Teaching Portfolios Presentation

Seventh Reflection Task

1) BELIEFS

v  We are not just teachers, we are Human Beings

I see myself as a person who is composed by many different aspects and that value what I have and what I am because each one of those things have made me being the woman I am. (Metaphor)

v  My family is a central part of my life.

I come from a loving and humble family that I value as my most precious blessing. (autobiography)

As part of a family I feel protected, loved and grateful for all the support and upbringing my parents and relatives have given me. (Metaphor)

v  Speak in a different language is a special ability that language teachers have.

When he started to greet us in English the first day of English class I felt astonished. It was for me really admirable to have the ability to communicate in another language, it was for me like a special skill that my math teacher had. (Autobiography)

v  The most memorable teachers are those who touch students’ hearts.

She was a really kind woman, I always remember her as a calm person. My classmates and I enjoyed English so much with her that we all behaved in a really good way. We respected and loved her, we paid attention, we did homework and we participated actively during her classes. (Autobiography)

v  Students learn better when they are involved during classes

Most of the students enjoyed and participated in the activity but some others didn't (Journal entries)

The students worked actively. It was easy for the majority of the students to write correctly big quantities, for some others it was somehow difficult. (Journal entries)

2) Those beliefs and assumptions come from my experience as both, as an English teacher and as a learner, because the learning-teaching process is a cyclical process, it hasn’t an end because knowledge is a non-ended issue; you learn something new every day, you as a teacher, transmit what you were taught, and get new information through experience.

3) May be demonstrating some other good ways of learning for students, different form learning through involvement. On the other hand, every teacher has a special skill that characterizes him or her, for example there are teachers with abilities for painting, math, poetry, dancing, sports, etc., and those   abilities are as valuable as speaking a different language.

4) An aspect that I need to improve in my teaching practice is to speak more in English in order to my students get familiar with the language so they can have a better dominance of it, because a key point in the learning-teaching process of a second or foreign language is that learners be able to use the language and to understand what other people is saying so interaction takes place.

Also, I think I need to improve the use of technological aids (web pages, videos, recordings, cellphones, etc.) in order to get my students more involved during lessons, and to make my classes more attractive for them because I consider myself kind traditional in that sense (marker and board classes).

Another aspect that I need to improve is to make my lessons more student-centered because they use to be teacher-centered lessons most of the time, so it is important for my students to have more opportunities to participate during classes, to use the language, to learn in a more effective and interactive way.

5) I could start by using more English in my classes, using different greetings, commands or expressions in order to my students start to be familiar with them and start using them too. Also, I could plan a class in the computers lab in order to use different sources of information such as videos or web pages, as a way to change the regular structure of English classes. Finally I think I could involve my students more during lessons, in order to they work more independently and appropriate more of their own learning process.  

Reflective Journal Entries

ENTRY 1

Feb. 15th, 2016
In this class, the students of sixth grade learnt how to write big quantities, taking into account that previously they had looked for the writing of the numbers (100, 1000, 1 million). The teacher did three examples on the board. Then the students were asked to write the quantities written on the board. The students worked actively. It was easy for the majority of the students to write correctly big quantities, for some others it was somehow difficult. Most of the students showed to the teacher what they had done. As a reward the teacher gave 5.0 to the ones who had every quantity written well. For those students who had errors, she gave them the chance to correct such errors after had given them feedback. The students showed a very good disposition for the class and they were motivated to write the quantities correctly due to the grade given. 


ENTRY 2
Feb. 17th, 2016
In this class 8th students participated in a competition. The competition consisted in write correctly in English, three given sentences using past simple with regular verbs. The first 5 students who presented the sentences correctly, got a 5.0. The students showed enthusiasm in the class, they wanted to get a good grade, so they wrote quickly taking into account the explanation about the topic. Most of them participated actively, and a few others just did not worry about to compete. The activity was developed into three rounds. There were students who got 3 times a 5.0 and that made that they felt motivated to show their answers. In order to bring more opportunities to other students, the amount of notebooks checked increased every time; at the beggining the teacher checked just the first five notebooks, but after the third time, she checked ten notebooks which made that most students had the chance to get a good grade. Most of the students enjoyed and participated in the activity but some others didn't, so in a next opportunity it would be necessary to find the way to involve to every student in order to every one of them have the same opportunities than the others. 

ENTRY 3

Nov. 3rd 2016
In this class, 9th grade students were divided into two teams. Each team received a set of cards. Each card contained a word. The students had to order the words in order to form sentences in present simple. There were seven sentences in total, but they had to choose between two words that were colored in green and purple. The objective of this choice was to see how well the students used the structure of the present simple in its three forms, affirmative, negative and interrogative, so for example the students had decided between DO or DOES, DON'T or DOESN'T, live or lives, etc. They couldn't look at their notebooks or cellphones, also they had to work as a group in order to make desicions together taking into account the opinions and knowledge of each other.  The group of the girls order most of the sentences correctly but the group of the boys didn't. I think it was a disdvantage for the boys to work together because, although they like English, it was difficult for them to remember the grammar rules, on the contrary, the girls showed a better appropriacy of these rules. Next time the activiy could be applied taking into account the skills of the students in order to  make a balance between them and that both groups have the same opportunities.   

My Autobiography

How I become an English teacher 

By: Katherine Cortes Alarcon

I was born in Neiva and I have lived in this city all my life. I come from a loving and humble family that I value as my most precious blessing. We are six: my grandmother, my brothers, my parents and me. I remember that most of the time money lacked at home but it didn't matter because I grow up as a happy little girl. I am the only one of  the three of us (my two brothers and me), who had the opportunity to study at the university because my father paid for my studies, situation that caused the jealousy of my younger brother who sometimes complained  about that. 

I have done my academic life in public institutions and I have good memories of those days when I was just a little girl. I remember the first time I received an English class. I was in fifth grade and in previous years I had never been taught English. My first English teacher was my math teacher. He was a funny man who all the time made jokes. He was also good in politics. When he started to greet us in English the first day of English class I felt astonished. It was for me really admirable to have the ability to communicate in another language, it was for me like a special skill that my math teacher had. I remember perfectly a phrase he used to use in English: "The time is gold". That was the first thing I learnt to say and write in English. The second thing I learnt to write, was a sentence made by myself: "Eduardo (that was the name of my teacher) is good teacher". I wrote on the board the phrase and my teacher  correct the lack of "a" after "is". He said "Eduardo is a good teacher". At that moment I couldn't comprehend why I had to use "a" in the sentence. That was my first encounter with a different language.  

In high school I received English classes in a formal way. I remember each one of my English teachers. All of them were women. I felt the same admiration of the first time every time they spoke in English. I remember the songs they used to teach English and the activities they applied in the classes.  I also remember a student from Surcolombiana University who made her teaching practice in my school and she was my English teacher in seventh grade. I remember that in that year it was the first time the school carried out an English Day. My grade presented a song of the Backstreet Boys, so five boys dressed up like the boys of the group, they learnt the song and made a choreography. they also had to present a kind of talk show where they answered some questions. I remember I was one of the models of the show. I really enjoy that activity, it was amazing how students and teachers spoke in English and I have to say that I fall in love with English at that precise moment.    

Going forward, in tenth and eleventh grade, I had an English teacher that made I loved English even more. She was a really kind woman, I always remember her as a calm person. My classmates and I enjoyed English so much with her that we all behaved in a really good way. We respected and loved her, we paid attention, we did homework and we participated actively during her classes. I remember two of her lessons. One in which she used  a song of Carlos Vives, "Carito", and we had to translate the part of the song that is in English, and another song of Greenday called Wake me up when september ends, we had to choose one phrase of the song and translate it to spanish.  The second activity I remember was about the use of Used to to talk about past habits. For that class we had to brought to the class some pictures about us when we were little children. We stuck the pictures on

cardboard and wrote sentences using Used to according to them. I really enjoyed this activity because my classmates and me shared the pictures and saw how we were when we were babies.This teacher was the person who pushed me to becoming an English teacher.  

When I started the University I had very clear that I wanted to be an English Teacher. At the beginning it was hard for me to follow the classes because they were entirely in English and I couldn't understand what the teacher said, so I had to ask one of my partners what the teacher was saying. I have to recognize that I considered myself as a not good English skilled person, It was hard for me to speak in English, to make oral presentations was a really challenging task for me. Moreover, sometimes I didn't obtain good grades in written exams but I never gave it up. I always tried to do my best in order to reach my goal. 

When I did my teaching practice in high school level, I decided to do it in the school where I had studied. Teachers there brought me a lot of support and they saw me as an example for the students. It was a good experience to work in this place. On the contrary, when I did my teaching practice in primary level, things didn't work as well as I expected. I had some missunderstandings with my practice advisor, so it was the first time I thought to give it up, but then I realized that it was not a very good idea and I continued. The score of the teaching practice was not high but it didn't matter to me.  

I remember also  the Native Speakers students who made part of Interchange programs and that supported the teaching and learning of English at the University. They were young people that sometimes had meetings with us in order to teach aspects such as pronunication or culture. At the begining of the meetings it was difficult for me to follow them, but then I understood what they said. I thought those interactions with native speakers were enriching but I was not able to speak with them outside the classroom. I felt shy to do it. 

When I finished my undergraduate carreer, I started working for around three years in private schools with primary and high school students. This was an enriching experience because I acquired practice in teaching and in group management. Then I started to work in the Public sector and it was a challenge for me because I didn't know anything about teaching to tenth and eleventh graders neither how to deal with public institutions regulations. But fortunately, I lived good experiences without problems in this settings. 

Finally, after all this tour about my experience with the English language I can say that I really like what I do, that I love English and being an English teacher and that I feel satisfied of what I have reached because I took advantage of the opportunity my father gave me to study a professional carreer and also because as a woman I did the things right, I prepared myself for being a professional person despite the monetary limitations my family had. I demosntrated myself and others that we are what we want to be. I am also satisfied with the decision I took and with the things I have achieved because they are the result of dedication, effort and believe in myself.  

How I see myself 

I see myself as a person with different facets which I have resumed in seven different components: Me as a language teacher, as a teacher, me as human being, as member of a society, as a woman, as professional and as part of a family, depending on the role I play in the environment where I interact with others.

 As language teacher I have knowledge about a foreign language, how to teach to learners, what are the goals of teaching a foreign language and all those things that are related with English teaching and learning.

 As human being I am a person with feelings, someone who feels happiness, rage, tiredness, love, etc.

As part of a family I feel protected, loved and grateful for all the support and upbringing my parents and relatives have given me.

As member of a society I am aware of all those issues that establish how the world works.

 As a teacher I have to deal with students of diverse personalities that are like stars, none is the same as the other; but also I have the opportunity to help building the future of my students.

As woman I have sensitivity to understand certain situations that affect my students and my family, and in my opinion, it is the main feature that sets us apart from men.

As a professional I value what I have achieved with effort and dedication.

This is the way I see myself, as a person who is composed by many different aspects and that value what I have and what I am because each one of those things have made me being the woman I am.

How I see myself 

I see myself as a person with different facets which I have resumed in seven different components: Me as a language teacher, as a teacher, me as human being, as member of a society, as a woman, as professional and as part of a family, depending on the role I play in the environment where I interact with others.

 As language teacher I have knowledge about a foreign language, how to teach to learners, what are the goals of teaching a foreign language and all those things that are related with English teaching and learning.

 As human being I am a person with feelings, someone who feels happiness, rage, tiredness, love, etc.

As part of a family I feel protected, loved and grateful for all the support and upbringing my parents and relatives have given me.

As member of a society I am aware of all those issues that establish how the world works.

 As a teacher I have to deal with students of diverse personalities that are like stars, none is the same as the other; but also I have the opportunity to help building the future of my students.

As woman I have sensitivity to understand certain situations that affect my students and my family, and in my opinion, it is the main feature that sets us apart from men.

As a professional I value what I have achieved with effort and dedication.

This is the way I see myself, as a person who is composed by many different aspects and that value what I have and what I am because each one of those things have made me being the woman I am.