Some pictures from my classes

My didactic unit

Now that I’ve finished my didactic unit I see how useful these sessions have been. When you start you don’t really know how things are going to go. You create your materials taking into account your class observations and the points you want to cover but you are not totally sure that the timing is going to be right, the topic is going to be interesting for them, the level is going to be the right one, … Everything is a big question mark until you try it. After the first class, then you are able to see how things are and if you need to change things.
I can say that I’m quite happy with the results of my didactic unit. The students seemed to be interested in the activities I prepared and they had a really good understanding of everything we did.
I created a blog to upload some links and some activities related to my didactic unit or simply having to do with English language learning:
http://damiacampeny4thdeso.blogspot.com/
They were quite enthusiastic with the idea of having their own blog. I thought this would be a good tool for those who wanted to expand the unit.
I think the amount of sessions we have had in our high schools are not enough to see how everything works and to develop our teaching skills. However, this has been a really good test to see if you really want to become a high school teacher and to see if you are able to cope with the classroom situations. In my case, I’ve enjoyed a lot this experience and I’d have done more sessions if we had had the time. It’s only by practice that you can improve your teaching skills and try new things.

The CAP experience has been really positive for me and I don’t regret at all having done this course. It has opened my eyes to new things and new opportunities.

Starting my didactic unit

I’m very happy because yesterday I could start my didactic unit at last. I’ve been working a lot on it and I hope it works in the 4th of ESO group that I have. I have to say that their level is quite good but they are very talkative. Yesterday I started with the reading and I think they followed the class really well and enjoyed the activities I prepared. Today I’ve done the speaking and I ‘m very happy with the results. They took an active part in the class and they all participate in everything.

My First teachers' meeting

On the 28th of November I had my first English seminar in the afternoon. All The English teachers were there to explain their experiences with their groups but also to discuss the following points:
1.Decide if the English department needs more materials.
2. Talk about one problematic 4th of ESO group.
3.Talk about the new methodologies applied to “Batxillerat nocturn.”
4. Talk about the project >(“Pla Experimental de Llengües estrangeres 2007-2010- PELLE) Imma and Sandra, from the English department, and the Physical Education teacher are carrying out at this moment. It’s a really interesting project that some High Schools are taking at this moment. It consists in taking another subject, apart from the English subject itself, and teaching this subject in English. Of course this requires a lot of work. The English teachers who are taking part in this project have to adapt their classes in order to give them the basic concepts to be able to follow the other subject in English.
The same day I attended to a teachers meeting of 1st of “Batxillerat” to discuss the bad behavior of the students of that group. The students of that group are totally unruly and demotivated. Some of them come from other schools and their level of all the subjects in general is quite low. They seem to have lost interest in studying. The teachers were talking about some strategies to motivate them and break with this attitude.

Starting teaching

On my fourth week I started doing some lessons. That was a great experience because it was the first time I had so many students in charge. The first class I taught was a listening of the unit they were doing and its activities. The students followed the class well and I could also introduce some things of my own. The second class I was told to teach was about grammar. I had to make a review to present perfect and make them clear the uses of ago, since and for. As my tutor told me that they were a little bit confused with the uses of for and during, I gave them some examples and we made an activity about that too.

Monitoring

I started the practicum on the 26th of October and my first three weeks I was monitoring the classes but taking an active part since the first day. I could help students with some doubts when doing activities and that was good to get to know the students better.
I really enjoyed seeing how different groups were working because you can see different class paces and also different levels and students.

Welcome to my blog

Hi, I'm Cristina and this is the blog where I'm going to post all my experiences of my practicum that I'm doing right now at the IES Damià Campeny in Mataró. I have to say that I'm very happy with my tutor, Sandra, and my classes so far. In order to attend to the required amount of hours of the practicum I'm following the group D of 4th of ESO but I'm also observing 1st and 2ond of "Batxillerat" groups. In my 4th of ESO group I started observing and helping the teacher for the two first weeks. By now, I've already taught some sessions out of my didactic unit. I think this practicum is a really good opportunity to see how things really are in our High Schools and to face real situations with large groups of students. (I say that because most of us have experience in teaching small groups in small language schools. However, for many of us this is the first time that we deal with such a big group.) From now on I will be uploading my blog with my practicum reports.