Speaking: a dialogue

Today, as every day, I left home at 6 in order to arrive on time at the school. I went to 2nd ESO C at 09:10 and then at 1st ESO D at 11:40. All that students have finished their pathway learning and they have also done the speaking task: a dialogue about hobbies and interests.

This is another kind of self-learning activity. Students have to copy this dialogue (with more questions when higher the level is: starter, beginner and lower intermediate) and then study it in order to represent it in pairs in front of the class.

Today, moreover, we had two sessions with the language assistant, so students have gone to the English Department to speak with him, saying the dialogues.

I have recorded a dialogue in 2nd ESO C, but I cannot upload it here or in Youtube because of the restriction of image. I will show you those recordings in the oral presentation at the end of the practicum. I hope this is not a big problem.

In the picture you can see the worksheets of the dialogue. Starters and beginners did only questions 3 to 7, and lower intermediate did all the worksheet. They have learnt them by heart and they were successful in it.

Reader's Report

"Reader's Report" is one of the self-learning activities, done in 1st and 2nd ESO (the two courses I go more regularly).

Students choose a book of their level, they showed to the teacher (who recommend them, explains them if that book chosen is so easy for him/her, too difficult for a particular person...) and they bring it home. During a week or two weeks (sometimes more, depending on their work) they have that book at home and they have to read it and then complete a reader's report with a mind map of the book (an example is shown in the picture) and some vocabulary with the translation.

When students have all the work done, they show the reader's report to the teacher in class in order to correct it, and then they can study it for the oral test about it. They study at home and sometimes also in class, when they have finished other tasks, before their speaking examination about it...

The examination is based on that book, on the points students have written in the reader's report: "The book title is... The author of the book is... The story is... The main characters are... The story takes place in... At the end..." and there are some questions about the vocabulary, too. These points are written in a mid map, where all sentences are divided into parts, in other to show the structure: subject - verb - object.

The evaluation is done individually with the teacher, who takes into account both fluency and accuracy. She listens to each student and when he or she finishes, she corrects them (accuracy, vocabulary...). She always says them the mark, too, and encourages them at all times.

 

I have seen this task almost every day in these two weeks of practicum, but today I have been able to participate more, listening to them with Eve and saying my opinion about the evaluation.

I agree with Eve, my tutor, that this kind of activity lets the students learn reading and speaking skills, but also grammar. Moreover, this activity develops their reading habits, their responsibility and autonomy, fluency and accuracy in speaking, and students have to be organised (doing the mind map). On the other hand, students can choose the book they want to read, so they are more motivated; and they have time to do this task at home, they don't have a close deadline (although they are asked not to extend a lot one reading).

Self-learning: an autonomous way to learn

Students have some time in their course hour for self-learning. They all have a pathway divided into three levels: starters, beginners and lower intermediate. Each student has their level assigned from the beginning of the course (they can change level if they progress or they don't follow the pace...) and they have to do exercises and activities for the unit as assigned by the teacher in a pathway learning (handed in at the beginning of the unit). In this pathway learning students have all different tasks they have to do (grammar, listening, speaking, vocabulary, reading; from the Student's book, workbook, other resources, videos...), some of them compulsory and some of them voluntary, so students can choose. When it is time for self-learning, students do their pathway tasks autonomously and with self-correction in class. Some of these exercises (the one's in their books) are for homework, at home, and they have to do it for the end of the unit, they can do it whenever they want with that deadline.

In this picture I have taken a picture about two girls doing a video task: they have to see a video of about ten minutes long and then they answer some questions about the video as true or false. In the same document with the questions, they have the answers behind, for self-evaluation.

In all these tasks I noticed they are all fair and honest. I liked it, because they gain autonomy and responsibility, and they learn at their own learning pace, at their level, in cooperation with their classmates. But the teacher is not absent in these times! She is always there, helping them, encouraging them; she is a guide for their apprenticeship.

Self-access room

This secondary school has two specialized language classrooms: a language laboratory and a self-access room.

The language laboratory consists of ten computers communicated between them, with headphones and a machine like an scanner, which is used for the teacher in order to show students papers, pages of a book she is reading, etc. This language laboratory is part of a language project of the school, and teachers have formation about it and they also train other secondary school teachers.

The self-access room is composed by individual tables composed in groups of four or five in the middle of the classroom and the teacher's table. All around these tables there are a lot of material and didactic resources: six audiocassettes, a television, videos, posters, books, magazines, dictionaries, (offered by editorials), encyclopaedias, and a lot of pigeon holes with all types of material (listening exercices and cassettes, reading exercices (true/false), grammar, cloze, writing, speaking/communication tasks, dialogues, partial dictation, pictures, games, puzzles, songs, etc.

Language courses have another important resource, a personal resource: the secondary school has contracted a language assistant (an Irish man), who will offer conversational classes in all courses.

First contact

Picture: Language Department. 

On Tuesday the 30th October I had my first contact with the secondary school where I will be until Christmas doing the practicum. It is far from Terrassa, where I live, and for this reason I went out home three hours before the meeting hour. My tutor from the school had explained me the way to arrive there, so I knew how to go there and this facilitated me the journey.

Arriving at the school wasn't difficult. I was a little bit excited and nervous, because I knew anything about that school. However, all staff of the school welcomed me and I felt comfortable and well-received.

I had to wait a little bit for my tutor (Eve) because she was in class; and when she came she showed me the secondary school and presented me other teachers and all the staff working there. I was grateful for that, because this made me feel another teacher, not only a 'visitor' or a teacher trainee like many others can be.

After speaking a little bit about the school, my practicum, the methodology, what I was supposed to do..., she invited me to go a class, 1st ESO D. She presented me and I observed the classroom, the course, students... There was a lot to look at!

I left the school with a good taste in my mouth. My first day at the secondary school encouraged me to make my best there these two months I will be there.

Presentació

Hola!

El meu primer bloc... Aquí faré un seguiment de les pràctiques a l'institut IES de Sales de Viladecans (http://www.xtec.es/centres/a8034621/).

Hi vaig començar fa dues setmanes, i m'he adaptat molt bé a l'escola. És un camí llarg per arribar-hi (més de dues hores i mitja), però l'estada allà m'està aportant molts coneixements i molt bones experiències que cal aprofitar.

És una escola amb molts projectes educatius, sobretot lingüístics, per la qual cosa tenen una gran quantitat de recursos (materials, personals), una metodologia constructivista i uns bons resultats, atenent la diversitat de l'alumnat.

Dia a dia us aniré mostrant l'escola i la manera de treballar, que no és pas l'habitual als instituts i que ens pot aportar un munt d'idees per a la pràctica educativa, per a la nostra formació com a professors.

Meritxell