junio
Class: 1º medio
Task Nº1: The school Refer to the general background of the school in a clear and brief way. Describe: •
physical location,
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organisation,
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student population,
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School rules.
The school is located on a hill in Viña del Mar, and it’s a number of old buildings together that form the school. Its organization is very relaxed, people who work there usually do activities they’re not supposed to or more activities than what they’re supposed to do, like in a really relaxed and familiar atmosphere. It’s a very small school and its population is of about 300 students, which allows a small number of children in each class. The rules are usually related to moral aspects and values without being too strict in superficial aspects with students and teachers and not related to religion. Task Nº2: The classroom Comment about: • •
The atmosphere of the room The levels of engagement in the room.
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Students seating.
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Space
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Whiteboard location
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Classroom equipment.
The classrooms in the school are pretty poor equipped; they don’t have the resources that should have for what parents are paying. The atmosphere in the classrooms is very relaxed, familiar and sometimes chaotic because of children’s destructive behaviour but the levels of engagement are very high in terms of human relation ships. Students are very close to each other and even to their teachers and other people who work at the school. The students usually seat wherever they want, but when there is a test, or some kind of behaviour problem, teachers usually change their seating. The space is not a problem because of being a school with a small number of students per class they have plenty of space for each person. The location of the whiteboard is in the
front of the classroom and they don’t have special equipment (like computers, data shows, TVs) inside the classroom but they have specially equipped rooms for activities or lessons that require them. Task Nº3: The teacher Describe the following: •
Classroom routine.
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Motivation activities performed.
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Learning activities conducted.
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Material resourced used.
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Stages of the lesson.
The teachers have a very good relation with the students, the students usually suggest the teachers what they want to do, if they want to play a game from the work book or if they want to watch a movie and sometimes teachers pay attention. The resources my teachers usually use are the work book, computers and films and children seem very motivated to watch films so the teachers use that resource as a price when they work in a good way. The lesson usually starts with a relaxed conversation about a topic, the students answer and ask questions related to the topic and then do some exercises. After they’ve learnt how to do the activities, the teacher gives them more and similar activities to do. Task Nº4: The learners In this observation task, focus on the things that help to create conditions for effective learning and on the aspects that play a part in preventing learning. •
How motivated are the learners? Why?
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Are they taking part in their own learning? How?
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Are they expecting the teacher to do the work for them?
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Do they like to participate in group work? If so, how do they behave?
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What kinds of learning activities do the students like the most? What do they like the least?
They are not completely unmotivated because they show a lot of interest in answering the questions and talking about the topics the teacher gives and they usually take part of their own learning process by critizacing or eulogizing the activity when they like it or not. Some students are very independent; they like to start working on their own, sometimes missing the instructions. But some students don’t like any of the activities, they claim they don’t understand anything and want the teachers to do the work for them. Some of them love working in groups because they can choose their best friends, but some don’t like it because nobody wants to work with them or because they take advantage of their knowledge. They love the activities that implies working with art or drawing and watching videos, they love creative activities and dislike tests and activities that look like tests or quizzes. AIVV/RAGS Teaching Practice Team 2009