13th Journal Entry

As the reading says, the very first day of the school can be a nightmare for many students, specially if they are coming from different towns, schools, countries, etc


They might feel akward in a new place, and here is exactly where the teacher has to take care of her/his classroom community


Help the new student to adapt to a new classroom may be a difficult taks but not an impossible one


This year was my first year on the school I'm currently working at, however, I consider myself as an easy-going person, so I was able to get along ok with my co-workers, but I noticed it was not that easy for a third grade student who came from Cartago. The first days she used to cry, saying that she didn't want to be there and that she missed all her friends from Cartago a lot. I tried to talk to her as much as I could, so, during recess, she used to sit and eat with me, so I introduced some students to her and I tried to find if the had some similar preferences so they could talk by themselves. Now, I hardly see her, because she is playing all the recess with her new friends. 


It is hard at the beginning, but it is also a matter of attitude, if you are able to help and be helped your first day of school wont be as difficult as you think it will be!

12th Journal Entry

Classroom management is one of the most important thing the teacher has to have control of since the first day of school.


Classroom management requires rules that need to be set and agreed with the students since the first moment we have contact with them


Sometimes is not that easy to handle with a class of 25 students, specially if they are 7 years old and don't care about anything but to play and play


I had to be a first grade teacher for two weeks, and it was a real challenge for me, because you have to negotiate with your students in order to get them work fast and do what you want them to do


I dont like being mean to them, but sometimes being too nice to them will lead a messy classroom and you will loose all kind of control because they think you are not going to get mad at them never so they can go around and play with no restrction at all


By setting the rules and having the control of the class since the first day, we will get the classroom management that we are looking for!

11th Journal entry

There are many ways to assessing the students, however, I don't think that an assessment will meassure or tell the knowledge of each student in an appropriate way


On the other hand, we have the alternative assessments, which depends on using performance tasks that let students demonstrate what they can actually do with language.


Some of their features are: 

·         Assessment is based on authentic tasks that demonstrate learners' ability to accomplish communication goals.

·         Instructor and learners focus on communication, not on right and wrong answers.

·         Learners help to set the criteria for successful completion of communication tasks.

·         Learners have opportunities to assess themselves and their peers.

10th Journal entry

When people are motivated, they always want to learn more, they obviously care more about what is being taught and they pay attention carefully to the instructions that are being given by the professor


Motivation is a tool that will help us to take our students to the level that we want them to reach. 


If they are unmotivated, the classes are going to be bored, and they are not going to learn in the way that we want them to do so.


Teachers are responsible to motivate the students and make the class dynamic so they can learn easily


As the reading says, by applying the motivational techniques the students will show some differences from the students that do not show any interest from the class and their learning experience has not been that effective, these are:


• Good learners are able to identify the best strategy for a specific task; poor learners have difficulty choosing the best  strategy for a specific task


• Good learners are flexible in their approach and adopt a different strategy if the first one doesn't work; poor learners have a limited variety of strategies in their repertoires and stay with the first strategy they have chosen even when it doesn't work


• Good learners have confidence in their learning ability; poor learners lack confidence in their learning ability


• Good learners expect to succeed, fulfill their expectation, and become more motivated; poor learners: expect to do poorly, fulfill their expectation, and lose motivation

9th Journal Entry

The Syllabus is a paramount tool that helps the teachers a lot because it is known as an outline that contains a summary of topics to be covered in a course and it’s set up by an exam board or prepared by the professor.


It also has a Description of Course Requirements and what is going to be evaluated as well, so the students know what to expect and what is going to be asked to do during the class period


Some of the advantages that are mentioned on the reading are:

• apply principles of course design  
• develop effective means of presenting instructional information 
• assess students' learning using various formats 
• develop strategies for addressing common classroom concerns 
• reflect upon your goals and values as a teacher 
• analyze and suggest ways of improving specific instructional situations

8th Journal entry

A daily lesson plan will help or guide the teacher to what is going to be covered during the class. Lesson plans are really important because they help us being clear on what we want to teach. It also help us being ready to cope in case that something happen. For example a teacher got sick today and I had to cover all her class and thanks to her lesson plan I was able to develop the class 


When designing a lesson plan, teachers must take into account the objectives set to be achieved, this will be helpful in the development of the class. The materials and activities that the students will be doing in class are a paramount part of the lesson plan as well as the time. The teacher should know how to manage the time on the lesson plan because in that way you have control of the time in class to teach each subject  

7th journal entry

Teaching with goals and having different methods will walk us through the course success! By setting goals at first, will allow us to have a guidance  for implementing new and also known methods in the classroom.


I would say that the communicative language teaching and learnercentered instruction approach is really interesting and one of my favorites because it covers all the needing steps to make the teachers and the students talk, there are also listening activities, and reading passages, which with daily practice will contribute to improve  their communication skills 

6th Journal Entry

There are many methods that we can take into account when teaching english. Some projects such as portfolios, allow us (the teachers) to track the personal development of our students throughout the course


On the other hand, we can apply different teaching styles which will help us with the different learning methods because not all the students learn the same way


By planning the lessons with enough time and dedications, considering all the tips and materials to develop a class properly will be the master key to an effective learning and in that way we will be reaching our goals

5th Journal Entry

The idea of videotaping a professor when teaching is great for me. Not only because you can get feedback and learn from mistakes but it makes you to grow professionally and as a person


Also, we will be able to identify our strengths and weaknesses of the lesson that has been videotaped. By doing that we can realise what we can change and/or improve from our lessons. 

My philosophy

My philosophy as a teacher is to become a facilitator in the classroom, learn from my mistakes and become a better person and a professional at the same time. Teaching may result very difficult because is not that easy as people think. Teaching involves many characteristic and challenges in order to accomplish what we want the students to learn.


First of all, we have to focus on the student's background, learn from their culture and where they come from, after that we have to focus on their learning style, not all the students learn in the same way. The teaching style that a professor uses in the classroom, helps to engage students while addressing each child's learning style and ability.


In my opinion, my teaching style has a mix of everything, it has different teaching methods and techniques that help me to teach in a propper way. The constructivism, for instance, is the one that teacher uses most, because it is about learning by doing, and it has been shown that students react in a positive way to this apporach. As a teacher you cannot apply only one teaching style, you have to come up with different techniques so the students can learn easily and in that way we have them to learn the knowledge that we want them to acquire

3rd Journal entry

Teachers Observing Teachers: A Professional Development Tool for Every School


For me and the rest of my classmates who do not have any previous experience in teaching English this observing method is very important in our development as teachers


It could make us a little bit nervous but after all, it will help us a lot to become great teachers. Here is the opportunity that we have to learn from our mistakes, and having a professional teacher observing us will guarantee some feedback that will make us grow as a professional in the teaching field

2nd entry

Reflective Journal Writing in the Practicum Course: What are the Roles of the Responder?

I found this article really important because it shows the roles that the teacher needs to have inside and outside the classroom as well as the tendency that people may have toward the teachers' life. 

It's also important to have a journal in which the teacher is able to express their experiences faced during classes as the text says: "By reflecting on their experiences, student teachers are able to "think about their attitudes, beliefs, and assumptions . . . to promote self-evaluation and change" (p. 519)

I´m pretty sure that with Nely´s responses my practica profesional is going to be more effective and that I will be able to improve from all my mistakes and the opportunities that this course is giving me 

Journal entry 1

Write a few sentences describing how you expect to benefit from your field experience (Student teaching) /Practica Professional.

1. First of all I hope this "student teaching experience" makes me grow up as a person and not only as a person but professionally

2. I hope to learn from my mistakes and also to be able to recognize them all, in that way I can improve and become a better teacher

3. One of my goals is to be able to apply in class all the knowledge that I have gained during these years and see how effective they are

4. I'm not expecting to be a professional as soon as I start teaching but at least I'm expecting to be professional enough to handle the classes in an appropriate way

5 I'm pretty sure I'll be able to accomplish all my goals because I have the attitude to do what it takes in order to become a great teacher! 

You can use the following questions to reflect on your goals:

1.      What have you chosen Enseñanza y Traducción del Inglés as your career? What are your options?

R/ I have chosen English teaching and translation because I love helping people and teaching is something that comes to me naturally, I love sharing with people and learning from them.

2.      What do you see as essential qualities for a teacher which you are striving to develop? ( List them and describe role models, if any )

R/ I would say that I love listening to people I'm good at it, I also love teaching people new things, I'm very patient and I love what I have studied so far, so I'm more than ready to apply it 

3.      What do you expect from the Practica Professional? What would you like to be the objectives of this course?  R/ I expect to become a professional teacher, as well as being able to apply in class all the knowledge that I have gained during these years and see how effective they are