secondary journal pdf

SECONDARY JOURNAL

I´m doing my secondary residence in "Escuela Secundaria N 2", in the

city of Pigüé, in the province of Buenos Aires. The school is located near the

centre of the town. This is a public institution and it is characterized, again as

in my previous practicum experiences, by facing challenging circumstances

and having students from disadvantaged background and students who come

from low income families. Most of them have personal or family problems,

adjustment or developmental issues, or general academic difficulties.

As regards the group of students I´m working with, they are 14-15 years

old, and are 25 in total. They are students with social and emotional

needs,though they seem to have a good relationship between each other.

They are a very active group and most of them have difficulty concentrating.

Some students listen to music while the teacher is explaining.

They do not use a course-book and a have a very POOR level of

English. Their English teacher explains and translates into Spanish so

students do not use the 2nd language in the classroom.

Comentario [1]: It would be interesting to go deeper into the

learners' needs and interests. What teaching and motivational strategies does the teacher apply? How would

you feel if you were a student in that lesson? What do the images below tell us?

Comentario [2]: Neither the teacher nor the resources motivate the students to learn. The materials she uses to

teach do not motivate them to learn because they are not close to the students´ interest, likes and level of

English. The only teaching strategy she applies is translating into Spanish. If I were in that lesson I would not feel

motivated or engaged at all. The images below tell us that they want to express themselves and that they are

also exploring their personal identity. I think they also show a rebel behaviour as adolescents like to test parents´and

teachers´ boundaries.

Trainee’s name: Johanna Morel

Practicum level: Secondary

Group: 2nd Year

Date: 5th September

I arrived at the institution and all the teachers welcomed me. Constanza

(the English teacher) and I entered the classroom and she explained to the

students my role there.

The students said hello to me.

The classroom is small so students always sit in pairs.

The English teacher started the lesson giving feedback to students on a

test about present simple they had had the previous week. Some of them

failed and when they saw the marks they just put the test away and continued

talking about something else. They did not care much about the feedback.

After this, the teacher asked if they had any doubt or question related to the

test, but some of them simply admitted they did not study. Then the teacher

gave them a photocopy and read it aloud asking them to listen and pay

attention. Then she asked them if they know who Julia Robert is, they said

they did know. Students did not understand some words from the text so the

teacher translated them into Spanish. After this she asked them to read the

questions about Julia´s routine and circle the correct option. She gave them

some minutes to do them and then they corrected them together.

Comentario [3]: What do you think about this procedure? Would you have done the same?

Comentario [4]: I would have asked them to have a look at their test and reflect on their mistakes. I would have

also given them feedback and maybe do some of the activities from the test together on the board.

Comentario [5]: How could they?

Comentario [6]: They were not interested in the lesson, they were

talking about something else, listening to music and using their cellphones.

Comentario [7]: How could the group

be encouraged / motivated to learn?

Comentario [8]: The group could be encouraged and motivated to learn by

considering the students´ interests and likes and also their different learning styles. It would be essential to design

material close to their level of English and also close to their interests.

Comentario [9]: Was there any task

for students to do while-reading? What was the text about? Was it of interest to them?

Comentario [10]: There wasn´t a

while-reading task. The teacher just gave the students a photocopy about

Julia Roberts´week schedule.

Later the teacher asked students to make a chart with the days of the

week and complete it with their daily routines. Later she gave them these

questions:

When do you go to school?

What do you do on Tuesday afternoon?

Where do yo go in the morning?

Then the lesson finished as Constanza asked the students to answer

the questions for the next class.

Notes:

-Most of the students did not finish answering the questions

-Three of the boys were listening to music while the teacher was explaining

-Some of the students are rude and use bad words

-The teacher explained and talked in Spanish.

-Some of the students did not write on their folders neither participated in the

lesson.

- Most of them use their cell phones and even one of the girl was charging her

phone in the classroom.



Group: 2nd Year

Date: 7th September

During this lesson we entered the classroom and Constanza greeted

the students. Then she gave this photocopy to the students and asked them

what type of text it was (in Spanish). The students answered it was a

personal diary. After this Constanza read the text asking students to listen and

pay attention. The students did not understand some of the words, so the

teacher translated them into Spanish. Then the teacher asked students to

complete the girl's schedule.

Comentario [11]: Why don't you plan an activity in which they can use their mobiles / listen to music?

Comentario [12]: _Marcado como resuelto_

Comentario [13]: _Reabierto_

Comentario [14]: Why did you close this comment? You may tell us how you would feel about this type or task =)

Comentario [15]: Sorry I don´t know what I did. Yes, I would try to plan activities using movies or songs for the

next lessons. I think they would really like them... they enjoyed a lot the power point, so I realized they like

visual and auditory activities.

Comentario [16]: Great! What about 'the pedagogical use of their mobile

phones'? =)

Comentario [17]: Not all of them have got cellphones. But I´ll see what I

can do.

Comentario [18]: One mobile per group of three to five students might do.

:) Of course, take this as a suggestion.

Comentario [19]: Who was the girl?

Was there any context set?

Comentario [20]: I remember the teacher said, "well you don´t know the

girl, but I do... her name is Margaret". That was the "context" of the activity.

Once they finished, the teacher wrote on the board some questions for them

to copy and answer on their folders.

1- where does Margaret go in the morning? She goes to school...

2- where does she go at 7.30?

3- what does she do at 7.15?

4- what does she do at school?

5- where does she have lunch?

6- when does she go to the sports club?

They answered the first question together as an example and then the teacher

asked them to answer the questions in pairs.The teacher monitored them and

provided help while they were answering the questions.

Notes:

-Most of them could not finish answering the questions

-Students were really noisy

-Constanza reminded them that during the following lessons I will be teaching

them,some of the students got angry and said they did not want a new

teacher.


Comentario [21]: Why do you think

this was so? Does the teacher only use texts as didactic resources? How close

to the learners' interests are the activities?

Comentario [22]: Most of them were

not concentrated on the activity, mainly because they were not motivated and engaged in the lesson. Some of the

students didn´t even know who Julia Robert is.

Comentario [23]: Why?

Comentario [24]: Because they were

not engaged in the lesson and also because they have English lessons on the last hour of school, so they are

usually hungry and tired and anxios to go home.

Comentario [25]: Could you let them

have something to eat / drink in class? Perhaps they are not allowed, but some mate / cookies / etc. might help.

Comentario [26]: They are not allowed,but I´ll see what can be done

Comentario [27]: Is this a natural

reaction on their part? How do you feel about this? Remember to share next entries with

both Aurelia and me. Have a great secondary practicum!

Comentario [28]: I think this is

natural as they are adolescents and some of them have rebel attitudes and behaviour and they like to test rules and

boundaries.


Group: 2nd Year

Date: September 12th

Lesson number: 1

Section 1: Describing the lesson as it unfolds

This was my first lesson with the 2nd year of Secondary students, so I was

nervous and anxious mainly because during my observation period I could observe

students were unmotivated and uninterested in the subject. Some of them also had

behavioural problems, and used bad words. The lesson was based on the

Communicative approach. During the lesson students were engaged and showed a

positive attitude. First, I presented the new vocabulary using sport flashcards and

students participated saying out loud their favourite sport. Then I showed them a

powerpoint about different athletes to introduce the present continuous structure. I

asked them questions using the new structure and then asked them to repeat. They

were very active and showed a positive attitude.

I could notice that students were paying attention and were really engaged with the

new topic. Students liked the first activity and all of them participated. They also liked

the matching activity and the game. During the last activity they could infer the

difference between present simple and continuous. Constanza (their English

teacher) told me she was happy because she noticed they could understand the

difference between both times.

As regards my teaching strategies, I tried to speak English all the time, I also

used miming a lot. I asked them simple questions for them to answer and made

them repeat vocabulary. In this lesson I included visual aids (the sport flashcards

and the power point to engage visual learners); interpersonal style (students

expressed their favourite sport, they described what the athletes were doing in the

powerpoint, they played a game), to engage students who prefer social activities and

also to engage students who prefer kinesthetic learning; and intrapersonal style (the

matching activity), to engage those students who prefer solitary activities. As regards

the classroom management strategies, I used eye contact to hold students

´attention. I also used gestures, facial expressions and mime, to aid visual interest

and convey the meaning of language. I used my voice to get students´ attention. As

regards the seating arrangement, during this lesson, students were sitting in pairs. I

also used elicitation to find out what students already knew and get them involved

and interested (mainly during the first part of the lesson). I also monitored them and I

could realize most students finished the activities at the same time. I tried to be

encouraging and establish a good rapport to motivate the students I had the right

manners with them and tried to smiled most of the time. I showed a positive and

enthusiastic attitude mainly because most of the learners have personal or family

problems, and they are students with social and emotional needs. So it was

essential to have a positive impact on them.

Comentario [29]: Tenses

There is an aspect I would like to improve. Watching my practicum video

video I realized that I could have asked different students come to the front and

mime the action instead of always miming the same person. I also had to use a bit of

Spanish during the explanation of the game. But on the whole, I was happy to see

they were engaged and participating.

Section 2: Making sense of the lesson through relevant lived

experiences

During the matching activity I could realize that students were engaged and

motivated in the lesson. They liked the activity and worked really hard. Then we

checked the activity orally and all of them participated.

Section 3: Interpreting the lesson in words and images

For my first lesson I have chosen this phrase because I know I have some

aspects to improve but I'm glad because I could engage students into challenging

activities including a topic of their interest. All the students were motivated to learn,

they showed a positive attitude and participated all throughout the lesson

Comentario [30]: Nice pic!

Materials:

Powerpoint:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zcydvech9w8aqi1/OLYMPIC%20GAMES

%20%20joha%20orig1.ppsx?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zcydvech9w8aqi1/OLYMPIC%20GAMES%20%20joha%20orig1.ppsx?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zcydvech9w8aqi1/OLYMPIC%20GAMES%20%20joha%20orig1.ppsx?dl=0

Video Lesson 1

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3s5BRJpk22XRUJENU9uR213Z2c/view?us

p=sharing



Group: 2nd year

Date: 14th September

Lesson number 2


This lesson was based on the Communicative Approach. During the lesson

students showed a positive attitude. During the warm-up I showed them photo of

Juan Martin del Potro and they participated answering question orally. They used a

picture of their favourite athlete to write sentences and describe what the athlete was

doing in the picture. I monitored them and they worked really hard. I took some extra

pictures for those who did not take one. During the reading stage they were engaged

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3s5BRJpk22XRUJENU9uR213Z2c/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3s5BRJpk22XRUJENU9uR213Z2c/view?usp=sharing

and payed a lot of attention. The activities were a bit challenging for them, and

needed a lot of help, mainly because they are not used to reading texts, not even in

Spanish.

The activity about adjectives was hard for them, because they are used to

translate everything into Spanish. However, we did it together and they could get it.

The true/false activity was easily for them. They worked in pairs and then we

checked it together on the board. The liked the information mapping activity. They

could do it without any problem.

As regards my teaching strategies, I spoke English most of the time, I also

used miming and I provided examples. I asked simple questions for them to answer.

In this lesson I included visual aids (images of different athletes) interpersonal style

(students worked in pairs during the reading stage and also completing the

information mapping to engage students who like social activities; and intrapersonal

style (students write about their athlete), to engage those students who prefer

solitary activities. As regards the classroom management strategies, I used eye

contact, gestures, facial expressions and mime. I used my voice to get students´

attention. As regards the seating arrangement, students were sitting in pairs. I also

monitored them especially during the last activity and I could realize all of them

worked really hard.

There is an aspect I would like to improve. During this lesson I could notice

they needed a lot of help during some activities related to the reading stage. Though

they were transparent words, maybe I could have used some pictures to help them

get the meaning of some adjectives.


experiences

It was great to see that some of them brought a picture of an athlete they like

and worked hard to do the activity.


For my second lesson I have chosen this phrase because I though some

activities were difficult for them we worked together and students realized they were

able to do them.

Materials:

Group: 2nd Year

Date: September 19th

Lesson number: 3


This was my third lesson with the 2nd year of Secondary students, so I was

more confident now, because during my previous lessons students worked hard and

were engaged in the learning process. The lesson was based on the Communicative

approach. During the lesson students participated a lot. They enjoyed watching the

part of the movie and liked to order in sequence the different parts of the movie.

Then, the placed the vocabulary cards with the correct picture. They worked hard

and could do it without problem. After this, I played the trailer again and students

recited the correct vocabulary out loud by stopping the trailer for each picture scene.

I checked their understanding of the new words by asking questions and

encouraging them to provide the correct answers with examples or miming. During

the last activity I provided them with an example at first and they continue working on

it in pairs. They completed the sentences using the present continuous and the

pictures and vocabulary cards. I monitored and provided help while they were

working. As regards my teaching strategies, I tried to speak English all the time, I

used miming a lot and I asked them simple questions for them to answer and made

them repeat vocabulary. In this lesson I included visual aids (the movie flashcards

and pictures and the trailer to engage visual learners); interpersonal style (students

worked together ordering the pictures and placing the vocabulary cards) to engage

students who prefer social activities; and intrapersonal style (the activity they had to

complete as if they were a TV reporter), to engage those students who prefer solitary

activities. As regards the classroom management strategies, I used eye contact,

gestures, facial expressions and mime, to aid visual interest and convey the meaning

of language. I also used my voice to get students´ attention. As regards the seating

arrangement, during this lesson, students were sitting in pairs. I monitored students,

especially during the last activity in which some of them needed help. I tried to be

encouraging and positive.

There is an aspect I would like to improve. The last activity was hard for some

of them, as in order to do it they were supposed to have all the pictures in order and

the vocabulary cards organized. Some of them were a bit distracted and it was hard

for them to organize all the information. However I provided help to those students

who found it difficult.


experiences

During this activity I could realize that students were engaged and in the

lesson. They liked the activity and worked together ordering the pictures. Then we

checked the activity orally and all of them participated.


For my this lesson I have chosen this quote, because though the writing

activity was difficult for them it was great to see them working hard and making an

effort to complete the activity.

Materials:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGsXGak8eKk




Group: 2nd year

Date: 26th September

Lesson number 4


This lesson was based on the CLIL and Communicative Approach. During the

warm-up stage I showed the students different pictures related to a song a like. Then

they worked in pairs discussing and matching each picture to its own meaning. They

enjoyed this stage and participated a lot. Before listening to the song, in order to

become familiar with new vocabulary students had to think how they feel

about different situations mentioned in the song. I provided them with six

possible answers. After this, they wrote down how they felt using different

adjectives that also appear in the song. Then, we interacted orally and they

told me how they felt about those situations. They were very active during this

activity. During the while-listening task they were concentrated and tried to

answer the questions, though some of them could not answer all of the

questions, they were able to do it later. The following task was a bit harder for

them, but I helped them, so they kept focus and motivated in the lesson.

During the matching activity they worked in pairs, though they did not know all

the words, they were able to do as there were many transparent words and I

also provided help. When I gave them the lyrics of the song they were excited

and told me they liked the song. We watched the video again and they sang

the song out loud.

As regards my teaching strategies, I spoke English most of the time, though

some of them still did not understand what I was saying, so I also used the sandwich

technique. I also used miming and I provided examples. I asked simple questions

for them to answer. In this lesson I included auditory learning (students listened to a

song) visual aids (pictures related to a song, a video clip) interpersonal style

(students worked in pairs discussing and working in different activities, they sang the

song together) to engage students who like social activities; and intrapersonal style

(students wrote about their feelings), to engage those students who prefer solitary

activities. As regards the classroom management strategies, I used eye contact,

gestures, facial expressions and mime. I used my voice to get students´ attention. As

regards the seating arrangement, students were sitting in pairs. I also monitored

them and provided help.

There are some aspects I would like to improve. During this lesson I could

notice they needed a lot of help during the after- watching task. Although the video

had the lyrics of the song on it, they were not able to do it. So, when I realized they

could not do it and in order to avoid them feeling frustrated or unmotivated, we did it

together and I stopped the video on each sentence so that they can complete it.

They could do it without problem this way and I could notice they were glad they

could complete all the sentences.


experiences

I liked this activity because I could notice they were engaged and also I

enjoyed a lot listening to the students talking about their feelings.


For this lesson I've chosen this phrase because though they made some

mistakes, it was great to see them participating and active during the whole lesson.

secondary journal pdf

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