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his week, we worked on a family album project to review numbers and family members in English. Although some students already knew the vocabulary, it was a good chance to reinforce it creatively. They enjoyed drawing and writing about their families. I felt more confident, as there was no pressure to speak perfect English without a lead English teacher. I used formative and summative assessment, giving feedback during the process and using a checklist for the final product. The lessons didn’t go exactly as planned. It was evaluation week, and there were many rehearsals and interruptions, which made it hard to follow the original structure. Some students didn’t finish their projects, and time was limited. I realized I could have prepared more flexible activities to adapt to the changes and keep students engaged. In conclusion, it was a challenging week, but full of learning. My action plan is to prepare adaptable materials and manage time better when schedules change. As Vygotsky (1978) said, learning should aim at what students can do with support, even in unpredictable situations.

Reference:

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in Society. Harvard University

Press.

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April 29th
This day, I gave the class time for students to work on their final product—the comic. I handed out the checklist, and they worked on their comics. Since it was only a one-hour session, they worked a bit faster, but actually better, because some of them had already started during the vacation as I had previously asked for a draft. They continued developing their ideas and improved them during class.
In this session, they worked very well and calmly. The head teacher, upon seeing this, told me, “I wish they were always like this.” Once again, I saw that my classes had been more motivating, and both groups showed respect for me and my lessons. So I believe I’m doing things right—even though there’s still a lot to improve and reinforce, my work has been worth it.
I also didn’t grade just for the sake of grading—I actually read what they wrote. So, for the final products, both the comic and the poem, I wrote motivational phrases like “Well done” and “Great job,” which worked very well. In some of the letters my students wrote to me, I realized that thanks to me, they didn’t give up and felt motivated, because they saw they could achieve more.

April 30th
This day, due to scheduling and the fact that they had to take their graduation photo, I just handed out their work.
It was on this day, with this group, that everything changed for me—both professionally and personally—because the head teacher, with help from my students, prepared a farewell for me where they expressed their gratitude. As one of the girls said, “This kind of thing changes everything.” They always saw me as their teacher, not just as someone doing teaching practice. Although in Normal School they always remind us about that distinction, it’s moments like this that truly motivate you and help you grow. From my own experience, I can see that what I planned and the attitude I had with everyone was the right one—or at least the most appropriate. It’s true that I still have a lot to improve, but that’s what these practicums are for—to grow with each experience. From this teaching period, I take away many lessons and many things I need to strengthen as a teacher.

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April 30th
This day, since I had the last two class hours and had already worked with group 3° “B,” I decided to give them an hour and a half to work on their final product, which was the comic. At the beginning, I gave them the checklist for the comic. Honestly, being the last class, I felt a lot of emotions because many things had happened. The class went on normally, the students worked well, and I monitored and helped them with their doubts. What I noticed was that they were creating their comic based on something they liked, since there wasn’t a fixed topic. As they were finishing, I graded and recorded their work. With this group, I didn’t have time to apply a self-evaluation, but their performance throughout the sessions was good. Something that worked very well was the “waterfall fingers” strategy, which helped me throughout all the classes. Something that really made me reflect, first in 3° “B” and then here, was that both the students and the head teacher said a few words to me. Each one of those words made me feel that in the end, everything had been worth it—and most of all, that this group had truly learned something. That was what brought me the most happiness, because with each class that passed, I improved many things to help them learn. Finally, they told me they were grateful for everything and for making the classes fun. Thanks to them and this experience, I realized there are many things I need to improve, but also many strengths I have that I should continue to build on.

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April 8th
That day there was a school activity, and the USAER teacher had mentioned that there wouldn’t be any classes. So, I went to school relaxed and with the mindset that I wouldn’t have class. However, I still went prepared just in case. Since I have the last period, what ended up happening was that I did have class. I was going to continue with my planned lesson, but the students didn’t bring their notebooks, and since there had been no announcement about returning to class, the teacher told me to do something general or different because not all the students were present, and many would fall behind. So, I asked my classmate Leslie to lend me her bingo game. It was a verb bingo with past tense verbs (vocabulary), so it worked as a review activity. I noticed that most of the students present actually knew the past tense of irregular verbs and that they enjoyed that type of activity. Later, the teacher went to get the rest of the students, so we continued playing bingo. I also noticed that those who had arrived earlier didn’t seem too interested. By the end, I wasn’t sure if it was because they liked it, didn’t like it, or weren’t really paying attention. But the whole class was surprisingly silent, which made me feel anxious yet calm. I ended the session by briefly introducing the concept of personification.

April 9th
On this day, I noticed the students were a bit more restless, mainly because we were close to the vacation break. So there was a lot of movement during class, but they still paid attention to me. I combined both sessions again, so I gave them the concept of personification along with examples, and then handed out a worksheet and exercises for them to complete. There was a lot of noise, some students were standing, etc., but I was patient and corrected their behavior in a calm way. I realized I was much more patient than the main teacher. I understood her side too, since she explained that it was important to be stricter to avoid any accidents. Despite all that, the students worked well and the time was enough to register all their work. I noticed they finished the worksheet very quickly and most of them understood the English content. Some students copied from others, but I also applied peer evaluation (co-evaluation) to grade the worksheet.

April 10th
I consider this day the best of all, as we worked with onomatopoeia, a very fun literary device to use. Throughout the whole class—beginning, middle, and end—the students were more engaged, there were more laughs, and the atmosphere was more relaxed because it wasn’t a traditional type of class. Even though I didn’t follow the original lesson plan strictly (because I thought we wouldn’t have time for everything), it was a class that both the students and I really enjoyed. The worksheet wasn’t just a writing task—it involved acting out sounds, etc. I realized that the class environment and student attitude vary a lot depending on the type of activity you use. So I tried to carry that over into future lessons. That day, I collected all the worksheets and graded them later, and I can say it was one of the most meaningful days for me. I realized that I really enjoy this part of teaching, because I can pay more attention to what they write, and that gives me satisfaction. On most worksheets, I added my signature to validate that they had turned it in on time.

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April 9th (2 hours)
This day I tried to avoid what happened last time, where the students finished all the activities for both sessions within just one hour (one class). However, it happened again. This time, we had the presentation and practice of personification. I wasn’t sure if I had explained it very well or very poorly, because when I asked them if they had understood, no one said anything. So, I gave them a worksheet to see whether they understood or not, and I realized that they did, since they finished it before the first hour was over. Because of this, I had to use other activities from my lesson plans for sessions 1 and 2, but in a different order, as I couldn’t just let them sit idle. Based on what I had planned, I gave them more personification exercises and had to improvise a little. At that moment, I realized that I need to always bring extra activities, especially when I have back-to-back class hours. I also applied peer evaluation, I asked each student for their answers, and they would say them out loud, while I confirmed if it was right or wrong and gave the correct answer when needed. That way, they were grading each other’s work. I also kept a record by walking around and checking if they had completed the three activities we had done. I managed to check everyone’s work, though it took me 10 to 15 minutes.
Another issue was that students kept getting up from their seats, especially when I had my back turned. So I realized I also needed to come up with new strategies to check their work more efficiently. During those two hours, I also noticed that some students finished very early and had to wait for the others, which caused them to get bored, walk around, or do other things. When I asked them to stay seated or called their attention, they would justify it by saying they had already finished. Because of this, I decided to tell them that if they were not in their seats, their work would be canceled.

April 10th
This was a day I really enjoyed, as we worked with onomatopoeia. In this class, there was more participation, and the atmosphere was less tense—everything flowed nicely. The activities were completed one after another, and they weren’t just the traditional "write and done" type. In these, students had to listen and even act things out. I noticed that these activities really motivated the students. From the moment I played the audio clips, I saw they were paying attention to me, which made it easier to carry out all the activities. Just like in the other group, I had assigned them a task the previous class: to look up what onomatopoeia is and find examples. So, we started with a brainstorming session based on that, and I saw that their attention and motivation increased throughout the class. It was a very enjoyable session. Even though some students didn’t understand everything perfectly, I could tell they were trying hard to participate. In this class, I also walked around to check each student’s work individually and, at the end, we reviewed as a group to ensure everyone had understood what onomatopoeia was. Even though these were the last sessions with both groups, they showed great enthusiasm and respect for the class, and both groups worked very well.

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April 1st
No classes / suspension of school activities.

April 2nd
On this day, I made a modification to the lesson plan and the class itself, which was necessary to be able to complete the final product. Since I had lost a class, I decided to combine both sessions into one. That day, we covered both the presentation and the practice. I could see that the students understood the topic well. Even though I didn’t speak much English in class, everything else (worksheets, instructions, etc.) was in English to make it more appropriate. That day, I also reflected on what I was able to do and what I wasn’t, and why I chose to do certain activities over others. It was because I needed to give them exactly what they would need to complete their final product the next day. In the end, I changed how I checked the students’ work and how I took attendance. I found a more effective way: I walked row by row, checking and recording their work, and used that as the attendance record. If anyone was missing an assignment, I asked them to confirm their presence so I could at least mark them present. It was a very stressful day in which I had to adjust many things and activities because of time constraints and the need to make the structure, topics, and vocabulary clear. However, with their help, we created a list of verbs and adjectives for them to use the following day. In the end, I felt more at ease because they understood the task better than the other group, mostly because I reviewed more thoroughly with this group than I had with Group A.

April 3rd
On this day, students brought their materials to create their final product. I noticed again that they weren’t following the given structure. At the beginning of the class, I handed out a checklist, but I realized that they wouldn’t read it on their own, so we read it together to make everything clearer. The day before, I had asked them to bring images, a magazine, or something they could use to get images from, but some students only brought 4 images, others 2, and some none at all. They assumed it was only for illustration purposes and didn’t fully understand that they were supposed to make a collage. I realized they didn’t pay close attention to me, so they didn’t remember that we were going to work on a collage. In the end, they submitted their poems and their attempts at collages. I collected and graded them at home, and although collecting and grading them wasn’t difficult, the problem came when I had to return them. I had to use class time for that, which took time away from other lessons, because of that, I started looking for new strategies to manage that process more effectively.

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April 2nd (2 hours)
On this day, in the first class, I had planned some introductory and presentation activities so the students could get to know what we were going to work on. I presented the structure of the poem and explained what we would be doing, which included creating another example together and doing a brainstorming session about possible topics for their poem. Since all of this took less time than I had anticipated, I decided to hand out a worksheet. I gave them time to complete it, and I noticed that the two sessions I had planned were completed in less than two class periods. So, I had to implement other activities from the lesson plan, but in a different order. Afterward, we reviewed the worksheet together, and the students graded each other’s work (peer assessment). Finally, I took attendance and collected their work at the same time. I left the classroom with some feedback from my mentor teacher, who gave me suggestions on what I needed to improve. Thanks to this, I did better in the following class.
I also realized during the class that I needed to repeat instructions more than once and even say them in Spanish, as well as manage the group in a more controlled way. I was a bit nervous, which made me forget some things. That’s why I always brought a sheet with notes about what I was going to say, in case I forgot. I also began thinking of better strategies to review or collect students’ work.

April 3rd (1 hour)
In this class, the students were supposed to create their final product, which was the poem and a collage. I noticed that everyone worked well, but most of them didn’t follow the structure, since they misunderstood the instruction. This was my mistake—I didn’t remind them of the poem structure they needed to follow. I had already explained it before and told them their final product had to follow that model, but most students made a longer and different version. Only a few students followed the structure correctly, and it was because they asked me if it was still the same structure. Those who asked got it right. I evaluated their work using a checklist, which was a great strategy because it made grading easier. I collected all the final products to grade them at home, and the process was fast and simple. Although the results weren’t exactly what I had intended, they did more than what I asked for, which was a good thing. Most of them made an effort to write in English. I also noticed that one student had a higher English level, around B1, and she was helping her classmates by explaining things to them. That was great because it meant they had support from one of their peers too.

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On this day, just like the day before, we attended another Spanish class with a different teacher, which was also a tertulia. The students had to do the same activity but with a different book. They recreated and acted as characters from a reading, summarizing and presenting what was happening. They had 50 minutes for this activity, as only some students participated while the rest observed. The teacher evaluated them as a group.

At 8:00 AM, I helped my colleague Alex in a classroom where the teacher had to step out for a moment. The students were working on an art project, where they had to draw something related to the book they were reading. The teacher gave them 40 to 45 minutes to complete it. We stayed there for about 10 minutes until the teacher returned.

After that, I went back to the library to continue helping with whatever was needed. Throughout the day, we also carried out our assigned duties, and finally, we wrapped up the day and the week.

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On this day, we were also able to attend a Spanish class, which was a tertulia where students recreated and acted as characters from a reading. They summarized and presented what was happening in the story. They had 50 minutes for this activity, as only some students participated while the rest observed. The teacher evaluated them using a rubric.

Throughout the day, until my classes started, I spent time helping in the library. When the first class with 3°A began, they had to take an exam, so I assisted the teacher with supervision. The exam was the same as before, and I realized that both groups had to go through a formative and summative evaluation.

For the next class with 3°B, the teacher allowed me to administer the other diagnostic activities since I had already applied the All About Me activity with them on Tuesday. They worked quickly, and whenever they had doubts, I helped them. At the end of the day, we had to accompany the students to the exit door.

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This day began with our presence at a final Spanish project, where parents were present and served as evaluators using a rubric. The students presented their projects, which consisted of videos incorporating Spanish and another subject (in this case, math). This was a summative evaluation.

When I arrived at my first class with 3°B, the students had to take an exam, so I helped the teacher supervise them. The English exam consisted of 5 to 6 sections with different types of questions. The first section was a chart where they had to write about a case of violence and how to resolve it. Then, there were questions about violence, followed by a section where they had to translate words from Spanish to English (vocabulary). The final part required them to translate sentences from English to Spanish in the past tense of the verb to be (e.g., She was tired). They had 50 minutes to complete the exam.

After that, it was recess, and then I moved on to 3°A, where they were asked to copy the same table as 3°B the previous day. Since it was a two-hour class, I had to use the time efficiently to complete all the diagnostic activities. The timing worked well, and they finished quickly. Afterward, the teacher dictated their grades for participation and assignments.

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During the day, while I was waiting for my last class to begin, I spent some time in the library helping with some tasks the school needed. I also did my duties before school, during recess, and at the end of classes, as per the principal’s instructions.

When I got to class with 3° B, I stayed for a while and saw that the teacher was mostly speaking to the students in English. She asked them to copy a chart that had the title "Second Evaluation", which included the grading scale (exam, participation, project). All students had to copy it so they could be evaluated. She gave them 10 minutes to do so and then spent another 25 minutes having the students tell her how many times they had participated.

After that, she let me administer the diagnostic activity, which was "All About Me."

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Today during the day Today during the day I could be watching the school, we were helping in the library, just as we had to go with the director to give us indications, that day as I had to retire early I couldn't see more, however, as they were in the evaluation week, in the next days I could see how some teachers evaluated.