I came super nervous, but everybody greeted me kindly and made me feel comfortable being there.

When I arrived, it was near 8 a.m., so I had to greet the arriving kids, and they were anything but rude. They hugged me, asked my name, and asked me to help them take off their winter clothes.

After all the kids in the kindergarten arrived, we greeted the flag and then danced Good morning.

We spent until 10 a.m. together and I learnt about their routine and about them.

I left feeling eager to come back the next day.

Hugs!

Flor.

Today I went to the kindergarten at 10 a.m., so I saw the rest of their routine.

Yesterday I witnessed how they start their day, and today the activity, play, and the patio moment.

I learnt more about them, I talked and answered questions like this: "cómo se dice perro en inglés?" a lot of times.

Anyway, I feel welcomed and everybody starts to hug me when I enter the room.

Hugs,

Flor.

Today they talked about the domestic animals (which is going to be our topic too).

The children are very talkative and participative; they answer everything their teacher asks them.

Today, I sit between them and ask about how they work and about what they think about these animals.

Then, at playtime, I spoke with their teacher about the activities I could present to them at my practices.

Hugs,

Flor.

Today, they saw (and proposed) the specific characteristics of the turtles and how an encyclopedia is done.

Since it was an assistantship, I helped to distribute the example encyclopedias, and I noted who tended to be the most participative.

During the playtime, the director came to speak to me and show me how the lesson plans are made there, and she handed me some guidelines to follow to present my proposal.

Hugs,

Flor.

Today was a really exciting day because their teacher asked me if I wanted to read a book to them, and of course, I wanted to! So I sat on one of those little chairs, and they sat around me. I read them the story and, surprisingly, they heard me! They were paying attention to me. After that, they sat again in their places and the teacher talked about what happened in the story.

Then, at playtime, I went to the director's office, and she showed me the PI of the institution. I made notes and heard every detail to add them to my PowerPoint (Informe Institucional).

Today was a very productive day.

Hugs,

Flor.

Today I helped them hang their drawings on a thread and then clean everything they did. They were painting another story they heard.

I noticed they really like painting.

Then, the teacher gave me more tips to do at my practicum classes and activities that could work, and she told me that my ideas were very creative and could work well.

Hugs,

Flor.

So, let's start...

1. What teaching strategies did you use? Which ones were effective? Why / why not?

A teaching strategy that I thought was going to be wonderful and engaging was showing them a video (the one on the cover) and it was... disastrous (maybe it wasn't disastrous, but it was pretty messy). I couldn't make them quiet and still, and every sound was missed. So that was something I needed to remove from my ideas and I opted for more physical activities.

On the other hand, an effective one was encouraging them to draw an animal I taught and then make them write its name. I thought it was going to be a simple and not so deep activity, but throughout the classes, they used that drawing as a support to be able to make themselves understood.

8. Describe this lesson in terms of a metaphor.

"The First Brushstroke on a Blank Canvas".

My first class was like a first brushstroke on a blank canvas. I felt my hands shaking and the line wasn't straight as I imagined, but it was the first stain of life and experience on the unknown path that was waiting for me.

Goodbye!

Flor.

2. How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and the materials? How did they respond to the lesson?

This class was perfect for me. I came from the first one, where I was nervous and they were a bit confused, to one where I asked the name of the animals and they said them out loud. They reacted so well to everything in the class, to me asking the name, to repeat with words and action what I asked and being able to do the jigsaw puzzle alone (they took the liberty to label the animal with its name and parts).

6. Choose a moment that was important for you during the lesson. Describe it and say why it was important.

The moment that was important was when I realised that they remembered everything I said last Friday. This class gave me the power to keep going and showed me I was on the right path.

Hugs!

Flor.

To give you some context: this class was (for me) the one in which I felt least confident. I had to get their attention countless times and there wasn't even five minutes of silence. Plus, I asked them to participate, and they didn't even try.

So, let's go into reflecting about this one...

4. What aspects of the lesson require change / improvement?

If I wrote this reflection immediately after I did the lesson, this would be a reflection about everything I did and came out wrong (or at least, not the way I wanted). But since I'm calmer, I can say that the first thing that needs improvement is my feelings management. I was feeling veeeery (emphasis in very) anxious and it was clearly reflected on the kids. They were acting the same way I was feeling.

Now, talking about the lesson, I think the aspect that needs improvement is my expectations about what they can do and what they can't do. I bring so many activities and I could use one, so I needed to lower my expectations a bit for five-year-old kids and stop doing a lot of activities when maybe one or two can be done and they are as meaningful as three or four.

9. Choose a quotation that represents an event, knowledge, insight in this lesson.

"The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook" - William James

I think this quote is perfect for this class. I needed to overlook their misbehaviour and see inside myself. I can't ask for a calm class if I'm anything but calm. Maybe they were overwhelmed about the day, but I didn't bring them calmness either.

Bye!

Flor.

If I'm being honest (and humble), this class was the best of all. :)

Ok, let's start this new session of reflecting.

And to set the context, this time, the director, their teacher and the teacher focused on integrating were present.

3. What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?

I think everything was successful this time. They remembered everything about last class, they mimicked every move I had done and repeated every sound and name I mentioned. And after all that work, ¡they were willing to sit down (after being mimicking the animal's movement) and start with the fanzine and then, they finished the first page of it (where they needed to paste the image, label its part and name it)!. Can you imagine it?

5. What do you find useful of this lesson that will help you plan the next one?

In this lesson, I found useful the use of the whole body to encourage attention and memory, with the accompaniment of the sound that the animals make and their names repeatedly.

Bye bye, butterfly!

Flor.

To give you some context, we didn't do anything new in this class. We continued working on the fanzine since the director asked me to finish them with the students so they could then use them in the reading days planned by province: "leer en comunidad."

7. Choose a moment that was important for the students during the lesson. Describe it and say why it was important.

I think a moment that was important for them was when I pasted all the guide images (the animal with its name and parts) on the board, so they didn't need me, to do the fanzine; instead, they approached the board and were free to overcome doubts. I think that this little action gave them so much freedom and confidence.

10. Include a photo of a moment in the lesson, or a task students did, a picture from the board or any other lesson component you would like to share, and describe it.

The image I chose is one of the fanzine of the kids. It is finished and ready to be used whenever they need them. There, they have the animals, its names and parts pasted and also coloured (by them).

Goodbye, Goodbye!

See you again!

(this is our goodbye song).

Flor.

This hello is a bit sad, I'm not ready to finish my practicums and never see them again.

Today I woke up a bit sad but excited too. In this last class, I did animal masks to play and mimic them.

I made sure to play, laugh and tell them this was the last time together and why (and of course that I was going to miss them).

So, let's start the last reflecting session about the practicum in this journal...

11. Choose an audio / video segment from the lesson, and reflect on what is viewed or heard.

I chose the moment when the teacher suggested to me class management ideas because I was struggling to get them to pay attention to me. This was very helpful for me and for them; we could understand the activity and be able to listen.

Bye!

Flor.

Completely excited about my first practicum classes, but I'm also scared and anxious about how my performance will be. I want to be as good as possible and give the students meaningful classes (and also make a good impression in kindergarten).

Besides that, I feel like I don't know where to start, and I feel like time is pressing, but I try to stay calm and think about those little smiling faces that will experience English in their kindergarten for the first time.

Today, for Teacher's Day, the institution gifted me a notebook with a very inspiring quote and a month planner.

I couldn't be happier! I feel so happy they took me into account and that they really appreciate my presence here.

Thanks!

Hugs,

Flor.