Busy days

From 19th to 23rd November 2007. I usually write my practicum experiences day by day because it will help me develop my project when I finish my practicum. However, I don't have so much time now. Last week I started creating my teaching unit and I am still working on it. It is really tough work and my problem is time, like the rest of CAP students who must combine their job with the lessons at university and the practicum at secondary schools. It is very hard and I promise I am doing my best. I don't know if I am doing what our CAP teachers really want us to do. I suppose so, but I sometimes have a few doubts that I hope to solve in the forum about Lesson Planning. Anyway, on Thursday I showed my tutor some material I would like to include in the unit we have to implement and she told me she was very impressed . She liked the subject I had chosen and the variety of activities I am going to use. Moreover, my 3rd-ESO students will have to base their "Crèdit de síntesi" on the same subject I thought of. Sheer coincidence, isn't it? It will be good for them because when they begin this credit in January, they will have learnt so many things about this topic and they will have useful information. I am really enthusiatic about the unit although I don't know if the students will appreciate my work. My tutor commented me that they often notice when the teacher enjoys teaching. According to her, if I present a good project full of different activities that satisfy every student's necessities, I will succeed. However, most important is to show enthusiasm and to encourage and motivate pupils so that they can learn as many things as possible and they enjoy themselves. I wish they were very receptive and got engaged!!
Regarding the classes at the secondary school, students are about to finish unit 2. They are enjoying themselves with this particular unit because it is about natural phenomena and catastrophes. And they love them! They are always asking questions about this topic. On Wednesday, they had to set a guide in order to make up a story about a fatal situation where they were survivors. They really had fun! Another activity that was a success in class was to make a dialogue, which took a 60-minute lesson. In fact, that lesson consisted of preparing students for the oral exam they must take on 5 December. The teacher asked them to read all the dialogues from the beginning of the coursebook to unit 2 and they had to make a dialogue in which they had to include some of the expressions they had learned so far. I must recognise that my tutor and I didn't have so much confidence, but we were really impressed by the results. Even a student who is a coach potato and doesn't like working too much changed three times the content of the dialogue because he was not very satisfied with it. Some dialogues were remarkably good. Now we will see what will happen to the speaking exam because, according to my tutor, this is the first year the school is going to assess students' oral skills.

My first "tutoria"

Friday, 16 November 2007. After the usual Friday-English lesson, I could attend my first "tutoria" with my third-year-ESO students just to have an idea of what a "tutoria" is and what it consists of. In my honest opinion, it was a brilliant idea because it was a good way of getting acquainted with them and knowing more things concerning their off-task behaviour. Their tutor, Carles, offered me the possibility of observing the session and it was a wonderful experience. In that particular class, he wanted the students to succeed in answering questions regarding difficult social situations. The lesson was about the assertive answer, whose goal is to express our own feelings and opinions in a persuading, clear and polite way. First of all, he changed the configuration of the classroom. The students were told to sit by forming a circle around the class. They were really amused because they love changing the learning format. Their tutor started explaining the differences among the assertive answer, the passive answer and the aggressive answer by giving a wide range of examples. In order to put that into practice, Carles suggested an activity: a student had to criticise another student's character or attitude in public and the person criticised had to make an assertive answer without being rude or sounding aggressive. In the beginning, they were not very receptive. Perhaps they didn't dare to express their deepest feelings and impressions in front of the rest of their classmates. However, little by little, they began to say a few good and bad things about their partners. Some of them accepted criticism but others gave some impolite, unfriendly answers. In fact, it was really interesting how the tutor coped with them. Finally, most of them ended up recognising their failures in front of their classmates and, for me, that was a real success. I cannot express with words how satisfactory that session was. I really enjoyed myself and I am convinced that they did too.

My class on strike!

Thursday, 15 November 2007. When I got into the classroom, I had the impression I got into the wrong room. It was completely empty. No students anywhere! Suddenly, I heard some voices coming from the hall. Unbelievable! They were all sitting on the ground demonstrating against the "Pla de Bolònia". They are fourteen going to fifteen and my question is: Were they really interested in it or was it a way of missing classes? After a 15-minute speech made by the headmistress of the centre, the concentration was dismissed and they came back to their classrooms, protesting of course! My tutor carried on with the lesson they were dealing with but there was not enough time to finish all the tasks prepared for that day. Actually, they achieved their intention: missing a wonderful time. The pity is that they do not realise time is running against them.

Short of time!

Monday, 12 November 2007. When I got into the teacher’s room, my tutor told me to take part in the lesson. In fact, students are supposed to reach unit 3 at Christmas. Now they are about to finish unit 2. I think they will eventually achieve their teacher’s expectations. Anyway, I was told to carry on with the lesson and I promised I did my best. For me, the most important thing is to make concepts clear for children and I usually check for understanding. My tutor is very skilled at teaching but by now she is following all the student's book literally, exercise for exercise. According to the new law, this system is considered to be quite traditional and classical. Now teachers should be required to prepare a variety of activities using a wide range of resources apart from the student's book so that children enjoy learning English. The coursebook should be a guide for teachers but not their only tool. Furthermore, the organization of time is remarkable as well. I strongly think that when a teacher implements a lesson, he/she should have a series of expectations to accomplish and should inform students of what they are going to do. My tutor does it and she succeeds. Extra activities should be added to motivate them and they would be a good way of breaking with the routine. As students become aware of following the coursebook, they may get stressed just thinking about all the missing activities they are supposed to finish by the end of the term.

Where has my voice gone?

Friday, 9 November 2007. By the end of the class, my tutor brought me the opportunity to explain the Past Continuous. And I did it successfully as everybody seemed to understand its forms and its use. I had previously prepared the task at home because I didn’t want to fail to make a good impression. Later on, I contrasted the Past Continuous with the Past Simple by writing a simple but clear example on the blackboard. As my tutor told me that they had learnt the differences between both tenses last year, I preferred not to explain the theory but to encourage students to suggest the forms and use. It is a good way of making them think and reflect. In a word, everything went alright except for my voice. My tutor told me I needed to project my voice so students from the other side of the classroom could hear my instructions properly. And it is very difficult for me! It is really hard to be able to “impostar” your voice. According to my tutor, “impostar” is setting a higher tone without damaging your voice, which makes students understand better your commands or explanations. Anyway, it is a quiet class. Some of them often get disrupted but they are definitely adolescents. I recorded this short participation in my MP3 but as it was situated on the teacher’s desk and I was continuously going around the classroom while teaching, the quality of the recording is awful. By now we are not allowed to make use of our videocamera. We cannot even take photographs of students while they are on task. My tutor has to ask for permission but she thinks that it will be practically impossible to record our “practicum steps”. I don’t know how I will cope with it.

Panic!!!

Thursday, 8 November 2007. The lesson was going on properly when unexpectedly the bell rang. I looked at my watch but it was not time to leave yet. All at once all the students stood up in a hurry as if they were all in perfect harmony, put on their coats and left the classroom immediately. I didn’t know what was happening. Was the school on fire? Noooo, it was just a fire-practice! I was glad to hear it! Thank goodness! Everybody rushed towards the emergency exits. When we were all outside in the street, I could make out a couple of teachers I had when I was studying BUP and COU at another state secondary school located in Mataró as well. Was I suffering hallucinations? I was dumbfounded as it’s ages since I last saw them. And now they were in front of me as if by magic. Both of them were my Maths teachers, who had ended up teaching at IES Damià Campeny due to its discipline and its good reputation. We exchanged impressions for a while and they gave me some useful advice to “survive” the practicum. I believe they were as amazed as me. Sheer coincidence!

Enjoying the lesson!!

Wednesday, 7 November 2007. I could see with my own eyes how much students enjoyed themselves by carrying out a great variety of different activities, such as a dictation, a listening, vocabulary exercises and even a speaking task! And most amazing is they had plenty of time to deal with all of them! Wow!

First contact with the whole group: a nice group??

Monday, 5 November 2007. I attented a year-1-Batxillerat lesson to check how the classroom environment was and I couldn’t believe my eyes: it was worse than I had expected. I don’t know if it was Monday afternoon and everbody was wishing to leave. Despite being two years older than 3 ESO students, their behaviour was really inappropriate and inacceptable. They didn’t take notice of my tutor’s commands to keep them quiet. It was hard for her to cope with all of them. Next, I had a lesson with the whole group of 3 ESO. In general terms, I would describe it as a lively, active group which tends to work pretty well. Sometimes they got disrupted but they usually obeyed their teacher’s instructions. I think I will grow fond of them pretty soon because they are hard-working and quite nice.

The first day of my Practicum

Wednesday, 31 October 2007. I finally started my practicum, after having visited the centre for an hour together with my tutor, who gave me specific details so that I could get familiar with its organisation and its distribution as soon as possible. Honestly, I should have begun on Monday, 29 October but, unfortunately, the whole group was on a day excursion. On Wednesday –like all Wednesdays- there were only 14 students in the classroom so as to be able to improve their speaking abilities and their listening skills.

First impression: When I got into the class, everybody stopped talking at once and started whispering and giggling. I suppose they were wondering who I was and what I was doing there. They got relieved when their teacher introduced me as a CAP student whose aim was becoming a state secondary school teacher. I must confess that even though I was used to teaching teens, I felt really nervous and excited. I felt myself as an intruder, a stranger invading their privacy by observing their attitude, their behaviour and their English knowledges attentively. The lesson itself was truly amusing but brief since we stopped fifteen minutes earlier in order to celebrate “La Castanyada”. Anyway, it became intense and they managed to finish all te activities prepared for that day. After a short reference to the unit they were dealing with, my tutor gave them some instructions to do a new task, which consisted of identifying characters by asking a wide range of different questions regarding their physical appearance, personality, job and origin. My tutor gave me the chance of taking part in this activity by correcting their mistakes and checking if they were doing it properly. So I went around the classroom and I got in touch with the students for the first time. It was a nice experience which let me assess their knowledge about the language and their attitude as well. I could notice that it was tough work for most of them to speak English. Some pupils were a bit shy while others had difficulties in learning a language. Nevertheless, I must recognise that a small group was persistent and they tried to speak English in class. And they actually did it successfully!!

Primer contacte amb el centre

Divendres 26 d'octubre de 2007, vaig tenir la primera trobada amb la meva tutora de pràctiques del CAP: Imma Aymerich, cap del Departament d'Anglès del centre. En aquesta primera reunió, ens va explicar a grans trets el funcionament del Departament d'Anglès i també altres temes relacionats amb l'organització de cursos i grups. Així, doncs, organitzen el segon, tercer i quart d'ESO en quatre grups de caire diferent:
.- Grup A, on els alumnes són de dictamen. En d'altres paraules, són immigrants que desconeixen la nostra llengua ja que acaben d'arribar o bé parlen català amb moltes dificultats o bé són problemàitcs o bé tenen alguna discapacitat mental.
.- Grup B, on hi ha els alumnes que han suspès més de cinc assignatures.
.- Grup C i D, on els alumnes tenen un rendiment adequat.
El nombre màxim d'estudiants permès per aula és de 33. En el meu cas, faré el seguiment del curs de 3r C d'ESO, grup que consta de 28 alumnes.
Una de les coses que em va cridar l'atenció és que des de 2n d'ESO fins a Batxillerat el professor/a d'anglès proporciona als alumnes un Classroom Language Phrasebook on s'inclou una sèrie d'expressions en anglès amb la seva corresponent traducció en català que els alumnes han d'aprendre des del principi de curs i no poden pronunciar en català. És una manera de forçar els alumnes a parlar l'anglès a classe. En realitat, quan algun deixa anar alguna frase en català, el professor té l'obligació de fer-li traduir en anglès i, si aquest no se'n surt, el professor li traduirà i li farà repetir a l'alumne. És una tàctica que apliquen tots els professors d'anglès del centre.
Un altre aspecte que també tenen en compte és que donen per assumida la gramàtica de 3r i de 4t d'ESO, tot i que a classe es revisa. Donen molta importància al Writing i al Reading. Totes les redaccions es fan a classe en mitja hora, ja que es trobaven que hi havia alumnes que portaven les redaccions corregides per altres persones amb coneixements d'anglès. Els professors tenen una Guide for Correcting Writing Errors i un Error Correction Sheet per als alumnes. El professor marca l'error i un codi, i els alumnes han de modificar l'error. Aquesta és una manera de fer-los reflexionar i que aprenguin a autocorregir-se.
Els alumnes de 3r C d'ESO fan quatre hores a la setmana d'anglès, tres de les quals es fan amb tot el grup (dilluns, dijous i divendres) i una quarta (dimecres) on hi ha la meitat i es treballa fonamentalment l'Speaking.

El meu centre de pràctiques

IES Damià Campeny, Mataró.

L'institut Damià Campeny consta de cinc plantes: un soterrani, planta baixa i tres pisos. Hi ha un total de setze aules en tot el centre, un camp de bàsquet poliesportiu i un pati petit. El centre disposa d'un ascensor per a ús del professorat i per a alumnes amb disminucions físiques. Els ensenyaments impartits al centre són ESO i Batxillerat en les modalitats d'Humanitats i Ciències Socials, Ciències de la Naturalesa i Salut, i Tecnologia en règim diürn i nocturn. De fet, és l'únic centre de la comarca del Maresme on s'imparteix el Batxillerat nocturn.
L'horari dels alumnes d'ESO és de 8 a 14:30 i de 15:30 a 17:30 excepte les tardes de dimecres i divendres. Els alumnes de Batxillerat realitzen el mateix horari, excepte les tardes.
En total hi ha 740 alumnes, dels quals aproximadament hi ha 620 de diürn i la resta pertany al Batxillerat nocturn. L'alumnat de l'institut procedeix principalment del centre de Mataró i una petita part de rodalies. Es calcula que un deu per cent dels alumnes són immigrants de procedència marroquina, sudamericana i xinesa. També existeix un petit percentatge d'alumnes amb discapacitats físiques, els quals disposen d'un acompanyant subvencionat per l'AMPA.
Com a tot centre de secundària de Catalunya, té la seva funció regulada per una sèrie de documents: el PEC (Projecte Educatiu de Centre), el PCC (Projecte Curricular de Centre), l'RRI (Reglament de Règim Intern), el PAT (Projecte d'Acció Tutorial) i la normativa d'inici de curs.

Per què ara el CAP?

Quan vaig començar el CAP fa un mes i escaig, no sabia gens ni mica que em tocaria treballar tant. Algunes persones que l'havien fet anteriorment m'havien dit que no t'exigien gaire, simplement un projecte al final de les pràctiques anomenat Memòria, on es feia una valoració general de l'experiència docent en una escola de secundària pública.
Sempre havia tingut en ment treure'm aquest títol per poder exercir de professora en un institut de l'estat, però fins ara no havia tingut l'oportunitat. És ben cert que si la busques la trobes. Potser sí, però jo no l'he sabut trobar fins ara. Ja al segon any de Traducció i Interpretació, vaig trobar feina a una escola d'idiomes de Mataró, on aleshores vivia amb els meus pares. Mireu per on faria allò que sempre havia volgut: ensenyar. Hi tenia una autèntica dedicació, ja que després de passar no sé quantes hores amb diferents mitjans de transport fins arribar a l'acadèmia, impartia classe fins a les 10:30h de la nit. Resumint, cada dia arribava a casa a les tantes i a més a més m'havia de posar a fer feina per a la universitat. Em vaig passar així tres anys fins acabar la carrera. I va ser una experiència esgotadora, però també molt gratificant. Treballar em va servir per adquirir no només experiència en el món en el qual em volia dedicar professionalment, sinó que també em va aportar una sèrie de valors i em va permetre comunicar-me amb gent de totes les edats i de perfils ben diversos. Això sí, tots amb un únic objectiu: aprendre a expressar-se en anglès.
En acabar la carrera, em van oferir quedar-me indefinidament a l'acadèmia. Aleshores tenia 22 anys i tot un món per descobrir. Tanmateix, vaig acceptar i em vaig estancar. En aquell moment no vaig pensar en l'estabilitat d'un futur més segur, ja que gaudia moltíssim de la meva feina. Em sentia útil transmetent els meus coneixements als alumnes. Tant era així que van anar passant els anys i el meu objectiu principal va quedar en segon terme.
Ara les coses han canviat, són diferents. Fa tres mesos i mig, vaig tenir un nen preciós que fa que cada dia el vulgui viure amb més intensitat i il·lusió. Ha arribat l'hora de ser pràctica i continuar allò que vaig deixar anys enrera. Ara vull guanyar qualitat de vida fent el que sempre he somniat. Ha arribat l'hora de fer un cop de "CAP". Massa tard? Potser sí, però no em penedeixo del que he viscut aquests tretze darrers anys dedicats a l'ensenyament privat. Una de les coses que he après en aquest temps de docència és tenir psicologia. En moltes classes d'speaking em convertia de vegades en terapeuta: m'explicaven problemes personals i professionals que de tant en tant em posaven en situacions compromeses. En tots aquests anys he fet AMICS, amics de debó amb qui he creat uns vincles molt forts. Un munt de records que sempre tindré presents i que mai no oblidaré!!!