Second Journal

Following Rules.

This second week was neither rough not easy. I completed successfully all my duties and I did not let my motivation to go down due to the couple of constrains. I am very happy because I can notice that most of students are taking into account the rules that I tried to construct with the students help. Nevertheless there are a couple of students who do not like following rules, and try to confront the teacher arguing that they do not know any English.

The environment where I work on varies a lot. I teach English to two different groups. One group is conformed by learners from unprivileged areas of Campoalegre and Neiva. Students from this first group are very attentive. They show motivation in every activity I carry out with them. Since they are very young, I try to provide them with dynamic activities that actively involve them. The Students from this group are very privileged since it is just three months since they do not study the English language, and they have good basic commands in the language. These students are characterized for being kind, open minded, active and respectful. There are some situations where the teacher is trying to give some explanation or instruction, and if there is someone making noises or talking out of their turns, the rest of the class ask him to be respectful and the remain quiet. I have noticed that sometimes students start to stand up from their chairs to talk and bother to others. They have those type of conducts just when they feel that they already know the topic and when students finish their tasks. I think it is paramount to keep them busy paying attention to the teacher, participating in any activity or helping the teacher to finish a task.

On the second hand, the other group that I work with is conformed by learners who are a little bit older. Unlike the first group, the students from the second group are from unprivileged areas of Neiva city. They come from different social realities. It has passed at least 1 or 3 years since their last learning experience. I try to be very comprehensive, and I implement didactic and basic activities in order for them to find it easy to understand every topic covered. Moreover, I speak slowly and I make good use of gestures and body language to give a clear message in the native language.

Sometimes, students ask me to slow down on my speech and they ask me to explain twice a topic. I really appreciate that students do it, because it is the best way how I confirm that they are paying close attention to the explanation, and that they are willing to learn and to enrich their communicative skill. I think that it is better to start using some techniques in order for me to get all the students attention. Some of them are very distractive when they think I am not looking at them. I will try to involve every students in the activities to catch all their attention. Additionally, I will deliver some responsibilities to the students who finish first. It would work if I want them to be busy. Otherwise, they start to walk around the classroom and they will be another reason why students get distracted.