all journals from primary period

1. Trainee´s name: Paula Schulze
Practicum Level: Nivel Primario
Group: 6 “A”
Date: 11-08-15
Lesson Number: 1
1. What pedagogical principles supported the planning and delivery of
this lesson?
I tried to focus myself on the Natural Approach as the students were
expected to interact with me and peers in a natural way promoting in this way
the communicative abilities. Since language and vocabulary are of principal
importance for this approach and to acquire the language, I encouraged the
students to concentrate mainly on the understanding of the message of the
story rather on the target language specifically. Consequently, I set the
conditions for the learners to acquire the language in a free-stress classroom
environment. Besides, the PPP method was also used to introduce the target
structure since first it was presented then practiced in a controlled way and
finally students were given free production instances.
2. What teaching strategies did you use? Which ones were effective?
Why/ why not?
In this class, the instructions were given all in the target language but I made
the students repeat them before doing the tasks so as to check they had
understood and this was really useful I think. While telling the story, I mimed
the words or actions to show the meaning of some that could be knew for the
sts. When I was asked about the meaning of a word, I first asked the sts if
somebody knew the meaning, if they answered affirmatively I asked them to
explain the meaning of the word using the target language and then I rounded
the idea or gave the exact synonym for example. If the students did not know,
there was only 1 case and the word was hidden, I gave an example for the
students to grasp the idea and then spontaneously one student said the
translation of the word, I confirmed it and then I repeated the English word
twice. When I read the story I changed the tone of voice, used gestures, read
slowly at times and made some silences all to create suspense. The second time
I read it, I did it quicker

2. 3. How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and
the materials? How did they react to the lesson?
The students were very active at the time of working. The followed all the
instructions and I felt they found the sequence of activities and the
context provided very motivating. It was really great seeing their faces
the first time I was reading the story, they were closely involved and
engaged in it. They enjoyed the moral as well. I felt the teaching of the
structure was really scaffolded, I mean, it was a smooth process from the
introduction, the revision activities to get to the teaching point. And finally
I felt very happy with the result: seeing the kids using the past continuous,
in this case.
4. What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
In this opportunity, the time management was almost perfect as well as the
pace of the activities. There were no behavioral problems at all, that is
something I always worry about. Besides, there was little talking in
Spanish, the expected one, we can say.
At the very beginning of the lesson I told the sts that I was nervous
because the class was a test for me and that was the reason why the class
was being recorded. Then I asked them if they would help me feel more
relaxed and they all laughed and agreed to do it. I told them this because I
was really a bit tense and in case they noticed it I wanted them to
understand why I was feeling in that way.
5. What aspects of your lesson require change / improvement?
I had problems with the recording. As I told you in the mail I had downloaded
a program to record with my laptop, I had tried it the week before in my class,
it had worked perfectly well and it even recorded more than 60 minutes. But
when this morning I got to the school and wanted to record, a sign appeared
saying that the program was in fact a demo and it had expired. I could not
believe my eyes, I tried to download it again as I had enough time but the
internet service at school is awful. I gave the teacher my cell phone to record
but she could do it for no more than 5 minutes because there was no space

3. enough. Then she recorded with her cell phone and although the videos are a
bit longer she could no record the whole class. Technology is still my karma!
6. What do you find useful of this lesson that will help you plan the
next one?
Students are very willing to participate and that helps me to think of
interesting activities to perform next class. I also had enough time to tell
them the homework and 2 sts were asked to repeat the pieces of
homework just in case someone did not understand. This aspect of making
the sts repeat the instructions I think is very useful.
7. Any comments or observations you would like to share may be added
here.
As I said they were really amazed by the story I read to them, I can see to
use it to make the sts role-play it. When it was time to ask 3 classmates about
a past activity, the sts did not tend to stand up to ask some other mates, they
just asked the ones they had nearby. So as there were no behavioral problems,
probably next time I can ask them to stand up and ask someone else.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Trainee´s name: Paula Schulze
Practicum Level: Nivel Primario
Group: 6 “A”
Date: 13-08-15
Lesson Number: 2
1. What pedagogical principles supported the planning and
delivery of this lesson?
Like in the first class, I tried to focus myself on the Natural Approach as the
students were expected to interact with me and peers in a natural way
promoting in this way the communicative abilities. Since language and
vocabulary are of principal importance for this approach and to acquire the
language, I encouraged the students to concentrate mainly on the

4. understanding of the message rather on the target language specifically.
Consequently, I set the conditions for the learners to acquire the language in a
free-stress classroom environment. Besides, the PPP method was also used to
introduce the target structure since first it was presented then practiced in a
controlled way and finally students were given free production instances.
2. What teaching strategies did you use? Which ones were effective?
Why/ why not?
In this class, like in the previous one, the instructions were all given in the
target language but I made the students repeat them before doing the tasks
so as to check they had understood and this was really useful I think. If
during the class, a new word appeared (in this class were wig and
handkerchief), I mimed them or pointed to the pictures to show the meaning
or gave the definition in English. Also, when I was asked about the meaning of
a word, I first asked the sts if somebody knew the meaning, if they answered
affirmatively I asked them to explain the meaning of the word using the
target language and then I rounded the idea or gave the exact synonym, for
example. If the students did not know I used the strategies mentioned above.
3. How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and
the materials? How did they react to the lesson?
The students were very enthusiastic with all the activities; they found the
activity with the music really exciting. However, they told me the video
was too short, apparently they expected to watch a longer chunk. I
promised I will try to include a longer one in the next plan. In the previous
class, the sts had been asked to bring pictures of pirates and most of them
brought them; although I had brought some extra pictures, that helped
that all the activities could be done as planned. I had also asked them to
write their names on a sort of triptych to have their names on. It certainly
helped me a lot call the sts by their names or nicknames and make my
comments or questions in a more personalized way.

5. 4. What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
As in the previous class, the time management was almost perfect as well
as the pace of the activities. There were no behavioral problems at all and
this is fantastic because disrupting attitudes are time and energy
consuming. Besides, there was little talking in Spanish, the expected one,
we can say.
I use choral repetition with the correct pronunciation of the word “sword”,
as the sts sometimes mispronounced misled it because of its spelling.
When I left the class, I felt I had given a great lesson because the sts
were motivateding, they participated, they used the vocabulary and target
structure as expected, all the technological gadgets worked properly. I
felt really happy!

6. This is a photo of all the gadgets I had to work with: laptop, loudspeaker and OHP. There were
plenty of wires on the floor but everything worked ok.
5. What aspects of your lesson require change / improvement?
This time I had the camera to record in my computer as well as the music and
the video I had to use in the class. The only thing was that every time I set
the music on, the camera stopped working. The same happened when I turned
on the video. But, well, as soon as the listening or watching activities finished,
I resumed the recording again. In fact, I do not know if this can be improved.
Now that i´m writing the journal, I have just remembered that I forgot to
refresh how the comparative forms of “long” and “short” adjectives are made.
IOn the following class, I will take some time to work on this topic specifically.
6. What do you find useful of this lesson that will help you plan the
next one?
I still have the same feeling as after the 1st
class: the students are very
willing to participate so I have to think of interesting activities to perform
next class. Like during the 1st
class, I had enough time to tell the students
the homework in a detailed away and I also had time to ask the sts what
they had learned (vocabulary, pronunciation, expressions) so as to activate
metacognitive view of their learning. In addition, the aspect of making the

7. sts repeat the instructions is very useful because they have to organize
ideas and mention the stages they have to follow.
Finally, I enjoyed the inferring process when sts hadve to deduce or reason
how the new language structure is used is also nice, since the T has to make
the correct questions for them to think about the structure they have just
been using and since they realize the exact use of the new structure.
7. Any comments or observations you would like to share may be added
here.
As expected there were no behavioral problems so when they sts were asked
to complete the survey, they were also invited to stand up and ask some mates
from other desks. I was asked about the word “abanderado” and as I did not
know I told the sts I would find out the word for next class. Now I know it is
standard-bearer.
Something easy to do and that really saves time, I learned it during Kinder
practicum, is to have the scotch already cut so in this class for example I had
to paste on the board several pictures, in this way it was easier and quicker.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Trainee´s name: Paula Schulze
Practicum Level: Nivel Primario
Group: 6 “A”
Date: 18-08-15

8. Lesson Number: 3
1. What pedagogical principles supported the planning and
delivery of this lesson?
Like in the first classes, I tried to focus myself on the Natural Approach as
the students were expected to interact with me and peers in a natural way
promoting in this way the communicative abilities. Since language and
vocabulary are of principal importance for this approach and to acquire the
language, I encouraged the students to concentrate mainly on the
understanding of the message rather on the target language specifically.
Consequently, I set the conditions for the learners to acquire the language in a
free-stress classroom environment. Besides, the PPP method was also used to
introduce the target structure since first it was presented then practiced in a
controlled way but in this class I could not get the students to the stage of
the free production instance since we run out of time.
2. What teaching strategies did you use? Which ones were effective?
Why/ why not?
In this class, like in the previous ones, all the instructions were given in the
target language but there was no time to make the students repeat them
before doing the tasks so as to check they had understood, as I had done
before. At the time of playing the game, two students were asked to model
the activity and it was really good so as to check misunderstandings.
When during the class, a new word appeared (in this class the new words were
beard, sail and revenge), I mimed them or drew the pictures to show the
meaning or gave the definition in English. Also, when I was asked about the
meaning of a word, I first asked the sts if somebody knew the meaning, this
was the case when the students had to name the piece of clothing they had
brought to dress up like pirates, all of the words were said by the students. It
really surprised me in terms of their memory!
3. How did the students react to your teaching, to the activities and
the materials? How did they react to the lesson?

9. The students were very enthusiastic with all the activities, specially the
competition game; they found the dressing up game really motivating. As
expected not all of them had brought the costumes so it was great that
the activity had to do with shared clothes. When later on the sts were
invited to dress up, the ones who had brought clothes were really excited.
As I had promised to the sts, I included a longer video and they were
surprised to see the Lego ships. At one point of the class, I asked the sts
to put on their desks their signs with their names on as they had done in
the previous class. This is so because that helps me a lot call the sts by
their names or nicknames and make my comments or questions in a more
personalized way, I found I was a bit lost not calling the sts by their
names.
4. What aspects of the lesson do you consider successful?
In this opportunity the time management was not the expected or planned
because instead of the sts entering the classroom at 8:10 the “hello
greeting ” they have every morning in the school´s SUM took almost 15
minutes more. Some sts were asked to talk about the Kid´s day
celebrations.
There were almost no behavioral problems while playing the game, just the
noises typical of a competition. But I have to say that if I compare this
class with the 2 previous ones, there was more Spanish talking; probably
the game and being dressed up like pirates kept the group happier and
therefore the sts felt more relaxed and apparently me too!! I was not that
much focused on their English, but this was only during the game.
5. What aspects of your lesson require change / improvement?
The aspect to be improved is what the classroom teacher suggested after I
have finished the class, that I would have asked the sts to speak in English
during the game if not they could be penalized or disqualified, something I
really did not do. I was worried about the rules of the game and there were
also many wires at the front, I did not want any child to get “coiled” with
them.

10. This time again the camera, in my computer, recorded the class. As in the
previous classes, every time I set the music or video on, the camera stopped
working. But then I resumed the recording again.
6. What do you find useful of this lesson that will help you plan the
next one?
This time I did not have enough time to ask the sts what they had learned
(vocabulary, pronunciation, expressions) so as to activate metacognitive
view of their learning and I think that was a pitty, but they left the
classroom with their bon-o-bon extremely joyful.
Besides, the inferring process, when sts hadve to deduce or reason how the
new language structure is used, was shorter than in previous classes but
they grasped the idea as well. I raun out of time to ask the sts to open
their folders to stick the copies and do the less-controlled practice but
the controlled practice was more than enough since many of the sts wanted
to say their superstitions.
7. Any comments or observations you would like to share may be added
here.
As in the previous classes, I felt really under the control of the planned
activities and I felt comfortable with the students, the topics I had to teach.
The language the sts handle is really great because it makes me feel free to
speak, debate, give instructions, everything using English… so different to my
feelings with kinder kids!!
I also felt more secure with the technological gadgets. In the last 2 classes I
had to use the laptop, OHP and loudspeaker and I could do it!!!
I am a bit sad I could not do the last activity I had planned for this group and
the “metacognitive stage” I had included in the previous classes and that had
worked so well…but at time there are some imponderables.