10 tips for new teachers

The last Friday 20th I had the opportunity to  listening a presentation of Katy Casto from United States. She is part of the ELF  El Salvador  and in her presentation she gave10 tips that aid future teacher. The first tip was - Be or get excited about the class content. Because, excitement is contagious if you feel excited for the class that you have to perform your students are going to feel it; as well if you do not like what your class is about they are going to feel it, for that as a teacher we have to transmit to our student to be excited for the class content using our expression. Second tip - Create a lesson structure that work for you and follow it constantly. Depending of our students we have to create lessons that work efficiently. Also, we can tell to our students what is the content of the lesson and write on the board the objective for each day. This going to help us that our students keep in mind what is the purpose of the class,what you pretend to do, what they have to do for get the objective. Third tip - Command respect from your students. We have to teach our students how to treat us and others. "A lack of boundaries invites a lack of respect". This means that you have to be professional and  as a teacher you have to create limits between you and your students. For instance, if an students invite you to go out or you share personal information with a students and you create like a friendship with he or she, you have to know that this going  to be a problem. like, your students do not want to attend to class because they think is not a big deal and this do not going to affect them  just because the lack of boundaries that you allowed. Also, we can create a code of conduct with our students. For that the first day of class is very important, is the day for put the rules of the class but, you can ask to your students to tell you some rules what you and they do not have to do in the classroom. Fourth tip - Give students leadership opportunities and other responsibilities. Create activities where the students can be the leader of the class. Also, we can give responsibilities like to develop  warm up activity or give them responsibilities like clean the classroom each they per students. Fifth tip - Incorporate VAK- visual, auditory, Kinesthetics- in every lesson. We going to have different type of students. For instance, visual students that learn through images, videos or flashcards, auditory students that learn through audios, stories or talking, Kinesthetics students that learn through playing, writing all the lesson or doing test. We have to create lessons that contain each of them for aid all our students. Sixth tip - Plan questions based on knowledge goals. According to their class teachers have to create questions where we can notice how much they learned and also with this questions we are helping them to talk more and develop their speaking skill. Thanks to this we can challenge our students to think, to use all the necessary vocabulary that they have learned. Seventh tip - Evaluate using rubrics. We have to use rubrics according to they level of course; we have to share the rubric before, during and after an assignments just for remember them what you expect about the assignment. Eighth tip - Collect and use data. We can make pre-quizzes  or survey to determine knowledge or any misunderstand for aid them. Ninth tip - Take time to reflect and adjust. As a teachers we can ask ourselves what was good with our class or what was wrong and what you have to do different. This part is for reflect and to think how to improve in the next time and do not make the same mistake. The last tip - Encourage a growth mindset. We going to have different behavior in our students but there are some students that think that they are not good for anything, we have to help the to change their way to think. To conclude, as a teachers we are going to have a big challenge but we have to save all this back pocket tips because in the future we can pull out from our pocket and apply them. All the sources that Katy Casto give us were so nice and she apply it during her presentation she sowed us that her tips work for everybody.

"Education is the powerful weapon which you can use to che the world"

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The last observation.

The last Friday 13th it was the last class that I had to observe. They used an activity for had the control of the class and their students. The activity consisted in to paste a poster with the student's names with a long space in each name because if a student was paying attention and was very participative during the class the teacher would paste an star and the student with more stats would win a gift at the end of the class. That activity help to teachers to develop their class without problems but, like other activities this just can be done for 1 hour because students can may feel too much pressure and while time passes they forget the purpose of the activities and then they do not care because they feel boring or exhaust. In the other had, what I observed about the the development of the classes. Firstly, I had to see the first group with the listening class. Gaby Peña developed the warm up and the presentation. In the warm up she make an activity where students had to say verbs in order to mention activities that they do in their free time. That activity's purpose was to break the ice and review the last topic. Also, she made the presentation, she used 2 posters in the first one contain all the previous activities  that students told her and in the second she had 2 types of answers according to the topic present perfect she had " yes, I have and no, I have not" what she did is to ask students the question "have you ever...." Using the previous verbs. In addition, she created a short story using some verbs and she show images that represent the action verb. That activity helped to students to be involve with the new topic. But, something that I could observe that I could not differentiate the warm up and the presentation because I did not when exactly the warm up finish and when the presentation began and also I do not feel that she present something new. Nonetheless, she developed her class with a good attitude and she spoke correctly to her students. Moreover, Natalia Gregori  perform the two durings. In the first during she gave a worksheet per student, each worksheet contained images of some action verbs; she putted an audio and student had to to put a check if they heard  the verb that the images represent. This activity helped to students to develop they listening skills and also this helped the teacher to know if they remember the verbs presented. What I could observed that she could challenge more the students because it was easier for the students just check if they heard the verb action and the audio was good for challenge them with both parts grammar and vocabulary. Further, she made the second during she gave to students some pictures and sentences and students according what they heard in the audio they had to match the sentence with the images. The purpose of this activity probably was to know how much students remember about the listening. But, students do not putted a lot of attention to all the sentences because the first practice they just paid attention in the verbs that the image represent, and could put one more time the listening just for refresh their minds instead of that everything was good. Finally, Maria Nuñez developed the post and the wrap up. In the post she gave a page and students had to draw their favorite part of the listening. Then, the wrap up was a bingo. Students had to choose 5 different images and the teacher said sentences and the students who had the picture that the sentences represent had to made a cross and when they had the five images with a cross had to said bingo for be the winner. That activity was good for close the class and de-stress  them. But,something that I could said according what I observed is that she was a little bit rude with the students, she had to moderate the tone in which she speak to the children and she did not used praise. Maybe because she said that she does not like kids but she had to forgot it an got in to the teacher's role. Nevertheless, I think they concreted the objective and students caught something about the listening class.

Second, I had to observed he group with the reading class. First, Liliana Corea develop the warm up, presentation and the during 1. In the warm up she putted her students to work on the floor to put together a puzzle but individually and the students who finish first it will be the winner. This activity help students to recover energy and begin the new class with other attitude. Then, she made the presentation. She pasted some super heroes images and she said what was the ability of each superhero then, she gave an action verb to each student and they had to pass to paste the verb according to the ability of each superhero. This activity was really creative because they used something that students really loved. But, students began to lose the attention  and Liliana remembered the activity of the poster with the stars and that made them to pay more attention. Also, Liliana made the during 1. Sat students on the floor  and beginning to read a a very creative story with the superhero and using the grammar and the vocabulary of the lesson when she finished she putted to their students to read one by one. This was my favorite part of the class specialty when she left student to read because children excited for read. This was an amazing opportunity for children to be involve with the story and this helped them to develop their reading skill. Furthermore, Melody developed the during 2, during 3, the post and the wrap up. In the during 2 she wrote 3 different tittle for the story and she asked to students what was the best title for the story, they chose the right one. Then, she gave a worksheet that had different sentences with images and students had to organized from 1 to 6 the sentences according to the events in the  reading. This helped to teacher to know how much they remember and if they caught what the reading was about. In the during 3 she gave a worksheet to students that had sentences about the story and they had to write true or false according what they read. Then, for the post she gave a worksheet to students that contain superhero images and students had to write some characteristics of each images according to the reading.  This activity was really challenge for students but, the explanation it was not very clear maybe she could used the board to make an example about what she exactly wanted instead of this students did it. Finally, she developed the wrap up. She used a very creativity game using a hold fish, she made a circle with students and in the middle  she threw some verbs and when she mentioned one verb students have to fish the verb. Definitely this activity was very creative and students enjoyed to play it. To sum up, they developed a really entertaining class, students learned and objective was met.

Finally, those were the last class I could observe what I can say it that we learned a lot from our students and I hope they have learned from use. First, we learned to know our students and according to they behavior we have to create new activities for get the best of them. Also, we learn from our mistakes. Not to be so rude and not be so flexible we have to have a balance. To finish, we learned to accept the critics of other people because this aid us to  improve  ourselves. To conclude, this was an unbelievable experience that left a mark on each of us and new knowledge that we can use in a near feature.

Thanks to read.

My second chance as a a teacher

The last Friday 6th it was the last chance for my group to perform a class but, this time was a little bit different because we were working with other group of children. They  are around ten to thirteen years old it was more challenged for us but, we asked  to our classmates how was their behavior; they told us that they were very energetic, they liked to make jokes and put fanny nicknames to their classmates and to the teacher too. We were really nervous but,we tried to think in one method or activity that can help us to control them. I found an activity called the behavior box. For develop this activity we used three different boxes with different color for identify them and different gift could be candies, chocolates or cookies. In this case we used candies but, what it is about?  We divide  the class in two teams, each team  had a box and in the box we put some candies, if a team had bad behavior or was not paying attention the candies would be taken to the other group or if both group were not paying attention or doing a lot of noise the candies would be taken to the third box. The purpose of this activity is to make them work together and obviously to make them pay attention and to have a good work environment. But, this activity can be only carried out for about 1 hour.

Back to the  Friday 6th, I gave the instructions and I explained the behavior box activity. Then, Esmeralda was the first in passed developing the warm up that consisted in: she wrote fifteen different words and she gave one minute to students for memorize as many words as possible then, she gave a piece of paper were students have to write the words that they remembered. What was the purpose of that? To break the ice with student and to know how much information can they retain. This work properly they wrote at least 10 words. Moreover, Esmeralda continued developing the presentation. She present the vocabulary that were 10 simple present verbs, those are: play, visit, ride, see, write, run, do, eat, dance and drink. She presented those verbs with a complement. For instance, eat tamales, dance salsa, ride a bike and so on. But what she did in order to teach them the vocabulary? She putted all the images one by one in the board and began to repeat the name of each verb with the complement then students began to follow her. Then, she eliminate one flashcard and continue repeating the verbs with the complements but, when she got to the empty space she asked them what the missing flashcard was and they answer correctly. She repeated this 5 times again. The purpose of this activity was to make students memorize the verbs and what each verb consist in.

Later it was my turn,  I developed the 3 practice. Firstly, I make the game called  finding words. I divided the class on to group and per group gave them an envelope that had different letters of the alphabet and they had to find the letters to create the verbs that they learned in the presentation. The purpose of this activity was to know how much they remembered and if they remembered how to write each verb. Furthermore, i develop the second practice that was called what do you see. I divided the class in two groups and per group I gave them a little board and a marker, I showed a picture and they had to write what the picture represent. For instance, I showed the picture  with a guy riding a bike they had to write in the mini board the verb ride and the complement a bike  because that was the picture represented. The purpose of this activity was to make them to internalize with the new vocabulary and know if they could recognize the function for each verb. Finally, I directed the last practice that was called guess what. I divide the in two groups the class again and each student per group have to throw a dice and the student in each group with the lowest number had to pass in front and I put a diadem that had a verb pasted and his classmates had to make mimics about the verb and he had to guess which verb he had pasted. The purpose of this game was to know the pronunciation and if they could recognize the verbs.

To close our class Ronny developed the production and the wrap up. First, in the production Ronny gave to student a worksheet  with different activities like play video games, drink soda, ride a bike etc. where students had to make a cross in their favorite activity then, he made pairs and the students have to pass in front to share which activities they choose. The purpose of this activity was to know they pronunciation and if was necessary to correct them, to made them to use the vocabulary and know the fluency. Also, Ronny make an activity for the wrap up that is called bing. He gave a worksheet per student that has different verbs and he said a verb and students had to make a cross in the verb that he heard and the student in fill one line had to say bingo for be the winner. The purpose  of this activity to identify misunderstood, review the vocabulary and close the class.

To conclude, this was our class at the beginning we were nervous, anxious and afraid but, we could control our feelings and everything went as we planned. At the end the teacher gave us some recommendations like we have to be more confident and speak louder. However, everything was okay and our objective was concreted.

Moreover, other group had to pass developing the grammar class with the topic present perfect. First, Nancy developed the warm up she made mimics using the verbs and the student had to guess what verb the mimics represented. This activity was good for break the ice and for review the previous class. Moreover, Isabel made the presentation part where students have the fists contact with the new topic. During the presentation Isabel using a poster that contained  7 seven sentences in negative form and 7 in positive form presented the topic. In this part they could not teach the structure of the sentence and one sentence did not has sense. Beside, the aim of this activity was good but, she could not developed correctly and the poster did not help her a lot. Further, Isela develop the first practice where she gave a mini board to students were they had to write a sentence using the pronouns that she gave them, they leave the poster in the stage that  had the sentences. This make that students did not produce or write their own examples they just copied what was on the poster. The idea of the practice was excellent because has the purpose to challenge the student create their owns sentences but, they did not know how to do it. Also, she developed the second practice, where she made two groups  and she gave to each group a pieces of paper that had the parts of a present perfect sentences and the students had to organize the sentences following the structure of the poster. Students can developed perfectly this activity, they really known how to do it because the were following the ideas of the poster. The aim of this activity work properly instead of the previous  teachers mistakes. Further, she developed the las practice where she gave to student a verb and students have to write a presents perfect sentences using the verb. The students did this activity instead of they were tired and boring. Finally, Natalya developed the production and the wrap up. In the production she gave to students a different picture and the students had to create a sentence using the picture then they had to pass in front to shared his sentence. At the beginning students did not understand what did they had to do but Natalya explained again and made an example clarifying all the doubt. Also, she did the wrap up. Using a ula ula she make groups of 4 and students had to hold their hands and while the teacher is counted they had to pass the ula ula but when the teacher stopped the last person with the ula uka had to said a sentences using the pronoun and the verb that teacher said. The aim of the activity was to identify any misunderstood. And this activity made students wake up. To conclude, despite all the problems the objective was concreted maybe they do not learn in the part that has to be but, they learned.

"We make mistakes but we must learn from them for not to commit them again"

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My first teaching experience.

The last Friday 29th it was the first time that I could be in front of the student, I was nervous and excited. Firstly, I was nervous because we were the first group that has to perform the listening class and we would not have everything done but, we had like 15 minutes to cut the tape and prepared our materials. When the clock struck two o'clock I began to give the instructions and presented my co-workers to students. Esmeralda was the first in pass developing the warm up and the presentation then, me performance the 3 durings and the last one Ronny with the post listening and the wrap up. In the other hand, I was excited because I really love kids and I love teach. My part it was not very exciting but I tried to do it more interesting and grab student attention. Students finished really fast the listening worksheets and I had  7 minuted left, thanks that I had a plan b; I used a mini book with the family member's. I made a semi circle on the floor with my students and I asked then for the names that they heard in the audios of each member.They answered correctly I just wanted to know if they paid attention. This was my experience maybe I made mistakes but, I learn of them.

Moreover, I had to see the next group with the reading class.  It was pretty creative class I liked their activities specially the last one; when students had to did mimics but using costumes, kids enjoyed the class. The teachers made some mistake like, confused the vocabulary or the pictures but when they noticed the mistakes  they corrected themselves, maybe they were nervous like me but, we are going to have another opportunity to do it better.

                                                                       Thanks to read.