Reflective Journal - Pedagogical Practice V

To be a teacher is not an easy job; give positive classes to students is possibly one of the
most difficult tasks to accomplish. To do this, it is necessary not only to have a good
command of the subject and a good attitude, but to have all the resources and tools that can
be found nowadays.
Thanks God, the implementation of the second lesson plan, with eighth graders, at the school
Gustavo Morales Morales, was very positive. The students were concentrated most of the
time, having an excellent behavior and indiscipline. This was achieved because I presented
nice and interesting activities to them; doing good warming up activities, a positive
presentation of the class and a final wrap up, where they were asked about what they had
learned.
The activities that were successful were the ones where they had fun and interacted with
each other; I noticed that when they enjoyed what they were doing, it was more feasible for
them to acquire new vocabulary and useful expressions. Activities with concentration tasks,
singing, dancing, acting, miming, etc., were the most positive ones.
The activities that did not go very well were the ones where they had to solve grammar
exercises in an individually form; this aspect, because students have a very basic level of
English, and it was necessary to explain them the topics several times, and even to help them
one by one, solving their doubts at all times. When students worked in pairs, they did it with
more motivation, and in certain way, they showed better results. For this reason, I would focus
a little bit more in cooperative work where students reflect in groups on the given topics.
Another aspect that can also be improved is the fact of enhancing and reinforcing all English
skills, especially speaking. This is the ability where students showed more fear when they
were participating, and at the time of doing it, they hesitated a lot; even some of them didnt
say a single word or just said too little when they were encouraged to speak. With this in
mind, I would show easy activities to the students to make them speak little by little, giving
them also tools, tips and resources to make this task easier and increase their confidence.
Something peculiar that I observed is that when students achieved something, however small,
they showed a happy face of satisfaction that was transmitted to me in a very easy way.
From this exercise I could conclude that to be a teacher is one of the most rewarding jobs as
we are not working with objects; we are working with human beings with needs and dreams.
In our hands it is the goal of making good or bad with them.
I had an excellent interaction with the students and also with my co-workers and coordinator
teachers. I had very nice communication with them, as everything was planned and resulted
as it was thought.

Javier Alejandro Landinez

Lic. Lengua Extranjera Ingls
CAU: Bogot