Educational Experiences

Class Management and Atmosphere

Joseline

My teaching practice was owesome because I had my first experience. I could discover a lot of abilities, attitudes and different behaviors that children have at that ages.

    
     Attitudes: my children showed me positive attitudes; they were always actives because they wanted to learn something new. Every time I came to the classroom they used to ask me, if they and i were going to play an interesting games in English so they were very interested in.

      
      Abilities: my pupils learned lots of things. They were able to sing songs with me. They used to like them because they were accustomed to singing songs with their teacher.

        
     Rapport with children: my rapport with children was nice I treated them equally; they were so kind with me that is why I began to love them. Although each class I had with them It was a gift for me they were so quiet.

     
     Classroom atmosphere: the classroom atmosphere was appropriate to my children. I tried to create a very comfortable and nice environment for my students. I felt very proud and happy when I arrived to the school. I helped the teacher a lot, it was nice.

        
    Use of grouping: My group of children was very big. I had 28 children; however, it was a challenge for me to make them work. Sometimes, it was very difficult because they did not want to share with other children. I tried to make them to participate a lot so that they got accustomed to participating and talking; as a result, I achieve my goal.

My own style of teaching was making the class funny but also interesting. We always started the class singing the song “good morning teacher, good morning teacher how are you…” because they liked a lots. I had a very funny experience learning how to sing new English songs and pupils enjoyed it.

I tried to respect my pupils and treated them equally. When I was in front of them I felt nervous but they gave me confidence.

As an ELT practitioner my short goals were to teach pupils some English words and at the same time to learn with them. Create a good atmosphere, to have a good rapport and try to have an unforgettable experience with them.

My long term goals as an ELT practitioner were to learn, unlearn and relearn with my pupils. Being a practitioner had given me a nice opportunity to meet different kind of children that I did not know and also I had gotten a very good experience.  That experience had being an awesome opportunity to learn more and to get involved with children.

When things go wrong in class

Joseline: On Tuesday (28-08-12)was my first day to teach, I went to the school and I was very happy because it was my first day with my pupils. When I was teaching the vowels, to be honest, I taught them in a boring way. I started telling the vowels one by one, so kids were completely focused on the topic. Suddenly, a child began to shout to another child and run inside the classroom, so all the pupils were distracted, then they started to move to another place and I could not stop them and immediately I did an activity and they began to paying attention. Sometimes, it is very difficult to deal with those kinds of problems, but as teachers we have to learn how to.

Self-assessment and evaluation of your own learning 

Joseline: my teaching experience was great because I felt successful. I learned that we can change lives when we do what you have to do. Didactics has been one of my favorite subjects because this course has given me the required tools to be an excellent teacher. Also, I have learned lots of things and gotten experiences which I will apply in my next teaching practicum.

Joseline's pictures

Wilfredo

My teaching practice was great because I had my first experience leading a group of very young learners, so I could discover abilities, attitudes, and different behaviors children have at the ages of three and four to five and six years old.

Abilities: My children learned lots of new things related to English; thus, they developed abilities such as: learning to paint, learning to work in pairs and groups and learning to develop the ability of talking in front of their others little classmates.

Attitudes: My children showed me very positive attitudes. They were always participating and trying to learn English eagerly. When they did not understand how to pronounce some English words they asked me and they seemed to be really interested in learning.

Rapport with children: My rapport with children was very nice because they were so kind to me that I really loved every class I had with them. I always talked to them before starting the class and after it. They were always asking about me. They were so cute that I began to love teaching with them. They saw me as their teacher and as their friend as well.

Classroom atmosphere: the classroom atmosphere was suitable to my children. I tried to create a comfortable place and environment for my students. They felt very happy when I arrived to the school. They always asked me about what I was going to teach them. They also enjoyed and liked all the material and charts I used. I tried to use colorful pictures and they loved them.

Use of grouping: My group of children was big; however, it was a challenge for me to make them work in groups and as a team. Pupils are used to being the center of the attention at their homes, so they do not like to share with other pupils neither do they like to work with them without arguing. I tried to make pairs to work on an activity, but it did not work. Then I tried to do it again in another class and it was easier. Also, I tried to make them participate individually so that they got accustomed to participating and talking in front of other pupils without getting nervous; fortunately, it worked. The activity was very funny and my pupils learned a lot. Pupils liked songs and activities in groups. They got involved all the time. The whole class wanted to participate.

Wilfredo's pictures

Amanda

Wow! I can say that my teaching practice was an amazing experience that I never had because it is interesting how you can make the different in the life of others, sharing your knowledge or your experiences in the life. I learned that children come in different types and sides, so you have to treat them according to their every single behavior.

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     Abilities: children are like a sponge because they learn easily whatever you teach them, and it is going to depend on yourself what kind of abilities you want them to develop. For instance, you can develop different abilities such as singing, dancing, drawing, and so forth. Also I could help them to discover new abilities that will be useful to learn the new language.

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     Attitudes: children had an amazing attitude and had the capacity of taking risks and trying new things. I can say that my students learned a lot of new words, and they enjoyed every class.

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     Rapport with children: children did not show me love from the very beginning; nevertheless, by the past of the time, they began to love me and share their experiences with me. My children always brought me some candies or anything else and I really loved that. I love my first students because they were really kind with me, and I miss them.

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     Classroom atmosphere: In my teaching practicum I noticed to have a positive atmosphere and my children wanted to participate whenever I asked something. What really impressed me was that everybody got involved in every activity I did.

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      Use of grouping: it was kind of difficult for me to make my children work in groups because they were not accustomed to sharing their things with others and they used to get angry and fight when I asked them to work as a team.

One of my short term goals as a practitioner is to learn how to create a lesson plan in order to organize my class. Also, I want to make my children work as a team because I was not able to do it in my current teaching practicum; moreover, I need to improve the way I tried to make them get involved in the activities that required them to interact among each others.

Besides my short term goals, I have long term goals. The most important long term goal I have as a teacher is to be a role model for my students as I am for my son.

I would like to tell you that I liked to work with kids, and probably I will be a kinder garden teacher because I love to work with kids. Kids are the future of world, and I want to teach to a new generation of bilingual kids.

Amanda's pictures