Trainee´s name: Paula SchulzePracticum Level: Nivel PrimarioGroup: 6 “A”Date: 11-08-15Lesson Number: 1

1. What pedagogical principles supported the planning and delivery of this lesson?

I tried to focus myself on the Natural Approach as the students were expected to interact with me and peers in a natural way promoting in this way the communicative abilities. Since language and vocabulary are of principal importance for this approach and to acquire the language, I encouraged the students to concentrate mainly on the understanding of the message of the story rather on the target language specifically. Consequently, I set the conditions for the learners to acquire the language in a free-stress classroom environment. Besides, the PPP method was also used to introduce the target structure since first it was presented then practiced in a controlled way and finally students were given free production instances.

1. What teaching strategies did you use? Which ones were effective? Why/ why not?

In this class, the instructions were given all in the target language but I made the students repeat them before doing the tasks so as to check they had understood and this was really useful I think. While telling the story, I mimed the words or actions to show the meaning of some that could be knew for the sts. When I was asked about the meaning of a word, I first asked the sts if somebody knew the meaning, if they answered affirmatively I asked them to explain the meaning of the word using the target language and then I rounded the idea or gave the exact synonym for example. If the students did not know, there was only 1 case and the word was hidden, I gave an example for the students to grasp the idea and then spontaneously one student said the translation of the word, I confirmed it and then I repeated the English word twice. When I read the story I changed the tone of voice, used gestures, read slowly at times and made some silences all to create suspense. The second time I read it, I did it quicker

2. How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and the materials? How did they react to the lesson?

The students were very active at the time of working. The followed all the instructions and I felt they found the sequence of activities and the context provided very motivating. It was really great seeing their faces the first time I was reading the story, they were closely involved and engaged in it. They enjoyed the moral as well. I felt the teaching of the structure was really scaffolded, I mean, it was a smooth process from the introduction, the revision activities to get to the teaching point. And finally I felt very happy with the result: seeing the kids using the past continuous, in this case.

3. What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful? In this opportunity, the time management was almost perfect as well as the pace of the activities. There were no behavioral problems at all, that is something I always worry about. Besides, there was little talking in Spanish, the expected one, we can say.At the very beginning of the lesson I told the sts that I was nervous because the class was a test for me and that was the reason why the class was being recorded. Then I asked them if they would help me feel more relaxed and they all laughed and agreed to do it. I told them this because I was really a bit tense and in case they noticed it I wanted them to understand why I was feeling in that way.

4. What aspects of your lesson require change / improvement?

I had problems with the recording. As I told you in the mail I had downloaded a program to record with my laptop, I had tried it the week before in my class, it had worked perfectly well and it even recorded more than 60 minutes. But when this morning I got to the school and wanted to record, a sign appeared saying that the program was in fact a demo and it had expired. I could not believe my eyes, I tried to download it again as I had enough time but the internet service at school is awful. I gave the teacher my cell phone to record but she could do it for no more than 5 minutes because there was no space enough. Then she recorded with her cell phone and although the videos are a bit longer she could no record the whole class. Technology is still my karma!

5. What do you find useful of this lesson that will help you plan the next one?

Students are very willing to participate and that helps me to think of interesting activities to perform next class. I also had enough time to

tell them the homework and 2 sts were asked to repeat the pieces of homework just in case someone did not understand. This aspect of making the sts repeat the instructions I think is very useful.

6. Any comments or observations you would like to share may be added here.

As I said they were really amazed by the story I read to them, I can see to use it to make the sts role-play it. When it was time to ask 3 classmates about a past activity, the sts did not tend to stand up to ask some other mates, they just asked the ones they had nearby. So as there were no behavioral problems, probably next time I can ask them to stand up and ask someone else.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Trainee´s name: Paula SchulzePracticum Level: Nivel PrimarioGroup: 6 “A”Date: 13-08-15Lesson Number: 2

1. What pedagogical principles supported the planning and delivery of this lesson?

Like in the first class, I tried to focus myself on the Natural Approach as the students were expected to interact with me and peers in a natural way promoting in this way the communicative abilities. Since language and vocabulary are of principal importance for this approach and to acquire the language, I encouraged the students to concentrate mainly on the understanding of the message rather on the target language specifically. Consequently, I set the conditions for the learners to acquire the language in a free-stress classroom environment. Besides, the PPP method was also used to introduce the target structure since first it was presented then practiced in a controlled way and finally students were given free production instances.

2. What teaching strategies did you use? Which ones were effective? Why/ why not?

In this class, like in the previous one, the instructions were all given in the target language but I made the students repeat them before doing the tasks so as to check they had understood and this was really useful I think. If during the class, a new word appeared (in this class were wig

and handkerchief), I mimed them or pointed to the pictures to show the meaning or gave the definition in English. Also, when I was asked about the meaning of a word, I first asked the sts if somebody knew the meaning, if they answered affirmatively I asked them to explain the meaning of the word using the target language and then I rounded the idea or gave the exact synonym, for example. If the students did not know I used the strategies mentioned above.

3. How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and the materials? How did they react to the lesson?

The students were very enthusiastic with all the activities; they found the activity with the music really exciting. However, they told me the video was too short, apparently they expected to watch a longer chunk. I promised I will try to include a longer one in the next plan. In the previous class, the sts had been asked to bring pictures of pirates and most of them brought them; although I had brought some extra pictures, that helped that all the activities could be done as planned. I had also asked them to write their names on a sort of triptych to have their names on. It certainly helped me a lot call the sts by their names or nicknames and make my comments or questions in a more personalized way.

4. What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?

As in the previous class, the time management was almost perfect as well as the pace of the activities. There were no behavioral problems at all and this is fantastic because disrupting attitudes are time and energy consuming. Besides, there was little talking in Spanish, the expected one, we can say.I use choral repetition with the correct pronunciation of the word “sword”, as the sts sometimes mispronounced misled it because of its spelling. When I left the class, I felt I had given a great lesson because the sts were motivateding, they participated, they used the vocabulary and target structure as expected, all the technological gadgets worked properly. I felt really happy!

This is a photo of all the gadgets I had to work with: laptop, loudspeaker and OHP. There were plenty of wires on the floor but everything worked ok.

5. What aspects of your lesson require change / improvement?

This time I had the camera to record in my computer as well as the music and the video I had to use in the class. The only thing was that every time I set the music on, the camera stopped working. The same happened when I turned on the video. But, well, as soon as the listening or watching activities finished, I resumed the recording again. In fact, I do not know if this can be improved.

Now that i´m writing the journal, I have just remembered that I forgot to refresh how the comparative forms of “long” and “short” adjectives are made. IOn the following class, I will take some time to work on this topic specifically.

6. What do you find useful of this lesson that will help you plan the next one?

I still have the same feeling as after the 1st class: the students are very willing to participate so I have to think of interesting activities to perform next class. Like during the 1st class, I had enough time to tell the students the homework in a detailed away and I also had time to ask the sts what they had learned (vocabulary, pronunciation, expressions) so as to activate metacognitive view of their learning. In addition, the aspect of making the sts repeat the instructions is very useful because they have to organize ideas and mention the stages they have to follow. Finally, I enjoyed the inferring process when sts hadve to deduce or reason how the new language structure is used is also nice, since the T has to make the correct questions for them to think about the structure they have just been using and since they realize the exact use of the new structure.

7. Any comments or observations you would like to share may be added here.

As expected there were no behavioral problems so when they sts were asked to complete the survey, they were also invited to stand up and ask some mates from other desks. I was asked about the word “abanderado” and as I did not know I told the sts I would find out the word for next class. Now I know it is standard-bearer.Something easy to do and that really saves time, I learned it during Kinder practicum, is to have the scotch already cut so in this class for example I had to paste on the board several pictures, in this way it was easier and quicker.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Trainee´s name: Paula SchulzePracticum Level: Nivel PrimarioGroup: 6 “A”Date: 18-08-15Lesson Number: 3

1. What pedagogical principles supported the planning and delivery of this lesson?

Like in the first classes, I tried to focus myself on the Natural Approach as the students were expected to interact with me and peers in a natural way promoting in this way the communicative abilities. Since language and vocabulary are of principal importance for this approach and to acquire the language, I encouraged the students to concentrate mainly on the understanding of the message rather on the target language specifically. Consequently, I set the conditions for the learners to acquire the language in a free-stress classroom environment. Besides, the PPP method was also used to introduce the target structure since first it was presented then practiced in a controlled way but in this class I could not get the students to the stage of the free production instance since we run out of time.

2. What teaching strategies did you use? Which ones were effective? Why/ why not?

In this class, like in the previous ones, all the instructions were given in the target language but there was no time to make the students repeat them before doing the tasks so as to check they had understood, as I

had done before. At the time of playing the game, two students were asked to model the activity and it was really good so as to check misunderstandings. When during the class, a new word appeared (in this class the new words were beard, sail and revenge), I mimed them or drew the pictures to show the meaning or gave the definition in English. Also, when I was asked about the meaning of a word, I first asked the sts if somebody knew the meaning, this was the case when the students had to name the piece of clothing they had brought to dress up like pirates, all of the words were said by the students. It really surprised me in terms of their memory!

3. How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and the materials? How did they react to the lesson?

The students were very enthusiastic with all the activities, specially the competition game; they found the dressing up game really motivating. As expected not all of them had brought the costumes so it was great that the activity had to do with shared clothes. When later on the sts were invited to dress up, the ones who had brought clothes were really excited. As I had promised to the sts, I included a longer video and they were surprised to see the Lego ships. At one point of the class, I asked the sts to put on their desks their signs with their names on as they had done in the previous class. This is so because that helps me a lot call the sts by their names or nicknames and make my comments or questions in a more personalized way, I found I was a bit lost not calling the sts by their names.

4. What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful? In this opportunity the time management was not the expected or planned because instead of the sts entering the classroom at 8:10 the “hello greeting ” they have every morning in the school´s SUM took almost 15 minutes more. Some sts were asked to talk about the Kid´s day celebrations. There were almost no behavioral problems while playing the game, just the noises typical of a competition. But I have to say that if I compare this class with the 2 previous ones, there was more Spanish talking; probably the game and being dressed up like pirates kept the

group happier and therefore the sts felt more relaxed and apparently me too!! I was not that much focused on their English, but this was only during the game.

5. What aspects of your lesson require change / improvement?

The aspect to be improved is what the classroom teacher suggested after I have finished the class, that I would have asked the sts to speak in English during the game if not they could be penalized or disqualified, something I really did not do. I was worried about the rules of the game and there were also many wires at the front, I did not want any child to get “coiled” with them.This time again the camera, in my computer, recorded the class. As in the previous classes, every time I set the music or video on, the camera stopped working. But then I resumed the recording again.

6. What do you find useful of this lesson that will help you plan the next one?

This time I did not have enough time to ask the sts what they had learned (vocabulary, pronunciation, expressions) so as to activate metacognitive view of their learning and I think that was a pitty, but they left the classroom with their bon-o-bon extremely joyful. Besides, the inferring process, when sts hadve to deduce or reason how the new language structure is used, was shorter than in previous classes but they grasped the idea as well. I raun out of time to ask the sts to open their folders to stick the copies and do the less-controlled practice but the controlled practice was more than enough since many of the sts wanted to say their superstitions.

7. Any comments or observations you would like to share may be added here.

As in the previous classes, I felt really under the control of the planned activities and I felt comfortable with the students, the topics I had to teach. The language the sts handle is really great because it makes me feel free to speak, debate, give instructions, everything using English… so different to my feelings with kinder kids!!I also felt more secure with the technological gadgets. In the last 2 classes I had to use the laptop, OHP and loudspeaker and I could do it!!!

I am a bit sad I could not do the last activity I had planned for this group and the “metacognitive stage” I had included in the previous classes and that had worked so well…but at time there are some imponderables.