please write down here your personal story at school. The idea is that you share your experiences at school with the rest of the group. You can use it as a logbook for your final assignment.
I have met my practicum's tutor, mªjesús. She is very very kind! She has explain to me the classes, the school system, her courses... The school, Globe, is very welcoming, very nice, much that I had imagined. Alba, our master's partner was there working... Tomorrow at 16.15 it starts my first classes (5,6 and 11-12 years old pupils) with my tutor, of course. I'm delighted! I'll tell you my experience! (sorry for my english, I know it is not perfect... but a day, it will be jejeje;-) )
Today it has been my first day at school. I had already met my tutor, Javier, so I knew more or less what I was going to do.
I have been to four different lessons. Two of them were 1st ESO English lessons. Students have been practising some irregular verbs, prepositions and vocabulary related to TV. Both classes have been very participative, and most of them are not afraid of speaking English.
The other two classes were 1st and 3rd of Primary education. These lessons were CLIL. The subject taught has been Art. It has been wonderful to observe how these young children are able to communicate using English as their main tool.
It has been a wonderful experience, and all the students and teachers have been really kind. Tomorrow morning I will come back to the school. I will talk to you about it!
Today I have to one of the 1st ESO classes I visited yesterday. Students have been checking some homework and practising some speaking activities.
I have also been to a 4th of ESO class. The development of this lesson has been more traditional, that is to say, the teacher has been talkin most of the time, and the students have been listening to her and checking their exercises.
I have also been to two different classes (5th and 6th of primary education). The have been practising speaking with a native English speaker. They do this once a week, and it is very interesting because it helps students a lot improving their oral skills.
Hopefully next Friday I will be teaching 1st of ESO on my own. I will tell you then!
Last Friday I finally got to teach two lessons (corresponding to 1st of ESO, A and B) on my own. It was a great experience. We were mainly reviewing Present Simple and Frequency Adverbs.
On the other hand, I also went to a 4º of ESO lesson. They had a listening test and, after that, they finished reading "Oliver Twist", one of their compulsory graded readings. Next Tuesday they will have their reading test, so tehy devoted some time to summarize the main aspects of the novel, as well as to talk about the most important characters.
25th February On this date was my first day at school "Virgen del Carmen". I was speaking with my coordinator at school, her name is Pilar, making my timetable, speaking about my lessons and materials and preparing lessons.
3rd March (Thursday) Today is my first class day at school with 1º ESO(A,B,C,D). We started with presentations to know something about each pupil and to practise oral skills. I also made this type of exercise to check their level of English. The presentations consisted on: Hello, my name is..... I´m...... years old. I like....(play football and basket was a success):-) I don´t like.... We also made a short review about present tenses with examples on the blackboard.
3rd March (Thursday) The last hour was in 2º ESO (D). The lesson was similar to the 1º ESO lessons with similar presentations and reviews about present tenses with more difficult level than 1º ESO. In this two classes we´ve practising with grammar, writing, comprehension and oral skills.
4th March (Friday) Lessons with 2º ESO(D)level. Firstly we corrected homework about present tenses and we continue with explanations about past tenses. We werw practising with real and oral examples. Lessons with 2º ESO (C). Presentations and review about present tenses with real examples. Making exercises and corrections. Lastly, a brief reading about Present tenses. Today we´ve practising with grammar, writing, comprehension, oral skills and reading.
6th March (Monday) Lessons with 1º ESO(a,b,c,d) Practices with technological resources. We´ve made exercises about present tenses with computers using the projector. For this lesson we´ve used Isabel Perez web page (TESL site). My pupils were delighted! Today, we´ve practising with grammar, oral skills, writing and comprehension.
Today I have been in two 1st of ESO lessons. We have been checking and reviewing some homework. After that, I have taught them some irregular verbs. In order to practise irregular verbs, we have been playnig "Irregular Verbs Bingo". The students seemed very interesed on this game.
I have been two days in my Practicum! I´m very happy! Children who are 6-7 years are funny! I like them! Their teacher, mjesús, teaches them throw songs, short storys... They love cutting papers, playing with sticks (completing a picture dictionary) and competions what they love the most. For example, as they are learning vocabulary about clothes, they, in pairs, had to discover which clothes they were wearing using all time: ARE YOU WEARING....? ARE YOU WEARING...? It's amazing discover that they, so small, can speak so good!
I have to speak about my young pupils! These days, they are learning arts! they have discovered different works of arts from impotant painters as Picasso, Matisse, da Vinci, Van Eyck, Renoir, Van Gogh... They, for example, had to put in order in a timeline, pictures; gathering information about a concrete artist on Internet... I like a lot a "mini game" who mjesús always plays with her students: with a hot potato, which it has a stopwatch, they revise vocabulary that they have studied before...
Today the 1st of ESO students have been studying irregular verbs and the past simple. We have been practising a lot because next Monday they will have a test.
I have also been to 1st and 3rd of Primary, because the have Art as a bilingual subject. They are so lovely! They understand almost everything you explain to them in English, what is amazing! We have been using the blackboard and some flashcards in order to teach them some difficult words, but the truth is that they learn really quickly.
Today, 1st os ESO students have been practising past simple and checking their homework. After that, we have been focusing on speaking. They have been working in pairs using the past form of both regular and irregular verbs. Finally, some of them have represented their dialogues in front of the rest of the class.
Quería comentaros que el miércoles pasado los peques, 6-7 años, hicieron un examen de animales y ropa, era muy curioso: se examinaban de todo: use of english, grammar, listening... y también speaking! la profe los grababa con la grabadora: tenían que describir dos fotos: decían por ejemplo "I can see a duckling..." y responder a las preguntas que le hacía la teacher! más graciosos que to'! pa' comérselos! era la primera vez que veía una prueba de este tipo y me ha encantao'! Los más grandes siguen con arte...
PD: Perdonarme que escriba en español en lugar de inglés pero es que es domingo y en el finde las neuronas...
Last Friday we made two kinds of activities. The first one was a listening. They listened to a modern pop song, and they were really motivated. The second activity was a comprehension reading. Next Friday we will have an exam, so the reading was a way of reviewing for the test.
10am-2pm Today I started an activity for the food unit for ages 4 and 5. I scanned and used the character that the children know with from the method we use so that the activity would seem more familiar. Then started searching for food that relates to the unit vocab. Ultimatlely the students will color the food, cut them out and paste them in the likes/dislikes catagory.
In the afternoon I assisted in the 5yrs old class, working with a small group of lower level kids. Today we worked with the method workbook doing a variety of activities in the food unit.
Today my students were doing an exam. It had two different parts: grammar and reading. I have already corrected them, so probably tomorrow we will devoted part of the class to review the most problematic aspects.
Yesterday, it was my first time... Don't think badly... it was my first time teaching something in English! I explained "the family tree" to small children, making a english's family tree on the whiteboard. We sang also a funny chant and watched a video. I explained to young students coral reefs using a power point. From a "reading" we did a glossary with concepts and drawings. I loved the experience, although I have to admit I need a little of confidence...
Tuesday 7th March Today I have had lessons with 2º ESO (A, B) and 3º ESO (A, C). In 2º ESO A and C I have taught the same lesson because the following week they have and exam about it. The lesson was about comparatives adjectives. I´ve explain it on the blackboard and I´ve written examples about short, long and irregular comparatives. Later, we´ve practising together. Each classmate had to make a comparison with somebody or something. At the end of this class I´ve ordered some homeworks to check the following day. In 3º ESO (A,C). We´ve reviewed the lesson about present perfect with all the adverbs that we use with this tense. Practically, I haven´t spoken because I ´ve tried that they explain me the grammar. I´ve correct some points but in general they are very hard- working. Later, I´ve made some exercises in the textbook and the rest for homework. Today we´ve practising with grammar, speaking and comprehension.
Today I have had lessons with 2º ESO (A, B) and 3º Eso (D, C). In 2º ESO (A, B) firstly we´d made a little game about adjectives, only for review. Secondly, we´ve checked homeworks and thirdly I had explained superlatives adjectives (it´s also part of the exam). We´ve practising making examples, sentences and exercises. In 3º ESO (D, C) We made present perfect exercises and I explained for/since one more time. We also speaking about the uses of present perfect tense. Today we have practiced with grammar, speaking and comprehension.
Thursday I have had lessons with 1º ESO (A, B, C, D)and 2º ESO D. iN 2º eso I have made a brief review of the verb tenses because her teacher asked me for it. I explained comparative adjectives and we were speaking in class about this putting examples and comparing with things in the class. In 1º ESO We have had a review of verbs with computers. With a power point presentation, they had to say or to get right verbs.They like it! We also had reviewed present tenses (the following week thay have an exam about it) and we´ve continue making exercises in isabelperez.com web site, specifically with habits and routines and making translations about texts.
Today I hace lessons with 2º ESO (D, C) and 3º ESO (B). In 2º ESO we have made a review about tenses and adjectives and have checked the homework. In 3º ESO (B) I have explained prefect tenses and adverbs and we´ve practiced with exercises.
Yesterday I gave the students their exam marks. We were checking the most problematic exercises. After that, I explained them Saxon Genitive. Finally, they made a speaking exercise practising what they learned.
Yesterday it was my last day at school. Students worked in groups. They were given some pictures, and they had to order them to form a popular tale. After that, they had to write the tale and prepare the dialogues in order to represent them in front of the rest of the classroom. Hopefully next day they will perform it. Unfortunately I won't be able to see them. I'm sure they will do it great!
Thursday 17th March Today, lessons with 1º ESO (A, B, C). Listening lessons. Last thursday was my last day at school. Pupils from 1º said me previously that they had never made a listening. Well, I made it them. The song was "Hold my hand" by Michael Jackson and AKON. I used my computer and the projector. Firstly I give them the song by paper, we read it and explained the activity: Fill the gaps with verbs, nouns and adjectives. I put the video three times, and later we check it by means of another video with subtitles. The result was very good. Really my pupils are very intelligent and afortunatly, they love English language :)
My Practicum finished last week! It has been a great experience! It has encouraged me a lot to continue studying to reach my dream: to be a bilingual biology teacher!
Hey! I found the blog. I actually had no idea we had to post here...
Anyways, I've already been working at my practicum center for awhile now, and shortly I will update with a new post about my experience and a basic outline of what I did with my students.
I can say that I have five classes, all in the afternoon. The first is 12-15 year olds, the next two are 7-9, the fourth has 9-11 yr olds, and the last class is the same age group as the first. Since it is a private academy, the students are (mostly) well-behaved and have a decent level of English, especially the first class in which I like to bring in extra materials for them to take a shot at!
Well I just tried to post a long comment but somehow it screwed up so I have to start over again. That's dedication!
For my younger groups we are using the Find Out series (book 4) and I have carried out various activities to integrate English with Maths, Social Sciences, Educación para la Ciudadanía, Arts and Crafts, etc. Since I have limited space, I will briefly describe only two activities I've done with them.
One activity integrated Maths and Educación para la Ciudadanía with English. I brought in fake Euros and gave each student an alloted amount. Next, other students "set up shop" (bookshop, toy store, supermarket, etc.). The students with the money had to figure out what they wanted to buy and what they could buy, subtracting each transaction from their amount. Shopkeepers and customers had to interact with each other to carry out purchases. I switched the roles around so that each student had an opportunity to be both a shopkeeper and a customer.
To integrate Social Sciences with English, I found a map complete with shops and streets and projected it using the digital whiteboard. Students had to practice giving and following directions to get from one place to another. One student used the e-pen to draw out the path that the other student dictated to him/her.
Marta Prieto Ramos: HELLO classmates! YES !!! I started YESTERDAY, quite late but I couldnt do it earlier :) So I was given 3º Secondary Education and one hour with 4º E.S.O. THIS last hour will be very EXCITING because it's an American guy who teaches some sections. He is in charge of the section "English in Use" and "English around the World" - obviously-that is everything based on fostering oral skills, both listening and speaking so that students receive a real accent. That will happen tomorrow. So these two days (yesterday and today) I have been teaching two different courses. We dealt with world problems and helping charities concerning vocab and modals. Today I taught the future tense( will, be going to and present continuous with future meaning) and I have explained the differences among them. It is not something new for me since Im actually teaching that course in another school next to El Carmen School but I always deliver my lessons in a lively and animated way. I will be posting soon !!!
Hello again! Im posting every two days to explain what Im doing. In the previous post I talked about lessons taught last Tuesday and Wednesday (26 abd 27)and Im going to explain Thursday and Friday (28 and 29).On 28th I had three hours. 4º E.S.O A, taught by the american guy and me being the assistant. He prepared a kind of exercise concerning jobs (vocab seen in unit 8) Students were given a job and they had to say why they were successful at their jobs. I helped with doubts and some were asked to show their answers. I had two more hours with the same group (3º ESO C) and I was alone in class because the teacher was ill. So I continued with the unit and explained how to make suggestions. I encouraged some people to dramatize a conversation using this grammar point and they liked it. The following hour, we were doing some pages of the workbook to review what we had been talking about in the first session. On 29 th I had four hours 3º A and C; 4º B and A. With 3º we were reading a book called Notting Hill and paying attention to pronunciation and translation. With 4º we were doing a reading based on the second conditional as a warming up activity to introduce this grammar issue. Then, I explained the second conditional and showed some examples on the balckboard. Well, I'll post this week with more lessons ! bye bye!
Hello everyone!! Finally, I've started the PRACTICUM!! I can't believe it!! I'm going to summarize what I've done so far. FRIDAY 29TH APRIL, we (Gloria & I) had a quite informal meeting with one of the English teachers at the school. Since the school is not bilingual, we were a bit worried about what to do to implemen our good skills at bilingualism!! So we decided to create an integrated task. I was assigned to one of the teachers and we agreed on a task related to Chemistry, the periodic table. We also agreed on working first at home (planning the task and searching for ideas) and then attending to class with the students!
1st PRACTICUM WEEK (3rd-8th MAY). This week, I've been working at home for my Practicum assingment!! It isn't easy to plan this integrated task but I'm doing my best and I have some funny ideas (or I think so). Next Monday, I have an appointment with my tutor and the Sciences teacher to check on the ideas and their suitability for the class! I'm looking forward to hearing their comments!!!
Hello, this is Marta again (my third post) Im going to explain what I did on 5h and 6th May. On 5th We were working on how to make suggestions and the first conditional. Students were asked to prepare a conversation using suggestions and they represented it in frint of the class. Many people wanted to be a volunteer so it was a great success!!! On 6th we were studying the same but with 3º D so it was the same task to do and everything went ok.
12th and 13th May. On 12th we were working how to make predictions (will) and students were asked to know their future through the observation of their palms and lines. Thus, they were using will in a funny way. This exercise was done with 3º ESO A and C. On 13th I was in charge of teaching "be going to" to 1º ESO. First I introduced the lesson with some explamples of plans and predictions with evidence, then I explained the grammar and I asked students to tell me what they are going to do this summer. Then we were doing some exercises using the grammar aspect. Then we studied some vocabulary related to the weather. They had to say what was the weather like in some pictures and do some exercises based on that. Next Monday I will do the same but showing a ppt presentation I found on Slideshare webpage. Hope they like it !
Week 2 (9th-13th May). Finally, I had some feedback on the integrated task I've designed. They love it!! (I mean the teachers, because some adjustments need to be done before presenting it to the students). I included a song about the periodic elements and my tutor says they're going to love it!! (I hope son). Last Friday was my first contact with the students of 1ºESO and... Whow!! They are very noisy and naughty (maybe because it was Friday, or maybe not), anyway this contact gave me some ideas on how to implement the task and manage their lovely behaviour. Wish me luck!!
Hello everybody!! I didn´t have much time to write and tell u about my experiences when doing my "practicum" but i´ll try to do it in the following days.
It all started in early May... First, I had few meetings with my tutor, Javier Linares, to establish my schedule and the activities i was going to participate in. He told me i was going to help teachers of "ESO, EP and Infantil".
Dear colleagues, This is Norah, I’m submitting this somewhat late as I have never done a blog before and it disappeared a few times while I was doing it. I couldn’t send it as a sign kept appearing on the screen. However I now have some help to send it through so I hope it works and someone could get some use from my experience.
April: first meeting with Academic Director of “Colegio el Carmen”. It was a very positive meeting. He had not received my emails but would organize my practicum for the week after I returned from Rome.
May 6: Meeting with Mercedes, English Teacher, from Year 6 who will be my coordinator. She helped to arrange my schedule between her classes, Year 6: A, B,and C; and the classes of her colleague, Juan who teaches English in 5: A, B and C. Each class has 3 hours of English per week. I will also do some classes in Year 1 and 2 with Myriam, their teacher, and in Kindergarten, if possible. Mercedes was very helpful and friendly. She has introduced me to all the other teachers who are supportive, offering any help necessary. Clases begin at 9:00 and finish at 2:00. There is a half hour break from 11:30 to 12:00, noon.
May 10: Today I had two classes of Year 5 and two of Year 6. They are working on their Past Simple. We reviewed use and formation of Past Simple in regular verbs first, when to double the last consonant, to change “y” to “i” after a consonant before adding “ed” etc. Then came a few questions of pronunciation: when do you pronounce the “ed” as an extra syllable? I tried to get them to see, but in the end explained this is after infinitives ending in “t” or “d”. The second question was, “Why does the “ed” sometimes sound like “d” and sometimes like “t?” I had to research how to explain this fact. First, if the last sound of the verb, is unvoiced or voiceless, that is, it doesn’t vibrate in your throat, then the “ed” will sound like a “t”. Second, if the last sound of the verb is voiced, it vibrates in your throat the “ed” will sound like a “d”. For voiceless consonants, I came up with: ch, f, k, p, s, sh, x, and z. For voiced consonants, I decided on: b, g, l, m, n, r, v, and w. Then came the work of finding verbs which end with these sounds, adding the “ed” and checking how they sounded. This activity needs a lot of practice in small groups – better for each student to feel the vibrations in his own throat, otherwise it could get complicated. I think the logic in this is that “d” is voiced and follows the voiced sounds while “t” is voiceless and follows the unvoiced consonants. The follow-up was finding verbs ending in voiced and unvoiced consoonants and checking if the “ed” was pronounced “t” or “d”.
Excitement is high in the school as this is the week of the Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel the Patroness. I took the opportunity to look up the history of this devotion in England and made a few discoveries which I was able to use for a listening exercise. The Feast day is really July 16 (1251) when the Virgin Mary gave the brown scapular to St. Simon Stock in Aylesford, Kent. The Carmelite Order had arrived in Europe from Mount Carmel in Israel after being expelled by the Saracens. The order was about to disappear but after receiving the scapular they set up convents in Oxford, Cambridge and all over Europe. The information is from internet – “Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Aylesford, Kent” and would make an interesting school project. Aylesford is also the site of the decisive battle in which the Anglo-Saxons gained supremacy in England after the Romans left. This is an interesting historical connection for the school. It seems there are some students preparing to go to England for an exchange next year. The school celebrates their Feast day, on May 16, for St. Simon Stock as in July the majority are away.
Meanwhile I’m participating in the preparations to the full. There are theatre rehearsals in the library and all the spare rooms, singing practices for the Novena masses with various classes joined together, art displays etc. I suggested a few English songs for next year as I have a collection which came out of Notre Dame University in the ‘70’s but are still quite popular in the U.S.
May 13th: Today we will pray to the Virgin Mary in English. I teach them “Dios te salve Maria” as it has always been prayed in English-speaking countries:
“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
This requires an explanation of Thou (subject), Thee (object) and Thy (possessive) for you/your. This is the language of Shakespeare, of Anglo-Saxon, and of poetry and prayer till the 230th Century. The rest of the vocabulary they could guess. The copied it. We prayed several times to improve pronunciation, rhythm and connect words with meaning. We also noted the difference of pronunciation in “now”, “hour” and “our”. There is a very interesting pattern in the use of “w” almost imperceptible difference between “hour and “our”.
The last lesson on the program is a development on the the basic rule: “When two vowels appear in the same syllable, the first is long and the second is silent.”
Lists are made in groups: e.g. A – mate, plate, late, bait, wait, Dane. The long A must be signalled in one color and the silent vowel crossed out with a different color. The color for signalling the long vowel and for striking out the silent vowel must be consistent for the exercise. E – bean, each, seat, heat, meet, sheet, cream etc. I – bite, kite, fine, drive, pile, mime, etc. O – bone, coat, stoke, pole, home, hoe, hope etc. U – jute, prune, dune, acute, cube, huge etc. These must be signalled in the same way as the long A in order to assimilate the notion. Next comes adding a list of words with short vowel sounds to match the long vowel sounds. Short A list: mat, pat, bat, land, watt, Dan. Note the difference in sound between long vowel in Aa list with silent vowel and the one-vowel A list with short A sound. Short Ee list: bet, Welsh, set up, het up, met, shed, gem. Short Ii list: bit, kit, fin, pill, dim, slim etc. Short Oo: don, cot, stock, pot, hot, hop, shot etc. Short Uu list: jutt, pun, dun, Mum, cub, cut, hug etc. Long and short sounds have to be connected in a graph-mural for the English display of each class done as group work with a different group taking over each sound. Each student however is responsible for looking up three words for each long and short vowel sound and handing them in. In clear letters at the bottom of the mural will be written: “There is an exception for every rule.” What we are looking for are patterns to help in speaking. This was attempted in each of the Year 5 and 6 classes – it needs time and practice but “nothing ventured, nothing gained”.
Hello again!!! May 16: The last day of the Novena of ourLady of Mount Carmel and Feast of St. Simon Stock. This is a big day at the school and celebration of the Mass for Years 5 and 6. They really did their singing practice well.
Year 2 is preparing for an exam on weather, with picture cards, question and aswers, and describing how you feel in different kinds of weather, what you wear, and what you do. There is miming and acting. They do sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy, hot and cold. They are quite good at it and can also write the vocabulary. Year 1, is finishing up their unit on parts of the body, and can say and write the main parts.
Tonight the celebrations conclude with a concert from the American University Chamber Singers, Washington, D.C. on their 2011 European Tour. They gave out programs of the texts and translations in English and Spanish. There were early and modern songs from America, Sacred and spiritual songs from the U.S. and Africa, Sacred and Spanish songs etc. Most were sung in English. The quality was excellent. The question will be how to get a CD of the songs and incorporate some into the school choir. This reminds me that music is an excellent way for students to assimilate English rhythm and accent.
3rd Week (23rd-25th May): Hi everyone!! After one week off, I came back to school!!! Hurray!! The first two days of this week, students in 1st and 2nd year of ESO reviewed an examn and started with the last unit of the year!! Be going to for 1st year of ESO and Revision of Countable and Uncountable nouns for 2nd year of ESO. Since this week, they had a party at school, they were a bit nervous and classes have been very difficult (lack of concentration, bad behaviour...) And finally....on Wednesday, I had my "integrated task" on the periodic table. At first, I was quite nervous... but they liked it a lot!!! :-) I carried out the tast in two of the three classes of 1st year of ESO (on Tuesday, the teacher decided not to do it on one of the classes because they had been very naughty). Firstly, I divided the class into teams of 5-6 students. I explained them the rules of "The Periodic Table Contest". I presented them a picture of the table and they recognized the table and some of the symbols. Then, elements in English and Spanish were presented and they had to match them (they were very motivated) and finally, some elements were presented by their representation with a related word (i.e. Van= Vanadium;Germany's Flag=Germanium). Finally, time ran out and the teacher asked me if we could conclude the tast on next week!!! Honestly, I didn't expected those results: they didn't have many trouble in getting involved in the lesson and they were very motivated!!!
Ok Neiva, Well done. Don't worry if they do not know Grammar roles in 1st Year ESO, that's fine. As for the Blog, please use the 2012 section, copy paste what you already did.
Hi there, last week I finished the first part of my practicum in a Primary School (Sagrado Corazón). As you know I teach Visual Art and my purpose is teaching English through Art. My experience has been enjoyable! I designed two topics, "Investigating Pattern"(for KS1) and "Making a Portrait"(for KS2). I prepared some PowerPoint to show students how to learn the topic. I used PowerPoint to explain how shapes and colours could be organised to create patterns for different purpose. Students investigated patterns found in nature and man-made patterns from different cultures. In this topic children had an opportunity of using words and phrases related to geometric shapes, space, symmetry, identical, translation, pattern, repeat, colour, etc. I tried to link different subjects as Math, Art and Science (Conoc. medio). The KS2 topic was "Making a Portrait". I showed students a PowerPoint in order to understand Pointillism, Fauvism, Pop-Art and Impresionism portrait technique. I asked children some question about the topic and fortunately they took an active role during the lesson. Then they did some activities (filling the gaps, describe a picture,..). Next they created a self-portrait and used art term to discuss and describe some famous work of art. It was a dynamic activity! I enjoyed a lot with student comments despite some of them found it difficult to express in English. The second part of my practicum will be on April. See you soon!
Tuesday 20th March This day I started my practice at Globe Academy. I arrived there at 16:00 o´clock and I met my partners and other teachers. In those days they were doing the final exams. I did the oral exams to the different students and I remained surprised because they had a great level even when they were five or six years old. They worked oral exercises about different topics like directions, colors, strange situations… Students had a very good level in listening, comprehension, reading and use of English. After that, we received others students with a little bit more level. They were seven years old. I was explaining the different activities about the exam and resolving any doubts. After that, I did the oral exam where students had to explain different life´s situations. After that I went to the second academy, opposite the first. I worked with children of eight years old. It was amazing because the level of English in this kind of children is absolutely amazing. I worked with them speaking about the Nearthental men and the life during the Prehistory. They used a rich vocabulary like arrow, jag and spear and they explained the life style, the clothes, the hunt...using diverse funny activities.
Thursday 22nd March... We corrected the exams and explained the different exercises made two days before. After correct the exams we made an interactive play where we learnt while played. The TIC´s resources are very useful with this kind of students and they enjoyed a lot. Globe uses a lot of plays where students learn in a different way. I liked this kind of plays because they reinforced vocabulary, listening or grammar using pictures, sings, cartoons or video…After that, we played to "parchis" in English with different pictures that they had to be explained by students. In the second class we corrected the exams with the children and spoke about the results. After that, we were playing to a lot of plays in the computer with two groups of students. Also we watched a video about the famous series of Dr. Gatched with a number of questions about it. At half pass six I went to the other centre. With teacher Ana we corrected the exam and after we made some activities like "explain the picture" or "Guess the image". Also we played to Monkey, a funny play using English in different ways. Finally we made a comic that students had to finish at home. It was a very interesting day. See you soon
Friday 23rd March During this day I was preparing materials and resources to make my lessons in the next week. I prepared a little UD about Easter and a power point where I had to explain what was the origin of the Easter and how is the Easter in Andalusia. So I was preparing some information about it and planning the lessons with other teachers. Also I was examining the kind of the students in the class and their characteristics and problems. Bye bye
Tuesday 27st and Thursday 29st March During those two days I was working in my U.D. I was explaining the history of the Easter, when the Easter appeared and why and the different images that we can see in the street of Cordoba and other cities. I wanted that students understood that they were going to see in Cordoba and know the history of one of the most important traditions in Andalusia. We worked also with any activities where students could check the level of their knowledge.
Hello! Today was my first day at school. I'm in a bilingual class, with children under 6 years. In addition, the class is also bilingual in sign language, because there is a deaf girl, who has the help of an interpreter, but is fully integrated into the class with other students and activities. I was very surprised by this, because one thing that is very difficult for me, they see it as normal. When explaining a concept, they do sign language too, and all children learn the necessary gestures to communicate with her. In class there is a board with the alphabet in sign language, and the child is actively involved in all activities, responding aloud to some of them, or going to the board to solve exercises. The first class was Environmental Knowledge, during which they have done a test, first in Spanish and then in English, but with different questions each, as the Spanish exam focused more on the content, and the English exam focused on vocabulary. The second class have spent doing math problems in which the deaf girl has also been active, solving any of them on the board. After recess I had a free hour, during which I have been preparing material for bilingual classes with the class tutor, and late in the language class, we explained the steps to write a recipe, and also for finally, we sang a song with the days of the week and months of the year in sign language
Today was my second day of practice at school. In the first class, we have language, we could not take the class because students had medical. A second hour, we have math, addition and subtraction by ones and tens. After recess we had Environmental Awareness, and have reviewed the water cycle in English and sign language at the same time. Finally, I had a free hour, during which I have been with the class tutor, who taught me integrated curricula, which are preparing, and bilingual teaching units with chips, tests and activities. I have also helped make a mural about the water cycle, with stickers and velcro, so that students can add and remove pieces while they study.
This is what I wrote yesterday in the blog, but, I don´t know why it hasn´t appeared...
Hello! Today it has been my first day of practices at School. I have met the english teacher who i´m going to work with (MªJesus), the other proffesors and the students in 3rd and 4th ESO.
First, MªJesus has told me about the books and methodology, resources or strategies they carry out at school. Apparently, the level of both groups is quite high, even more some of the students have got a B2 level. We must take into a count that they are only 15-16 years old. It´s great!
Taking into a count that today it was the first day after Holy week, They have only been correcting exercises and speaking a little bit about April Fool´s Day, which is celebrate in many countries this day.
As I have observed, the classes are very participatives and enjoyable, however, the students feel motivated and they like the subjet so much. Besides, the teacher explain the corrections with a computer program due to the book, so they can correct the mistakes theirselves, aultough the teacher revise them.
Right now, the contents they are studying are based on the geography, cities and history of britain. These contents are supported by the grammar and lots of activities which help them to learn as listenings, use of english, writings, etc.
They practise oral language and fluency by conversations in every class, what I think that is a good idea.
I´m delighted with the school! I think the students are learning a lot because of the teacher strategies. Every moment she makes the students talk, participate and explain themselves by English and the teacher solves all the doubts in English too, so they must effort more and the learning of the second language is more natural.
In 3rd Eso, the students have made a listening and then, themselves have read, copied and corrected a dictation. On the other hand, 4th ESO students have been rehearsing a play called "David Coperfield", wich will be represented to the students from early childhood.
At the end of the day, the English teacher and I have been teaching students from Diversification, because they need special classes to learn the language. They are in 4th ESO, however, they are learning present simple and continuous structures by practising communication and doing different types of exercises with the teacher´s help.
Tomorrow will be my first day of class, I´m a little bit nervous...I will continue preparing it!
Hello again! Today it has been my first day teaching english at the school where i´m doing my practices. I´ve been reviewing the pasive, relative pronouns nad conditionals with the students in 4th ESO because tomorrow they will have an exam. I have prepared enjoyable activities to motivate them and i think they have learn and solved some doubts they had.
Before doing the exercises, working in pairs, I have explained the contents and theyself are written the structures on the blackboard.
At the end of the morning I went to visit the preeschool classrooms were the teachers are applying a bilingual method in which, the communication is the mean goal. They explain the routines and contents by singing, speaking, playing, etc. The only problem I have detected is that not all of them do it, because they haven´t got enough english level to do it, so it´s necessary that they´ll change the classes, however, they broke the routines which are so important for children. Furthermore, the teachers which teach Eanglish don´t have a level higher than a A2 or B1. In conclussion, the bilingual project is so interesting and complet, but the teachers aren´t qualified to apply it.
In my third day of class, I have prepared a quizz with the pupils of 3º and 4º ESO to review the passive. It consist in a puzzle where hey must change active to passive sentences and try to finish the hole exercise working in groups of 5 people. They have enjoyed the class so much and the exercise has been so useful to review the grammar in a funny way.
In my last day of class i wanted the students were able to have a good time, furthermore, they have just had an exam. I prepared a song about love, beacause they were studyingvocabulary and verbs relationed to that topic. I choose "A love song" by Taylor Swift. Before listening the song by a videoclip in the projector, i gave them the song written, without the verbs. They liked the activity so much!. Firstly, they listened it twice, and then we checked the correct verbs watching the videoclip with subtitles. finally, I have made them some questions about comprenhension.
The last day, apart of my activity, they were checking the exercise of the unit with the teacher. In one of the 4º ESO classes, she gave more level to the exercises. For instance, If they had to answer true or false to a reading activitie, she told them to give an explanation or to write some story related to the text they had read.
Finally, they were checking the exam they did the last day and I helped the teacher to solve some doubts to the students, but, generally, the exam results were amazing! Almost all of them passed the exam with high grades, and the level was high too.
Hello everybody! First I want to apologize for not writing sooner, but I haven’t had time. I've already started my practices! Then I'll put the dates and what I have done each and every day. February 6th, 2014 (9:00-10:00) This day, my practicum partner and I met with Javier, the practicum coordinator. During this time we talked about the goals of the practicum, Javier told us about using the calendar to Gmail; we also met the center's facilities, as well as the classrooms and teachers who we’ll work for our practices I must say I liked the school and all the teachers have been very kind to us. February 17th, 2014 (12:00-13:00) This day was my first day of practice with the children belonging to the first level of the second cycle of Infant Education (3 years). First, the teacher Laura (English teacher 3 years) showed me how she work with 3 years in an English class . Laura has begun reviewing the vocabulary that students already knew. Before continuing counting what we have done I would point out that prior to this class, I had contact with Laura by email and we agreed that I was going to bring to class a prepared material to review the unit vocabulary that children already knew. I prepared a flashcard with the vocabulary in the unit and a puppet of a cat. Now I keep telling you what we did in class. Then I presented my material and we worked with him in class. I told the children that the puppet, called “cat” (because it’s a cat) forget how some things are said and we have to help him remember. So I asked the students: "What's this?” And the children responded: cat, dog,… This material liked children very much. To end the class, I helped the teacher to perform a task with the children; the students had to cut and paste a frog with their body parts and remember how to say each body part. And we finished the class saying goodbye to the children This class I liked it and have been very satisfied because I have seen how the material (which I did) really liked children. February 18th, 2014 (12:00-13:00) Today was my second day of class of practice and I have been with a new teacher (Carolina) during the first half hour, we have been with students, who are 4 years old and the second half hour with students, who are 5 years old. In both classes first we sang a song, and then we performed two chips. Furthermore I would also say that Carolina has explained to me how works with her pupils of 4 years and 5 years and has given me the vocabulary they were learning. She also told me that for the next class, I will prepare me material to reinforce the vocabulary learned from both levels. Soon I will tell you what material prepared and my experience in its implementation in the classroom. Sorry for my English, I hope to improve it soon!
Hello everybody!!!
ResponderEliminarIt has been today my first day!
I have met my practicum's tutor, mªjesús. She is very very kind! She has explain to me the classes, the school system, her courses...
The school, Globe, is very welcoming, very nice, much that I had imagined. Alba, our master's partner was there working...
Tomorrow at 16.15 it starts my first classes (5,6 and 11-12 years old pupils) with my tutor, of course. I'm delighted!
I'll tell you my experience!
(sorry for my english, I know it is not perfect... but a day, it will be jejeje;-) )
Hello everyone!
ResponderEliminarToday it has been my first day at school. I had already met my tutor, Javier, so I knew more or less what I was going to do.
I have been to four different lessons. Two of them were 1st ESO English lessons. Students have been practising some irregular verbs, prepositions and vocabulary related to TV. Both classes have been very participative, and most of them are not afraid of speaking English.
The other two classes were 1st and 3rd of Primary education. These lessons were CLIL. The subject taught has been Art. It has been wonderful to observe how these young children are able to communicate using English as their main tool.
It has been a wonderful experience, and all the students and teachers have been really kind. Tomorrow morning I will come back to the school.
I will talk to you about it!
Hello again!
ResponderEliminarToday I have to one of the 1st ESO classes I visited yesterday. Students have been checking some homework and practising some speaking activities.
I have also been to a 4th of ESO class. The development of this lesson has been more traditional, that is to say, the teacher has been talkin most of the time, and the students have been listening to her and checking their exercises.
I have also been to two different classes (5th and 6th of primary education). The have been practising speaking with a native English speaker. They do this once a week, and it is very interesting because it helps students a lot improving their oral skills.
Hopefully next Friday I will be teaching 1st of ESO on my own. I will tell you then!
Hello!
ResponderEliminarLast Friday I finally got to teach two lessons (corresponding to 1st of ESO, A and B) on my own. It was a great experience. We were mainly reviewing Present Simple and Frequency Adverbs.
On the other hand, I also went to a 4º of ESO lesson. They had a listening test and, after that, they finished reading "Oliver Twist", one of their compulsory graded readings. Next Tuesday they will have their reading test, so tehy devoted some time to summarize the main aspects of the novel, as well as to talk about the most important characters.
25th February
ResponderEliminarOn this date was my first day at school "Virgen del Carmen". I was speaking with my coordinator at school, her name is Pilar, making my timetable, speaking about my lessons and materials and preparing lessons.
3rd March (Thursday)
ResponderEliminarToday is my first class day at school with 1º ESO(A,B,C,D).
We started with presentations to know something about each pupil and to practise oral skills.
I also made this type of exercise to check their level of English.
The presentations consisted on:
Hello, my name is.....
I´m...... years old.
I like....(play football and basket was a success):-)
I don´t like....
We also made a short review about present tenses with examples on the blackboard.
3rd March (Thursday)
ResponderEliminarThe last hour was in 2º ESO (D).
The lesson was similar to the 1º ESO lessons with similar presentations and reviews about present tenses with more difficult level than 1º ESO.
In this two classes we´ve practising with grammar, writing, comprehension and oral skills.
4th March (Friday)
ResponderEliminarLessons with 2º ESO(D)level.
Firstly we corrected homework about present tenses and we continue with explanations about past tenses. We werw practising with real and oral examples.
Lessons with 2º ESO (C).
Presentations and review about present tenses with real examples.
Making exercises and corrections.
Lastly, a brief reading about Present tenses.
Today we´ve practising with grammar, writing, comprehension, oral skills and reading.
6th March (Monday)
ResponderEliminarLessons with 1º ESO(a,b,c,d)
Practices with technological resources. We´ve made exercises about present tenses with computers using the projector.
For this lesson we´ve used Isabel Perez web page (TESL site). My pupils were delighted!
Today, we´ve practising with grammar, oral skills, writing and comprehension.
Hello!
ResponderEliminarToday I have been in two 1st of ESO lessons.
We have been checking and reviewing some homework. After that, I have taught them some irregular verbs. In order to practise irregular verbs, we have been playnig "Irregular Verbs Bingo". The students seemed very interesed on this game.
Hello!
ResponderEliminarI have been two days in my Practicum!
I´m very happy!
Children who are 6-7 years are funny! I like them! Their teacher, mjesús, teaches them throw songs, short storys...
They love cutting papers, playing with sticks (completing a picture dictionary) and competions what they love the most. For example, as they are learning vocabulary about clothes, they, in pairs, had to discover which clothes they were wearing using all time: ARE YOU WEARING....? ARE YOU WEARING...?
It's amazing discover that they, so small, can speak so good!
Hi again!
ResponderEliminarI have to speak about my young pupils!
These days, they are learning arts! they have discovered different works of arts from impotant painters as Picasso, Matisse, da Vinci, Van Eyck, Renoir, Van Gogh...
They, for example, had to put in order in a timeline, pictures; gathering information about a concrete artist on Internet...
I like a lot a "mini game" who mjesús always plays with her students: with a hot potato, which it has a stopwatch, they revise vocabulary that they have studied before...
Hello!
ResponderEliminarToday the 1st of ESO students have been studying irregular verbs and the past simple. We have been practising a lot because next Monday they will have a test.
I have also been to 1st and 3rd of Primary, because the have Art as a bilingual subject. They are so lovely! They understand almost everything you explain to them in English, what is amazing! We have been using the blackboard and some flashcards in order to teach them some difficult words, but the truth is that they learn really quickly.
Hello everyone!
ResponderEliminarToday, 1st os ESO students have been practising past simple and checking their homework. After that, we have been focusing on speaking. They have been working in pairs using the past form of both regular and irregular verbs. Finally, some of them have represented their dialogues in front of the rest of the class.
Hola compis!
ResponderEliminarQuería comentaros que el miércoles pasado los peques, 6-7 años, hicieron un examen de animales y ropa, era muy curioso: se examinaban de todo: use of english, grammar, listening... y también speaking! la profe los grababa con la grabadora: tenían que describir dos fotos: decían por ejemplo "I can see a duckling..." y responder a las preguntas que le hacía la teacher! más graciosos que to'! pa' comérselos! era la primera vez que veía una prueba de este tipo y me ha encantao'!
Los más grandes siguen con arte...
PD: Perdonarme que escriba en español en lugar de inglés pero es que es domingo y en el finde las neuronas...
Hi everyone!
ResponderEliminarLast Friday we made two kinds of activities. The first one was a listening. They listened to a modern pop song, and they were really motivated.
The second activity was a comprehension reading. Next Friday we will have an exam, so the reading was a way of reviewing for the test.
10am-2pm
ResponderEliminarToday I started an activity for the food unit for ages 4 and 5. I scanned and used the character that the children know with from the method we use so that the activity would seem more familiar. Then started searching for food that relates to the unit vocab. Ultimatlely the students will color the food, cut them out and paste them in the likes/dislikes catagory.
In the afternoon I assisted in the 5yrs old class, working with a small group of lower level kids. Today we worked with the method workbook doing a variety of activities in the food unit.
Hi!
ResponderEliminarToday my students were doing an exam. It had two different parts: grammar and reading. I have already corrected them, so probably tomorrow we will devoted part of the class to review the most problematic aspects.
Hello friends!
ResponderEliminarYesterday, it was my first time...
Don't think badly... it was my first time teaching something in English!
I explained "the family tree" to small children, making a english's family tree on the whiteboard. We sang also a funny chant and watched a video.
I explained to young students coral reefs using a power point. From a "reading" we did a glossary with concepts and drawings.
I loved the experience, although I have to admit I need a little of confidence...
Tuesday 7th March
ResponderEliminarToday I have had lessons with 2º ESO (A, B) and 3º ESO (A, C).
In 2º ESO A and C I have taught the same lesson because the following week they have and exam about it.
The lesson was about comparatives adjectives. I´ve explain it on the blackboard and I´ve written examples about short, long and irregular comparatives.
Later, we´ve practising together. Each classmate had to make a comparison with somebody or something. At the end of this class I´ve ordered some homeworks to check the following day.
In 3º ESO (A,C). We´ve reviewed the lesson about present perfect with all the adverbs that we use with this tense.
Practically, I haven´t spoken because I ´ve tried that they explain me the grammar. I´ve correct some points but in general they are very hard- working.
Later, I´ve made some exercises in the textbook and the rest for homework.
Today we´ve practising with grammar, speaking and comprehension.
Today I have had lessons with 2º ESO (A, B) and 3º Eso (D, C).
ResponderEliminarIn 2º ESO (A, B) firstly we´d made a little game about adjectives, only for review.
Secondly, we´ve checked homeworks and thirdly I had explained superlatives adjectives (it´s also part of the exam). We´ve practising making examples, sentences and exercises.
In 3º ESO (D, C) We made present perfect exercises and I explained for/since one more time.
We also speaking about the uses of present perfect tense.
Today we have practiced with grammar, speaking and comprehension.
Thursday I have had lessons with 1º ESO (A, B, C, D)and 2º ESO D.
ResponderEliminariN 2º eso I have made a brief review of the verb tenses because her teacher asked me for it.
I explained comparative adjectives and we were speaking in class about this putting examples and comparing with things in the class.
In 1º ESO We have had a review of verbs with computers. With a power point presentation, they had to say or to get right verbs.They like it!
We also had reviewed present tenses (the following week thay have an exam about it) and we´ve continue making exercises in isabelperez.com web site, specifically with habits and routines and making translations about texts.
Today I hace lessons with 2º ESO (D, C) and 3º ESO (B).
ResponderEliminarIn 2º ESO we have made a review about tenses and adjectives and have checked the homework.
In 3º ESO (B) I have explained prefect tenses and adverbs and we´ve practiced with exercises.
Hello!
ResponderEliminarYesterday I gave the students their exam marks. We were checking the most problematic exercises. After that, I explained them Saxon Genitive. Finally, they made a speaking exercise practising what they learned.
Today we have been studying five new irregular verbs. We have also checked some homework and we have been practising listening exercises.
ResponderEliminarYesterday it was my last day at school. Students worked in groups. They were given some pictures, and they had to order them to form a popular tale. After that, they had to write the tale and prepare the dialogues in order to represent them in front of the rest of the classroom. Hopefully next day they will perform it. Unfortunately I won't be able to see them. I'm sure they will do it great!
ResponderEliminarThursday 17th March
ResponderEliminarToday, lessons with 1º ESO (A, B, C). Listening lessons.
Last thursday was my last day at school.
Pupils from 1º said me previously that they had never made a listening.
Well, I made it them.
The song was "Hold my hand" by Michael Jackson and AKON. I used my computer and the projector.
Firstly I give them the song by paper, we read it and explained the activity: Fill the gaps with verbs, nouns and adjectives.
I put the video three times, and later we check it by means of another video with subtitles.
The result was very good.
Really my pupils are very intelligent and afortunatly, they love English language :)
Hi!
ResponderEliminarMy Practicum finished last week!
It has been a great experience!
It has encouraged me a lot to continue studying to reach my dream: to be a bilingual biology teacher!
A loving embrace!
See you on saturday!
Hey! I found the blog. I actually had no idea we had to post here...
ResponderEliminarAnyways, I've already been working at my practicum center for awhile now, and shortly I will update with a new post about my experience and a basic outline of what I did with my students.
I can say that I have five classes, all in the afternoon. The first is 12-15 year olds, the next two are 7-9, the fourth has 9-11 yr olds, and the last class is the same age group as the first. Since it is a private academy, the students are (mostly) well-behaved and have a decent level of English, especially the first class in which I like to bring in extra materials for them to take a shot at!
Will post again soon!
Well I just tried to post a long comment but somehow it screwed up so I have to start over again. That's dedication!
ResponderEliminarFor my younger groups we are using the Find Out series (book 4) and I have carried out various activities to integrate English with Maths, Social Sciences, Educación para la Ciudadanía, Arts and Crafts, etc. Since I have limited space, I will briefly describe only two activities I've done with them.
One activity integrated Maths and Educación para la Ciudadanía with English. I brought in fake Euros and gave each student an alloted amount. Next, other students "set up shop" (bookshop, toy store, supermarket, etc.). The students with the money had to figure out what they wanted to buy and what they could buy, subtracting each transaction from their amount. Shopkeepers and customers had to interact with each other to carry out purchases. I switched the roles around so that each student had an opportunity to be both a shopkeeper and a customer.
To integrate Social Sciences with English, I found a map complete with shops and streets and projected it using the digital whiteboard. Students had to practice giving and following directions to get from one place to another. One student used the e-pen to draw out the path that the other student dictated to him/her.
Marta Prieto Ramos: HELLO classmates! YES !!! I started YESTERDAY, quite late but I couldnt do it earlier :) So I was given 3º Secondary Education and one hour with 4º E.S.O. THIS last hour will be very EXCITING because it's an American guy who teaches some sections. He is in charge of the section "English in Use" and "English around the World" - obviously-that is everything based on fostering oral skills, both listening and speaking so that students receive a real accent. That will happen tomorrow. So these two days (yesterday and today) I have been teaching two different courses. We dealt with world problems and helping charities concerning vocab and modals. Today I taught the future tense( will, be going to and present continuous with future meaning) and I have explained the differences among them. It is not something new for me since Im actually teaching that course in another school next to El Carmen School but I always deliver my lessons in a lively and animated way. I will be posting soon !!!
ResponderEliminarHello again! Im posting every two days to explain what Im doing. In the previous post I talked about lessons taught last Tuesday and Wednesday (26 abd 27)and Im going to explain Thursday and Friday (28 and 29).On 28th I had three hours. 4º E.S.O A, taught by the american guy and me being the assistant. He prepared a kind of exercise concerning jobs (vocab seen in unit 8) Students were given a job and they had to say why they were successful at their jobs. I helped with doubts and some were asked to show their answers. I had two more hours with the same group (3º ESO C) and I was alone in class because the teacher was ill. So I continued with the unit and explained how to make suggestions. I encouraged some people to dramatize a conversation using this grammar point and they liked it. The following hour, we were doing some pages of the workbook to review what we had been talking about in the first session. On 29 th I had four hours 3º A and C; 4º B and A. With 3º we were reading a book called Notting Hill and paying attention to pronunciation and translation. With 4º we were doing a reading based on the second conditional as a warming up activity to introduce this grammar issue. Then, I explained the second conditional and showed some examples on the balckboard. Well, I'll post this week with more lessons ! bye bye!
ResponderEliminarHello everyone!! Finally, I've started the PRACTICUM!! I can't believe it!! I'm going to summarize what I've done so far.
ResponderEliminarFRIDAY 29TH APRIL, we (Gloria & I) had a quite informal meeting with one of the English teachers at the school. Since the school is not bilingual, we were a bit worried about what to do to implemen our good skills at bilingualism!! So we decided to create an integrated task. I was assigned to one of the teachers and we agreed on a task related to Chemistry, the periodic table. We also agreed on working first at home (planning the task and searching for ideas) and then attending to class with the students!
1st PRACTICUM WEEK (3rd-8th MAY). This week, I've been working at home for my Practicum assingment!! It isn't easy to plan this integrated task but I'm doing my best and I have some funny ideas (or I think so). Next Monday, I have an appointment with my tutor and the Sciences teacher to check on the ideas and their suitability for the class! I'm looking forward to hearing their comments!!!
ResponderEliminarHello, this is Marta again (my third post) Im going to explain what I did on 5h and 6th May. On 5th We were working on how to make suggestions and the first conditional. Students were asked to prepare a conversation using suggestions and they represented it in frint of the class. Many people wanted to be a volunteer so it was a great success!!! On 6th we were studying the same but with 3º D so it was the same task to do and everything went ok.
ResponderEliminar12th and 13th May. On 12th we were working how to make predictions (will) and students were asked to know their future through the observation of their palms and lines. Thus, they were using will in a funny way. This exercise was done with 3º ESO A and C. On 13th I was in charge of teaching "be going to" to 1º ESO. First I introduced the lesson with some explamples of plans and predictions with evidence, then I explained the grammar and I asked students to tell me what they are going to do this summer. Then we were doing some exercises using the grammar aspect. Then we studied some vocabulary related to the weather. They had to say what was the weather like in some pictures and do some exercises based on that. Next Monday I will do the same but showing a ppt presentation I found on Slideshare webpage. Hope they like it !
ResponderEliminarWeek 2 (9th-13th May). Finally, I had some feedback on the integrated task I've designed. They love it!! (I mean the teachers, because some adjustments need to be done before presenting it to the students). I included a song about the periodic elements and my tutor says they're going to love it!! (I hope son).
ResponderEliminarLast Friday was my first contact with the students of 1ºESO and... Whow!! They are very noisy and naughty (maybe because it was Friday, or maybe not), anyway this contact gave me some ideas on how to implement the task and manage their lovely behaviour. Wish me luck!!
Hello everybody!! I didn´t have much time to write and tell u about my experiences when doing my "practicum" but i´ll try to do it in the following days.
ResponderEliminarIt all started in early May...
First, I had few meetings with my tutor, Javier Linares, to establish my schedule and the activities i was going to participate in. He told me i was going to help teachers of "ESO, EP and Infantil".
Dear colleagues,
ResponderEliminarThis is Norah, I’m submitting this somewhat late as I have never done a blog before and it disappeared a few times while I was doing it. I couldn’t send it as a sign kept appearing on the screen. However I now have some help to send it through so I hope it works and someone could get some use from my experience.
April: first meeting with Academic Director of “Colegio el Carmen”. It was a very positive meeting. He had not received my emails but would organize my practicum for the week after I returned from Rome.
May 6: Meeting with Mercedes, English Teacher, from Year 6 who will be my coordinator. She helped to arrange my schedule between her classes, Year 6: A, B,and C; and the classes of her colleague, Juan who teaches English in 5: A, B and C. Each class has 3 hours of English per week. I will also do some classes in Year 1 and 2 with Myriam, their teacher, and in Kindergarten, if possible. Mercedes was very helpful and friendly. She has introduced me to all the other teachers who are supportive, offering any help necessary. Clases begin at 9:00 and finish at 2:00. There is a half hour break from 11:30 to 12:00, noon.
It was fun!
May 10: Today I had two classes of Year 5 and two of Year 6. They are working on their Past Simple. We reviewed use and formation of Past Simple in regular verbs first, when to double the last consonant, to change “y” to “i” after a consonant before adding “ed” etc. Then came a few questions of pronunciation: when do you pronounce the “ed” as an extra syllable? I tried to get them to see, but in the end explained this is after infinitives ending in “t” or “d”. The second question was, “Why does the “ed” sometimes sound like “d” and sometimes like “t?” I had to research how to explain this fact. First, if the last sound of the verb, is unvoiced or voiceless, that is, it doesn’t vibrate in your throat, then the “ed” will sound like a “t”. Second, if the last sound of the verb is voiced, it vibrates in your throat the “ed” will sound like a “d”. For voiceless consonants, I came up with: ch, f, k, p, s, sh, x, and z. For voiced consonants, I decided on: b, g, l, m, n, r, v, and w. Then came the work of finding verbs which end with these sounds, adding the “ed” and checking how they sounded. This activity needs a lot of practice in small groups – better for each student to feel the vibrations in his own throat, otherwise it could get complicated. I think the logic in this is that “d” is voiced and follows the voiced sounds while “t” is voiceless and follows the unvoiced consonants. The follow-up was finding verbs ending in voiced and unvoiced consoonants and checking if the “ed” was pronounced “t” or “d”.
ResponderEliminarExcitement is high in the school as this is the week of the Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel the Patroness. I took the opportunity to look up the history of this devotion in England and made a few discoveries which I was able to use for a listening exercise. The Feast day is really July 16 (1251) when the Virgin Mary gave the brown scapular to St. Simon Stock in Aylesford, Kent. The Carmelite Order had arrived in Europe from Mount Carmel in Israel after being expelled by the Saracens. The order was about to disappear but after receiving the scapular they set up convents in Oxford, Cambridge and all over Europe. The information is from internet – “Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Aylesford, Kent” and would make an interesting school project. Aylesford is also the site of the decisive battle in which the Anglo-Saxons gained supremacy in England after the Romans left. This is an interesting historical connection for the school. It seems there are some students preparing to go to England for an exchange next year. The school celebrates their Feast day, on May 16, for St. Simon Stock as in July the majority are away.
Meanwhile I’m participating in the preparations to the full. There are theatre rehearsals in the library and all the spare rooms, singing practices for the Novena masses with various classes joined together, art displays etc. I suggested a few English songs for next year as I have a collection which came out of Notre Dame University in the ‘70’s but are still quite popular in the U.S.
I loved it!
HI!!!
ResponderEliminarMay 13th:
Today we will pray to the Virgin Mary in English.
I teach them “Dios te salve Maria” as it has always been prayed in English-speaking countries:
“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
This requires an explanation of Thou (subject), Thee (object) and Thy (possessive) for you/your. This is the language of Shakespeare, of Anglo-Saxon, and of poetry and prayer till the 230th Century. The rest of the vocabulary they could guess. The copied it. We prayed several times to improve pronunciation, rhythm and connect words with meaning. We also noted the difference of pronunciation in “now”, “hour” and “our”. There is a very interesting pattern in the use of “w” almost imperceptible difference between “hour and “our”.
The last lesson on the program is a development on the the basic rule: “When two vowels appear in the same syllable, the first is long and the second is silent.”
Lists are made in groups: e.g. A – mate, plate, late, bait, wait, Dane. The long A must be signalled in one color and the silent vowel crossed out with a different color. The color for signalling the long vowel and for striking out the silent vowel must be consistent for the exercise. E – bean, each, seat, heat, meet, sheet, cream etc. I – bite, kite, fine, drive, pile, mime, etc. O – bone, coat, stoke, pole, home, hoe, hope etc. U – jute, prune, dune, acute, cube, huge etc. These must be signalled in the same way as the long A in order to assimilate the notion. Next comes adding a list of words with short vowel sounds to match the long vowel sounds. Short A list: mat, pat, bat, land, watt, Dan. Note the difference in sound between long vowel in Aa list with silent vowel and the one-vowel A list with short A sound. Short Ee list: bet, Welsh, set up, het up, met, shed, gem. Short Ii list: bit, kit, fin, pill, dim, slim etc. Short Oo: don, cot, stock, pot, hot, hop, shot etc. Short Uu list: jutt, pun, dun, Mum, cub, cut, hug etc. Long and short sounds have to be connected in a graph-mural for the English display of each class done as group work with a different group taking over each sound. Each student however is responsible for looking up three words for each long and short vowel sound and handing them in. In clear letters at the bottom of the mural will be written: “There is an exception for every rule.” What we are looking for are patterns to help in speaking.
This was attempted in each of the Year 5 and 6 classes – it needs time and practice but “nothing ventured, nothing gained”.
Hello again!!!
ResponderEliminarMay 16: The last day of the Novena of ourLady of Mount Carmel and Feast of St. Simon Stock. This is a big day at the school and celebration of the Mass for Years 5 and 6. They really did their singing practice well.
Year 2 is preparing for an exam on weather, with picture cards, question and aswers, and describing how you feel in different kinds of weather, what you wear, and what you do. There is miming and acting. They do sunny, cloudy, rainy, snowy, hot and cold. They are quite good at it and can also write the vocabulary. Year 1, is finishing up their unit on parts of the body, and can say and write the main parts.
Tonight the celebrations conclude with a concert from the American University Chamber Singers, Washington, D.C. on their 2011 European Tour. They gave out programs of the texts and translations in English and Spanish. There were early and modern songs from America, Sacred and spiritual songs from the U.S. and Africa, Sacred and Spanish songs etc. Most were sung in English. The quality was excellent. The question will be how to get a CD of the songs and incorporate some into the school choir. This reminds me that music is an excellent way for students to assimilate English rhythm and accent.
Bye bye for now!!
3rd Week (23rd-25th May):
ResponderEliminarHi everyone!! After one week off, I came back to school!!! Hurray!! The first two days of this week, students in 1st and 2nd year of ESO reviewed an examn and started with the last unit of the year!! Be going to for 1st year of ESO and Revision of Countable and Uncountable nouns for 2nd year of ESO.
Since this week, they had a party at school, they were a bit nervous and classes have been very difficult (lack of concentration, bad behaviour...)
And finally....on Wednesday, I had my "integrated task" on the periodic table. At first, I was quite nervous... but they liked it a lot!!! :-)
I carried out the tast in two of the three classes of 1st year of ESO (on Tuesday, the teacher decided not to do it on one of the classes because they had been very naughty). Firstly, I divided the class into teams of 5-6 students. I explained them the rules of "The Periodic Table Contest". I presented them a picture of the table and they recognized the table and some of the symbols.
Then, elements in English and Spanish were presented and they had to match them (they were very motivated) and finally, some elements were presented by their representation with a related word (i.e. Van= Vanadium;Germany's Flag=Germanium).
Finally, time ran out and the teacher asked me if we could conclude the tast on next week!!! Honestly, I didn't expected those results: they didn't have many trouble in getting involved in the lesson and they were very motivated!!!
Este comentario ha sido eliminado por el autor.
ResponderEliminarEste comentario ha sido eliminado por el autor.
ResponderEliminarOk Neiva, Well done. Don't worry if they do not know Grammar roles in 1st Year ESO, that's fine. As for the Blog, please use the 2012 section, copy paste what you already did.
ResponderEliminarHi there,
ResponderEliminarlast week I finished the first part of my practicum in a Primary School (Sagrado Corazón).
As you know I teach Visual Art and my purpose is teaching English through Art.
My experience has been enjoyable!
I designed two topics, "Investigating Pattern"(for KS1) and "Making a Portrait"(for KS2).
I prepared some PowerPoint to show students how to learn the topic.
I used PowerPoint to explain how shapes and colours could be organised to create patterns for different purpose. Students investigated patterns found in nature and man-made patterns from different cultures. In this topic children had an opportunity of using words and phrases related to geometric shapes, space, symmetry, identical, translation, pattern, repeat, colour, etc.
I tried to link different subjects as Math, Art and Science (Conoc. medio).
The KS2 topic was "Making a Portrait". I showed students a PowerPoint in order to understand Pointillism, Fauvism, Pop-Art and Impresionism portrait technique.
I asked children some question about the topic and fortunately they took an active role during the lesson.
Then they did some activities (filling the gaps, describe a picture,..). Next they created a self-portrait and used art term to discuss and describe some famous work of art. It was a dynamic activity! I enjoyed a lot with student comments despite some of them found it difficult to express in English.
The second part of my practicum will be on April.
See you soon!
Este comentario ha sido eliminado por el autor.
ResponderEliminarEste comentario ha sido eliminado por el autor.
ResponderEliminarEste comentario ha sido eliminado por el autor.
ResponderEliminarEste comentario ha sido eliminado por el autor.
ResponderEliminarTuesday 20th March
ResponderEliminarThis day I started my practice at Globe Academy. I arrived there at 16:00 o´clock and I met my partners and other teachers. In those days they were doing the final exams. I did the oral exams to the different students and I remained surprised because they had a great level even when they were five or six years old. They worked oral exercises about different topics like directions, colors, strange situations… Students had a very good level in listening, comprehension, reading and use of English.
After that, we received others students with a little bit more level. They were seven years old. I was explaining the different activities about the exam and resolving any doubts. After that, I did the oral exam where students had to explain different life´s situations.
After that I went to the second academy, opposite the first. I worked with children of eight years old. It was amazing because the level of English in this kind of children is absolutely amazing. I worked with them speaking about the Nearthental men and the life during the Prehistory. They used a rich vocabulary like arrow, jag and spear and they explained the life style, the clothes, the hunt...using diverse funny activities.
Thursday 22nd March...
ResponderEliminarWe corrected the exams and explained the different exercises made two days before. After correct the exams we made an interactive play where we learnt while played. The TIC´s resources are very useful with this kind of students and they enjoyed a lot. Globe uses a lot of plays where students learn in a different way. I liked this kind of plays because they reinforced vocabulary, listening or grammar using pictures, sings, cartoons or video…After that, we played to "parchis" in English with different pictures that they had to be explained by students.
In the second class we corrected the exams with the children and spoke about the results. After that, we were playing to a lot of plays in the computer with two groups of students. Also we watched a video about the famous series of Dr. Gatched with a number of questions about it.
At half pass six I went to the other centre. With teacher Ana we corrected the exam and after we made some activities like "explain the picture" or "Guess the image". Also we played to Monkey, a funny play using English in different ways. Finally we made a comic that students had to finish at home. It was a very interesting day.
See you soon
Friday 23rd March
ResponderEliminarDuring this day I was preparing materials and resources to make my lessons in the next week. I prepared a little UD about Easter and a power point where I had to explain what was the origin of the Easter and how is the Easter in Andalusia. So I was preparing some information about it and planning the lessons with other teachers. Also I was examining the kind of the students in the class and their characteristics and problems.
Bye bye
Tuesday 27st and Thursday 29st March
ResponderEliminarDuring those two days I was working in my U.D. I was explaining the history of the Easter, when the Easter appeared and why and the different images that we can see in the street of Cordoba and other cities. I wanted that students understood that they were going to see in Cordoba and know the history of one of the most important traditions in Andalusia. We worked also with any activities where students could check the level of their knowledge.
Thanks
Hello! Today was my first day at school. I'm in a bilingual class, with children under 6 years. In addition, the class is also bilingual in sign language, because there is a deaf girl, who has the help of an interpreter, but is fully integrated into the class with other students and activities.
ResponderEliminarI was very surprised by this, because one thing that is very difficult for me, they see it as normal.
When explaining a concept, they do sign language too, and all children learn the necessary gestures to communicate with her. In class there is a board with the alphabet in sign language, and the child is actively involved in all activities, responding aloud to some of them, or going to the board to solve exercises.
The first class was Environmental Knowledge, during which they have done a test, first in Spanish and then in English, but with different questions each, as the Spanish exam focused more on the content, and the English exam focused on vocabulary.
The second class have spent doing math problems in which the deaf girl has also been active, solving any of them on the board.
After recess I had a free hour, during which I have been preparing material for bilingual classes with the class tutor, and late in the language class, we explained the steps to write a recipe, and also for finally, we sang a song with the days of the week and months of the year in sign language
Today was my second day of practice at school. In the first class, we have language, we could not take the class because students had medical. A second hour, we have math, addition and subtraction by ones and tens. After recess we had Environmental Awareness, and have reviewed the water cycle in English and sign language at the same time.
ResponderEliminarFinally, I had a free hour, during which I have been with the class tutor, who taught me integrated curricula, which are preparing, and bilingual teaching units with chips, tests and activities.
I have also helped make a mural about the water cycle, with stickers and velcro, so that students can add and remove pieces while they study.
This is what I wrote yesterday in the blog, but, I don´t know why it hasn´t appeared...
ResponderEliminarHello! Today it has been my first day of practices at School. I have met the english teacher who i´m going to work with (MªJesus), the other proffesors and the students in 3rd and 4th ESO.
First, MªJesus has told me about the books and methodology, resources or strategies they carry out at school. Apparently, the level of both groups is quite high, even more some of the students have got a B2 level. We must take into a count that they are only 15-16 years old. It´s great!
Taking into a count that today it was the first day after Holy week, They have only been correcting exercises and speaking a little bit about April Fool´s Day, which is celebrate in many countries this day.
As I have observed, the classes are very participatives and enjoyable, however, the students feel motivated and they like the subjet so much. Besides, the teacher explain the corrections with a computer program due to the book, so they can correct the mistakes theirselves, aultough the teacher revise them.
Right now, the contents they are studying are based on the geography, cities and history of britain. These contents are supported by the grammar and lots of activities which help them to learn as listenings, use of english, writings, etc.
They practise oral language and fluency by conversations in every class, what I think that is a good idea.
Today was my second day of practices.
ResponderEliminarI´m delighted with the school! I think the students
are learning a lot because of the teacher strategies. Every moment she makes the students talk, participate and explain themselves by English and the teacher solves all the doubts in English too, so they must effort more and the learning of the second language is more natural.
In 3rd Eso, the students have made a listening and then, themselves have read, copied and corrected a dictation. On the other hand, 4th ESO students have been rehearsing a play called "David Coperfield", wich will be represented to the students from early childhood.
At the end of the day, the English teacher and I have been teaching students from Diversification, because they need special classes to learn the language. They are in 4th ESO, however, they are learning present simple and continuous structures by practising communication and doing different types of exercises with the teacher´s help.
Tomorrow will be my first day of class, I´m a little bit nervous...I will continue preparing it!
Hello again! Today it has been my first day teaching english at the school where i´m doing my practices. I´ve been reviewing the pasive, relative pronouns nad conditionals with the students in 4th ESO because tomorrow they will have an exam. I have prepared enjoyable activities to motivate them and i think they have learn and solved some doubts they had.
ResponderEliminarBefore doing the exercises, working in pairs, I have explained the contents and theyself are written the structures on the blackboard.
At the end of the morning I went to visit the preeschool classrooms were the teachers are applying a bilingual method
in which, the communication is the mean goal. They explain the routines and contents by singing, speaking, playing, etc. The only problem I have detected is that not all of them do it, because they haven´t got enough english level to do it, so it´s necessary that they´ll change the classes, however, they broke the routines which are so important for children. Furthermore, the teachers which teach Eanglish don´t have a level higher than a A2 or B1. In conclussion, the bilingual project is so interesting and complet, but the teachers aren´t qualified to apply it.
Este comentario ha sido eliminado por el autor.
ResponderEliminarSorry about my failures, it happens to me because I write too fast and I don´t look...
ResponderEliminarIn my third day of class, I have prepared a quizz with the pupils of 3º and 4º ESO to review the passive. It consist in a puzzle where hey must change active to passive sentences and try to finish the hole exercise working in groups of 5 people. They have enjoyed the class so much and the exercise has been so useful to review the grammar in a funny way.
ResponderEliminarIn my last day of class i wanted the students were able to have a good time, furthermore, they have just had an exam. I prepared a song about love, beacause they were studyingvocabulary and verbs relationed to that topic. I choose "A love song" by Taylor Swift. Before listening the song by a videoclip in the projector, i gave them the song written, without the verbs. They liked the activity so much!. Firstly, they listened it twice, and then we checked the correct verbs watching the videoclip with subtitles. finally, I have made them some questions about comprenhension.
ResponderEliminarThe last day, apart of my activity, they were checking the exercise of the unit with the teacher. In one of the 4º ESO classes, she gave more level to the exercises. For instance, If they had to answer true or false to a reading activitie, she told them to give an explanation or to write some story related to the text they had read.
ResponderEliminarFinally, they were checking the exam they did the last day and I helped the teacher to solve some doubts to the students, but, generally, the exam results were amazing! Almost all of them passed the exam with high grades, and the level was high too.
Hello everybody!
ResponderEliminarFirst I want to apologize for not writing sooner, but I haven’t had time.
I've already started my practices! Then I'll put the dates and what I have done each and every day.
February 6th, 2014 (9:00-10:00)
This day, my practicum partner and I met with Javier, the practicum coordinator. During this time we talked about the goals of the practicum, Javier told us about using the calendar to Gmail; we also met the center's facilities, as well as the classrooms and teachers who we’ll work for our practices I must say I liked the school and all the teachers have been very kind to us.
February 17th, 2014 (12:00-13:00)
This day was my first day of practice with the children belonging to the first level of the second cycle of Infant Education (3 years). First, the teacher Laura (English teacher 3 years) showed me how she work with 3 years in an English class .
Laura has begun reviewing the vocabulary that students already knew.
Before continuing counting what we have done I would point out that prior to this class, I had contact with Laura by email and we agreed that I was going to bring to class a prepared material to review the unit vocabulary that children already knew. I prepared a flashcard with the vocabulary in the unit and a puppet of a cat.
Now I keep telling you what we did in class. Then I presented my material and we worked with him in class. I told the children that the puppet, called “cat” (because it’s a cat) forget how some things are said and we have to help him remember. So I asked the students: "What's this?” And the children responded: cat, dog,…
This material liked children very much.
To end the class, I helped the teacher to perform a task with the children; the students had to cut and paste a frog with their body parts and remember how to say each body part.
And we finished the class saying goodbye to the children
This class I liked it and have been very satisfied because I have seen how the material (which I did) really liked children.
February 18th, 2014 (12:00-13:00)
Today was my second day of class of practice and I have been with a new teacher (Carolina) during the first half hour, we have been with students, who are 4 years old and the second half hour with students, who are 5 years old. In both classes first we sang a song, and then we performed two chips.
Furthermore I would also say that Carolina has explained to me how works with her pupils of 4 years and 5 years and has given me the vocabulary they were learning. She also told me that for the next class, I will prepare me material to reinforce the vocabulary learned from both levels. Soon I will tell you what material prepared and my experience in its implementation in the classroom.
Sorry for my English, I hope to improve it soon!