Teaching Practice by Clarisa Soto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns Secondary Edition en-us 2021-07-19 19:27:56 UTC 2025-09-29 20:15:41 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f4da.png LESSON 1 - Wednesday 16th June mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1656460200 1. I used a lot of prediction strategies regarding the reading comprehension activities. I also tried to work on students guessing the meaning of words from context, but it was not easy. They translated everything.
2. I think they liked the lesson, though they were not eager to participate.
3. I feel that learning about other people's routines is helpful when dealing with Present Simple as they get ideas to work on their own routines.
However, I believe that it would be more helpful for students to work on routines they feel more related to.
5. I found useful to pay attention to the way students behave when they have to work as a group, because they help each other.
6 and 7. When we were working on the text, it was difficult because they didn't enjoy reading out loud nor doing it in English. Slowly, they ended up participating in the reading. However, I had to assure and reassure them that pronunciation was not going to be evaluated. It was then when they started to participate more.
8. This  lesson could be described as "learning Is like climbing a mountain." because even though it’s hard work. If we take it ‘one step at a time’, we will get to the top eventually and with a great sense of ecstasy of all what was conquered on the way.
9. "Read the whole sentence, let's get the meaning together"
10. I included a photo of a part of Luna's assignment, it is from the first part of the class. She is the ONE student who does everything and participates almost every single time.
]]> 2021-07-21 00:55:54 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1656460200 LESSON 2 - Thursday 17th June mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1656481703 1.      Today was a difficult day, students weren't on the participating mood nor they wanted to think and work on the activities. So, I changed some activities and made them a game competition.
2.  They got involved when the activities became games.
3 and 4. I believe that changing the activities was a turning point during the lesson. 
5.  I think that engaging them on different games is going to lead to more amusing lessons
6. I was asking them about a dancer's routine, but no one knew anything about it. So, I changed to a footballer's routine, Messi in particular. And one of the students answered me "preguntale a él qué hace". It was challenging but helped me realize that I was not on the right direction.
7.  The hangman game to guess the names of the activities was fun.
8. I would describe this lesson as "a Roller Coaster" It was full of highs and lows. When it was hard going, it felt like a low. But, moments later, I felt like having a ‘light bulb moment’.
9.  "Preguntale a él qué hace" was the quotation that marked the turning point of what was a dull lesson and made it a fun lesson.
10.  I included a picture of the board when we were playing Hangman.

]]> 2021-07-21 01:07:37 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1656481703 LESSON 3 - Wednesday 23rd June mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1656482238 This was a given set of photocopies that up to now, no one has turned it in. I asked them about it via WhatsApp group, but they all replied that they didn't have the time to work on the activities.
I would describe this lesson as "wrestling a lion", really difficult and struggling.]]> 2021-07-21 01:07:54 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1656482238 LESSON 4 - Wednesday 3oth June mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1656482790 Today, I had only one student, Axel. I have never met him before.  We revised the three previous lessons as he has never been present nor he was in the WhatsApp group we have.
It was a nice lesson though I could not use many English because when I started speaking in English, he stopped paying attention. He argued that he had never studied it before and he always had the subject in December and in February.
However, when the last twenty minutes together with a lot of mimic and talking really slowly, he understood not only the explanations but also the things I told him about me and my experience with the language.
I feel the class could be described as "Hope is on the horizon" as Axel ended the class answering with his limited vocabulary but in English.
I always arrive early to school, but my student arrived really late. So late that for a moment I thought no one was coming.]]> 2021-07-21 01:08:11 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1656482790 LESSON 5 - Wednesday 7th July mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1656483585 This was a given set of photocopies that up to now, no one has turned it in. We were going to correct them the week previous to the winter break. However, as I was in quarentine with my daughter, we could not correct nor work on the activities.
I would describe this lesson as "Carrying A Stone On My Back Up A Hill", because when they have to work at home, it requires a lot of effort and it is not always easy.]]> 2021-07-21 01:08:34 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1656483585 LESSON 6 - Wednesday 4th August mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658582701 Luckily today is the last lesson I have to "teach" by using a set of photocopies because it has been almost a waste of time and effort.
My students do nothing when they have to do homework on their own. So, though I try to prepare some engaging activities, I feel really demotivated.

I started the new topic with a word search puzzle that felt could be attractive as it does not feel like "homework" but more like a game.
I would describe this lesson as the light at the end of the tunnel.]]> 2021-07-22 19:05:03 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658582701 LESSON 7 - Wednesday 11th August mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658582801 How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and the materials? How did they react to the lesson?
At first, the lesson was weird, because they are not used to work with computers not at home nor in class.
However, they felt extremely engaged with the videos and they liked working with them.
I felt that for the first time we were going to have a motivating and successful class.

Choose a moment that was important for you during the lesson. Describe it and say why it was important.
When students asked me to watch the video for a second and a third time and not because they wanted to waste some time, they were paying close attention to what the animals were doing. They even joked about some actions.

]]> 2021-07-22 19:05:13 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658582801 LESSON 8 - Thursday 12th August mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658582888 What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
The Rosco game was the best game EVER. I included it because I wanted to continue working with the computers, and it was a great idea.
They enjoyed it and they asked for more games to work on vocabulary.

Describe this lesson in terms of a metaphor. 
I think that this lesson could be described as "A Journey Of 1000 Miles Starts With A Single Step" because this lesson helped me realize that little by little, you can get towards your learning goal.
]]> 2021-07-22 19:05:23 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658582888 LESSON 9 - Wednesday 18th August mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658582977 What do you find useful of this lesson that will help you plan the next one?
This lesson was not as successful as the previous ones were. My students were really demotivated when they realized that no online game was included in the lesson. 
That is when I realized that either starting or finishing with a game was going to be not only educational but also really engaging. From now on, I will add at least one game per class.
Choose a moment that was important for you during the lesson. Describe it and say why it was important.
When we started working with the visualizing strategy, only one student was excited about it. The picture I included here was hers. She even asked me if she could colour her drawings.
]]> 2021-07-22 19:05:31 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658582977 LESSON 10 - Wednesday 25th August mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583028 Describe this lesson in terms of a metaphor.
Even though I did not include games in this lesson, I felt that the activity about the photographs was my only ray of sun and hope because my students not only participated but also enjoyed the time we spent guessing.

Choose a quotation that represents an event, knowledge, insight in this lesson.
One of my students said "al final, no fue tan aburrida tu clase, seño". I was happy about this because the previous class was really hard to engage students with the activities and to catch their attention to continue working.
]]> 2021-07-22 19:05:36 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583028 LESSON 11 - Thursday 26th August mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583098 How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and the materials? How did they react to the lesson?
They liked the fact that we started a new unit about clothes and shopping, after so many lessons working with animals and the actions they make.

What aspects of the lesson require change / improvement?
I feel that I need to improve on my use of videos. It took us a lot more time than I expected. They are not used to listen to another person speak in English, even less to listen to videos that they use a normal speed of speech.

]]> 2021-07-22 19:05:44 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583098 LESSON 12 - Wednesday 1st September mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583155 How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and the materials? How did they react to the lesson?
They liked the images in the handout. I think that Aurelia's suggestion of including real images instead of the clipart versions. They praised the idea of ordering the different types of shoes according to the event, they even talked about their own shoes!

Describe this lesson in terms of a metaphor.
This lesson could be described as solving a puzzle. The game about adjectives to describe clothes was not easy, but with the help of every student we could work it out. It took time, effort and patience, but slowly they achieved it!]]> 2021-07-22 19:05:49 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583155 LESSON 13 - Wednesday 15th September mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583208 What aspects of the lesson require change / improvement?
Definetely time management. I thought that the warm up was going to take five or ten minutes, but it ended up taking almost 40 minutes. We answered the questions but we could not finish the activities planned for today.

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.
This handout belongs to Axel, one of my students who is not usually present nor amused by having an English lesson. However, today was not the case. He tried to answer everything she could.]]> 2021-07-22 19:05:56 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583208 LESSON 14 - Thursday 16th September mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583276 How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and to the materials? How did they react to the lesson?
Today we finished working with the text about "Shwopping", they liked the concept so they worked really well and were cooperative among themselves.
They enjoyed working with the text and pictures about it, especially because two pictures were kind of tricky.
What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
Working with pictures, definitely. Students worked quickly and raced trying to finish first.
]]> 2021-07-22 19:06:02 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583276 LESSON 15 - Thursday 16th September mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583335 What teaching strategies did you use? Which ones were effective? Why / why not?
I started the class with a revision of what we have worked on in the previous class, we revised the concepts related to online shopping and then we worked with Cyber Monday. It was useful because it helped students to connect everything we have been working on.
What aspects of the lesson require change/improvement?
Taking into account the time it takes students to turn on the computers, open the navigator and type the links needs improvement DEFINITELY. When I looked at my watch, we had almost twenty minutes more to work. However, when we started working, we had only five minutes and we could not finish with everything.

]]> 2021-07-22 19:06:09 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583335 LESSON 16 - Wednesday 22nd September mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583374 Choose a moment that was important for the students during the lesson. Describe it and say why it was important.
Today, students worked with the text from educaplay one more time. At first, it was really difficult because it included a lot of vocabulary that it is unknown to them. However, they could understand the general meaning, and write the correct heading for each paragraph. This gave them a great sense of accomplishment.
Describe this lesson in terms of a metaphor.
Today, the class felt as "cracking a code". Working with the text was difficult and they had to work with the difficulties they encounter and decode them.
]]> 2021-07-22 19:06:14 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583374 LESSON 17 - Thursday 23rd September mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583558 What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
Students answering in English! They are feeling better and better with their rustic English. I feel I can touch the sky when they understand and answer without resorting Spanish.
What aspects of the lesson require change/improvement?
I need to trust them more and resort less to Spanish.

]]> 2021-07-22 19:06:33 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583558 LESSON 18 - Wednesday 29th September mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583611 Choose a moment that was important for you during the lesson. Describe it and say why it was important.
Working with the text was difficult, but not as difficult as the one from the previous handout. They could understand it easier. However, once again we could not finish the lesson plan intended for this class.
Choose a moment that was important for the students during the lesson. Describe it and say why it was important.
They loved practising the comparatives, and as you (Aurelia) suggested it, we used the comparative adjectives to write some sentences on the board, so, of course, the warm-up took more than 5 minutes. It took us almost 15. 
They also enjoyed working with the text from educaplay, because when they "craked it", they could fill in the gaps easier (for short adjectives there was only one gap, and for the longer ones two gaps).

]]> 2021-07-22 19:06:38 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583611 LESSON 19 - Wednesday 6th October mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583669 Describe this lesson in terms of a metaphor.
Today, the lesson could be described as "Education is the bridge between the present and the future". When we started the year, it was really difficult for me to talk in English and that the students could understand at least something. However, on the last two or three lessons I talk more in English and they can use it while doing the activities. I know that eventually they will be able to work better and better.
Choose a quotation that represents an event, knowledge, insight in this lesson.
"Ah, ya entiendo! Cuando hay dos espacios es un adjetivo corto y necesito EST, y cuando hay tres espacios es un adjetivo largo y necesito MOST". I think that when they realized that the structure could be easily spotted by counting the amount of gaps in the text was a turning point for them. They could finish the activity quicker than before.]]> 2021-07-22 19:06:44 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583669 LESSON 20 - Thursday 7th October mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583748 What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
I think that the timing in this lesson was not only well calculated, but it also was the time needed for each activity.
Choose a moment that was important for the students during the lesson. Describe it and say why it was important.
During this lesson, for the first time, one of my students (Damaris) did not feel frustrated nor she yelled at the computer while working. ]]> 2021-07-22 19:06:51 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583748 LESSON 21 - Thursday 14th October mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583806 Today was not the class I had planned. Only one student was present since I could not change my schedule (I was in another school) and the time they had to start school was very late at night.]]> 2021-07-22 19:06:57 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583806 LESSON 22 - Wednesday 14th October mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583866 Choose a moment that was important for the students during the lesson. Describe it and say why it was important.
Having their own comics ready to print was really important for the students present in the classroom because they have done their own comic strips by themselves.
Describe this lesson in terms of a metaphor.
If I have to summarize this lesson, I would use the metaphor "To have hit the Jackpot". Students who know nothing or very little about technology use and feel they know nothing about using English, have used both to design their own comic strips.

]]> 2021-07-22 19:07:04 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583866 LESSON 23 - Wednesday 20th October mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583923 What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
At first, I thought as Aure pointed out, that my students may not know who these people were. However, I was happy to know that because of some important movies (such as Titanic, The Avengers and The Eternals) they were able to recognize the actors. So, the activities were easier to finish.
Choose a moment that was important for the students during the lesson. Describe it and say why it was important.
When they worked on the recognition of the Past Simple and its structures, it was a successful moment, as not only did they point out the rules to form the affirmative form of the tense, but they also looked for more examples.]]> 2021-07-22 19:07:10 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583923 LESSON 24 - Thursday 21st October mariaclarisasoto https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583967 What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
Students talking and answering in English! They trust that they can do it. Perhaps it is because I spoke mostly in English and they had to try to understand it without me resorting to Spanish.
What aspects of the lesson require change/improvement?
I need to trust them more and resort less to Spanish. Though I am doing it more and more, as Aurelia was rooting for me all the time.
]]> 2021-07-22 19:07:15 UTC https://padlet.com/mariaclarisasoto/pvaemppa56e0mjns/wish/1658583967