period 1 journal- restivo

Instituto de Formación Docente Continua

Lenguas Vivas Bariloche (A-052)

Profesorado de Inglés – Opción pedagógica a distancia

Subject: Taller de la Práctica docente

Tutors´ names: Cecilia Zemborain and Aurelia Velazquez

Student's name: Gisela Restivo

Assignment: My Journal- Period 1

Trainee´s name: Gisela Restivo

Practicum level: Kindergarten

Group: 5 years old

Date: Monday 25th April

Observation

Today I went to the kinder and it was a fantastic experience. There are 15 students who

are really kind. They are very active, talkative and they seem to enjoy all the activities.

They were working on wild animals, after they

listened to a song, they prepared a mask of an

animal and they were supposed to say “I´m a ....”

while wearing their masks.

As regards to the classroom and the class time, the

room is small and they only have 30 minutes of

class, so time runs!

I cannot choose a special event or moment; in fact,

the whole class was valuable as I could know the

students and their space. I observed how they work

and their teacher let me know what the following content to be taught is. Therefore, I am

in conditions of starting the development of my lesson plans.

Next Monday, I will go again and we will tell the students that I will be their teacher the

next five classes. I will pay special attention to their names, so that they feel comfortable

with me.



Group: 5 years old

Date: Monday 9th May

Class 1

Section 1: Describing the lesson as it unfolds

What aspects of the lesson require change / improvement?

Well, there are many things to change since I am not so happy with this first class. To

begin with, as you have suggested, I need to provide a meaningful context to introduce

new items. In fact, I have already been working on that lesson plan.

Moreover, I need to improve the timing of lesson because, in this opportunity, the activities

demanded less time than expected.

Section 2: Making sense of the lesson through relevant lived experiences

Choose a moment that was important for you during the lesson. Describe it and say why it

was important.

Without doubts, the moment I entered into the classroom was very important. I was really

nervous, not because of the idea of working with young learners, but due to the fact of

being observed by the everyday miss of the children, by their teacher of English and by

you through my cell phone! Then, after a few minutes, I forgot and I tried to enjoy myself.

Section 3: Interpreting the lesson in words and images

Describe this lesson in terms of a metaphor.

My first time…It was like the first time I got into a classroom to teach English. Although I

have been teaching for many years, I could feel as nervous as that time.

In addition, the idea of beginning the practicum, reminds me that I am near the end of this

four years race!



Group: 5 years old


Class 2


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

The lesson plan was developed under the light of Communicative approach and it followed

the stages of the PPP procedure (presentation, practice, production). At the beginning,

students were presented the topic with a photo of the wolf, and then there was practice as

they were doing the activity. In fact there was not production from students, but they will

continue working with parts of the body the following classes.


Choose a moment that was important for the students during the lesson. Describe it and

say why it was important.

Well, I think that listening to the story was a nice moment for them. Their Miss told me that

they love stories; however they are not so used to being told stories in English.

Although they were not so comfortable and they were very talkative at the beginning, they

were able to pay attention and enjoy the story.


This is a photo of Delfi´s wolf. Delfina was very concentrated while she was doing the

activity. She could repeat phrases such as “the wolf´s nose or the teeth”, before I gave her

the parts of the face to stick.

I laughed a lot with the wolf ´faces! Some of them seemed crazy or dangerous wolves, but

this one seems inoffensive! Don’t you think??



Group: 5 years old

Date: Monday 23 rd May

Class 3


What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?

As the previous class, I used my tablet in order to show my students some images. I

decided to use it as a flashcard, because I am not able to print in colour at home. This

resource resulted really comfortable due to its portability; it allowed me to show colourful

pictures in order to present the target vocabulary. Moreover, I consider that using well

known characters helped me to create an engaging context.




Showing their monsters was an important moment for them. They always look for my

approval when they finish their tasks. They say: “te gusta seño?”, for example.

However, to tell you the truth, it was difficult for me to make them talk. In addition, it was

really funny to hear: “three ojos”, as an answer to the question: How many eyes has it got?


Choose a quotation that represents an event, knowledge, insight in this lesson.

When re reading the materials of previous years, I found this quotation which helps me to

develop my class. In their book “Success in English Teaching”, the authors Pearse and

Davies state: “If Communication in English is to be perceived by the learners as the main

goal of the course, English should be used for real communication as much as possible.

This means introducing English for genuine communication early in the course, for

example, that needed for routine greeting, instructions and request.”

This quotation reminds me the importance of speaking as much as possible. As you,

know, it is a big challenge for me and I am working hard in order to establish English as

the language of the class.



Group: 5 years old


Class 4


How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and the materials? How did

they react to the lesson?

Students are always enthusiastic but today they were a bit more. They enjoyed the lesson

and they liked the materials. When they entered into the class, they noticed the animals on

the wall.

I followed your suggestion of taking something to the class, to use it as binoculars and I

also changed phrases into visual aids as prompts to elicit sentences, as you told me and it

worked!.




The song was a nice moment for them and for me, too. As far as I know, they listened to it

in a previous activity (I do not know if the last year or during the current year), so, I think

they found it familiar. However, this time they were supposed to perform a different task

during it

For me, it was fantastic to see their eyes when they discovered which animal was being

named.


Include a photo of a moment in the lesson

Here, I leave you a photo of the materials I prepared for the

class, the set of flashcards and the cards of the game. Despite

the fact it took me a lot of time to prepare them, it was really

worth doing because I felt students were engaged during the

lesson!



Group: 5 years old

Date: Monday 6th June

Class 5


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

During this lesson, I activated students’ previous knowledge. Learners have already learnt

colours, so, when I showed them the pictures of the different clothes, I asked “What colour

is the scarf’” and they could answer successfully.

Moreover, as previous classes, I applied to cooperative work. I gave students the

opportunity of working in groups and so that they learn from each other.


Choose a moment that was important for you during the lesson. Describe it and say why it

was important.

In fact, the entire lesson was special because it was the last one! I enjoyed it a lot. When I

finished, I thanked the teacher for opening me the doors of their Kindergarten.

The fact that I have finished the first period makes me feel that I am nearer the end!


Choose a quotation that represents an event, knowledge, insight in this lesson.

Cristina Crego, our teacher of Literature, explains many reasons to use Literature in the

English class. She claims that Literature is motivating; it expands language awareness and

helps teachers to integrate the four skills.

And that knowledge becomes true during this lesson! Students listen carefully to the story

and then they could answer some questions about it. I could notice them motivated

because they could understand a story in English and use the language to answer about it!

period 1 journal- restivo

Education