Diary of a Trainee Teacher: Week 8 (21st to 23rd Mar)

I feel overcome by a bunch of feelings. I am filled with melancholy and sadness because my training period at IES La Nucia came to its end; another period of my life that I am leaving behind… But at the same time I am filled with spirit, courage, personal satisfaction and excitement. It has been a wonderful opportunity worth experiencing it and I am confident I have taken the most of it.

Here I leave you a few stories that happened during these last three days before Easter holidays.

Top 1 Story:

Kahoot in 1st BACH. This activity was aimed at reviewing the topics students had learnt so far, from unit 1 to unit 6. We used a game-based learning platform that makes it fun to learn, Kahoot.

I created a Kahoot called “Pre-Easter Review 1st BACH” (see image below). And I added 30 multiple choice questions (some of them supported by images or video clips). Type of questions combined grammar skills, vocabulary skills, reading skills, general culture, and miscellaneous. 

How was the activity organized?

1. Teacher accesses his/her Kahoot account and projects the screen using the projector. 
2. Teacher gives instructions and rules.
3. Students take out their smartphones and enable Internet connection.
4. A link is written on the board and students enter it. (https://kahoot.it)
5. A game PIN is written on the board and students enter this code into the first screen.
6. Students add their nicknames.

At this point we are ready to kick off the activity. 5 minutes were required to go through the steps above.

In conclusion, the activity developed extremely well and had an incredible response from students. They were so excited that they finished the 30 questions and asked to start all over again. As we reached the end of the class, they did not want to stop, begging to go faster in order to finish another 30 questions. It was amazing!!! The bell rang and they remained on their sits, then the teacher said a few gratitude words to me and I received a warm applause from the group. I was on cloud nine! :-)

It was incredibly pleasing and satisfying to see how students were learning the contents without them being aware of it, and also they were having a lot of fun!

On top of that, did you know that Kahoot can provide performance reports and statistics that help the teacher monitor the results? It's great! Here is a copy…

Kahoot Results (click to view the Excel file)

Despite all, I believe this tool may be limited to certain levels and groups. For example, it would probably not work in younger ages because the majority lack of Internet connection on their smartphones. When this is the case (like in our INTEGRA class), you can substitute the projector by reading questions aloud, the phone by a piece of paper and a pen, and scoreboard is drawn on the board (see image).

Top 2 Story:
Dancing Zumba in INTEGRA. It was the last day of the term, 8 o'clock, only 3 girls showed up in class. And they proposed to do some exercise dancing Zumba. So they set up the pc, played some youtube tutorials, and the four of us started moving our hips while the teacher was working on his papers (and having some laughs, of course!) :D

Later that day, families were received by tutors who handed out the report cards (boletín de notas). At 1 o'clock some teachers met down the street to have a few drinks and lunch.

And that was all... I can't believe two months have just flown by.

On the one hand, students beg me not to go. And on the other hand, I don't want to go.  So... I WILL COME BACK!! I am willing to continue going to certain sessions and prepare different activities and tasks, time permitting. So far, my tutor and I have planned that I will lead the 1 BACH sessions on Reporting Speech on April 18th and 19th. Sounds cool!

Bye for now and HAPPY EASTER!! 

Diary of a Trainee Teacher: Week 7 (14th to 18th Mar)

End of 2nd term is closer and so is my training period at IES La Nucia.

If I were to describe this week in one word, I'd say “a frenetic week”. It was indeed filled with activities, excitement, nerves, stress…

Let me start by talking to you about the exam I did prepare for 1st BACH and next steps. In short terms, it consisted in the evaluation of three skills: use of vocabulary, use of grammar and reading. The extension of the exam did fit well with the timing and students proved to have enough time to complete it. However during the exam a student realised there was a typo in one of the exercises. So I made the clarifications to the class and learned that I should have double-checked it. Lesson learned! Now… the funniest part of the exam is correction and marking. ;-D My tutor and I decided to split the work (well, to be fair, I couldn't wait to have an eye on those papers and punctuate them!), so we designed a marking scheme for those exercises where subjectivity might be implied. And also specific evaluation criteria for each one of the exercises… Great job, it was! The next day, we sat down together and spent some time comparing both templates and reaching an agreement on the punctuation. I have to say that the exam was not easy and the average of the class was 6 out of 10. Only 5 students failed out of 23. Below you can see the flavour of my Thursday afternoon at home.

To carry on with the best of the week, I'd like to write about an unpleasant (speaking correctly) incident that ocurred in INTEGRA while we were watching a documentary film. A student was playing around with a piece of paper so the teacher approached him and crumpled it. All of a sudden the student pronounced “¿Qué haces gilipollas?” to the teacher. At the end of the class, the teacher had a word with the kid and informed him of the consequences. Since it was his second warning in less than 7 days, he had to be expelled for one day.

On the other side of the coin, the group had been working on a “maths project” called “The colour of cars”, including percentages, degrees and pie charts. This is the final result posted on their wall:

As far as I have observed or noticed, one of the most delicate matters to deal with in class is taking care of students with special learning needs (AANEE in Spanish). At the same time that there is a growing tendency to detect learning difficulties (and at a younger age!), the reality can be very disappointing and frustrating, as teachers can barely pay attention to them while leading the whole group (27 students more or less), very little human resources are dedicated to give extra support inside the classroom, and so on and so on… As a result, it seems to me that these kids are not receiving the special needs they are entitled to. Based on my experience, teachers are doing their best to keep students with ACIS (Curricular Adaptation) active and integrated with the group. The Orientation Department plays a great role, too. Undoubtedly, the fault lies in our system and poor budgetary resources.

On the other hand, two big events happened on Thursday afternoon. Firstly, I witnessed a performance about “Human Figures” by my 1st BACH group in the gym. It was their P.E. exam. Three groups gave an excellent performance of acrosport combining acrobatics and coreographies. They showed discipline, team work, collaboration and physical fitness. 15 minutes later, our first evaluation session was held. I had been looking forward to this moment as I believe it is one of the most important staff meetings that happen at the end of every term. It was the first of many to come (6 or 7). I am really enjoying it!

Diary of a Trainee Teacher: Week 6 (7th to 11th Mar)

I start to feel sad while I'm writing this post… Week 6 is gone and I am ONLY eight days away from the end of my training.

At the same time, we approach the end-of-second-term evaluation and you can feel it in the environment: students feel concerned and overwhelmed with exams and project handovers, teachers get stressed out with exam planning, preparation, correction and evaluation…

And talking about exams, this week I had to slightly modify the model of exam of Unit 5 and 6 I had prepared for 1st BACH. It's advisable to level off the exam items with the amount of time invested in class to learning and practising a certain language skill. And so their evaluation criteria. Imagine this: in class, conditional sentences were more dominant than the passive voice because of the tight timeframes and schedules. Would it be fair if the passive voice items scored higher than the conditional ones? Definitely, not.

This week I lead a session with 1st BACH about the Passive Voice. To this end, I prepare different materials that are displayed in the projector to recognise and identify the use of the passive voice. Learning how sentences are built gramatically but more importantly learning in which comunicative situations the passive voice is employed in English. Below you can find a couple of links to download some examples of press clips and receipts (instructive texts). Then I display a set of exercise models and we do them together. It contributes to build self-confidence and it's a good practice before the exam. 

Press clips - Passive Voice
Receipt - Passive Voice

Let me tell you a funny story regarding exams. There's this group, 4º B, whose teacher had to leave 15 minutes before the end of the session while they were doing an exam. Well, she asked me if I could take over and I kindly agreed. To my surprise, the behaviour of this group before an exam was far worse than my other group in 4º ESO. They were asking questions constantly and used bad manners in general. Conclusion: every group is a unique group, regardless of whether they belong to the same level or not.

During this week “Women's Day” was celebrated (8th March). However, no special activities were planned, except for some talks arranged with the Red Cross about Gender Violence.

A big poster made by a few students was hung on the hall.

To finalise, I'd like to highlight two coordination meetings that happened this week. The first one was led by the Vice-director and was aimed at learning about his functions (management and coordination of extracurricular activities, management of staff absense, and collaboration with the Head of Studies to create student lists and groups distribution at the beginning of the course.

The second one was led by the Head of Studies and was aimed at learning about the Discipline Management.

Diary of a Trainee Teacher: Week 5 (29th Feb to 4th Mar)

Hi followers,

Hope you had a productive work week -or, at least, as productive as mine-. You can't imagine how many things may happen around school in just 5 days. Some of them good, some of them no so good. Some will reaffirm on one's vocation to become a teacher whereas others will raise certain doubts about one's future. But funnily enough, at the end of the day the positive sack weights far more than the negative one.

On the one hand, during this week I witnessed my first COCOPE meeting. For those of you who are not familiar with
COCOPE, aka CCP, it is one of the five coordination bodies present in every secondary school. Its name stands for "Comisión de Coordinación Pedagógica", in English "Teaching Coordination Commission". It is chaired by the School's Director and Head of Studies and represented by each Head of Department. According to the law, the Commission shall meet at least once in each quarter.

Some of the matters that were discussed are as follows:

- Resit examination timetable.
- On-call calendar to cover any teacher who is on leave. Certain concerns have raised among the team because some leaves do not meet the conditions to request a substitute teacher from the regional government, hence it is becoming a burden for the rest of the teachers who must follow a substitution rotation system to ensure all groups are accompanied by at least one teacher in the classroom.
- Reminder about internal training course for teachers.
- Use of skates in the center.
- Use of mobile phones in the center. It is suggested to make the guidelines more accurate and include them in the RRI (Reglamento de Régimen Interno).

On the other hand, I had a session with the school's director about the school's "Set of documents". We reviewed the Annual General Programme (PGA), the Emergency and Evacuation Plan, the Transition Plan (from primary to secondary school), the Improvement Plan and the School-based Education Project (PEC), among others.

Click the image to download the PEC

My last meeting this week happened on Thursday during our Department meeting. This time we had an appointment with the area representative of Burlington Books Editorial. 

It was aimed at demoing and presenting new features and functionalities available in the latest edition "New Action!". Interactive Classroom (IC) includes extra materials and resources like flashcards, slideshows, video episodes, culture videos, grammar animation... Nice stuff!!

An online 100% interactive workbook looks like a pretty innovative option that it's worth exploring. It is a fact today that online tools are best valued than the traditional ones. They are more visual, attractive, closer to the kids' digital environment, and also include thorough monitoring/assessment capabilities.
However, we must ensure students' needs under the premises of equity, equality and inclusion. That means, all students should have computers and internet connection to do their homework at home. Now, the right way to proceed is to arrange a meeting with the School Council at the beginning of the new term to decide whether students will work on an online-based workbook or whether they will continue using the paper edition. What do you think??

Other than meetings we continued with our standard lessons, highlighting the lesson designed and prepared by me for 1 BACH. I lead the lesson from minute 1, and talk to them about the importance of acquiring solid skills on writing, of keeping an appropriate neat structure according to the type of text and its functions, and making use of connectors between sentences and paragraphs. About how important is writing in the PAU (University Entrance Exam). I suggest conducting a discussion about advantages and disadvantages of shopping in the mall or in the city centre. In pairs, they have a few minutes to prepare arguments for and against. Later we hold a debate, so they can express their opinion orally and in writing. 

In 2 ESO students sat for an exam. At this stage I realized that planned and deliberate distribution of tables is essential specially among the youngest ones. There are 7 students with ACIS (learning difficulties), hence they do a different exam that's been specially designed for them.

The other lessons of the week ran smoothly, without major difficulties or incidents...

Thanks for your time!! Talk to you next week!!

Diary of a Trainee Teacher: Week 4 (22nd to 26th Feb)

Hi again bloggers, 

Thanks for following my weekly posts about my experience as a trainee teacher at IES La Nucia. I have to admit that as days go by, I am getting more and more involved in the classroom and, when possible, I enjoy getting to know my students better. 

It is a fact that you will find so many different personalities stuck together in one classroom. By getting to know those personalities at an individual level, you have a better understanding of how they will interact with one another and that will help you in planning groups and preventing subsequent problems. That's my first point of the week: the importance of getting to know your students. 

Moving on to the best of the week we had a session with the School's Director about Governement Bodies in High Schools. For example did you know that the "Consell Escolar" (School Council) is responsible for approving financial budgets every year? And did you now which members make up the "Consell Escolar"? The meeting went on for two hours and it helped me get a broader view of the organization and management of high schools.

Regarding the classroom, I'd like to tell you about three special activities we went through this week. 

Firstly, on Wednesday at 8.00 in the morning we left the school with the Integra Group and walked up a small hill 10 minutes away. It is known as ‘La Cruz’, a flat piece of land with a big cross statute in the middle. The objective of this activity was to get inspired by the peaceful landscapes which surrounds us to produce poetry, in particular 'haikus'. Once there, we take a piece of paper and a pen and look for an inspiring spot before we start working. We spend around half an hour creating 'haikus'. A 'haiku' is a Japanese type of poetry that can be written on many themes, from love to nature. It consists of 3 lines and 17 syllables.

The entire group (except for two students who did not turn up) behaved in a very good manner and everyone was committed to the task. Great outside activity experience. And great ideas coming from my tutor to keep these kids engaged and motivated, but at the same time, ensure their ongoing learning and development.

Secondly, in FPB we keep doing dynamic activities aimed at building communication skills in English which seem absolutely excellent to me. Well, do you know what? This time students surprised me by singing the 'Alphabet Chant'. I was surprised, they actually knew it by heart. You can see below a picture of the song's structure. We also worked on the correction of their exams.  

To finish off, I also witnessed my first 'playground watch'. A colleague in my department was in charge of keeping watch this week, as a rotation system is used among the teaching staff. So I took the liberty to go with her and live the experience. She explained to me briefly about the sections in which the playgrounds are divided and how teachers coordinate themselves for this task.

Taking a look back at my first week, there has been a remarkable progress in some particular groups over the last weeks (I got really excited when I heard that comment around the department). We continue making our best to help teenagers become better persons and better students. 

I hope that you enjoy reading as much as I do enjoy teaching at school.

Talk soon!

Diary of a Trainee Teacher: Week 3 (15th to 19th Feb)

Third week getting trained at IES La Nucia to become an English teacher.

By Youtube

This week has driven me to live new experiences, by participating in new groups such as FPB 2 (Formación Profesional Básica 2) or attending the first tutorial session in 1st C.

FPB is one of the new offerings in the education system which came into force in 2014-2015 following LOMCE (Organic Law on Education). It is aimed at favouring the acquisition of skills necessary to work in a trade, in a craft or as a technician. Craft vocations are usually based on manual or practical activities and are traditionally non-academic but related to a specific trade or occupation.
The program has a minimum duration of two years and it includes a training period of 240 hours in work centers. In other European countries FP is known as VET (Vocational Education and Training). The speciality offered at IES La Nucia is Electricity.

During the first class with this group (12 teen boys), it surprised me positively their effort in introducing themselves in English and working throughout the lesson. I could observe that the teaching methodology is different from the one used in the secondary stage. Why??
Well, basically because they are not constrained to a certain book. Instead, they work on multiple dynamic group activities that are more oriented to the communication of the language and not so much on grammar.

On the next day, I worked the entire lesson with an ACIS student who is not capable to follow the rythm of the standard class. Instead, he always works on specific materials of basic vocabulary. I used that opportunity to get to know him and his learning history better. But specially, and most important, I listened to how he felt about English lessons... Here it comes, one of my first challenges!

Moving on with the best of the week, I prepared myself to teach my first lesson on Make & Do in 1st BACH. I showed a presentation of some of the rules when to use "make" and when to use "do". Students got really interested and started making questions. Then we reviewed some exceptions to the rules. Finally, we distributed the class in 4 teams and I played them an online game activity related to make/do. Both results and feedback were very positive among students. Here's a picture showing the teams' score.

The written exam for the A2 certifications took place on Tuesday, 16th February, from 17:00 to 19:00. I helped Richard and Isabel to conduct the three sections of the exam (listening, reading and writting).

Furthermore, we got to know the "Lliurex" operating system used in the education segment of our region. All public schools are provided with "Lliurex" based computers by the Generalitat Valenciana.

In one of the 2nd ESO sessions, the group was far too nervous, and particularly two students were constantly interrupting the lesson. So the teacher decided that I would take them out to the department and work closely with them.

Finally I'd like to tell you about a group activity Richard and I carried out at Integra. The objective was to learn the right to speak. We divided the class in two groups (by gender) to give them more confidence to speak up and we gave six different topics to discuss (see picture below). Each of the girls threw the dice and spoke about that topic during one minute without letting the others interrupt. And so on... In general, I noticed lack of confidence, insecurity, shyness and prejudices. But also that they had no hobbies, interests, passions, whatsoever.

With this picture I thank you for following my post and talk to you next week!

Cheers.

Diary of a Trainee Teacher: Week 2 (8th to 12th Feb)

Major start to a short week. Monday and Tuesday (8th and 9th February) were bank holidays in La Nucia, so there was no school. However, Wednesday and Thursday did greatly compensate these two-days-gap, you know, they were very intensive with a lot of new stories and anecdotes happening around school. Here's a selection of the best of the week.

To start with, I joined the INTEGRA group with my trainer for the first time. In the blink of an eye, I could notice more than one difference compared to the English classrooms: huge and spacious, built-in kitchen, plenty of resources and materials, laptops, ping-pong table… For one second I wondered “am I surrounded by a few outstanding students who deserve special privileges?” But I knew that wasn't the reason. I had heard about the Integra program and it was just the opposite way.

For those of you who do not know what's this all about, Integra is aimed at preventing the early school leaving. The development of this experimental program, through the implementation of specific projects, should contribute to ensure students learn basic knowledge, procedures and behaviour patterns that contribute to their development in later adult life. It is also aimed at improving coexistence and success rates through practical, highly motivating activities in collaboration with social and educational institutions. Specific admission criteria are provided in the corrresponding act.

Despite this being my first contact with these students, I fear it is not going to be easy dealing with them, as their lack of learning skills and disruptive behaviours become evident straight away.

Some other activities took place on Wednesday, such as the Tutorial session with the Head of Studies or the speaking exam on the A2 certification program, where a total of 12 students participated.

On top of the week is my first class (designed and led by me). It was on 4th ESO and consisted of a speaking activity about conditionals that lasted about 35 minutes. Students were given the following scenario:

Imagine that you are participating in a TV reality show similar to “Survivors” in which you will spend twelve days with a group of people on a deserted island of the Caribbean. But… when you pack your luggage, you can only bring one item with you. You have to make a choice.

I will write down your answers on the board and at the end you all have to suggest what could you do with each of those items.

What would you take to a deserted island?

Example:
If I went there, I would take a match box.
If I went there, I would take a fishhook.
If I went there, I would take sun protective creams.

Now, try to find out potential uses out of each item:

If we had a match box, we could start a fire.
If we had a satellite phone, we could be in contact with our family and friends.
If we had a laptop, we could watch offline movies.

After all, do you think you could survive during 10 days? What would have happened if you had not brought any of those items?

If we hadn't brought a water filter, we would have drunk salty water.
If we hadn't brought sun protective creams, we would have got burned.
If we hadn't brought a sleeping bag, we would have slept on the floor.

I was very satisfied about the results: students were active and participative, and what's more important, they had fun while learning some complex grammar. Feedback from students and teacher was very positive. So first test passed! xD

Talk to you soon!