Hello everybody and welcome back to a new entry,
As you all know, this has been an unusual year to say the least. Many unexpected thi ngs have happened that are out of our control and all we can do is wait, stay home, and do out part.
Unexpectedly, and sadly, our Practicum period was cut short back in March. Nevertheless, I am still very grateful for the time that I spent in the school, with the teachers I had de pleasure of meeting and having as mentors, and the kids I got to meet.
Like I mentioned on previous entries, I was very nervous at the beginning of February, but as soon as I got to meet the students and the teachers I would be working with, those nerves quickly became excitement.
I was supposed to spend a month and a half in the English department, working alongside the English teachers, and another month and a half with 6th grade. However, due to the lockdown, I was only able to complete the first half of the Practicum period, as I am sure every other university student did.
It was disappointing and sad suddenly saying goodbye to the school, the teachers, the children, and the rest of the university students who became my friends and whose company I truly enjoyed. Still, we know that it was for the best and I cherish every moment that I experienced.
From the very first week, I learned so much about being an English teacher. The teachers allowed me to be part of the lesson and it helped me to learn and grow more than I was expecting. I was able to experience first hand how teaching English as a Foreign Language is so much more about than just controlling the language, having a good pronunciation, and teaching a lesson.
Something that stood out to me from the very first week is how the English teachers were a hundredth percent invested in every single lesson and every single student. All the lessons were different and they would always include new multimodal resources and games, which is something that I really look up to. They would not just stick to the book activities, but they would propose many new activities and dynamics that the students enjoyed even more and made learning fun for them.
In other words, something that was truly undeniable to me is that they teach with affection. It seems ironic that I am writing about this exact topic in my TFG, but if something was made clearer to me after my Practicum experience is how important it is to build an affectionate teacher-student relationship in order to accomplish meaningful learning. The students look up to their teachers, behave well in the lessons, follow their instructions, and are excited to learn because they are motivated and like their teachers. I am more than happy that I was able to experience and be part of such a good learning environment, even if it wasn’t for long.
That is the reason why, for this entry, I chose that drawing at the top. It is a brain next to a heart. Both have flowers on them and it is actually pictured how the brain is being watered. As we all know, in order for flowers to bloom they need to be watered, looked after, and cared for. That is exactly how I imagine that kids learn, grow, and develop. As teachers, we have the power to help every single one of our students bloom healthy and beautiful flowers not only in their brains but also in their hearts; but we also have the power to drown some of those flowers. What kind of teacher will you be?
Just like Rita Pierson expressed in her TED talk back in 2013,
«Every child deserves a champion. An adult who would never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be. (…) It is not impossible. We are educators, we were worn to make a difference.»
That is exactly the kind of educator that I want to be. Someone who brings joy to her students with her teaching, who builds unbreakable bonds, who is able to lift her students’ self-steem and academic achievement at the same time, and someone who waters flowers not only in their brains, but also in their hearts.
Another aspect that I really enjoyed during my stay in this particular school is that I was able to see up close several multimodal lessons put into practice. A previous practicum student would go to the school three times a week to put into practice a whole didactic lesson plan that followed the multimodal approach with 6th B. I have got to say that she did an amazing job and that seeing her teach her activities, made me understand the way that a multimodal lesson works, as well as the amazing response from the students. She taught the children how to be good readers and she would prepare activities that encouraged students to be creative, as well as critical thinkers. It made me realized that there are much more ways to teach English than we imagine and that, if planned correctly, these lessons can challenge the students’ full potential.
Moreover, just as I have already shared with you, I also had to adapt my own multimodal lesson to teach the students from the distance. That is honestly something that I had never though that I would have to do any time soon. Still, it was a good way to practice; considering that, just like we have learnt, everything can change in a matter of hours. As future teachers, we need to be prepared to be there for our students and make sure they continue their education no matter the circumstances.
On another note, I am quite happy to write that I was able to continue my practicum period even after lockdown. I was contacted by the headteacher and given the opportunity to give online English lessons to the students via Skype from Monday to Thursday. I immediately sais yes, without thinking twice, since I knew it was a big opportunity and it pleases me to know that they trusted me enough to be part of the project.
I would be lying if I said that it has been easy and not time consuming. Preparing the lessons, the evaluations, keeping up with the schedules, the user names, starting one call after the next one, and focusing on my TFG at the same time. It has not been an easy task. Nonetheless, it has been amazing seeing how the students take it seriously, do their best, and keep improving with the vocabulary or structures that we have been working with. In a sense, I have had the amazing opportunity to continue with my Practicum Period and finish it; and I am very grateful for that.
I am happy to say that I have heard great feedback from the teachers and the parents of the children, too. The students think that this has been a great dynamic to practice English and that they enjoy speaking and learning this way as well, which was my main goal. I didn’t want the students to think of it as a chore, I wanted them to enjoy the lessons and look forward to the next one. Hopefully, I have achieved this goal with everyone.
All in all, the last three months have been quite exciting, as well as unpredictable, and stressful at times. Nonetheless, I am more than grateful for the experience that I have had with the school that I chose and with the teachers that I got to work with. Hopefully, in the future, I will have the opportunity to work as a full-time teacher in a school such as special as this particula one. I am looking forward what will come next.
Best regards,
Mariana.
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Hungry for knowledge 
Good afternoon, Mariana!
I hope your family and you are safe!
Before starting my comment, I would like to congratulate you because of your brilliant reflection. It is essential to reflect upon our Practicum in order to learn more and improve as teachers and as people.
In the first place, it has indeed been an unusual Practicum and we cannot be able of enjoying the full period of face-to-face classes. However, I think we have learnt a lot from it and it has helped us to reflect upon the situation and to improve our digital skills. In your case, you have been able of teaching online lessons and I am sure you will have learnt a lot from it. Hence, we always have to see the positive aspect of every situation.
In the second place, as you say, we have all improved our self-esteem and confidence as teachers and, although we have only been in the school some weeks, we could experience this process and improvement. Although your English is excellent, teaching English as a Foreign Language needs more than a great linguistic competence. Therefore, I am very glad that you learned so much about being an English teacher.
In the third place, regarding your school, I think you have been very lucky because of the things you write about your teachers. Working with efficient professionals is always an excellent opportunity to learn with them and improve as a teacher. I am sure you have learnt a lot about multimodality, dynamics, games, and so on. Furthermore, I am happy because you have been able of creating your own multimodal lessons and adapting it to distance learning. Although it is a hard job, putting your knowledge in practice is essential to learn.
Finally, I really like how you have combined the picture with your reflection. I believe we have to attend to each individual child, water each of them in a unique way because each child is unique. Moreover, I cannot be more agree with you when you say that we have too teach always with love. It is crucial to create a positive class atmosphere and teach with love because children only learn from people they like.
To conclude, I would like to say that I have learnt a lot from reading your entries and I think you have incredible ideas. It has been a pleasure reading your reflections and sharing my opinion with you, I hope my feedback has helped you. Furthermore, I would like to congratulate you again for your Practicum Blog and your job during the whole Practicum.
Keep teaching with love and I am sure you will succeed as Primary teacher!
Best regards,
Mar
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Hello again, Mar
Thank you so much for your comment! My family and I are great, thank you so much. I hope you and your loved ones are safe as well.
I agree with everything that you wrote. Even though this has been an unusual and difficult moment to face, we have been learning a lot about how to manage a situation like this, in case it happened again in the future. Just like you said, what is important is to see the positive side of things and I am very grateful that I was given the opportunity to somehow continue with my Practicum period.
Indeed, teaching English has a lot more to do than just great linguistic and good pronunciation. As teachers, we need to be able to engage students in the lessons and motivate them to engage and acquire the language. There are so many key ingredients which make a good teacher and a good lesson. I am glad that I got to learn and discover some of them and I hope that you did too.
Just like you wrote, I do feel very lucky that I chose a school with such amazing teachers and students. They truly make a huge difference and completely influence the stay in the school. I am also very thankful that they allowed me to create and put into practice my own multimodal lesson.
Last but not least, I like how you expressed that every child is unique and that we should teach according to their diversity and particular needs. I agree as well. It is important to know the class as a whole, but also to develop a relationship with each learner to create a safe environment with the right learning conditions.
Thank you so much!!! It makes me very happy that you have enjoyed reading my blog. It means a lot to me.
I have got to say that your feedback and comments were always great to read and extremely helpful.
Best regards,
Mariana
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Hello Mariana!
Reading what you have put in this last entry I feel very identified with you since this practicum period that was intended to be face to face has been very short; but the good of all you learn and, in the end, it has been a quite rewarding experience.
I’m very happy that although it was a short period of time you were able to learn so much, you were also lucky enough to be in the English department, your speciality. So I think, you will have taken quite a lot of control over how the classes work, especially in your school, and so you will be able to learn some of the tools that you will be able to use in your next classes as a teacher.
Above all, you will have learned a lot of what you highlight in this entry «teaching with affection» one of the most important tools we have as teachers of primary education, and especially of the foreign language. Because in this way we motivate the students to always want to learn more, and I think this is very nice teaching.
I think the reflection you make in this last entry is very deep because with the quote you introduce in it, you can see that you have learned a lot with this experience and you have been able to relate your TFG with the internship something really important. And that it has made you reflect on the kind of teacher you want to be in your future.
It is also very enriching for you and your experience that you have been able to see another student from a previous year doing her teaching units in class. This gives you several ideas and also makes you learn not only from the school’s English teachers but also from someone else, with whom the students also have English as their vehicular language.
On the other hand, it is very good that they have been able to contact you to do classes via Skype so that you have not lost contact and your experience as a teacher has been able to continue.
I’m very happy to see all that you have learned, I have also learned a lot with you and your students, apart from the fact that some of them I have been lucky enough to meet, as we were going to the same practice centre. It has been very nice to share our thoughts on these blogs. And I’m sure all this will serve us well for our future as teachers.
Best regards and take care.
Maria
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Good afternoon Maria,
First of all, thank you so much for your comment and for giving me feedback once again!
Like you mentioned, I was very lucky to be able to experience and learn so much from the teachers in the English department and the lessons they plan daily! It has been an amazing experience and I am glad that I could reflect that through my writing.
I did indeed learned more than I could have imagined about teaching with affection during this Practicum Period, and exactly like you wrote, it has been more than beneficial for me considering that it cannot be overlooked as an unimportant influence un the students’ learning outcome. Similarly, I am more than grateful since I chose this exact topic for my TFG. Therefore, I have a closer idea to do my research and write it.
Moreover, I am sure that you can agree with me that having been given the opportunity to teach the online lessons has been very educating and exciting. You were also trusted to do the same and I have seen you give it your all as well. Congratulations!!
Once again, thank you so much for your words! It makes me very happy that you find my entries helpful, the same way that I have found your feedback.
Best regards,
Mariana.
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Mariana, I’m very pleased with the hard work that you have done and with your positive attitude. You have really shown me that you were ready to give a 120% in this Practicum!! Congratulations!!
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