FOURTH DAY OF CLASS (Tuesday/Fifth week)

 FOURTH DAY OF CLASS

(BEFORE THE CLASS)

For this I had prepared really good activities in which I was sure my students were going to enjoy a lot and learn at the same time, so I felt really secure about what I was about to do. Thus, I thought that I had to enjoy the lesson like my students usually do. 

During the lesson

During this lesson, I felt so comfortable with my activity that I felt engaged in the lesson and I could remember how it feels to be a kid. I enjoyed the activities so much and I think that my students noticed that. My students also enjoyed the activities, and they could remember vocabulary that was taught in previous classes; which was good because I could confirm that they really learned such vocabulary. I also noticed that many students felt really confident doing the activity without feeling ashamed of doing all the things asked them to do. Therefore, I felt so proud of my students because they showed to have mastered almost all the topics.

After the lesson

Again, I had the chance to observe the other teachers' work (the ones who are in my group), and so I observed a lot of improvement in their performances as well as in their attitudes, so it was good because they seemed to have fun during the activities with children. 

I also saw other teachers' presentations and I think that were really good especially for all the resources that they used to teach such lesson. I think not only students enjoyed the lessons but also the rest of teachers who were observing the lesson. In other words, teachers' jobs were highly improved and better.  Lastly, we all teachers who taught the lessons received feedback to see if there was something to change or improve.  

My case of study

As for my case of study, I could notice that the last two weeks, he showed extremely changes in his behavior, so I decided to talk to his big sister, and I realized that my case of study had family problems and because of that he had difficulties with scores, with his classmates, and with concentration in class. Thus, I consider that when a student faces family problems, it is difficult for him to overcome them; no matter the age, school, friends, etc. Besides, I could see that he was really affected by these problems because he didn't want to talk to anyone, play with his classmates, he cried almost all the time which means that psychosocially talking he is very sensitive and he can be affected easily.

THIRD DAY OF CLASS (Tuesday/Fourth week)

Before the class

My expectations about how I had to develop the activity were to do my best with it, so my students could learn and understand better the topic, had them enjoy the activity, and improve the details that I still have.

I also had the opportunity to see some teachers' work who are in the same group with me, so that gave me different ideas that I can use in my career. I saw that they were very comfortable with their activities, and some of them enjoyed teaching their part of the lesson. For example, one of the teachers used different methods to make the students get involved in the activities while they learned. For instance, having the students repeat the words and spell them, I think those strategies were really good because the students could remember the words in an easier way.

During the lesson

I felt better with this lesson because I improved many things like classroom management, nervousness, monitoring the class, stablishing the rules in a kind way, etc. Thus, I think that my students enjoyed the moment because they looked focused on the activity, and they showed that the lesson was being effective because they didn't have any difficulties when developing the worksheet and following my instructions. In conclusion, for me it was a great moment in which my students could have fun and increase their knowledge.

After the lesson

I could observe the other teachers' lesson, so I could learn from such lesson like different activities, materials, strategies, and many other things that I can use in my own classes. It was a really good moment because they had a variety of activities in which students had to move their bodies and there were some others in which the students had to be quiet, focused on the teacher's explanations, and use their brains. Thus, the classes taught by them were nice especially for students that at the end all this work is because of them.

My case of study

Today, my case of study showed a different behavior that he has had in previous classes. For example, he looks more sensitive to those situations that are difficult to manage like having and keeping friends, avoiding fighting with others, etc. Thus, in his psychosocial development he is showing some changes. The same happens with his cognitive development because he looks more distracted than usual, and he can't stay focused on the activities for at least 15 minutes. I also noticed that he is not as energetic as he was at the beginning of the course, so I assume he may have something that he doesn't like in the class. 

SECOND DAY OF CLASS (Tuesday/Third week)

Second day of class

(before the class) 

Before the class I felt a little bit nervouse, but this time I knew that I needed to improve from the last lesson experience. Therefore, I tried to change this time and take advantage of my nervousness, so I had to present the topic that "Body Parts" and I knew that I needed to control my students, so that they could understand the topic.

During the class

During the class, I felt more confident when teaching and presenting the target vocabulary, and I think my students could notice that because they seemed to enjoy more the class; therefore, being confident not only helped me but also my students. I also think that I improved classroom management because my students looked more interested in the class and the majority of them were paying attention to the class. Thus, I think this time I improved many things and I did better than the last time.

 After the class

I could appreciate the other teachers' work, so I had the opportunity to learn from their experiences and learn different activities that we can use with children. Such activities can be considered really effective because they demonstrate that children enjoy them and even more important they learn. In addition, I saw a big change with different difficulties we had last time that in this class we as a group improved. Therefore, I believe that all the feedback that we received last class was helpful for our teaching practicum, for we make our students learn more. 

Of course after we all finished teaching, we received feedback again from that lesson, which is very important in our process of learning how to teach children. Once again, this feedback was excellent, so we can improve in the next lesson different details that I am sure our students will notice the difference. 

My case of study

Today, my case of study was as always paying attention to class, although there were some moments in which he got distracted, but I think it is normal at his age. Nonetheless, I could notice that in his cognitive skills or development, he is able to create strategies to complete tasks like answering the worksheets, or when working in groups or pairs. I also noticed that he is very active, so I could say that in his physical development he is well-stimulated, for in his gross motor skills he shows to use them a lot, but in his fine motor skills, he shows to have some difficulties like in his handwriting that he cannot write different letters correctly or in a good way. In his psychosocial development, he shows that he is still in the negativism stage in which he is a little bit close with others, for example, I asked him if I could take a picture of him but he did not want to, so I think because of his age he is still in that stage.   

FIRST DAY OF CLASS (Tuesday/Second week)

My first day of class 

(before the class)

The topic of my lesson was School Objects, so before starting the class I felt terribly nervous especially because in the diagnostic class I had difficulties with classroom management, and so I thought that this time with the activity I had prepared for this lesson; I had to be very careful when controlling the students. Thus, my expectations for this lesson were really high and I wanted to do my best this time. Furthermore, I knew that I was prepared for this lesson, for I had all the materials ready and I knew how I had to start with the activity. 

During the lesson

At the beginning of the lesson I felt comfortable with it, but while I was developing the activity, I realized that my students were getting distracted, so I started getting overwhelmed. Nonetheless, I still think that the activity I prepared for that class was good because my students' attention was caught, the problem was that I could lead the activity in the way it had to be. Therefore, at the end of the lesson some of my students were distracted, although I could notice that my goal of having them produce the vocabulary and recognition was achieved because the chosen students were able to recognize and say the target vocabulary.

After the lesson

After the lesson, I still felt excited for the first lesson I taught to children; however, I knew that my performance was not the best and that I needed to improve in the next lesson. Thus, I received feedback when the lesson was done. The feedback I received was meaningful, so that helped me to know what things I needed to improve in the next lesson. 

As for the teachers' classes, I noticed that they did a great job, for the activities were really effective and interactive, so students seemed to be focused on them and had fun. I consider that for the two lessons taught, the results of them were good because students demonstrated to master some of the words taught in each lesson. Thus, I believe that the lessons were effective as well as the teachers' job.

My case of study

As for my case of study I noticed that he enjoyed and participated in the class. Cognitively talking about him, he seems to have developed the different abilities that children at 6 years old have developed. For example, he can follow instructions easily, he can classify non-abstract information and separate it.  He can also distinguish between reality and fantasy like in games during lessons and breaks. Physically talking, he seemed to have developed the gross motor skills well like descending stairs without parents' help, or changing directions, jumping in a specific height (not so high), etc. Lastly, psychosocially talking, he shows having good communication and friendship with his classmates, so it could be said that he has had good stimulation in his three major areas of development.

DIAGNOSTIC CLASS

DIAGNOSTIC CLASS

The diagnostic class was an excellent experience, for this helped me to realize all my weeknesses and strengths when teaching children. Moreover, with this experience I could realize what my students already knew and if all the materials and lesson plans were appropriate for them. 

Some of the things that I realized I did good before starting the diagnostic class were the materials, for I noticed that my students enjoyed having colorful boxes and doing something with them. Besides, I noticed that the activity was effective with my students, for I could confirm what my students knew so I could achieve my goal. However, I noticed that I had some difficulties with classroom management, for there were some moments in which my students seemed to be distracted from the real task. I also noticed that my voice was not the best at that moment, so I had to speak out loud in order for my students to listen to me and follow instructions.

As for the other activities done by the other teachers, I consider these classes were very good, for there were many interactive activities and there were some others that required the students to use their cognitive skills. Thus, this could help me to know what students' preferences are. Furthermore, I observed that just like me, the other teachers could achieve their goals of confirming what students knew about the different topics covered that day. For example, with the activity in which students had to put the numbers in order, I think that it was noticeable that the majority of students knew the numbers from 1 to 10. Therefore, I consider the activity was really effective because not oly the teacher could confirm students' knowledge, but all the teachers. 

My case of Study

My case of study is called Alex Enrique Rosales Regalado.

Alex is seven years old, he is studying his first grade and he has a big sister called Astrid. Alex is an energetic little boy. He likes to participate in class, for during the diagnostic class, he seemed to enjoy the classes and whenever he had the time to answer questions, he did it. Besides, he looks like an obedient boy because he follows instructions and commands easily. This is what I could appreciate the first day of class, the diagnostic one.

WORKSHOP "STRATEGIES TO COPE WITH STAGE FRIGHT"

Findings

The workshop for the second day called "Strategies to cope with stage fright" was an amazing experience in which I learned a lot of things that I will apply in my personal and professional life as an English teacher. On of the things that I learned and I will apply in my personal life is "to be a good listener". People do not usually care about how important is to listen to others, and in this workshop I learned how and why to do it. For example, there was a pair work activity in which one partner had to make a specific sound with the mouth, and his/her partner had to listen to the sound carefully to follow his/her partner around the room just by listening to him/her with the eyes closed. This was an excellent exercise because with this, we could identify if we are good at listening to others and if we pay attention to one or different things at the same time. Another thing that I learned is not to do things just by following my emotions. This often happens when people feel excited or amazed about something or a situation that make them follow their emotions without thinking in advance or thinking of the consequences. As a result, bad, sad, complicated situations, and troubles arrive to people's lives, and so that is what I learned in the workshop and how meaningful is to think before acting or following my emotions without thinking. Lastly, one of the things that I enjoyed during the workshop was the activity of communicating without saying a word! I have been used to express myself just with words; however, with this last activity in the workshop I learned that it is not necessary to use words to express myself. I could also use my face, my hands, gestures, and even my whole body to communicate what in my mind was, so that helped me to increase my communication skills, my contration to pay attention to others, etc. In other words, I learned different things that I would apply in my personal life.   

In the workshop I also leaned plenty of things that I will apply in my professional life as an English teacher. For example, I learned that is must to pronounce correctly the words when working with children, for if my words are well-gesticulated, my students will understand the message and learn the correct pronunciation of the words. Another thing that I learned is to speak out loud when giving instructions to my students, so they can listen to all of the instructions and develop the tasks correctly. For instance, I used to get a little bit nervous when speaking in front of people, and whenever I spoke in front of others I tended to speak so low that my audience could barely understand what I was saying. Therefore, it is important to consider all these stuff when speaking in front of others to send a clear message and have a good communication, especially when working with children. 

Conclusion and Interpretations of the results

As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I used to speak so low in front of others, so I could say that it was a problem that I overcame in this workshop and that therefore can be considered as one of my weaknesses. I also overcame the problem of gesticulating in a wrong way, for when I get nervous for different situations, words come out of my mouth but they cannot be understood at all. Nonetheless, I have some strengths that I improved during the workshop like my pronounciation something that it is a mean to make others understand what I say. Another strength is that I avoid taking revenge against others but I like to protect others no matter what. During the workshop I had an activity in which I had to protect a balloon as if it were one of my students, so if one of my classmates wanted to prick or make my balloon explode, I could prick his/her balloon first. However, I realized that I couldn't prick someone else's balloon, but my instinct told me that I had to protect my balloon no matter what, so I descovered that I am a good protector, and that I prefer peace instead of violence! At the end of this experience the instructor of the workshop told my classmates and me that we cannot lose the control when we are threatened by someone or something. 

Recommentdations

One of the recommendations I want to share is to speak out loud in front of an audience and with a good intonation, so your audience will listen to you and pay attention while you speak. . Another recommendation is to pronounce the words correctly and gesticulate in a good way, for everyone can understand what we say. A third recommendation is to listen to others carefully to maintain a good conversation because everyone likes and wants to be listened to but when it is time for us to listen, we are not that skillful. The last recommendation is not to lose the control in difficult situations, especially when we or one of our special ones are being threatened.

THANKS FOR READING THIS BLOG!

Workshop "Body Language"

Findings

In the workshop called "Body Language", I learned a lot of things. First, I have to say that it was a richful experience for my personal and professional life, for it was amazing the way I could overcome all my fears of talking in front of people, expressing my thoughts, personal feelings, and beliefs etc. In a personal way, I could learn how important is to "SMILE" and get all the "FEARS" away from my life. For example, before attending to the workshop, I did not have an enough reason to smile, but the instructor made me think in a different way. I can smile just because I am alive, I have an incredible and lovely mother and brother who always make me feel better and motivate me to continue working hard. I can smile because I have God's love, something that not many people worry about. I also learned how important is to hug someone and let her/him know how special he/she is to me. Moreover, this workshop taught me that life is only one, and if I always live in a hurry, I will only see real life passing in front of my eyes without me living it. Therefore, I could say that the real learning of this workshop is Living life, not to worry about what is going to happen tomorrow, and that I also express my deepest feelings with my body, for just one smile can make a big difference. 

In my professional experience, I could learn how important is the Body Language, Face expressions, Gestures, Hands and Feet movements, etc. Now, I know how I should stand up in front of my students, that my gestures, and my face expressions can tell them the way I feel and how confident I feel teaching the lessons. I also learned how important is to be a kid, think like a kid, behave like a kid "specific situations" to make the class more enjoyable and meaningful to the students. Sometimes, it is good just to improvise and let the things be, that is another thing the workshop taught me. Finally, with the years, teachers forget that they work with human beings, people just like me and like you, so this workshop taught me how much important is to demonstrate some affection to our students because we do not know if they receive such affection at home. 

Conclusions and Interpretation of the results

As I mentioned in the first paragraph, I learned why it is important to smile, so I could say that that was one of my weaknesses and I learned how to overcome it. Besides, I noticed that I feel uncomfortable about speaking in front of people and expressing my ideas with my body, just because I was afraid of what people were going to say about me. However, while the time was running, I could feel better and more comfortable with myself and moving around, doing all the activities that required all the body to move. Despite of the weaknesses I had, I can say that I have some strengths that I even improved in the workshop. For example, I could realize that even though I felt uncomfortable talking in front of people, once I started talking that nervousness started to diminish and I overcame it. Another strength that I have is getting easily involved in different activities that in the past I didn't use to have, but this workshop changed such situation. In other words, I felt really comfortable to share all those moments with my classmates and do all the activities without thinking in academic things. Bottomline, this workshop helped me to realize of my strengths and weaknesses but it also helped me to realize how to improve them.

Recommendations

I strongly recommend to take workshops such this one "Body Language", for it will help teachers how to manage different situations in which sometimes control is lost. For example, when nervousness appears when talking in front of people, and teachers do not know how to speak, stand up, move the hands and other important parts of the body. Another recommendation is to be kind and affective with our students because they are in that way, so we can demonstrate them that although we have grown up, that does not mean that we cannot be happy, friendly with others. Another suggestion is "avoid fears" because fears stop us to do and create amazing and beautiful things, fears stop us to live the life and have wonderful experiences. For this point of not having fears, I have on thought that I heard in a movie and it says "the things that you are more afraid of doing, are the ones that worth the most." I think it is true; therefore, don't be afraid of doing new things and trying things just because someone will look at you in a bad way, do them because you want to and because they are worth. My last suggestion is to live the life, live the moment without thingking of what is going to happen next, what you are going to do tomorrow; just take the time to take a deep breath and do not worry. Live the life, enjoy teaching, so that will help you to find the best way to teach your students, for your students will thank you their whole life of being a happy person and making classes more enjoyable and different, since your students will feel that they really learned in each class.

OPINION ABOUT THEORIES, CASE OF STUDY RESULTS, GENERAL UNDERSTANDING IN STUDIED TOPICS, AND FUTURE EXPECTATIONS FOR COMING PRACTICE WITH CHILDREN

Opinion about theories

Before I state the results of the case of study we were asked to do, I have to expose my opinion about the theories I used in the case of study. Some of the things I discovered about the theories are that the majority of the changes in each area that children in middle childhood suffer are actually true. I also think that theories are not only to have an idea of what happens with children in middle childhood, but to understand and teach better classes considering such theories.

Case of study results

First I have to say that my case of study was focused on “Physical development”; therefore, what I could observe is that children at this age can develop different physical tasks in which the gross and fine motor skills are proved. However, the quality in developing such activities will vary from child to child because something that theories and experts say about the gross and motor skills is that in middle childhood, children must jump rope without difficulties. Nevertheless, what it really called my attention was that even though “my subject of study” had difficulties jumping rope, she seems to have developed the fine motor skills extremely well at this age. Consequently, I could confirm that girls develop the fine motor skills faster at this age than boys do. Thus, my conclusions about the theories and the case of study results are that the gross motor skill can be enhanced if children are well stimulated. As it was mentioned, theories will vary from child to child, which means that no matter if the child is struggling with performing some physical tasks, he can improve them as long as he has enough practice. Lastly, although many students have developed the fine motor skills at this age, there are plenty of classroom activities and materials to be done for those students who have not developed that skill yet.

General understanding and opinion in studied topics, and future expectations for coming practice with children

                In this part I have to mention the important things and my understandings in the covered topics since the very first day of class. I believe that not only me but all of you share the opinion of how much knowledge we have acquired throughout this semester. In fact, I think that all the studied theories have been meaningful to the experience of teaching children, for we know what to do and not to do with our students. Furthermore, I know how to treat my students, their needs in each area, and how to improve them. However, I understand the fact that theories are just a part of “real-life” because it is not the same to have an idea of what to expect about my students than teaching real classes. Bottomline, if students' needs and expectations are highly fullfiled, students' learning process will be improved, as well as their development as human beings.  

MIDDLE CHILDHOOD AND ITS PHYSICAL, COGNITIVE, AND PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS.

Middle Childhood is the stage that encompasses the ages between 7 until 11.

In middle childhood as in any other stage of human development, it can be found three different areas that will be the target to discuss in this entry. The first area is the “Physical development”. Although in this area there are no big changes in children’s physical skills, it is important to mention what indicators we can consider when working with students in middle childhood. Some of those indicators are: a better use of gross motor skills like practicing sports that require the child to jump, kick balls, run, etc. Children at this age can also use the fine motor skills better such as using scissors without difficulties, buttoning their outfits, tying shoelaces with no parents’ help, etc.

On the other hand, we can also find the Cognitive development in middle childhood, and unlike physical development, in this area children suffer more significant changes. For instance, according to the Piagetian theory, children aged between 7 and 11 can have a better understanding of mental operations, better logical thinking about concrete events by seriation, transitive inference, and class inclusion. Nonetheless, children may also have some difficulties with abstract or hypothetical concepts, but they can express themselves in increasingly complex ways. Children can plan ahead and evaluate different courses of action as well, and follow rules that do not make sense to them because they think in black and white terms.

Finally, the third area comes up in middle childhood which is the “Psychosocial development”. In this area there are two theories that are worth considering, the first one is “Industry vs. Inferiority” by Erik Erikson. Such theory exposes that children who are in middle childhood often focus on school and academic achievement; therefore, it is important to encourage such children to develop new skills and build a healthy sense of industriousness. As a result, if parents do not help children to develop confidence in their abilities, such situation can lead to both emotional and academic problems. In this area we can also find Piaget’s theory which focuses on self-definition. According to Piaget, children at this age become more aware about the “self”, and so they become more realistic, more balanced, and more comprehensive. Children at this age are able to recognize what they are capable to do (weaknesses and strengths), but they still have characteristic of comparing their “self” with the ideal one.