#Teach&LearnEngPrimOne

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"It's about the process"

by Aguilera, R. and Cayuqueo, V (2024)

Our Reflections

The feedback for my Video 1 was enriching, highlighting areas I need to focus on for improvement. Making mistakes and sometimes forgetting to do simple things is part of the journey toward becoming a fully aware and effective teacher who utilizes every available strategy. One area I need to work on is asking questions in a correct sequence; I often jump from closed to open-ended questions too quickly. Additionally, I sometimes forget to define new words, which is a crucial strategy that tends to slip my mind when I'm nervous. Another area for improvement is the way I give instructions, as the use of cognates can be very helpful when applied correctly, although it sometimes intimidates me.

However, being scared, forgetting things, and feeling nervous are all part of the learning process. These challenges do not make me any less capable as a teacher; they simply indicate areas where I am still growing and learning to apply new techniques. The key is the desire to improve! There is always more to learn, and I am committed to continuously acquiring new teaching skills. -Vicente Cayuqueo.

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While designing what we wanted to reflect in our piece of art, it was necessary to review the feedback on the video we made enacting an activity. Because of this, I realized the importance of asking the proper questions in a progressive order from simpler to more complex. When watching my own video again after reading the feedback I received, every corrected mistake seemed really obvious and helped me better understand what I was doing wrong, why those mistakes were actual mistakes, and how these corrections were strictly related to the content covered in class. Moreover, it also helped me notice that I should have activated previous knowledge using other methods, making it easier for my students to understand. Every part of the feedback was useful to guide the design of the collage to the message we were trying to convey. Finally, the feedback also helped reassure me about the things I was doing right. Knowing what you are doing well and should continue doing is as important as knowing which things need to be corrected for the next time. -Rodrigo Aguilera.

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POV: You're a student!

If you want more context about this video check the other post under the hashtag #Challenge 6, and remember that you can always comment on our work, telling us how would you improve it!

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My experience:

"When I've worked at my practicum last semester, I was in charge of two classes of 2nd graders, and my experience was shockingly succesful. I expected that, while working with my students regularly they will eventually acquire partially the information of every class. I was absolutely amazed when I realized that when the activities motivate the students to participate, not only were they eager to keep learning, but also the information stayed almost entirely in the whole class. Even at the end of the semester, when we worked with reviewing every content that we saw before, they remembered almost everything! I must admit that, since it was my first time working with younger learners I underestimate them a little bit, and at the end I was the one who learned the most!"

-Rodrigo Aguilera, 2024.

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Welcome!

Hello! Welcome to our blog, made by two English Pedagogy students. We are going to use this platform to address various questions and overcome challenges encountered throughout our third year of studies.

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Share your comments with us!

Hello there! In this Padlet you can share your thoughts about our #Challenge 10

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Challenge 10

Greetings once again, fellow teachers!

For this challenge, we were asked to plan and design a lesson focused on listening and speaking for young learners. We chose Unit One: "In My Classroom" for first graders. Considering it was a 45-minute class, we created two activities based on this unit:

Warm-Up (Vocabulary Game)

Application (Speaking Activity)

Do you think the activities are appropiate for young learners? What changes would you do to these activities? Why?

We invite you to review the document and share your thoughts on the Padlet under #Challenge10.

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You can share your thoughts with us on this Padlet!

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Challenge 9

Hello again, fellow learners! For this challenge, we needed to creatively present our approach to teaching a pre-listening activity for first graders using the material present in the students' book. So, we created a "guide" and we want you to check it out!

We'd love to hear your thoughts on our approach to engaging students in a pre-listening activity! Do you have any suggestions or changes you think could improve it? Please share your ideas with us in the Padlet under #Challenge 9!

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Context Challenge 6

The video illustrates a lesson employing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as an inclusive practice. In this instance, movement serves as a vehicle for incorporating multiple means of representation and action/expression within the lesson, also enhancing engagement and content comprehension.

By not only verbally describing actions but also physically demonstrating them, the teacher exposes students to various ways of understanding and engaging with the lesson material (means of representation). By prompting students to not only observe the teacher's movements and speech but also replicate verbally and physically the actions (multiple means of action/expression) students with different learning styles could probably feel comfortable with at least one of the representations, helping them to acquire the content effectively.

For young learners who are still acquiring the language’s basics, the opportunity to move and learn outside the classroom can significantly enhance their participation and understanding of the content due to the novelty of the activity in comparison with most of lessons that are developed only on the classroom (engagement). During our practicum experiences, we noticed that presenting unconventional teaching techniques, such as games or activities outside the classroom makes students more engaged into the lesson, which also increased the effectiveness in achieving learning objectives compared to ‘typical activities’ such as regular handouts.

Depending on the context, this type of activities may or not be applied effectively in Chilean classrooms, since factors such as the number of students per class or the students’ age may determine if the activity would work as expected or not.

Now we invite YOU! To share your thoughts and feelings towards our activity. Do you think an activity like this would've worked in the context where you studied English? Do you agree with the possible complications we shared in our final reflection? Let us know more in the following Jamboard!

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Hello everyone!

For #Challenge 5 we did a podcast reviewing and giving feedback to a 2nd Grade lesson plan! We faced questions such as "What changes would you make to the lesson plan? Why would you make those changes?"

We found some good things and some that could be improved. If you want to know our approach, check the podcast, and don’t forget to tell us about your own opinion! Do you agree with our perspective? Do you disagree? Do you want to be the first podcast’s guest? Let us know your thoughts on this Jamboard!

PD: The sources we used for the feedback were the Propuesta Curricular and Pinter, 2017, Ch. 4

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"As future English teachers, being able to understand which aspects may influence the future achievements of our students is fundamental to keep working on the development of an effective and engaging classroom environment for them!

- Rodrigo Aguilera.

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"The selected chapter emphasizes the vital role of addressing motivational and attitudinal factors in teaching English, shaping my future approach as an educator."

- Vicente Cayuqueo.

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Greetings fellow teachers!

For our third challenge, we had to create a Quiz based on a text. Being the chosen one: "Chilean Primary Learners’ Motivation and Attitude towards English as a Foreign Language" by Inostroza, Perez-Villalobos & Tabali (2024) 

We kindly invite you to check the link and answer the questions! After that, you can leave us a comment in the Padlet available under the hashtag #Challenge 3. We would love to read your opinions and experiences while answering the quiz so we can improve it!

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My experience:

"While my teaching experience had hinted at certain windows of opportunity for language acquisition, I also encountered students who defied these traditional timelines, showcasing remarkable progress even beyond perceived critical periods. This discrepancy between theory and practice urged me to delve deeper into the research, questioning established beliefs and seeking a more nuanced understanding"

- Vicente Cayuqueo, 2024.