UNIVERSIDAD CATLICA DE LA SANTISIMA CONCEPCIN

FACULTAD DE EDUCACIN

MUESTRA DE DESEMPEO DOCENTE 1

Students Name: Karen Utreras

Mentor Teacher: Carola Cruces
UCSC Supervisor: Astrid Guerra
Grade Levels: 5th and 6th grade

The teacher candidate collects data regarding the institutional and classroom
contexts, the characteristics of the pupils as a group and its diversity, using this
information to plan and deliver instruction.
1.

Community in which the school is located and/or serves municipality or

owner and school factor

During my Teaching practice experience III, I observed English language classes in
fifth and sixth grade students at Colegio Laguna Redonda located in Pasaje
Doce #645 in Concepcion, VIII Region. This is a subsidized school which has two
hundred and two students enrolled, distributed in 10 courses at different
educational levels. It has levels from Pre-school (Pre-k) to eighth grade (Junior
high) and on average there are 26 students per class. This institution has classes
in double school shifts, starting its activities at 08:00 am until 13:00pm from
Monday to Friday during the morning, and from 14:00 am to 19:00pm in the
evening. Colegio Laguna Redonda has a team of learning support professionals
such as counsellors, speech therapists and special education assistants who offer

support in all education levels due to this institution is part of the integration
programme (PIE).
Regarding the school facilities, there is a football field where football and basketball
match take place, there is a computer lab with 3G connections to internet where
there are fifteen desktops. This facility is available the whole day. However, if a
student wants to use it he/she has to pre-book the computer and use it outside the
school hours. It is relevant to mention that this institution is not part of JUNAEB
school meals programs and does not have cafeteria; consequently, students have
to provide their food by themselves. Within the variety of extracurricular activities
available in this educational community, there are: oleo workshop, mosaics, aside
from the scholar choir. In religious terms, although the school recognizes the
ecumenical Christianity as its main source of inspiration, considering itself as a
secular, pluralist and tolerant institution, it respects other ideologies that the school
community may have.
Concerning the English subject, this institution has only one English teacher, who
performs most of her classes in the language. Nevertheless, the students do not
have another kind of extracurricular activity outside the classroom in order to
practice English language. Finally, all students in 5 th grade have an English
dictionary given by the government which is compulsory to attend classes. The
methodology used to assess the students is consistent with the national curriculum
framework. However, I have to highlight that students who have Special
Educational Needs (SEN) are exempted; however, they have to attend classes the
same as their classmates, do all the activities and take tests in order to integrate
them. They do not know that their evaluations are not taken into account at the end
of each semester because It is a confidential agreement between the team of
professionals and parents.

How These Factors May Impact My Lessons

From my perspective, I believe that this school does not have facilities to practice
the language neither implements more interactive activities in order to motivate
students. On the other hand, having computers with internet connection will
facilitate the learning process by using them to show videos or realities related to
English speaking countries. Moreover, that the English dictionary can be
compulsory to attend classes will facilitate students autonomy. Furthermore, the
fact that the students are exposed three hours per week to English classes which
are performed in this language is crucial because it will facilitate my future lessons.
In another aspect, the fact that this school does not provide students with meals,
may not guarantee that they will be well nourished and fit to maximize their
learning process, because it is well known that nutrition is an important aspect to
consider in teaching and learning process. On the other hand, as I mentioned
before students do not have extracurricular activities related to English, so that,
there is no activity in which they can complement and promote the practice of the
language.

2.

Student Characteristics and their Instructional Implications

Below, describe how two student characteristics you observed in your student
(e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, interests, students skill levels) might impact the way
you instruct those students. For example, your lesson plan, motivation,
management, or assessment. For each example of the student characteristic, give
a specific instructional implication that will influence how you plan and implement
your instruction.

2.1 Description of the first characteristic of the student(s) in this class.

In spite of the fact that I have been observing two courses which are 5th and 6th
grade, I spend most of the time with 5th grade 3 hours per week. In this class

attends students who are about 10 to 11 years old. This course is labelled by its
teacher as a noisy course because the majority of the students are talkative.

2.1.1 How this characteristic will impact on my lesson

In my opinion, this sort of situation may impact negatively on my lesson plan

because when students start talking do not allow the teacher to teach properly. In
fact, all the classes are the same and the teacher spends much time on keeping
the students quiet. Consequently, the time to teach English is reduced because of
the several interruptions that are needed to get the students attention.

2.2 Description of the second characteristic of the student(s) in this class.

The second characteristic which is observed in all the students is that they are
motivated to learn English language. This motivation can be perceived at the
moment that speaking activities take place because they always want to participate
and give their opinion or answer questions.
2.2.1 How this characteristic will impact on my lesson
It is well known that motivation plays an important role when learning a language.
Oxford and Shearin (1974) stated that motivation directly influences how students
use L2 learning strategies, how much learners interact with a native speaker, the
input they receive in the target language, how well they do on curriculum test, how
high their general proficiency becomes, and how long they preserve and maintain
L2 skills after language study is over. Taking this into account I believe that
students motivation toward learning English may have a positive impact in order to
achieve the aim of the lesson. Consequently, it guarantees the students
participation in the activities involved in my lesson plan.

3.

Physical aspects of the classroom and their instructional implications

Below, describe how two physical aspects of the classroom you observed (e.g.,
posters, room arrangement, technology) might impact the way you instruct
students, for example, planning, motivation, management, or assessment. For
each example, give a specific instructional implication that will influence how you
plan and implement your instruction.

3.1.1 Description of First Physical Aspect

The first physical aspect that I am going to describe is the Seating Arrangement. In
both courses there is a traditional one.
3.1.2 How This Aspect Will Impact My Lesson
According to several studies, seating arrangement is very important in the
classroom for interaction, atmosphere, and behaviour. The traditional rows are the
most common because most of the schools in our country have this one. This style
of seating arrangement allows students to be focus on their teacher and content, it
is the easiest one for large classes, and it permits that students who have
behavioural problems can be placed in front in order to control their behaviour.
Harmer (2007) explained that the rows and columns seating arrangement could
suit formal classrooms where the teacher could take a front position for a lecture
and it gives the teacher an opportunity to move easily among students. However, it
creates an atmosphere where the teacher is the centre of the class, students can
easily become disengaged during the lesson, it is not easy to observe students
who are in the middle and back row. Besides, it does not allow group work and
interaction. Keeping this in mind, the sitting arrangement could play against me at

the moment of performing my lesson plan because I will not able to include group
activities.

3.2.1 Description of second Physical Aspect

Availability of technology equipment inside the classroom.

3.2.2 How This Aspect Will Impact My Lesson

There is no technology inside the classroom. This aspect will impact negatively on
my lesson plan because I will not be able to use presentations such as power
points or materials related to technology. It is important to mention that this kind of
facilities would allow students to learn in a better way. According to Dawes (2001)
technology has the potential to support education and provide opportunities for
effective communication between teacher and students.
Reflects on the importance of knowing about students and the context to
provide quality teaching.
From my point of view, the importance of knowing about students background
knowledge and their context is crucial and very relevant at the moment of planning
my classes. As a teacher I should take into account the students interests,
motivations, weaknesses and strengths before planning in order to achieve the aim
previously established. For this reason, if I will keep in mind all the aspects above I
will be able to engage students to learn. Thus, they will feel motivated with
activities design exclusively for them and their context. Consequently, they could
improve their level of English and realise the importance that this language has.