Teaching Sequence Implementation Practicum V - UAB 2014-2015 Carolina Gรกlvez Santos Escola Collserola
Context ● 6th graders - 6th A, B, C ● Topic
The human reproduction process
● Goals
Strengthen the content learnt in Practicum IV Communicating in English Improving collaborative work
Daily reflection
Daily reflection
8-4-15 6th B
Implementation
Changes to be made
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Video sound: bad (difficulties to embed Voki recordings)
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Oral comprehension was difficult: very fast speaking + unknown words (no time to read and listen all at once - still worse in a foreign language)
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Activity 1 not finished. Activity 2 not done. Peer & self-assessment not done: Long presentation & many questions at the beginning. Wrong timing (overoptimistic and too ambitious)
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Watch the Power point and play the Voki recordings directly from the web at the same time. Highlight the key words in the Power point while being told in the recording + Stop the recordings and the slides several times (allowing time for reading and reflecting on the listening) Go straight to the point during the presentation. Being more realistic when planning (especially EFL)
Daily reflection
9-4-15 6th C
Implementation ●
No technical problems.
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Better comprehension.
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Activity 1 finished. Activity 2 not done. Peer & self-assessment not done.
Changes to be made ●
Go straight to the point during the presentation.
Daily reflection
15-4-15 6th A
Implementation ●
No technical problems.
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Better comprehension.
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Activity 1 finished. Activity 2 started. Peer & selfassessment not done.
Changes to be made ●
Go straight to the point during the presentation.
Daily reflection The reflection above is an example of the process I have followed throughout my TS implementation. Actually, the more you repeat the activities you have planned, the better you can implement them in future sessions. I have had the great opportunity to improve all the activities on my TS. Therefore, I have learned from my mistakes, which is an excellent way to learn. I always try to convey this message to the pupils. It has proved to be very useful in speaking activities, since the learners realise they improve their communicating skills by practising without being afraid of making mistakes.
Best experiences
Best experiences, feelings... ●
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When you show to your tutor different resources to use in class and she is interested in and start using them successfully (CMC tools, speaking activities, recovering the calm and/or the learners’ attention) ■ Pupils engage in using / feel like to use them and they learn!!! ■ What is more, when she tells about them to the rest of the English teachers in the school and all of them start using these resources. When the English teachers asks me for permission to use one strategy I’ve been using the day before. When you help them to prepare the materials needed. When pupils speak in English throughout the session by using your support material.
Best experiences, feelings... ● ●
When pupils talk to you in English even when you are not in the classroom (in the corridors, in the playground) The days I had to cover for the English teacher because she was on a two-day excursion (summer camp): I had seen what I would have to do because she had done it with another group the day before. It was half a group of fifth graders. The pupils had to speak about their Easter holidays and afterwards, play a bingo game. It was marvellous! They spoke all the time in English. I gave no instruction at first. I only allow them to start speaking. As expected, the first pupil used the verbs “to go” and “to eat” in the base form, without using the past tense. Then, I wrote down on the blackboard “At Easter, I went to…”, “I stayed in Cerdanyola”, “I ate ‘the mona’”.
Best experiences, feelings... The next learners used this support when they spoke and, consequently, they had no problem to express what they wanted to say (it was so gratifying!). â—?
In addition, I had another fifth grade (this time, the whole class) that were supposed to do different exercises from the activity book for homework. I helped them when necessary. Twenty minutes before finishing the class, some of the kids had finished their homework and the teacher had not given me extra activities to be carried out. Instead of desperate, I suggested them to start making a glossary with the new words that appeared in the unit they had started the day before and to highlight the ones they found difficult. I also gave them the chance to make different sentences about the
Best experiences, feelings... things they usually do on holidays, as this was one of the topics they were working on in the unit. I assure them that this “extra” work would be handed in to their English teacher in order to get an extra point in their mark (and so I did it). ●
I was very happy each time I had the opportunity to teach, not only during the implementation of my teaching sequence, but also when I was in the rest of the grades. Certainly, as I could stay from P5 until 5th grade, I had the opportunity to realise the great differences that exist between teaching from one course to another. In this regard, I must say I have always considered teaching the youngest ones to be much more difficult than to the rest of the levels. I surprised myself when I had to “improvise”
Best experiences, feelings... the rehearsing of a song for a spring concert with the second graders and my tutor had no voice to speak. I had to put into practice a resource that the teacher uses with the kids when she wants them to remember the vocabulary of the unit they are working on or the lyrics of a song. It consists of repeating a word or a sentence in different ways, different tones of voice, etc. Moreover, I had to perform a little story the pupils already knew about a crocodile that tricked some animals in order to eat them. It pretended to have tummy ache or earache and when they approached it, it ate them. It was a funny story with a happy end. They liked it very much.
Best experiences, feelings... I was surprised when succeeded in losing my shyness and getting into my role, and above all to perform it! I really enjoyed the experience. When I finished doing it, I wondered when I could do it again!!!!
What I learned ●
To deal with the “real life”: RESILIENCE Timing difficulties ○
Field-trips, end of studies camp, workshops, St. Jordi, Other festivities
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Only 1 hour / week (45’) - In one class 20’ (twice a week) - Very fragmented, broken-up in time
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Science classes in English: the whole group. In previous years, Science classes took place only with half the group (English teachers disagree with this decision of the managing team)
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4 different children are taken out of the classroom every session. They do “Escolta’m” with their tutor. There is no continuity in their work. They get completely lost. There is no way to catch up with the content nor the activities done.
What I learned Wrong planning â—‹
It becomes worse when you plan L2 sessions. We need 4 times more minutes to implement them.
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We have a tendency to plan too many activities and -sometimes- we forget to plan the sessions according to the different levels and learning styles.