a). My
assumptions
1. In English
teaching being a resourceful person is mandatory.
“According to the
activities, these were varied and gave a fresh notion of the vocabulary that
was related to personal information” (Journal entry 1).
“To engage students in the recognition
and pronunciation of family members, the teacher used a puppet called “miquín”.
She made a dialogue with him, asking and giving information for the family
members”. (Journal entry 2)
“When she was trying to project some slides on the board, lights went
out. Immediately, the teacher continued with the next activity, she had
previously prepared. Everything seemed to be connected and students were very
attentive”. (Journal entry 2)
2. In English
teaching practice, monitoring is required to guide our students’ tasks.
“When students were working
on some pieces of cardboard the teacher was carefully monitoring her students
work”. (Journal entry 1)
“Besides, the teacher
emphasized pronunciation and he was monitoring each group work. Moreover,
Instructions for performing the activities were very clear”. (Journal entry 4)
“I observed that the teacher
was at her students’ side, helping them with the pronunciation of words and
phrases”. (Journal 3)
3. Teachers
should provide students’ feedback when necessary.
“When students were working
on some pieces of cardboard the teacher was carefully monitoring her students
work”. (Journal entry 1)
“…teacher is constantly
giving feedback to her students. I think that constant accompaniment helps
students to redirect their tasks”. (Journal entry 3)
“What is more, this teacher
is open-minded because when we give her feedback she is always attentive and
she looks for solutions and strategies to improve her teaching practice”. (Journal
entry 3)
4. The
practice of teaching enables teachers to carry out a well-organized lesson
plan.
“In my view, this class was
organized because all the activities were previously planned”. (Journal entry
1)
“…teacher
had a plan B when electricity went out. She controlled the situation and continued
her class normally”. (Journal entry 2)
“Class
preparation had a significant impact on the class development. The teacher
prepared a variety of activities. Besides, the length of these activities was
to five or ten minutes maximum”. (Journal entry 2)
“Through
this observation we can reflect on the importance of planning and connecting
our students in every activity we do in our lessons”. (Mauro’s comment, journal
entry 2)
5. English
learning involves students’ and teachers’ motivation.
“Our
purpose as teachers is to guide them when necessary and also provide them with
motivation and inspiration”. (Teaching beliefs)
“A
teacher who is not motivated to learn every day is an obsolete person”.
(Conceptualizing teaching acts)
“Students
were highly motivated to participate”. (Journal entry 3)
“Bearing
in mind Solis’ ideas, teachers should strive to draw the students’ attention in
a motivating and interesting way”. (Journal entry 4)
“Nonetheless,
I had great influence in learning English because my teacher was good at it and
she motivated me to be better every day”. (Autobiography)
“On
the whole, learners can learn through experiences because they are motivated to
reach their personal projects (goals)”. (My teaching metaphor).
b).
Sources from my beliefs!
To
start with, I have taken these assumptions mainly from my experience not only
as a teacher but also as an observer. The former, because when I teach a lesson,
I always try to do my best such us accompanied my students and motivate them to
learn. Nonetheless, I have noticed that being resourceful is a key issue when
teaching. If something does not work, you have to prepare plan A, B, C, and so
on. The latter, as an outsider I realized that teachers that were observed, try
to implement many activities and strategies. For sure, these beliefs come from
practice. Moreover, this is the result of teachers’ creativity and commitment.
Another
source that I think it has been really useful, is theory. Generally, theory supports
teachers when applying knowledge into practice. In this vein, theory and
practice become important to develop good learning environments. I could take
as an example the reflective teaching module. Here, there are many things that
we do not consider when teaching a lesson. That is why, many researchers have
made important contributions helping us to improve our practice.
c).
Facing challenges!
First
of all, I think I should be more aware of my students’ needs. I will apply different
strategies that can help my students’ education. In this sense, they will probably
be motivated to learn. Furthermore, I will bring them some appealing material
in which they can participate actively. Needless to say, lesson planning is
really important when you are going to a classroom. For this reason, I will try
to be prepared every class and plan anticipated problems or activities. Indeed,
challenges appear every time, so we have to face them every day. We as teachers
are artists! So… let’s make artistic works!