On Monday at 8 o'clock I started my day at IES Lluis de Requesens with 3th of ESO B, my tutor started the new unit and they read Harry's story, and then, it was my turn. I was pretty nervous because of all the doubts I had, but I started: "Please, close your books". I didn't give them much information, I thought there was no need, they knew what a crossword is, so I gave them the paper sheets. I also told them they could work in pairs if they liked and that they had 5 minutes (as Nuria suggested me, cos she told me that if you give them 1 day, they will take 1 week to finish it, so it's better to say less time and then you give them more if they need it). I was pretty happy because all of them were working, even the 2 students with more difficulties! I must say I had prepared another crossword for them, well, in fact it was the same but they had the first letter of each word to make it easier for them. However, I could see that one or two had already finished while the rest had just started. I had also thought about it so I told them to put the sentences in order, so they could do something else meanwhile. I told them that the 2 students with more difficulties were going to give them some clues and they told them the first letter of each word. But the truth is that, I didn't know how to continue, well what I did not know is when I had to finish the activity and correct it, I asked my tutor, who advised me that they have had time enough so that they could correct it themselves checking their answers in the book. When the activity was over, Nuria asked them to give their opinion about me and my activity. They didn't say much, some of them thought that it had been a nice activity, but they didn't say anything negative a part from my tone of voice, which should be louder. I love this class. It was a good practice but I knew Nuria had lots of things to tell me about my activity: I should ALWAYS talk in front of the class, I should explain everything STEP BY STEP (or even write it on the blackboard), I should be aware of my body language and my tone of voice... Everything was very constructive so I tried to do it better with 3th of ESO A, my class, taking into account everything Nuria told me, and in theory I did it, or at least, that is what she told me. But I wasn't so happy as I was with 3th of ESO B, 3th of ESO A was visibly shaken, it was the last hour before they break so they are just looking forward to finish class. And as I said, even the 2 students with more difficulties in group B tried to work, but in group B they just copied, which was a bit disappointing because they also had the easiest crossword. Well, I guess there is much work to do with this class and I would learn much more with them. Unfortunately, 3th of ESO B is not reality.
Between these two lessons, I also attended a 2th of ESO, they were working with a dialogue about music. They also behaved very well, even when the teacher had to leave because she forgot to bring the listening she had prepared for that session. They worked with the dialogue during the whole hour, first reading it, then listening to it, afterwards reproducing it and finally creating a couple of dialogues with the same structure (Do you like x? I can't stand x. What about x?...) I tried to help those who needed help. My observations with a 1st and 2nd of ESO have been very similar, the lesson is done half in English and the other half in Spanish so that the children know what they are doing.
After the break I went with Fran, the other CAP student, to a desdoblament class of 2nd of ESO. There were 13 students sitting by themselves, so that they don't get distracted -told us the teacher.
Two students were expelled from class in less than half an hour, they confronted with the teacher and did not pay her attention, she threatened them to expel them, and so did she. I guess it is very difficult to control these kids when they act like this, you should have a lot of patience and that is not easy at all. I do not think these kinds want to try the teacher's patience, they just want to attrack attention and they hate to be told what they have to do, and much less if it is an order, and so they confront with teachers.
This class was doing Present Simple exercises, their level was quite low, apart from two students who where pretty good and were losing their time in a desdoblament class because there were not good at Maths and Catalan (the teacher told us that they may move these two students into the normal class). The rest of the students looked as if their minds were in somewhere else: drawing at the table, writing little notes, looking at somewhere else aside from the activities they were doing... I think here they do need to do something else, something new, something that really motivates them so that they paid a bit of attention. The teacher told us that on her last lesson, she explained to them some stories about ghosts and they were ALL paying attention and asking questions (in Spanish, but they understood the stories in English, well, maybe with some help...), and I really think that is a good start. Perphaps they could also do some Present Simple exercises but with a text that motivates them, or... I don't know, just try something different. I know theory is much easier than practice, but there is nothing to lose.
My last observation was in the Aula d'acollida, for those studens who don't speak Catalan. The class I attended was doing some exercises about the plural in Catalan, there were less than 10 studens, most of them from SouthAmerica and just one, from the United States. Some of them were working and willing to learn and a couple who weren't paying much attention... The teacher explained to me that these students spend from 10 to 3 hours per week in the aula d'acollida according to their level. They are not divided into groups according to their course, because they are not so many, but he told me he had another group with some Chinese students.
On Tuesday, we attended a lesson about Economy with 1st BAT, why? Because it was done with CLIL, that is to say, teaching Economy in English, and at the same time, learning English. The teacher tried to explain almost everything in English and if they didn’t understand then he explained it in Spanish. But, anyway, we were pretty impressed by the vocabulary these kids were using.
From 10 to 11, I observed another 4th of ESO. They were chatting all the time, and it was quite difficult to make them pay attention, the teacher had to have a lot of patience and repeat things several times in English (because their intention was to make the teacher explain it in Spanish, so that they did no have to think, but she didn’t let them twist her arm). I don’t know if it is because it was just one hour left for them to have a break , but I think that is the worst class I have observed. Their level was very low, and the ones who were good at English didn’t say a word (they just participated when the teacher asked them something by their names).
Then, our tutor, Nuria, gave us a questionnaire about becoming a teacher. We had to reflect on what was important for us, how, why… The truth is that she gave us a lot of information about what we could do if we were really interested in teaching, where we could find courses, what gives us points… It was a very useful and pleasant chat.
At 12:30 we all attended a Tutoria with my 3th of ESO A. Their tutor wrote on the blackboard everything they had to deal with during that hour: absences, interviews with parents, news (trips, competitions…), a game, activities from the dossier… It was just like the tutorias I had when I was doing the ESO, the only think that was new for me was the dossier, we didn’t have one, and it’s a shame, because it was a very interesting dossier, it dealt with important matters to discuss with teenagers and make them reflect on them, and also study techniques, which were very useful.
On Wednesday, I observed again 3th of ESO B, my favourite :P, and my 3th of ESO A, they had an exam. Our tutor has an unusual way of doing an exam, apart from doing two different exams, she makes them sit according to their English level, so that the ones who have a good English level are on one side, and the ones who are not very good at English are placed on the other side. She explained to us why: if somebody wants to cheat, instead of getting a 3, they may get a 3.5, but no more. She even told them why she made them sit like that, so that they knew there was no point in trying to copy. And in my opinion, it’s a very good idea to discourage them from cheating, I think I wouldn’t tell them why I make them sit like that, but there are not silly and they would realize it anyway. When they had finished, Nuria asked me to continue with unit 3, and so did I. We talked about compound nouns and did a couple of exercises, they were quite easy and the class behaved quite well, so I was quite satisfied. It’s a shame that the other student from the CAP forgot to record that moment :P
PS: I forgot to mention that last week the Physical Education Teacher gave me the material for topic of my unit didactic with CLIL, Nuria said I could do a more dynamic class with it, the topic is: Warm-up, but I really don't know how to do it, from where to start, etc. And although I think it could be a very interesting experience, I don't know if I will finally do it about "Warm-up" with CLIL.
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