domingo, 10 de abril de 2011

Classroom Management and Organization

      The first day I taught English to junior high school students, I did not know if I had to talk to hem in Spanish or in English, or both at the same time. The problem was that I was very nervous because they were looking at me the entire time, end the teacher was paying attention to what I was saying, too. However in my second class, the thing changed, two or three students asked me “Teacher, do we have to make a semi circle again?” I was amazed by that attitude and question. I had taught them that routine unconsciously, but it worked because I did not need to ask them again to do a semi circle; they did it by themselves. Another important thing is that now they are getting accustomed to work in pairs and groups something that I did not see during the classroom observations. Therefore, the chapter three of the book qualities of an effective teacher has empowered me by given me some ideas about how to better my classroom management skills. In fact, before my teaching practicum finishes, I promise myself to accomplish the following objectives in the next simple but realistic action plan:
ü  I will consider myself a successful English teacher if I include more practice than theory in my lesson plans. (In my two first classes, I did not leave enough time for students to talk and practice what they were learning).
ü  I will feel proud of myself as an effective English teacher if I work on creating a positive classroom climate and then if I work academics into the content than leaping into content during the coming weeks in junior high school. (During my first week in junior high school, I did not finish my lesson plan, so I was worried about it, but then I realized that the most important thing is not to try to cover all the theory if not that students learn more effectively).
ü  I will be happy if I learn at least in an eighty percent of accuracy my students’ name in the next week.
ü  I promise myself to organize each material I will bring to teach in classes.
ü  I will establish a consistent, proactive discipline, and I will also do an appropriate use of the classroom space.
ü   I will feel proud of myself if I establish a sense of community, peer work and team work, too.
ü  I will try to make use of training, feedback, and praise whenever possible and necessary.
ü  I will encourage my students to have self-discipline, so I will be a good example for them in regards to self-discipline.
ü  I will consider myself as an effective teacher if I am able to maintain clear rules and procedures, and credibility with students through a fair and consistent implementation of discipline.

My Classroom Observation at Junior High school "Alejandro de Humboldt"



        One week has passed since I started to go to junior high school, and I have noticed that to deal with teenagers is not as easy as it seems. However, having worked with some teens at church has helped me a lot since I got some experience. Nevertheless, it is somehow different to teach junior high school students than to teach kindergartners or religious children so that for me to teach junior high school students is challenging. I remember that during my classroom observations, a group of ninth grade students was looking at me in a way that scared me (the majority of them were boys); therefore, I decided not to teach ninth grade students but seventh grade students. The teacher whom I observed was amazed of seeing me there since I had been one of his farmer English students; I was a little uncomfortable there, and so was he. After the first observation he was sincere and explained to me all difficulties an English teacher has in that school in regards to the size of the classroom, numerous quantities of students, and lack of materials and resources. To tell the truth, I could see his honesty, sincerity, and willingness to make the learning process more interesting to his students no matter how hard it could be. Finally, that teacher told me something that really struck my mine; he told me “This group of students (seventh grade students) is in your hands, so do whatever you consider good for them.” “Don’t worry; I’m here to learn from you, too.” So, I really appreciate his desire to help me and his humbleness, too.

viernes, 1 de abril de 2011

The Teacher as a Person


I state two characteristics of the teacher as a person in the following way:  
 
Role of  Fairness and Respect
 
Costructive social interactions contribute  to Ss learning and achievement and increase Ss self-esteem.
Effective teachers demonstrate interest in students' lives .
 
Role of caring 
 
two-way communication that exudes trust, tact, honesty,humility,and care.
 
effective teachers care  for the student first as a person and then as a student.
Respects each student as an individual.


The two characteristics above are pretty important for me; however, I have taken just some of the qualities of an effective teacher as a person since they are many. But the ones I picked are in somehow similar and represent the attitude a teacher shows toward teaching profession. Besides, in these two characteristics teachers have something in common; that is to say, they are seen as leaders, and the ones that invest in their own education something that really struck in my mind because nowadays it is rarely to see a teacher interested in his or her own learning except those who are not already involved in the traditional way of teaching. It would be nice if we teachers could combine these two characteristics and also the ones I did not mention but this is a matter of being aware of what the teaching and learning process are all about.  Clearly, effective teachers as persons model to their students that education and learning are valuable by taking classes and participating in professional development, conferences, and in-service training, too.