Autobiography

Educational Autobiography

Throughout your whole life the process of learning is never stopped. I have been aware of that since I was a little child. However, there always are some things you change of your personality and way of learning as you grow older. It seems that experience usually plays an important role in this process. I have had a good education in terms of experienced professors, good public schools, and good friend all along the way. However, it does not mean I have not had issues with all these three characters in my educational life. 

I had a average educational life, I must say that my teachers at elementary and high school were skillful with the topics and subject they taught me. Regarding the learning process, I was always an educated boy. I was interested in getting good grades that show I was able to do things in my life. My teachers usually said I was good at Maths, which I did not mind. Nevertheless, it is not the same nowadays since I only remember some topics such as addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, some things about fractions... I have been bad, if not the worst, at English until my eighth grade. At that time, I think I bottomed out. I remember that grades were scaled from 1 to 10 and I failed English with 2.7. That was the time when I felt horribly bad at something. Hence, I told myself, literally: "You cannot be such a donkey at English" So I decided to start studying and strengthening my abilities at English, which, at that time, were nule. Thus, that is, I guess, the beginning of my English language teaching career.

Likewise, as I was growing up, learning all those things, I gained social experience in regards to the north American culture. Thus, I was listening to american music, reading magazines, and watching series  in order to develop my english language skills. In regards to the contexts in which knowledge is spread, basically what I could learn from all those subjects such as chemical, physic, trigonometry... I still find it useless in my life. However, some subjects such as spanish geography, maths, music left me really useful knowledge to be applied in real life.

In the sense of using those theories studied, I cannot say anything about them since I do not remember exactly about physics or religion. Nevertheless,  I can say that my teaching process and its theories have been fruitful in the educational field. Therefore, all those theories are really useful when you are a teacher trying to get the knowledge in your pupils brains. On one hand, there is the fact of being a teacher for normal people. They think that you are amazing, you know it all, you are nice all the time. Nonetheless, they forget that we are humans too. On the other hand, there is the perspective of being a teacher from a teacher's point of view. It is totally different subject matter. 

Finally, I still think there is so much I have to learn. I must say I do not want to be a teacher, but I already am. Therefore, I need to put all my effort and energy to it if I want to fulfill all the requirements this profession has. I admit that it has been an interesting journey from the first semester to now. It is an amazing work to do, ignoring all the downsides. Perhaps, I would say that the most important thing for a teacher is not to forget that you are dealing with human beings and vice versa. 

Metaphor

Metaphor



When I see the image of a pencil and tried to connect that to the educational process of learning English I found some aspects to consider. Firstly, there is the fact that those parts of the pencil can be connected to the process of education. I would start with the pencil mine. It is the one that let us write and create whatever we have in mind. Therefore, I relate that with all the theoretical part of becoming a teacher. It brings to our mind all kind of concepts in order for us to perform in the educational field as the wishful teachers. However, the pencil mine is too weak to stand by its own, so there comes the wooden part of the pencil. It helps to strengthen the pencil mine so that is not broken when it is used. Hence, I consider that part to be the practical part of being a teacher. Become a teacher by reinforcing the theory you learn and make it better every time you teach anything. As the final part, I see the eraser. What would be its relationship with education?  I would say that it is connected to reflection. Indeed, erasers helps to delete something wrong we did in the process. Somehow, reflection does not eliminate that "wrong" aspect of your teaching process. Nevertheless, it helps you not to "commit that crime" again. Thus, you learn how to improve as a teacher and learn all the time.

Journal 9

Journal 9

During this week, classes were not as normal as usual, because the weeks before this one we, students were on vacation. In fact, the day we returned classes was a Wednesday so I did not have class with Basic English ll, which is Professor John’s group. However, I did have classes with Pre-intermediate English and Basic English ll with professor Jairo. The problem was that I do not live in Neiva while I have nothing to do in the city. Therefore, I travel every time I have vacations to my hometown. That Wednesday I was expected to get the bus at seven o’clock in the morning. Likewise, I had everything ready for my two classes. Unfortunately, the driver had some kind of problem and could not solve it on time. In consequence, the bus started working on at 9:30 in the morning. Since Garzon is two hours away, I would get to Neiva around 11:30 or later, depending on the traffic jams or the driver’s speed.

I could not teach the classes I had expected on Wednesday. However, I did talk to Professor Wilson about it and told him the situation. I asked him for permission to do my intervention of my innovation plan from the practicum. He allowed me to do so on Friday. Therefore, I got my stuff all together and I was ready to roll on Friday. I went there and applied the peer evaluation I had planned for that day.

Students were willing to do so even though they had forgotten to bring their essays finished. I had told them to bring their essays before entering back to the university. In that session, what I needed them to do was to criticize a text with some criteria I had adapted from an investigation. They did so and I told them to finish it at home since most of them did not finish it at the time. In addition, I told them that have a look at the feedback their peers had given them, so that they can have a final version of the essay and, therefore, sent it to me. The deadline I told them was next class, which is going to be on July 17. I hope they do not forget it. Sometimes they forget about everything and I get frustrated.

Journal 8

Journal 8

During this week, there were almost no activities as a professor because at the beginning of the week there was an activity regarding the election of the Queen of the faculty for some cultural aspects. Therefore, the class with English two was “canceled” in terms of attendance. Additionally, I did not plan anything in advance due to the confidence I had because that week was supposed to be for tests. Consequently, with Pre-intermediate English class, I did not have the chance of teaching any lesson on Wednesday. On the contrary, I did have a lesson with Basic English ll with professor Jairo at Ileusco. I had planned for the week before a lesson plan with infinitives. Therefore, I asked the professor if that was accurate to be implemented in his class. He agreed and I taught my class that day, June 5 from 11 to noon. I had an exercise with powerpoint presentation with some grammar exercise in order to reinforce a little bit the use of the infinitives.

The class went forward smoothly because students were willing to participate. There was a reading exercise planned for the while activity and they were expected to answer some questions about a “terrific cook”. By the way, that was a fun exercise because they got a little bit confused about the meaning of terrific so, I reminded them that it has a negative meaning.

Overall, the only class I had was good, I felt comfortable with my students owing to their willingness to participate and learn every day more about English. I guess that is one of the aspects to improve and that educational institutions have nowadays, lack of motivation, is not it?

Journal 7

Journal 7

During this week, I had the chance to teach only the Basic English ll group because on Wednesday there was an advisory activity from the English Language Teaching program. Therefore, I planned some activities regarding the use of the infinitive for the class.

The class started with a grammar-focused exercise in which students had to answer some questions in a powerpoint presentation. They had to choose one of the options and identify the use of the infinitive. The exercise was pretty well developed because they knew already the rules regarding the infinitives. However, there were some students who were not aware of the functions that infinitives have, thus the exercise was helpful to remind them of the use of this grammar feature.

I taught the lesson in the way I had planned it. The only thing I would change would be the part of developing the answers for the reading exercise about a “Terrific cook” because maybe the way, in which the answers were checked was somewhat messy since some of them were talking, others were reading the answers…

The next day I did not have the chance to teach classes with the other two groups so I saved the lesson plan that I had designed for them for the next week. However, I think next week is the 10^th week of the semester, which means “Tests”.  I do not know if there is going to be class normally.

On Friday, I had the chance to do my first intervention regarding my innovation plan. I did a questionnaire regarding writing skills. My intention was to provide my mini-investigation with the rationale for my project. In that sense, students filled out a format with some questions in which they must answer with yes, no, or sometimes. Then, there were some open questions and they must write what they thought about writing, their feelings, and their strategies, among others. 

Journal 6

Journal 6

During this week, some interesting events happened regarding the classes I had already planned. Firstly, I had the class with Basic English two with Professor John Jairo. I had planned some activities regarding the comparatives. I always try to make the class interesting for students to feel good when they learn or practice, so I did the “would you rather…?” game and they all loved it. I guided the activity in order to get the expected answers I wanted. They must answer with the comparatives in order to give the reason why they chose either option. It was funny to see them all excited to play the game and the hardness of the decisions. I made sure of it. Then some reading and speaking activities took place. I felt good overall because they did what they were expected to do, report what they were asked to, and enjoyed the activities as I wanted them to do.

Regarding the other classes, with pre intermediate English I actually saved the lesson plan for the week before for this one due to the absence of class the previous week. Although the lesson plan was good, the coordinator professor told me to do something in the lab. I freaked out, like literally lost my mind because that was a different setting for me as a student teacher. Therefore, I told him that, he understood and asked me to do some outdoors activity. I agreed since that was somewhat easier for me. I planned something that was expected to last at least one hour. It was about doing some interviews in groups and some other complementary activities. However, students finished it surprisingly quickly. I again died for a moment because I had some time left of my class. I asked myself “What should I do?” Then I planned like instantly an activity regarding writing in which they must gather the information found and put it into a report text, in that case was an article. They must use the computers to do so and I saved my day. I gave them the deadline until midnight of that day. That was tough. I did not enjoy that situation really. It was stressful. In fact, I had to take some pills for headache afterwards. However, it taught me that you must be creative whether you do like it or not. Thus, being a professor is a challenge. I am not that willing to take the challenge, but since I started this path, I must assume it.  

 

With Basic English ll from professor Jairo’s group I had a difficult time too (It seems that I do not have good experiences being a teacher). I planned to do the same activities as I did with the other Basic English ll group. To my surprise, they had already done the reading exercise they were expected to do with me that day. Therefore, I turned it into a speaking exercise where they must tell their partners about the reading. Afterwards, they needed to report what their partners had told them about the reading. It was good overall since they understood and did the exercise I asked them to do.

Journal 5

Journal 5

During this week of classes, I had the opportunity to teach most of my lessons. I taught the lessons I had planned for my dear students in the courses of Basic English ll and Pre-Intermediate English. On one hand, on Tuesday, I taught the Basic English course from Professor John Jairo. It was a good lesson, my activities were easy to follow and fun to solve. They spoke English, discussed some topics, and practiced the present perfect tense. Nevertheless, I would change my prominent nervous attitude in the class. I do not know what it is about it happens unintentionally. Aside from that, I felt good in the class because Students are always willing to participate and work in order to improve their language proficiency.

On the other hand, I did not have classes on Wednesday due to some activities in Agoras. There was academic permission from administrators and coordinators. However, some students from Basic English ll were willing to have the lesson with me. I was glad I had the chance to teach them. I planned the same activities for the other Basic English ll group. They wanted to stay in the class so that made me comfortable with them. I like to be spontaneous and easy going so I always try to make a conversation with them. Therefore, we talked about different things regarding the present simple. Maybe I would change the way of concluding the topics since I perceive that they get bored and tired easily at the end of the class.

I felt good during this week because I had tutoring sessions too. The tutoring session was on Wednesday from 8 to 10 in the morning. We did some fun activities regarding listening and verbal tenses. Somehow, I felt less nervous than in the classes with the cooperators because I felt the control over the students was mine and they were there because they wanted to. Many students from Professor John Jairo’s group were there and only two students from professor Jairo’s group were there. I always try to make questions and ask them to speak. I would change the way I end classes since I feel it is weak in terms of concluding the topic.   

Journal 4

Journal 4 

In this 4^th week of the practicum process, I did not have the full chance to implement my classes since the administrative-academic event of the high-quality accreditation process was still going on, some professors did not have classes. However, I did teach a lesson with Basic English ll. 

In the first part of the class, I planned to ask some questions in order to foster communication. They had to discuss whether they consider themselves as pessimist or optimist people.

For the second activity, I planned some activities regarding the use of WILL for simple future in regards to predictions. I started my class with a video in which students were asked to predict the result of certain actions by showing their thumbs up or down saying it will be epic or fail, but most important using the WILL. For example, “He will crash” “She will fall off the bike” However, in the process of asking them to answer what they thought would happen, they did not answer in the way I wanted, which was using WILL. Therefore, I would change the way I addressed the answers when student are asked to do so. Then, they had to be in groups where they would discuss some statements I gave them. That was interesting because I had the opportunity to hear some of their possible answers to those situations.

Finally, in the last part of the session, I ask them to write the most pessimistic answer to a certain situation in a piece of paper. Then, I would find out the most pessimistic person in the classroom. That last activity was somewhat confusing at the point of finding the most pessimistic answer in the classroom since students did not have any idea how to do it. I would explain differently next time I teach the same lesson.

By the way, as an extra activity for my practicum experience at Universidad Surcolombiana, I had the opportunity of leading a speaking test for students from the Pre-Intermediate course since the professor allowed me to do so. That was interesting since I had the opportunity to experience a real speaking test from the professor’s perception. I tried the “trial and error approach” by implementing different ways of addressing the speaking part of the exam and it was interesting since students felt more confident when you only have the topics and not the rubric grading them that seems to e terrifying. That was a meaningful experience for me. By the way, the image represents how I felt during the week!

Journal 3

Journal 3

During this week, I did not have the full chance of teaching students from the English language teaching education program since there was an academic-administrative event in which some of the professors involved in the high quality accreditation process must attended. Therefore, two of the professors who are my cooperators did not have class sessions. Thus, I ended up teaching only one lesson in the Pre-intermediate English course whom professor was not part of that event.

I designed a lesson plan focused on some recommendations the professor gave me about comparatives and superlatives. In the first part of the class, I had prepared already a game with power point called “Who/What would you rather?” Students showed excitement when playing this game because the questions in there seemed to be catching or interesting for them. In this way, I liked the way they participated and I tried to emphasize the fact of using comparatives and superlatives in the fact of choosing an answer for the questions in the game. For example, “What would you rather… to be alive and unknown or to be famous after you die?” The expected answer would be “I prefer to be famous when I die because I think it’s more interesting when people remember you by the things you did while you were alive…”

In the next part, I wanted to focus on the student book because there students could find a specific exercise about superlatives since the previous one focused more on comparatives. Therefore, students gave their answers in a couple-discussion exercise. I walked around the classroom in order to listen to some of their answers and I could notice that they feel that the professor is more interested in their learning process if he or she talks to them and tries to be more in touch with them, closer, and more understandable. That is what I try always to do in my classes.

At the end of the class, I brought a writing exercise in which they must complete a short story without the ending part. I instructed them to do it in the same groups that they already were in. At the end, I wanted to see how creative they could be when imagining a crazy ending for a story.  I gave them some genres such as comedy, love, horror, etc.

I liked the class a lot since they were participative, enjoying the activities, and willing to participate. I would maybe change the way I explained the “would you rather game” and ask them to use comparatives when answering the WHY they chose either answer. 

Journal 2

Journal 2nd Week

Name: _______FRANCISCO MARTINEZ ROJAS _________________ Date: _____12/04/2019___

Write a reflection about the classes you oriented this week (bear in mind the following aspects: what you planned, what you did, and what you would do differently if you were to teach your lessons again). Give examples and descriptions of those situations that, in your view, are relevant to your learning experience.

During this week, from April the 8^th to the 12^th I had the opportunity of implementing the lesson plans I had already designed for Basic English ll and Pre-intermediate English courses.

On one hand, at the beginning, based on the observations, course syllabi, and professors’ suggestions I designed the lesson plans taking into account mostly writing activities since my innovation plan is focused on that. Firstly, I had some ideas for basic English ll in order to foster their imagination. Indeed, my lesson plan for the two courses there are for Basic English ll included an activity, which made them use their imagination in order to create a short story based on a comic without words.

At the beginning of the lesson, I must admit I was quite nervous since that was officially my first lesson at the university. I started my class at 11 o’clock in the morning, fresh, confident, and nervous (inside). My first activity was the presentation of some images in order for students to discuss details, or the story with the student next to them. Then, the main activity took place so I explained the steps and delivered the papers. They did the exercise well but I could notice that they feel a little lazy about writing. Immediately I said, “You must write instead of speaking”, they made a frowned. Nevertheless, I walked around the classroom trying to look at their ideas or questions they might had. I think that helped them because they did not feel alone during the process of creating a story. Something I was advised to and forgot was to emphasize on the use of past, which was the main concern for the class. I did not remember that, I just forgot it. Perhaps, I was so nervous that I forgot it. At the end of the class, they showed, discuss, and gave feedback to one partner’s story.

I consider that I would not do anything differently. However, I should have put emphasis on the fact that they should implement the past tense in their short stories. I did not say it because I simply forgot it.

On the other hand, regarding pre-intermediate English course, I designed a lesson plan with the topics they were working on in their normal classes. My main concern was to practice a little bit reading and writing. At the beginning of the lesson, I introduced some vocabulary related to the topic, money. They had to guess or remember the word that each image represent. Then, there was a reading exercise and they had to find the words previously presented. After they finished reading, I gave them some statements to discuss with the person next to them in order to have a little bit of speaking practice. The final exercise was to create a story based on one image I showed them.

I must say that it was a good class for me; students were organized and willing to participate. I would not change anything on the class because I think it was entertaining to be a teacher, the students were nice, and the pace was accurate, from my point of view.

In the last class with the second group of basic English ll, I implemented the same lesson plan because the topics and units they are studying are the same as the other group. This time I did emphasize in the use if the structures seen in class, which implicitly meant using the past simple and linking words.

Finally, the classes were interesting from my perspective since being a teacher is another whole world. As a student, you have the perspective of the good or bad teacher, but as a teacher, you have the task of taking into account students’ needs, learning processes, units from the book, and designs of classes. Therefore, it was a good opportunity for me to experience what being a teacher means.

         

What makes a good teacher

What makes a good teacher...



It is not only about knowing as much as you can on your subject matter, but also learning to treat your students as humans and not as sponges that are going to absorb everything you "teach"

It is also a matter of putting yourself into your students' shoes so that you can have a clearer idea of how your students perceive reality. Therefore, your are going to be able to identify learning styles, preferences, and even difficulties.

Likewise, it is also a matter of bearing difficulties all along the path of spreading knowledge to human beings. There are harmful situations, unexpected events, and unpleasant people. However, as long as you love what you do, those "obstacles" will push you ahead so that you live, grow, and gain experience. 

Journal 1

APPENDIX 3: POST OBSERVATION STUDENT

TEACHER’S SELF-EVALUATION FORM (Journal)

 

Name: ______FRANCISCO MARTINEZ_________________________ Date: ____06/04/2019__

Write a reflection about the classes you oriented this week (bear in mind the following aspects: what you planned, what you did, and what you would do differently if you were to teach your lessons again). Give examples and descriptions of those situations that, in your view, are relevant to your learning experience.

During this week I was doing observations, I noticed many factors regarding the English language teaching and learning process. Firstly, I noticed that here at the university in the English Language teaching program there are many students motivated to learn English, its features, rules, phonetics, and so on. However, they are not motivated to become teachers. Most of them, as far as I heard, want to become translators. This reminds me of somebody who did have that same feeling in his heart and still has it. I am talking about myself. Indeed, I would love to become a translator. The difference is that now I have adapted myself more to the idea of being a professor. Since this profession has a lot of advantages and, as long as you do a good job, rewarding.

Secondly, I could see the quality of the professors is excellent. Not that I have not noticed that before, but I am a different person now that I was before. Likewise, I have learned many things regarding my English language learning process, my professional formation, and personal growth. Therefore, the fact of observing professors doing their jobs with such a commitment, responsibility, and authority makes me sit down and reflect upon those theories I was taught previous semesters.

Thirdly, I noticed that the university infrastructure is not the best. In fact, some of its classrooms have enough amount of chairs neither for students nor professors. I think it is shocking since, on the one hand, everybody needs accurate conditions to learn. On the other hand, we, as students, are paying for a good quality of education and the fact of not having enough resources for it makes it difficult and at some point disappointing to learn.  

Finally, I enjoyed doing observations this week from the 29^th  of March to the 5^th of April. I would like to experience the fact of teaching to students from the ELT program since they are motivated to learn English. In addition, I am looking forward to planning and giving my ideas to my advisor in order to implement good strategies to enhance students’ learning process of a foreign language.