LAST!!! VERY LAST!!! :D

Well, this was my last class in the period and in the semester ☺ *claps*. Some of you will have the last one this week and some others had it already. Well, we are finishing this course, and we are finishing our major! What we all want is to rest a little bit, I know that for sure hahaha.

In this time, I prepared some activities to make them think and express themselves. I started the class with the tale-teller warm-up. I really like this warm-up because they feel free to write without caring so much about grammar or composition. They can feel inspired to write only. Well, I had them in three groups to write about any topic during 6 minutes. Well, I had them read their stories, one per group. I moved on to the next part which was about a little debate to develop critical thinking. The topic was about modals, so I asked them what we should do to protect our planet. Some of them answered and participated. With this question, I started the PDP that I had prepared. After that, I played a video that showed part of the nature and some sad parts of what we do to our planet. Most of them were touched by the scenes in the video, and I finally gave them some questions to answer using the modals. They did it very well and shared their responses with the entire class. My last activity was a roleplay. I had them read and prepare for 10 minutes, which were enough for them. Unfortunately, my time was not long enough to make them all participate, so I asked only one group to perform it. They did it well although they had some pronunciation problems.

At the end, I said goodbye to them and wished them the best in the major. So, this is how I conclude my teaching practicum :D. I wait for your comments ;).

Second practice, third period

Well, this class was very nice. I felt more confident, and I knew what to do, so it was great for me!

To start the class, I had them in two lines face to face. The warm-up was emotional mirrors, and I asked them to talk about their plans for the weekend. The topic they studied was the future forms using "going to" and present progressive. They enjoyed it because I asked them to perform many moods like: Angry, sad, happy, etc.

After the warm-up, I said the objective which was to practice the future forms through some fill in the blanks activities and some dialogues. I gave away the pieces of paper so that they could work on that. They fulfilled the task, and later, I had them work in pairs, but this time, I paired them up to include them all so that they work with the other people. I had them fill the blanks in a dialogue. Then, I asked them to come to the front and to perform it. In this way, they could practice more speaking.

Finally, I had them all performing the dialogue. It was a nice experience, and I am sure that they had fun as I did too.

First teaching, III period

Well, this time I felt better since the last group. First I introduced myself after the teacher introduced me to the group.

They are a very nice group. I am in Intermediate English I with teacher Roberto Carlos, and they are very nice. I started my class with a warm up, "stairs" which is on the lesson plan. I had them in three groups to participate, and it was nice for them. Later, I worked on the book and we talked a little bit about the strikes and the environment. Still in that moment, it was not exactly me Why? I was just leading the activity of the book... I had not given my touch in that moment ._.

Well, after that, I started to explain the good stuff, stative and dynamic verbs!! ☺ In that moment, I felt better because as I explained most of the students were asking me about the topic, and I answered all their questions. I spent most of the class explaining the grammar part until they could understand well the main topic, so I did not do a lot during class besides that. I just had a little problem... well, not exactly a problem. When I am writing on the board and want to erase, I take the eraser and do it, but most of the times (all the time), I do not know where I put the eraser, so I erase with my hand as the good Salvadorean that I am. I was sweating, and I erased a word with my hand. Then, I cleaned my forehead with my hand... I painted it with blue color. I felt as if I was in Avatar movie! ._.

No one told me about it, and I did not realize until I got out of the classroom, and a friend of mine told me that my forehead was blue ._.

This was my blog, and I wait for your comments :'D

Last class, II period

Well, I finally finished the classes this period, and I am glad about it. It was a nice class, and I learned with the students because I did not remember the topic which was verbs followed by gerund and infinitive.

I started the class with a boardgame as warm-up. They had fun, and they were sharing. With this one, I tried to involve them all (only those who were in class). After that, I had the grammar explanation on these verbs which were five:

1- Remember.
2- Forget.
3- Try
4- Regret.
5- Stop.

I explained the differences when you use them with a gerund or an infinitive, and we had some examples too. They understood well, and they provided some examples. I had a little problem, but it was very funny. I was reading an example that said: "We regret to tell you that your application was not accepted." I pronounced application as: Aplikashon. I did it like three times until I realized that it was not the right way, and when I corrected myself, I laughed and so did everyone in the classroom hahahaha. I felt as if I was the guy of the OpenEnglish advertisements. In my mind, I was thinking: "EEEEEEEEEXITO." XD

I finished the class, and I said goodbye to them making jokes about my mistake. Anyways, this was my last class, and I am glad that we have only one period left :D.

Second class, second period

Well, I had my second class with the advanced English I group. Well, this class was not the best at all, but it was not so bad at all. It was a "so-so class."

First, I experienced some problems with the preparation of my class. I received the part that I had to teach like 3 hours before the class, so you know that when you don't have enough time to prepare something, it is probable to be a mess. Anyways, I had to try my best. Well, I started the class by using the warm-up named: "tale-teller." I divided the class in two groups and asked them to make a circle with their group. They enjoyed this activity, and they had fun! This was a good way to introduce them to the new topic which was: "Narrative tenses."

Well, I started to explain what this was about, and I also answered their questions toward this topic. I spent most of the class talking about this, so there is not so much to say about it lol. After that, I had them speak in pairs about something embarrasing that had happened to them. To pair them up, I had a little game. I wrote several names of "famous couples" out of cartoons such as Timon & Pumba, Goku & Milk, Candy & Anthony, etc. They liked this way to pair them up :). Well, it was the last of the class, so after that, I said goodbye, and I hope to teach them again next week.

First class, II period

Well, finally, this is my first blog for the second period.
To start the class, we had a tic tac toe warm-up. I divided the class in two groups to participate. I adapted the warm-up to write verbs in participle since the topic they are studying is the future perfect tense and phrasal verbs. They had some fun with that, and I liked it too.

Later, I started the phrasal verbs with a reading. I asked them to write down the phrasal verbs they could hear which were six. After finishing reading, I asked them which verbs they heard, and I asked them to write them on the whiteboard. I explained the meaning of them and used some examples to enhance the learning. The next step was to talk about separable and non-separable phrasal verbs. I know that this is somehow hard, but I tried my best the explain them haha. As you know, you separate phrasal verbs when they are transitive and take a direct object such as "wake me up", "pick it up", "turn it up", etc. On the other hand, the non-separable verbs are those that do not take a direct object but an indirect object such as "looking for an answer" and others. After that, I asked them to write a paragraph including at least 10 phrasal verbs as a wrap-up of the class. They did it, and I asked them to read their story.

I worked with this same group last semester in Intermediate English II, and now, they are in Advanced English I. A group of students is always speaking during class, and it is something that always happens hahaaha. I remember when I was in their place; as most of us, they do the same. Anyways, people say that karma is a b*$%&, and we are paying what we did some time ago. I will find a way to stop that in the next class. Well, this is it! Take care, dear friends :). I wait for your comments.

Last Entry, First Period

Well, On Monday, August 12th, I had my last class for this period (Yes, I know it is too late now that I post this ._. ).

Ok, let's get into business! To start the class, I greeted them, and had a nice warm-up. The warm-up was "stairs." I guess you already know it. It is about writing a word on the board and write another word with the last letter of the previous word. It was something like this:

Tomato
          r
          g
          a
          notion...

And so on...

Well, after that, I had a reading with them and asked them to underline the modal verbs they find and also the new vocabulary for them. After reading it, I had them reading it out loud, and also, after the reading, there were some questions. I had them answering them, and later, we discussed the questions. Then, I asked them where the modal verbs they underlined were, and we checked them all together. After it, I helped them with the new vocabulary for them. I explained to them the new words (fortunately, I knew them all haha). After that activity, I had them form groups. I assigned them a number from one to four to get in groups so that number ones were working together, number twos the same and so on. I gave them some pieces of paper containing some questions to discuss them. I monitored their work and also asnwered their questions and doubts. It was very good because they all were participating and sharing ideas.

At the end of the class, I said goodbye to them. It was not so good because I really liked this group, but I am glad that I could work well with them and that they were cooperating with me. It was such a great experience, and I am sure that you all have gotten good experiences that will help you improve every time such as this one has helped me.

Cheers.

Second experience, period I

Well, to start, I want to say that I am enjoying teaching every time more. I am glad to have this opportunity because besides being a grade or a course, it is a new way to learn by practice and experience.

This Friday, I had my second experience with this group. I started the class by having a fun warm-up which is named Emotional Mirrors. I guess some of you have heard of this. This warm-up is about making your students to talk about anything they want, but they must speak with different emotions. For example, if I tell them to speak angry, they must speak like that and so on. Later, I had some questions about movies which were good for them because they enjoyed them too. At first, I gave them the piece of paper with the questions and asked them to read them for one minute to get familiar with the vocabulary and to think what to answer. Later, we studied the questions all together, and they participating by providing their own answers. The last activity was a dialogue which included new vocabulary. I explained to them the meaning of the words and phrases, and some of them performed the dialogue. They enjoyed the class, and I enjoyed it too.

About the feedback, well, I must say that it was what I expected (even though I do not know my grade yet), and I could see some points in which I failed, but what class is perfect? You must always have to deal with every detail that may not be as you want, but you must adapt yourself to overcome it. Well, this was my second experience with the English Access group. I wait for your comments and suggestions. Thanks.

First experience, English Access

Well, I just started a new experience with the English Access course, and I find it very nice. I had the opportunity to teach this group, and as some of you said, they are great students, and I could see why they were awarded with this scholarship to study English. I started my class by arranging their seats in a circle shape and used an icebreaker to start. It was a warm-up which was about writing a story for one minute. After the minute, they had to pass their notebooks to the person to their right to continue the story and so on. They enjoyed this game, and at the end, some of them read the stories they had.

Later, I presented a reading with the purpose to introduce and review the simple past and the past progressive. I had them take a look on the picture of the reading and asked them about what they thought that happened to the girl, so they asked. Later, I corrected some of the words they pronounced wrong. Anyways, I had them read and underline the past progressive forms. I had a quick review about this topic because they are very good students and already knew about this topic.

At the end, I finished the class and had the feedback which made me realize some of the good points I had as well as the bad points. I am glad that I can learn every time more of any experience, and I am sure that I will keep like that J.