Juan Jara Assignment 3

Universidad de playa ancha Facultad de humanidades Early english teaching practice

Observation stage

Name of the student teacher: Juan José Jara Almuna

Name of the school: San Vicente de Paul

Number of students: 25.

Date: Monday 11th 2009.

Class: Second year of high school.

Task nº 1: The school

Refer to the general background of the school in a clear and brief way.

Physical location: Address: Sierra nº 68, Playa Ancha Avenue. Valparaiso.

Organization: There are the parents and students administration that is in charge of collecting money for activities and in charge of analysising different situations, which are based on the students needs, new teaching or administrative requirements, payment of school debts, etc.

Student population: 500 students aprox.

School rules:

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To be cleaned and presentable, hence; the uniform should be held impeccable.

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Always arrive on time. Lateness should be explained through certificates or any other documentation.

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Respect for each other. Lack of respect is sanctioned depending on the grade of it.

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To always make rows in the backyard before starting classes.

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No students get out of the classroom without the teacher’s permission, save this is an emergency.

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Parents should always try to attend parents meeting when these are required.

Task nº 2: The classroom

Comment about:

The atmosphere of the room: Excellent. The students do not seem to have any sort of conflict within the space given. The social interactions are well developed in this area.

The levels of engagement in the room: Good. Students do not seem to experience either discomfort or to be in want of a room change.

Students seating: Well placed seats, even though the space in the classroom is small.

Space: Mid-sized room with enough space to give a class without further problems. Activities at which the students should perform acting shows and teamgroup debates are hard to carry out.

Whiteboard location: In front of the seating places. In the classroom, everyone can see what it is being written on the whiteboard, including the ones that are sat on the rear.

Classroom equipment: Enough. 1 whiteboard, 25 seats, 26 tables (including the teacher’s one) 30 lockers; one each and 1 shelf to keep the teacher’s material in.

Task nº 3: The teacher.

Describe the following.

Classroom routine: The teacher gets to the classroom with the students at the same time. Next, they greet the students and ask them to sit down in silence. Then, she starts checking the class list while the students get their material out. Finally, once, she confirmed those who do not attend the class, begin the day’s lesson as usual. She always set out exercises at the beginning of the class with the aim of remind the students of the previous session.

Motivational activities performed: Actually, There is no “planned motivational speech”. It turns up when it is necessary and suitable for the situation.

Learning activities conducted: hand out photocopies, get back assignments to the students, and speak about what they are working on. She follows up the regular method.

Material resources used: The teacher uses photocopies, activities from the book. The radio is also an alternative available but this material is not frequently employed in listening activities.

Stages of the lesson: The first stage lasts 5 minutes and is basically when the teacher greet the students and ask about what they remember about the previous lesson. Once, the students have sat down and ordered themselves, catching what is being commented on, the teacher starts explaining the unit she is going to review or teach (in case she is introducing a new matter). For instance, this stage lasts 30 minutes. Motivational speech and activities are included in this time. Finally, 5 minutes are left to check out the hands-out and correct possible mistakes the students have made in the process.

Lesson stages vary depending on the activity being carried out. For example, Wednesdays are kept just to English-speaking practice. As students need to prepare their material for this sort of exercises, the teacher gives them approximately 20 minutes for them to work on their own.

Task 4ª

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? Most students are self-motivated, allow dialogue and criticism, always hand in the assignments they are given and show proper knowledge for their level. If they have problems of understanding, they let the teacher know. In addition, the students like to be kept informed and take part in class discussion, which make teaching more accurate. They work well in this environment. Are they taking part in their own learning? How? Yes, they are. They are conscious of what learning something means and how important it actually is, so they try to meet this goal by doing the exercises given by the teacher and checking out the information when they do not know the answer. If they still do not the answer, they try to imply it from either the text or the source they are getting the information. The teacher plays a fundamental role in guiding the learners toward this attitude. Finally, the pupils compare results with the correction written on the whiteboard and attempt to produce similar examples next time. Are they expecting the teacher do the work for them?

No, they are not. They are aware that they should do their own assignments in order to learn. However; they expect the teacher to set out the steeps to carry out the task given, both by writing examples on the whiteboard and by providing thorough explanations before they start. Do they like to participate in work group? If so, how do they behave? Most students do not present problems to work in group. However; there several students who prefer to do exercises on their own. Their behavior is good. They are respectful with each other and always hold an appropriate environment for work. What kind of learning activities do the students like the most? What do they like the least? The students like to do activities, in which they should write stories, hence imagine different situations, describe locations and places that they have visited and talk about their life styles. They prefer grammar and composition rather than any other activity.