OBSERVACIÓN Y PRÁCTICA DE LA ENSEÑANZA II

INITIAL REFLECTION

Student: Juan Pablo Murúa

In this report I am going to reflect upon my goals, strengths and weaknesses as a

teacher of English and one aspect I need to further improve.

There are some goals I have set to fulfill all throughout the year. First of all, I

want to learn a lot from the subject, since both TYL and ESP are interesting areas and

some I may further develop in the future. One of my goals is to observe how different

teachers deal with many of the aspects that are key in TYL and ESP. They are different

because their purpose and focus are different, and I am very interested in learning them

because I have little experience in these areas. I have neither taught to children nor ESP

students nor even read much about it, that is why I expect to get the most of profits from

observations. I want to see how the teachers give explanations, what do they do in

certain situations, for example, in TYL when children misbehave or how teachers

correct mistakes, and in ESP whether teachers use the L2 and in which situations,

whether they make a balance between areas of language, that is, vocabulary, grammar,

etc. and how. Other goal is to enjoy the subject and make the most of it by keeping the

reading up to date so as not to fall behind with theory. I have realized that we are going

to analyze several well-known authors and their stands, so it would be wise to apply

some of their concepts in our everyday practice.

With regard to the perceived strengths as a teacher, I could mention some I

remember I was told by the teachers I observed last year in my practicum experience at

Departamento Cultural. One is group management. Of course this did not happen

overnight; actually, at the very beginning I felt very nervous and it was quite hard to

gain students’ attention. But class after class, I realized that I could improve on my self-

confidence and I could stand firm in front of a class. Other strength may be voice

projection. I know the importance of speaking clear and loud so that students can

understand instructions and explanations and, in that way, avoid misunderstandings. I

also care about my students, I truly want them to learn, so I have no problem if I have to

give further explanations on a topic or stay a bit longer after class in case they need it.

Of course I have to keep on improving on many aspects. One of my weaknesses

is generally time management. Sometimes I spend more time than needed to carry out

activities or in checking them. I had that problem last year in my practicum but I could

improve it little by little. Sometimes, I forgot to check comprehension instructions,

which I realized it was key for a successful achievement of the activities I designed.

Other weakness may be the fact that I have little experience in teaching. Last year was

the first time I had to design activities and plan classes, but I think this makes me more

enthusiastic to learn from the experts and carry out the practicum this year, so I am truly

motivated.

One of the solutions to the problem of time management may be not to design

too many activities. I will take into account the students´ needs and their level, so it

would be wise to design activities taking into account those aspects. Comprehension of

instructions also needs to be carefully taken into consideration. It is important to make

sure students have understood what they have to do so as to avoid mistakes or

misunderstandings. I hope and I am sure I will succeed in the goals I have set. Of

course, effort is demanded but if I commit to fulfilling them I am sure I will appreciate

the results at the end of the year.