21/09/18
Today was the first class of the
subject. During this session we have gotten to know the professor, which the
fact that she is an English teacher at a school I value very positively,
because we will be able to learn techniques, methods and approaches that are
useful in a real class. Also, she has presented the syllabus, which included
the contents of the subject, the calendar and the evaluation. In my case, it
has been very useful to start organising my agenda. In conclusion, it has been
an introductory session which has been characterised for the teacher’s speech.
In the middle of the explanation I
have discovered the “false friends”,
which I think it is a very interesting resource for children to identify and be
aware of those words from different languages that are often confused because
they look or sound similar although they have different meanings, in a game
format.
28/09/18
Today the teacher started the
session wishing us a good journey during the subject with a song, “Space Oddity”. I think the song
was a little bit long and not adequate for children, because it included
difficult vocabulary (I suppose it was meant for us, adults). However, I
consider that the idea of welcoming the course with a song it can be very
motivating for pupils. It could also be used as a warm-up activity in class.
After we talked about the structure
a lesson should have; beginning, body
session and end, and which types of activities could be included in each
section. During my practice training I have observed that usually teachers
forget the beginning and end part of a lesson, and they just focus on carrying
out activities. However, I believe both parts are essential in a session; to
let students know what will be done during the class and discover their
previous knowledge, and finally review what they have been learning during the
lesson.
08/19/18
In today’s class we have started by
distinguishing concepts which are very similar between them: approach, method,
methodology, procedure and technique. Then, we have discovered different
approaches used to learn languages. In my opinion, it has been a very
interesting class because the students in groups we have been responsible for
learning and making sure that our peers understood the contents of the topic.
Also, it has made the session very pleasant and short.
On one hand, during the first part
of the session, in groups of three we have created the definition of the
different concepts and after we have shared them with our colleagues, creating
the knowledge all the class together. On the other hand, for the last section
of the class, we have created “expert
groups” on the different approaches. The “expert groups” is a cooperative
learning strategy that I find very interesting for pupils because I believe
they must have an active role during the learning process, they develop the
responsibility ability, it promotes better learning because they understand a
topic using plain vocabulary, it boosts up student’s motivation, it reduces
conflicts in class, and pupils enjoy learning.
15/10/18
19/10/18
Today’s session started with the
implementation of the “Feely bag” at
class, in order to be able to see how children feel when playing this game.
Related to this, the professor presented us the advantages and the teacher’s
view of the magic box and the feely bag. These points were selected according
to her opinion and I think it was very nice to hear that she was open to other suggestions and comments,
as these ideas were not based on any research. Next, we started a discussion in
small groups related to children’s development. During this activity we were
not only asked to think and argument our ideas, but also, I was given the “Bee function”, which I think was very
enriching. I had to move around the different groups to spy their answers. It
was very curious because from their answers, in our small group we had a second
chance to think and discuss, and finally change our answers.
22/10/18
First, we started the session by
solving doubts around the calendar and contents of the different tasks we must
hand in during the following weeks. Most teachers would feel that the half an
hour we spent on organizing the tasks
had been wasted, but in my opinion, it is very useful for students to clear up
the ideas. So, it is something I will have to bear in mind when I am a teacher
in the future.
Halfway through the session, we
talked about praising the students. I think it is primordial to praise them,
for example with cards, as our professor does, because it motivates them, and
interest is essential for children to learn. Also, something that caught my
attention today was that the teacher told us that she does all the tasks before ordering them, because like this she
discovers the complexity they have, the obstacles students may find, how they
feel doing it, etc. I think that it is a very reasonable idea that all
educators should carry out.
Finally, with the help of a video
from La Vila Olímpica school, we ended the session by talking about the
importance of designing quality
activities. These must be meaningful, connected to the real world,
promoting long life learning and should include both communication and
cognition.
26/10/18
Today during the whole session, we
have focused on the compulsory task 4, “A teacher’s library”, at class. First
the teacher explained us in what consisted the task, solved doubts, and we
organised the groups. Next, she presented us the English language textbooks, or
activity’s book for teachers, and democratically and by talking, we distributed
the books in the different groups. I found very interesting that the professor
wanted us to have a textbook we liked, so that we felt that the task was
useful, and we were motivated. Therefore, she had different options in case
more than one group wanted the same book. I think that for all teachers it is
essential to have the ability to adapt
to any situation that may occur in class, so a previous planification is useful to prevent unforeseen events.
Finally, for the rest of the session we got in our groups, and we worked on the
textbook’s review. I believe that as teachers it is very important to be critical and to reflect upon the
textbooks, worksheets, projects, etc. we pretend our students to use and
learn from.
05/11/18
Today we had the whole lesson to
work in groups on the power point for the presentation next week, regarding “A
teacher’s library” task. In my future lessons I will promote group-work very often, as I believe it
is very beneficial. Students create the knowledge together, they must use the
language to communicate, they develop the autonomy capacity, they learn how to
give arguments and opinions, etc.
09/11/18
All the session was dedicated to
present “A teacher’s Library” task to the rest of our classmates. It was very
interesting to share the reviews
from the student’s textbooks from different levels and the support books for
teachers. This way, we were able to discover a wide range of books and our
colleague’s opinion, without having to analyse them all. Some interesting ideas
that came out were to use a bear to teach English to small children, teaching a
foreign language through arts and crafts and different proposals to evaluate
students.
12/11/18
Today we started the class by
organizing the calendar for the rest of the sessions until Christmas holidays,
which was very helpful to know what we will do each day and know when we must
hand in each task. Next, we got in groups and started the task “A reading
corner”, which I think is valuable because nowadays all schools work through
corners, so we may use it in our future. During the session the professor acted as a guide, solving
doubts. However, not all groups we had the chance to talk in depth about our
proposal, so we started the activities without knowing if we were going in the
right path. Although it was not the teacher’s fault, I realised that is
important to try to offer an
individualised treatment and the same time to all groups, in order to be in
equal terms.
16/11/18
Today’s session started with the
professor explaining the microteaching project and the rest of the class was
focused on team work. It was a good idea starting by presenting the next task,
so that the groups that had already finished “A reading corner” task could
start brainstorming for the microteaching. It is very important to adapt the work to the different learning
paces of the class and make sure that children never get bored, always
stimulate them with inputs and resources to widen their learning experiences.
19/11/18
Today we destined the session to
talk about project-based learning.
First, we shared our previous knowledge
regarding the topic, next the professor taught us the contents and ended the
class by showing us an example of a PBL she carried out at school. It was
interesting to see a real example,
because just with the theoretical information sometimes it is difficult to
understand how an approach really works. In addition, I believe PBL is a very
effective and a life-based way of teaching contents. However, I think it is
difficult, especially in foreign language, because children do not talk
fluently in English and projects require lots of hours.
23/11/18
Today’s session was focused on the
design of the microteaching, but first we started solving doubts we had
regarding the feedback the professor
gave us from the previous task. I think that feedback to children is essential
to help them learn, identify what they have to improve, be aware of their
positive aspects, etc. But it is vital to provide a space in which students can
make their comments and ask questions related to the correction, to make it
clear for them. Next, the teacher used a settler
resource and explained its importance to use them in class to calm down
pupils and make them concentrate on the lesson. Finally, in groups we continued
our microteaching brainstorming. It has been a productive session to put in
common ideas, share comments and decide the final topic that will be the
project’s common thread. Also, the educator gave us her realistic point of view
and has been very useful because she knows well the student’s level of English
and it is important to bear it in mind throughout the creation process of the
microteaching.
26/11/18
Today we started the lesson by
giving some examples on counting rhymes.
Next, the professor solved some doubts, explained to us the microteaching
timetable, and we decided on which day we want to hand in the tasks left. It
has been a long hour and stressful, because there is a lot of work left to do
and so little time. Finally, we ended the session by working in groups on the
microteaching project. The educator has taught me a lesson, because although
she had thought of finishing with the PBL explanation, she has adapted to the student’s needs. She has
seen that we are worried about the time left to prepare the UD and she has
given us extra time to work on it. In the future it is important that we,
teachers, are flexible with the
contents we have to teach, bearing in mind pupil’s needs.
30/11/18
Every session starts with Lídia
writing a list at the white board of
the different things we will do
during the session. I think this is a very good idea to carry out with children
because this way they know what the educator expects from them and what they
will do throughout the lesson all the time. Next, the professor taught us the
basic characteristics from CLIL.
Although I feel it is very challenging to implement it properly, I think it is
a very interesting, meaningful and contextualised way to teach both language
and contents. Finally, we ended the lesson by working in groups on the
microteaching. Today has been a very productive session, because we were able
to share with Lídia our proposals so now, we are ready to start writing and
preparing the activities.
03/12/18
We started the session with the
example of an activity settler,
called “row, row, row your boat”,
and we solved doubts regarding the microteaching project. It is interesting
because when someone asks a question that could be useful for the other groups
or has a relevant doubt, the professor
writes the answer on a word document, so that everyone finds out. Next, we
moved on with a resource, “Tell ___ to
stop the noise”, useful to catch the attention of chatty students. Then,
the teacher presented the Cummins matrix,
used by CLIL teachers. This tool can be used to measure the combination of
cognitive and linguistic level of the different tasks of a unit. As teachers,
we want to move from stage 2 to 4. Finally, the rest of the session was
destined to follow with the microteaching planning.
10/12/18
Today half of the groups started to
present their microteaching projects. It has been very useful because they have
come up with super different topics and very attractive activities and
resources, that I can use in my future. Considering the microteaching
assessment, I think that it is interesting because it englobes different
perspectives, therefore, I believe that the evaluation is more complete. One type
of assessment is peer assessment,
which consists in evaluating our colleagues, so from equal to equal,
considering positive points, aspects to improve and any other comments or
questions we would like to formulate them. Next, at the end of the session the
professor has continued showing us examples of a project and has refreshed the
last datelines. Finally, some students have proposed to open a forum to share the microteachings, so we can all widen our
resource’s backpack.
17/12/18
Today is the last lesson of the
subject. It seems impossible that a whole semester has gone by!
We started the session by organising
the date and time we are going to present the symbaloo in January. Once the plan was designed, we continued the
lesson with a “loop” game, which
consisted of a year 6 domino, useful to revise numbers in English. The most
important ideas I have taken from it, is that it is essential that when using other subject’s content, they must be from
a low level, because we want to focus on language. Also, the teacher has
suggested not giving instructions or
only short ones, because with experience she has reached the conclusion
that the less the teacher speaks, the
more students speak. Next, the professor explained us more information
related to CLIL. More precisely, she presented the creation process of CLIL sessions,
which has been shocking for me that the
analysis of the language to be used is the last step to consider, and she
has given some names to remember, such as Bruner,
Clegg Cummins or Bloom, among others. Following this brief explanation, to
end the session in a more dynamic way, we played the magic box, in which there
was the puppet “Pete the cat”. It
has been enriching to see another way of explaining a story, by using the book
to show the illustrations but instead of explaining it her, she used an audio.
I think this collection of stories are very engaging for young pupils because
it includes songs. Finally, we ended the lesson, the subject and the semester
by giving feedback to the professor.
It is very kind of her to be open to questions, complaints, suggestions...
It has been an interesting subject,
specially because you gave us real examples of activities, projects, resources,
etc. which are very useful and enriching for our future. Thank you very much
and Merry Christmas!!!
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