Yes, We Can!

This has been the slogan of Barack Obama in his presidential campaign. And he has won. “Podemos” was the slogan of the Spanish National Football Team… and they won too. These words seem to carry the sense of motivation of encouragement. They seem to carry the energy of success, the power of belief, and they make real, now more than ever, the proverb “Where there’s a Will, There’s a Way!”
Yesterday, the 5th of November 2008, we had class with group B2 at 8.15hrs in the morning. And what could have been under other circumstances a monotonous boring class turned to be a very effective and enriching session for the students, not only due to its contents in the English learning process, but more particularly, as a lesson for life. Apart of the usual call for discipline, her lively dynamism, her effective sense of humour and her charismatic smile, the lesson I have learnt is about motivation and encouragement. As I have already explained in previous posts, my tutor usually uses encouraging strategies such as thanking the students when they are willing to participate in class or the reiterated use of motivating words such as “came on!”, “very well done”, very good”, “you are brilliant today!” etc. But it was really amazing to see her walking along the class, gesticulating, moving her hands, with her face full of expression, eyes wide-open and saying “I have backache… and I want to feel perfect! I feel perfect! And you? How do you want to feel?”, after a student had answered her he wasn´t feeling very well… The students have afterwards felt full of energy and motivation to continue the rest of the class. Being a teacher is not only about teaching the contents of a curriculum. In fact, you have the choice. But it must be enormously rewarding to transmit your students energy, encouragement, motivation… this is, a philosophy of life. Yes, we can.
Today, we were back to Room 28. This room is becoming my favorite in the school. I have not seen so many so far, but I guess it must be because it is one of the few classes I have seen with high technology resources… a computer, an overhead projector, loudspeakers, a printer… It was not the classroom assigned for today, but she had prepared something special for the kids today. So she has had to ask the concierge and other teachers involved to make some changes in the classroom planning so that group my group D2 of 3rd of ESO could have this classroom available. The way my tutor has decided to start the class has called my attention and I have enjoyed it at lot. After calling roll, she has turned off the lights and, taking the chance of Barack Obama´s victory against John McCain in the US elections, she has played two video from BBC website: one with Obama´s words after his triumph, the other with McCain words after his defeat. The objective was, not only that the students tried to understand their messages and noticed their different accents, but to bring the world and its current news to her class. An excellent warm-up, under my opinion, to approach the students and their learning process to the real everyday life… A great strategy to motivate the students, which I will try to implement once I become a teacher.

What would happen, nevertheless, if we would only use one only way to encourage the students, this only through dynamism or only through the use of ICT activities? I bet for a balanced combination.

After class, we have been speaking for a while. I was curious to know if our Establishment obliges teachers to follow any particular didactic book, about the high technology limitations in secondary schools, about the English level, the discipline and the good work dynamic of group D2… And I have particularly appreciated my tutor changing the date of an exam to their students because today has been the only Thursday I will be able to participate in this group.

Today I feel particularly satisfied. It has been my 5th Day in IES Bernat el Ferrer and I have finally felt relaxed. It seems as if I had finally adapted to this new direction my life has taken, as if the school had already started to be part of my life and as I had already started to be part of its organization chart too. Day by day, the number of teachers and students greeting me is higher, on the corridors, in the department, in the playground when I am parking my motorbike or while I am waiting outside for the doors to be unlocked. This is making me feel integrity and, subsequently, relaxed and pleased. Very content and very happy indeed.

It is the Students Who Really Matter

Today I have attended a couple of classes. They have been so different one to the other, I have now a lot of things to think about. What kind of teacher would I like to be? Do I need to prepare the classes beforehand? Why is discipline so important? Thanks to today, now I know what really matters…

I was first with my tutor with half of Group D2 (the other half was doing a conversation class with a native speaking teacher). On our way to the classroom, my tutor has explained me the groups of more than 20 students must per law be divided into two groups one hour per week. I didn´t know about this, so this piece of information has been very useful to understand the timetable of teachers and students. Once in class, after the usual call for general silence, my tutor has started asking some questions about what they like and what they don´t like. It has been a very positive starting point as it has called the attention of the students and my tutor has taken the chance to continue with today’s activity: a listening. Being only 11 students in class, we have asked them to seat forming a semicircle. This sitting arrangement has provided a warmer atmosphere to carry out the class, so both the students and we have felt one another closer. It was a difficult listening, my tutor has informed the students accordingly. But what really matters, she has continued, is trying to catch as many words as possible. Then, working together we will be able to find out what the listening is about. So we have done. After listening the recording, the students have written in the blackboard different words and sentences they had understood, one by one. What a motivation! They put their hands up and stood up all the time, so many of them wanted to write on the blackboard the words they had understood! Once the listening was finished, we have discussed all together what the text was about: nice surprise to see they had understood more than we had expected!
After this class, we have decided I should go with the native teacher so that I could observe the dynamic of a conversation class. This native teacher is in fact an Erasmus student doing a practicum in IES Bernat el Ferrer. She is managing the conversation classes in all those hours the groups must be divided during the whole school year 2008-2009. The class has been in the library and it has started ten minutes late as the door of the library was locked. I have realized life is a Secondary School is sometimes unpredictable, things don’t always happen as you would expect. The students were a bit noise in the corridors while the concierge was coming up to the first floor to unlock the door. But once in, the students have continued with their noise and their loud conversations… The native teacher was trying to speak, but she never called for silence. I was waiting for her to do so, but strangely, she never did. I felt like doing it myself, but then I thought that, as she was not my tutor I didn´t have the right to do so. I have tried to help in a more discreet, with a serious face staring at the noisy students… until one of the students has noticed me and has called for general silence in Spanish. They have calmed down. She has made the students sit in a circle around two big tables and she was sitting in one of the sides. Short after she had started the class, some students have started complaining in Spanish they weren’t able to hear not to see her. So, while the teacher was speaking, a couple of students at the other end of the table have started speaking to me in a loud voice in Spanish to ask me if I could tell her to sit in a circle arrangement without the tables. Surprised because they were asking me instead of her, I have answered them to try to ask her direclty in English using the words they have already learnt. Quantity, not quality. I thought. And so he has done. With a simple “Can’t see” and the word “circle” the teacher has clearly understood his message and she has organized the class with a different sitting arrangement. But the boys have continued asking me questions in Spanish, now if they should take the books and the notebook or only the notebook or only the book... And once more, I have given them the same answer: “Ask her!”, trying not to become their conspiratorial translator. Once the class has calmed down again and has adopted the new sitting arrangement, the native teacher has started the class. To her surprise, the students have informed her they had already done that exercise with my tutor, so she has fallen silent, not knowing how to react. It seems she had not prepared any alternative lesson. I have felt I had to help in this situation and I have suggested her in a low voice to go over the lesson again: different teacher, less students, different sitting arrangement, so why not a conversational approach of this session. It could be a useful activity anyway. In the meantime, the students were speaking loud and noisy again, until another student has called for silence once more. All of a sudden, they have become quiet. They know how they are expected to behave in class. And this is from my point of view what the native teacher expected too. Then she has started asking them spontaneous questions about the lesson, to which the students have replied in order and correctly until the end of the class. When the bell rang, they have all collected their things, put the chairs and tables in their place and the students have gone out without saying goodbye.
After the day of today I have learned some important things: the importance of making aware your rules and discipline in class, of knowing when and how you have to ask for silence. Then, I have also learnt the importance of preparing the unit and an alternative lesson and the different pedagogic effects of using different sitting arrangement. And, finally, I have learnt how important it is the role of participation and cooperation in the teaching/learning process. It is the students who really matter. Cooperation has made them meet the goals of the listening activity in the first class. And now that I am back at home, I think I should have maybe participated more actively in the development of the second class... Well, next time!

Dear students, my name is Charlie Brown...

Today has been my second day at IES Bernat al Ferrer and, as my tutor and I had agreed, I have met the three remaining groups my tutor teaches this year. If last Thursday I was with groups B1 in 3rd of ESO and D2 in 1st of ESO, today it was the time for 3rd of ESO D1 group and the two groups which I will follow, this is 3rd of ESO B2 and D2, where I will participate more actively and I will implement my unit plan.
The first group was 3rd of ESO D1. While she was entering the class and the students were getting ready to start the class, my tutor has greeted the students and has asked them about their weekend with a smile on her face. Then she has checked attendance and homework. No-one missing today, buy some hadn't done their homework. She has asked them why they weren´t able to do them and, after hearing their reasons, she has insisted in the importance of doing their homework on a daily basis. Afterwards, she has briefly introduced what they would be doing during the class (difference between the past simple and the past continuous) and has started writing a sentence on the blackboard as a way to start the session. The main language used by my tutor has been English, but when she suspected there was any important word, sentence or grammar content the students mightn´t have understood, she has translated it for them or has given clear examples to clarify the meaning, sometimes even related to our daily lives (such as “imagine you were watching TV, Big Brother, for example, and…”). This strategy seems to keep the attention of the students, they smiled and listened carefully. And at the same time, my tutor made sure this way they were following the key issues. The students seem to try to interact in Catalan or Spanish with her. But, in such a situation, she has used her sense of humor and her usual smile to answer them “sorry, I don´t understand”. Then, the students have tried to reformulate the question in English and she has helped them when necessary. After the grammar part, my tutor has asked the students to do an exercise and she has been around checking all the students were doing it or if they had any question. All of a sudden, she has seen there was a student with a mobile phone in his hands, and despite the excuses of the boy, she has taken it from him and kept it until the end of the class. Mobile phones are obviously not allowed in class, they must leave them in their lockers during their classes. For my tutor, discipline is basic: calls for silence, listening carefully, sitting correctly or not making noise with the chair when sitting or standing up are very important. She wants an effective working atmosphere and with her insistence on discipline, her sense of humor and her personal attention to the students, she has managed to achieve it. Then the bell has rung. Time-break non-verbal sign to keep the students silent, which they have very clearly understood: before leaving, my tutor has assigned them homework for the next class. Then the students have collected their things, stood up and said goodbye to her as they were leaving.
After group D1, I have participated in group B2. This is one of the groups I will follow more closely, though I will not be implementing my unit plan with them. Their level of English is low comparing to D1 group and it is quite similar to B1 group. If group D1 uses Oxford’s English Alive, groups B1 and B2 use Oxford’s Spotlight, which has the same contents but seem to have a lower level of English. Group B2, nevertheless, seems to be a very nice and friendly group. They are only 15 students and when my tutor has introduced me as a CAP teacher and has said my name, one of the girls has said tomorrow will be my saint day!
Following her routine, my tutor has first started checking attendance. Then she has seen one of the students wasn´t feeling very well, so she has worried about her and has suggested her she´d better go home. Her throat was swollen, so my tutor has accompanied her to call her parents. When they were back, the student has collected her things and my tutor has taken good attention and care of her until she has finally left the class. By the tone of her voice and the slight physical contact, with her hand on her shoulder, I can see there is reciprocal affection going on between my tutor and her students. After this, they have corrected some exercises. There were volunteers all the time, so the students seemed to be motivated to participate in the class and to learn. Her questions are not usually directed to any student in particular, so all the students feel free to answer. She thanks them when they participate and, when they do and they do correctly, my tutor encourages them positively by saying “¡Hoy estáis que os salís! (You are brilliant today!). This seems to keep them even more effective for the next question. The class was in English, but as the level of the students is so low, they needed translations very often. So, either she asked the class in general for the meaning of a word or she translated it directly if she considered it was very difficult for them. The students’ interaction was only in Spanish or Catalan, as their vocabulary in English seems very limited. Nevertheless, my tutor has constantly encouraged them to use basic words such as “sorry” when they were caught speaking in class, “please” when they wanted to ask for something and “thank you”. Even when they said a sentence in Catalan or Spanish my tutor asked in general to all the students how to say that in English. Another strategy she uses to keep the students motivated and participating is using a sentence repeatedly together with a touch of sense of humor. It works for her: “copy, copy!” keeps the students’ attention on learning and “taking home” the outstanding vocabulary.
Next, my tutor has asked the students what they had had for breakfast one by one. With such a simple conversation, where the kids have been smiling and laughing all the time, they have used the past tense, which was, in fact, the objective of the lesson.
After this class, I had a small conversation with my tutor about the need to pay slightly more attention and be more affective to some particular students, after watching her attitude in this class. These are normally students with family issues such as divorced parents, lack of any parent… We both have agreed these students need a bit more of encouragement.

To finish the day and the participation in all the different groups my tutor teaches, I have had my first attendance to D2 group, where I will implement my unit plan. This group has the best level of English compared to all the other groups in 3rd of ESO. My tutor speaks only in English and she uses Catalan or Spanish only in the case of some translations. The interaction with the students is in English too and if any of them forget, one “Eps! In English!” is enough for the students to change their interaction language. They are using Oxfords’ English Alive 3 too, as group D1. But they seem to be even a bit more advanced than D1 group.
After greeting the students, the first thing my tutor has done is introducing me. I was sitting at the back of the class, so everybody turned around and looked at me. Afterwards, as a warm-up, my tutor has asked the students if they had gone to any party last Friday. It was “La Castanyada” / Halloween, so some students explained what they had done on Friday night and over the weekend. Then, my tutor asked the students to open their books and for a volunteer to read. Some hands were risen. This group seems to be very motivated too and to learn faster and easily than the students of other groups. There are 22 students. It's classroom number 2 and it has the same greenish tones of all the other in IES Bernat el Ferrer. This one in particular is not equipped with audiovisual material, but my tutor has brought a CD player to do a listening. It is a bit cold in the class, approximately 19º. Some students have their coats on. The blinds are open, it is a bright sunny day. During the listening the students were silent. They were trying to concentrate on what is being said. After this, she asked questions to particular students using their names and when they did not know the answer, she asked other colleagues or asked in general to all the class. All of a sudden, two students have started talking. When my tutor noticed this, she asked them to separate their desks. Then she has asked another student to sit correctly, this time reinforced by a “sit correctly in my class!”. A call for discipline is implemented with this group too, as she has already done with the other groups. When another student has yawned, apart of telling him off, she has in addition taken the chance to make him speak in English by asking him at what time he went to bed and what he had done until that time. This has, under my opinion, been an excellent combination of how discipline can be used to practise English in class too.
Then my tutor has checked the time in her watch. Only five minutes to the end of the class. So she has changed the subject of the conversation and has assigned them a composition as homework. The remaining time until the bell has rung has been used to clarify what they need to check and study for their exam, which they will have next Monday the 10th of November.

Now I have seen all my tutor’s groups. It has been very useful, as I have been able to experience and take my own conclusions about their different levels and the different strategies and methodologies my tutor has to follow to teach each of them. A call for discipline, this has been very common in all her groups, and managed, if possible, with sense of humor. It seems to be a great recipe to keep the students paying attention and participating in an effective working environment, as my tutor manages to achieve.
Tomorrow I will have group D2 again and, afterwards, I will participate in the class of an English speaking teacher with half of group D1. She is an Erasmus student doing a practicum as a teacher in IES Bernat el Ferrer, so I am sure the experience will provide me with some interesting conclusions too.