My intervention point: Classroom Managment.

After analyzing my interventions, I identify that doing dynamics activities make my students misbehave in order to participate actively. In many cases I listen my partners to say “the only moment when I listen the students from eight grade is when they are in English class”. In that moment I think about my classes and I ask myself what I am doing in an incorrect way.

Eight grade is a group which really enjoy to participate in the activities from the school. But after observing other classes they are all the time sitting on their chairs, in lines reading, writing or just listening to the teacher. It is totally different when they are in my class. I organize them in a semicircle and for all the classes I plan activities in order to reinforce what they are learning. Most of the activities are online games, guessing games, memory games, tongue twisters, hangman, etc.  An evidence of this situation in found in my journal entry number 2 when we are working on physical description. In this class I planned to play an online test where they have to listen and read a description and identify the correct person.

When they knew the answer, immediately they wanted to participate and stood up from their seat and went to the board to show me who was the person of the description. This situation happens in most of the classes when I plan activities like that. For that reason the others teachers mention that the only moment of the day that they listen eight graders is in English class. When I listened this comment I really worried about this. As a result, to solve this problem I implement some strategies like pass stop, or by numbers from the list at random.

Moreover, during this days I have watched a video about an American school where are making an experiment with those students who do not like to participate. Teachers use tongue depressor with the student’s names on them in order to give the opportunity to all the students to participate. But they have implemented the hang down rule. Students cannot raise their hands to answer the questions, they only have to wait to listen their names to participate. So, I think that this is a good strategy that I can implement in order to control the discipline and give the opportunity to all the students. They only think is that those who participate all the time sometimes feel frustrated because they cannot participate several times.

EXPLORING TEACHERS' BELIEFS

What beliefs or assumptions about language learning and language teaching have you held throughout your English language development and your teaching career? 

LANGUAGE LEARNING

My conception of language learning is the process which and individual study consciously how to write, speak, listen and read a language from different contexts, helping by different resources. An example of this assumption is reflected in my Journal #4. Students through the context of the history of cars, were learning how to use the past of verb to be.

"Students made and answer some questions related to the reading using yes no questions". 

"For the online game the group was divided in two groups. Each participant had to throw the dice and he or she moved forward some spaces. In that part students reinforce what they had learn and enjoy at the same time"

Another example is from m Journal # 1 where "students just deduced that can or can't is used to express their abilities" without a deeply grammar explanation.

LANGUAGE TEACHING 

Language Teaching is to provide others using different strategies to learn a new language. Language teaching is a path where teacher is the guide who shows its pupils how to use the language using an amount of activities. As I mention in my teaching metaphor, "This teaching metaphor is represented by a path with some questions and ideas to follow the teaching - learning process"

What sources have you derived those beliefs or assumptions from?

Since I was at eight semester at the university, I have been learning different kind of strategies and resources in order to teach a language. I can say that while I am teaching I am learning as well from my experiences and my students. Year by year I had changed and improve many aspects about my teaching profession. For example, the first change that I had to do was to be a more patient person, especially with little kids. Then, I have to learn that each student is different, each one has its own learning strategy and there are uncountable resources to overcome those obstacles.

How would you challenge some of those beliefes?

I would challenge my beliefs through the reflexion of my teaching and learning process. I think that my beliefs are going to challange and improve year by year through what I can learn during my development as English teacher. 

Beliefs

ENGLISH

 English is one of the languages which give us the opportunity to know the world. It is not only vocabulary and grammar. It is also, beliefs, cultures and people.

LEARNING

Is a process where we can adquire new knowledge from the rest of the world. That knowledge could be priveded from our context, culture, family, teachers and by ourselves. 

TEACHING

Base on the previous belief, teaching is a process where the world, family, culture or teachers provide new information based on some specific goals and purposes step by step.

LANGUAGE TEACHING

Is the process where cultures, contexts, other beliefs and the world are taked into account in order to teach a new language.

Journal #4

During this class with seven graders I showed my students the parts of a new car in order to compare it with others which were older. Looking at the cars, they identify the parts that older car did not had and which the new car had. After that, students made a reading comprehension about the history of the cars. Students identify the name of each car then they made a comparison using was or were in order to express what each car had. For example in 1885 there weren't cars with windshields.

After doing that and giving some examples I explained them the use of was and were to talk about past. Then students made and answer some questions related to the reading using yes no questions. At the end of the class I implemented an online game. The group were divided in two groups. Each participant had to answer a question. Each one threw the dice and he or she move foward some spaces. In that part students reinforce what they had learn and enjoy at the same time. During the game I could notice that among them, they explained some rules of the topic in order to answer corectly.

With those kind of estrategies like the use of online games and videos, students felt more motivaded and  their anxiety is lower. I could notice that even the students with low proficiency could understand most of the question and answers and at the same time they enjoyed the activity.

Journal # 3

For this session with eight graders we were working on describing people. It was just one hour. At the beginning of the class I showed a game with a list of adjectives and its corresponding picture. After seeing and reading the list of adjectives, they pay close attention on the pictures. One by one was disappearing and they had to mention which one was missing in order to review the vocabulary.

After that, I told them that police were looking for the other person who stole the bike the last class. And they were the detectives. So while I was describing who stole the bike, they were drawing it. During the process, students were laughing because it was not a person; it was a monster with three eyes and ears, an eyebrow and is blonde. Also it has three arms and one leg. 

During the process I could observe that some of them who have a low level could get the idea and drew the monster according to the description that they listened. This happened because while I was describing the monster I was making mimics in order to explain what I want to say. At the end each one show to their partners their monster and gave them their own name.

Journal #2

Before to talk about today's session I want to say that the book which I have to implement during my whole class doesn't have enough activities for each topic. I mean, there are only two pages for each topic with some and silly exercises. Moreover, I have five hours with eight graders so it is necessary to implement more activities. I have to mention that last week we have worked on the book, so, taking advantage to this situation I implemented more activities like games, online games, songs, and others.

For this session I showed to my eight graders a video related to the vocabulary to describe people. Then I described myself and some of them. Then students watched some famous characters with their corresponding description in order to know the steps to describe their partners or a famous person in a guessing game. 

After that we play an online test. In this test here were eight descriptions and eight pictures. Each one had to read the description. In that moment most of them wanted to answer at the same time and misbehave as well, so I decided to play pass, pass stop in order to control the discipline. Doing that, the student who got the object had the opportunity to choose the correct character.

Finally, students listened a description of some people who had stolen some objects and chose the correct face. At the beginning they only listened the description and some of them caught some words and the main idea. But I notice that student with low proficiency did not understand I showed them the transcript while they were listening the description. In that way those students also participated in the activity. 

Journal #1

Today's session with seven graders was related to the abilities to use can and can't. At the beginning of the session I show them some slides with people rolling their tongue, crossing their eyes, holding their breath for 30 second and other strange faces. While I was showing them the slides I ask them if they can do those things. Some cases said only yes or no, others said I can or can't or others "no puedo teacher". This part was really joyful because they tried to do all the gestures which they were seeing. Then I asked them about their abilities to the music, sports, study or different activities which they answered me just yes I can or can’t.

After that, there was a short reading related of the abilities of some students at school. During the reading exercises some students explained to others what do they can or not do. In some cases students used English but in most cases they used Spanish to said something like “Mike no puede tocar ningun instrument pero Cindy puede tocar el violin” in order to verify the information.

I have to mention that although I had planned to explain the use of can and can’t in a specific way I immediately change this activity. During this part of the session I had not explained how to use can or can’t to express their abilities. Students just deduce that can or can't is used to express their abilities. At the end there was a short game with some yes no questions. They saw a picture, of an animal and I asked them for some things that they can or not do. If they choose the correct answer there were some people celebrating but if this was incorrect there was a sad face.

After the classes I could notice that there are some ways which students can understand what we want do explain them using different kind of strategies and activities without bore them only with the grammar part.