JOURNALS

FIRST SEMESTER

 

WEEK 1

Tuesday, January 29th; Wednesday, January 30th; Friday, February 1st/2013.

First we started this week by writting down on our notebooks the children's prayer, we also drew nice little pictures allusive to each sentence of the prayer. Then the teacher explained to the class that we had to do an e-portfolio, for this reason she showed us videos on youtube and slide shares, as examples to be able to create one. We also started touching the topic about Wh-questions, by making some examples asking about the date, like "what date is today? or what date will be tomorrow?", etc. Lastly, the teacher dictated some formal and informal greetings, farewells and she remembered us that the ordinal numbers are used for dates by adding them th or st  and the cardinal numbers are 1,2,3,4,5,6... She also showed us some slides of the elements of the digital portfolio. 

This week was very interesting and I learned a lot, specially about the idea and the use of a portfolio, and the importance of applicating technology in education. 

 

WEEK 2

Tuesday, February 5th; Wednesday, February 6th; Friday, February 8th/2013.

This week the teacher explained in detail how to do the portfolio. She said the blog had to have a self introduction, a general objective and 2 or 3 specific ones, the prayers, the journals about the classes per week,topics and glossary. Then  she also gaved us six categories(birth, interests, friends, work or study, family, home) so we could make wh questions with these. In class the teacher also explained that when we write or express our interests we have to use the verb in ing form, for example: I enjoy reading a book, I like or I love reading a book. To end the week, we did a listening excersise about matching the name of the speaker with the picture of her o his interest and matching their names with their correct personal information. I really likes these english classes because the teacher uses interactive methods to teach, like computers,U.S.B, video beam, educational softwares and cds.

 

WEEK 3

Tuesday, February 12th; Wednesday, February 13th; Friday, February 15th/2013.

We started this week by practicing pronunciation with Fiona's, Miguel's, and Hiromi's personal information, we also practiced with the question intonation.  Later on, we learned the hokey pokey song, by singing and doing some steps according to the song. Then we did and exercise in pairs, introducing ourselves to each other. Finally, on Friday we worked on three workshops, while the teacher was checking the portfolios. This week I felt really good in the english classes, because I practiced a lot, and the teacher makes her classes very dinamic, and easy to understand. I enjoyed learning a childrens song, because it is a fun way to teach, and this is what little kids like, reason why I think it's a good strategy that they learn playing, because they obviously won't ger bored. I also liked that this week, we had so much interaction working between classmates, because I learned from others, as well I know they learned something from me.

 

WEEK 4

Tuesday, February 19th; Wednesday, February 20th; Friday, February 22nd/2013.  

This week the teacher explained the simple present tense in detail and she also made some examples. We also had to resolve a workshop to practice for the exam. In this classes the teacher really had to repeat a lot about putting away our cellphones, and she's right, those devices steal our concentration, and that's the reason why then we don't understand the topics or we lose the tests. I really felt comfortable in class because there was a good participation, and I understood the topic thanks to the great explanation the teacher did, she seems to like what she does and shows pasion for her area. We study in a nice atmosphere and I think that is so important for learning too. I liked the workshop she left, because it's and easy way to review and have a better comprehension.

 

WEEK 5

Tuesday, February 26th; Wednesday, February 27th; Friday, March 1st/2013.

To start, we presented the exam about the simple present tense. In my opinion it wasn't difficult, it had everything we studied, there wasn't anything new. For this reason I felt secure, but the only thing I didn't like a lot was that, we had to take our chairs outside of the classroom to solve the test, I understand the teacher did this to watch that no one cheated, but I really felt so uncomfortable, and I also had a very bad position of my body to sopport the sheet on my carpet and this on my legs. This unfortunately distracted me a little bit, although I think I did a good job on the exam. Personally I think we work better with the tables as support. This week we also did a crossword about home chores and finally we are working on a booklet about our pet and our own daily routines and activities. This last activity is fun and interesting for an easy learning. I observed  that we have to improve in our pronunciation and vocabulary in english. To end, it's important to stop taking out cellphones in classes, because the teacher has to repeat this every time.

 

WEEK 6

Tuesday, March 5th; Wednesday, March 6th; Friday, March 8th/2013.

On tuesday and friday we worked a lot on physical appearance, we practiced with books, and the teacher also showed us some images and text as examples. There was a lot of participation on this topic and activities related to it. It is an easy topic and I think that all my classmates understood. For this reason in my opinion when we teach something to someone its so important to give easy examples for a better comprehension. We also started working on some puppets we had to make to understand and explain in a correct way the different physical descriptions. I felt really good in these classes because I understood everything, and I like the varied examples the teacher gives. It makes the class more easy and fun.

 

WEEK 7

Tuesday, March 12th; Wednesday, March 13th; Friday, March 15th/2013.

We kept on working on the physical appearance, making some other examples, writting down our friend's descrption etc. This week we only had two classes because on friday we had a cultural event in the Normal. But on the classes we had I felt confortable, there was a good atmosphere, we all worked, participated and this time the teacher didn´t have to ask the students to put their black berrys away, we have learned her rules in english class. Finally, I think that a good participation from students make the classes more dinamic, more interesting and not so structured by letting the teacher talk the whole time.

 

WEEK 8

Tuesday, March 26th; Wednesday, March 27th; Friday, March 29th/2013.

In these classes I felt really confortable, now that the teacher chose me as a monitor to help out and work with other classmates. When we formed the groups i felt satisfied because I see that they really want to learn english, and they also pay a lot of attention to me. The teacher is also very flexible, and nice person this makes her classes even better. I think that i learn a lot from my teacher, to know how to treat my students in the future. I love english and i like that my teacher has a lot of patience with us, it is very important to have a good learning.

 

WEEK 9

Tuesday, April 2nd; Wednesday, April 3rd; Friday, April 5th/2013.

This week we started witha new topic about the present simple. For this theme the teacher gaved us the definition, some examples, and she also made us participate a lot. I personally thimk that is a great idea, because you stop beinh shy and you also learn from the others mistakes. In this classes I also felt so good, because the techer says it is no problem if we make mistakes the important thing is to learn in the correct way and by asking questions is that you get to learn and know new things. Something that I also like is that we work in class, and the teacher doesn't leave as too much homework something that for me is sometimes boring. I think is enough with the multiple activities we solve in class.

 

WEEK 10

Tuesday, April 9th; Wednesday, April 10th; Friday, April 12th/2013.

The teacher took the opportunity to explain us how did we have to make the e portfolio. At first i had it very organized but then when she gaved the new instructions i got a bit lost, because now I had to change some things, i found it a lil boring to have to do the work again, but the good thing is that I know the portfolio will help others learn more english. In my opinion is better if the teacher gives the instruction only at the biginig of a work or proyect, because i then she gives other instructions it will make it difficult for us. I also had many doubts about how to put a video from youtube in my web. 

 

WEEK 11

Tuesday, April 16th; Wednesday, April 17th; Friday, Aprl 19th 2013.

This week we spent most of the time working, making a progress in our portfolios, and fixing some things from it. This time the teacher took us to the computer lab and she once again explained carefully how to construct the e- portfolio, because there were students that still didn't undesrtand, since the firt time she told us what to do.

With this new examples i felt more secure and I notice that I was doing things wrong on my web. The teacher also showed us her portfolio, that by the way was very beautiful, and she had a cute picture of her family. She explained thet in the journals we didn't have to explain step by step what we do in every single class and every word she says, it's more about how we felt in her class, doubts we had or even suggestions or advices.

 

Week 12

Tuesday, April 23rd; Wednesday, April 24th; Friday, April 26th 2013.

We started this week by making an oral conversation by pairs. I fel happy because it helped me practice my vocabulary and it also helped my other classmates to learn more abou the pronunciation, we also practice the greetings and farewells, wich is wonderfull. The teacher said its important so that we dont say always the same words. She also made a surprise quiz wich no one was expecting, everyone was nervous, but at the end the teacher told us that with those kind of quizes, she gets to know what we have really learned. That is wy it's so important to study for life and not only for a moment or to present a test. The teacher also gaved us reflections about it, and now we now how are her stretegies for english class.

 

WEEK 13

Tuesday, April 30th; Wednesday, May 1st; Friday, May 3rd 2013.
 

The teacher for this week gaved us a book, to study some topics and see the guides, also it has a cd where we can learn a lot of pronunciation and new words that we can even put in the portfolio as unknown vocabulary. During classes we worked on many pages, and the teacher helped a lot with the pronunciation and making us paricipate in the class. I felt happy because i understand what she says and I notice that I haven't forgotten what i've learn during all this years of studying the grammatical rules, wich give me sucha  ahrd time. Even dogh I know that I have improved a lot, and my classmates too.

What I like about my teacher is that she doesn't lose time, and she is always there to listen to us in any doubt we have. I never feel scared to ask her something because she a nice teacher she isn't mean with any student. and I think that is very important as i've said through all these journals.

 

WEEK 14

Tuesday, May 7th, Wednesday, May 8th; Friday, May 10th 2013.
 

During this week the teacher tols ud that the final exam was going to be a role play that we had to present by groups and each group had a monitor to help out the others and work as a team. For this reason she gaved us some space in classes to prictice our pronunciation, to repart the characters of the play and to organize the contexts and stuff we needed for the film. I got picked as a monitor and when i made up my group we all had enthusiasm to make the proyect, because we had so many great ideas.

In this week we had almost everything ready to start working and filming, but of course we had to practice a lot the correct pronunciation so that everything coul go right and we din't make mistakes. I felt good because i had never participated in a role play before.

 

WEEK 15

Tuesday, May 14th, Wednesday, May 15th; Friday, May 17th 2013.
 

This week we also practiced the role play, we also did some exercises from the book and a worksheet to practice. The teacher gaved us back the exams about pysical appearance, and i din't get the grade I was expecting, that made me feel a bit sad, because I made a dum mistakes that I really regret. The teacher made a good use of the tecnological resources by showing us a power point presentation about the present simple, wich was very well explained, in this week we finished taht topic.

The teacher also gaved us a big surprise when she told us we had to change seats for her classes, she asigned us where to sit. With this new change I felt confortable, because next to me there is a good friend and a person who really wants to learn english so we both help each other in english classes. Also I think it was a good idea, so that we get to know other people and make new friends and be all more united.

 

SECOND SEMESTER

In this second semester we did many things, specially manual work. The topics we saw this semester were: The family, personalities, the weather, should and shouldn't, verb tenses, comparatives and superlatives. I personally think these topics weren't so difficult, and I really liked how they were explained, because the teacher gaved us many examples and not a lot of theory, we also saw videos, power ponit presentations, we made expositions, and I enjoyed working in groups.

I feel very satisfied, because I learned a lot of grammar, which is what gives me more trouble, and I figured that it isn't so complicated as I thought. I think that the easy examples, participation, videos, songs and fun activities are very important to understand the topics easily, because this attracts students attention, and it doesn´t become a boring class. I would like to keep on with those great strategies for the next semesters. Even though if you learn english, or your a little bit ahead of others, you should always keep on practicing, and getting better yourself.

Finally, I think that my classmates have improved in their english, and I liked that everybody worked in this area, it is great that we all understand the importance of this language in our education nowadays.