Management parameter: space

How does this management parameter empower my own teaching practicum?

I consider that space is one of the important parameters that will empower my teaching practicum in different instances. Formerly, the arrangement of the classrooms has to do with the environment the teacher wants to have in the classroom. I think that teachers` arrangement of classroom space send messages about their image of the learner and the kind of learning they intend. Moreover, the teacher has to know the way he or she is going to arrange the classroom in order to make students get involved in his or her classes.  There are many different ways in which the classroom can be arranged such as in semi-circle, in a circle, in a u form, and so on. It depends on the teacher which arrangement of the classroom works best for him or her. In my case, the arrangement of the classroom that works best for me is the semi-circle of the desks. The students are motivated because they are not really facing the teacher but all the individuals in the class so that they feel in confidence to express themselves freely. Besides, when the teacher connects the image of the active learner to the square room arrangement, the learner becomes the center. This is one of the traditional ways: When a teacher ties the empty learner image to the rectangular room arrangement, the teacher`s function is to fill the learners with knowledge. This way, in my opinion, should be avoided in our classes. Furthermore, when the teacher ties the social learner, children learn about their own feelings, the feelings of others, and the study levels and consequences of interactions. Second, I need to say that the role that each ownership plays inside the classroom is something that I will have in mind while teaching since it can better my students` feelings. I think that if I can apply all the pieces of advice that I read and learned during this mind map presentation, I will be able to better my teaching practicum as I will offer my students a better environment for learning. Finally, I can say that know certain important aspects about space is pretty important because the arrangement that the teacher gives to his or her classroom influences a lot in the environment in the classroom and of course in the students development during the learning process.

                                                                                                           

IMPLEMENTIN INSTRUCTION

HOW CAN TEACHERS IMPLEMENT EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION IN THEIR CLASSROOMS AND MAKE THEM CONDUCIVE TO MEANINGFUL LEARNING?

Teachers can implement effective instruction in their classroom and make them conductive to meaningful learning by doing the following:

• Changing the strategy they use.
•  Changing the methodology of the evaluation system.
•  Giving clear explanations.
• Creating the appropriate kind of material.
• Selecting the appropriate activities.
•  Creating activities in which every student participates actively.
•  Implementing individual work, peer work and work group.
•  Implementing strategies appropriate to the content and instructional goal.
• Explaining the homework assignments in a clear way.
• Asking students suitable questions.
• Taking into account students´ interests, ages, level of English.
• Applying basic principles to their classes.

WHY IS COMMUNICATION OF CONTENT AND SKILLS KNOWLEDGE A CHARACTERISTIC OF GOOD TEACHERS?

Well, teachers’ ability to give clear and focused explanations to students and to clarify expectations for achievement is important aspects of effective instructional delivery. That is, teachers need to express what his or her expectations. Teachers need to present to the students the units or the lessons within a well-organized set. Communication is fundamental to any profession that requires interaction among people and organization. Communication of content is also very relevant. And if teachers want to communicate content or skills, they first need to know the subject matter, and then they need to know how to share it with students in a very understandable way.

HOW ARE YOU DEALING WITH STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN YOUR OWN TEACHING PRACTICUM, AS THE AGE OF YOUR STUDENTS IS A CRITICAL ONE?

Even though the ages of my students are so critical since the majority of them is thirteen years old, I try to involve every students in the activities; that is why I choose meaningful, easy, and funny activities. Moreover, I give reward for those students who participate more in the class. Besides that, I call students in random order because in that way, they pay much attention since they do not know who is going to participate. And finally, I try to clarify all their doubts even though time is a big problem for me.

Organizing for Instruction

How do you focus on instruction?

I consider that I focused my instruction on the students` learning as the central purpose of schooling communicates an enthusiasm and dedication to learning that students reflect in their own behavior and practice. I think that teacher have to provide opportunities for the students t succeed. Moreover, I actually do not understand the point that some teachers try to let their down in their evaluations. I mean if he evaluations are so hard that most students flunk them, the teaching process does not have a good purpose instead this is showing that teachers lack of didactics principles. Indeed, my point is that if I want my students to learn, I have to provide the opportunities they need to succeed.

How do you maximize instructional time?

I maximize instructional time by creating a lesson plan for every single class. The lesson plan contains everything that is going to be developed during the whole class. Moreover, every single activity that I will develop has its own period of time. That is to say, the activities cover a limit of time in the class so that I do not abuse and surpass the time given by each one of them. For each class I give, I create an agenda before I start the class. In this way, the students can have a glimpse of what they are going to do so that they are aware of the time in the class.

How do you expect students to succeed in your classes?

 Well, I guess that every teacher in the world has high expectations for their students, and so do I.  I want my students to learn the best from each class and from the whole period I will be teaching them. Talking about high expectations, I guess I can encourage my students to learn day in and day out. Besides, encouragement plays an important role in every student’s mind. If students are encouraged, they will learn the best of every single class. However, I have to understand that students have different ways of learning and they in different rates.  That is, teachers have to realize that each student learns differently; one could be visual, another auditory and etc. So, teachers need to provide different set of materials for the students’ needs. Moreover, it is important for teachers to understand that each every student learns in different rate than another; this does not mean that some students do not learn because they do learn if the teacher does a great performance. Finally, I can say that all the points I mentioned before involve my criteria about how I expect my students to learn.

How do you plan and prepare for instruction?

 Well, I always plan and prepare by creating my lesson plan in which I take into account the students’ needs    in the subject. The point is that I take into account the students ‘abilities, strengths and also weaknesses as well as their interest level. Knowing all these characteristics, I try to do a well-prepared lesson plan in which I perform activities with my students that I am pretty sure that I can fulfill all their needs so that they can learn.

Do you make last-minutes changes when things are not working? Based on what premises, have you made such changes? Did they work? What needs to be done to better your instruction?

Sometimes, I make changes when the activities I have prepared are not working as I expected them to work, and I realize that when students do not want to do the activities or when the activities are giving them a hard time. Moreover, I always have a plan B when these situations happen, and actually when I change the activities, they really work, and I can notice it in my students` behavior. In fact, to have a plan B for each class I give is the thing that I need to better my instruction. 

Classroom Management and Organization

Well, classroom management is a sort of important characteristic or technique that effective teachers must have or apply.  It is important to emphasize that by means of classroom management effective teacher are just not teachers who know how to support students learning  through instructional techniques, strong curricular, material, and rapport with the class. The effective teachers must create an overall environment conductive to learning. This supportive learning environment requires that teachers practice skills in the classroom organization and management; it also requires consistency in behavioral expectations and responses.

By knowing and applying all of this, I think I am able to empower in a great deal my classroom management. Right now, I guess that I am like in middle of classroom management completeness because in my first class, I started talking to my students about the respect that was going to be required in the classroom, and I also talked about the responsibility I had with them; moreover, I started creating a good rapport among themselves and among them and me. Fortunately, the students are really nice, and they understood what my point was.

To get further through my classroom management, I am looking forward to helping my students develop their language skills by means of my classroom management. The lesson plan and materials I use, for example, are construct in a way that allows students to practice and at the same time improve their language skills. So I can say that the lesson plan is one of my strategies to guide my students to a great performance, and materials which also are really important contribute in a great deal to it.

My classroom management until now is quite of organized; however, I prepare a plan “B” for every class I teach just in case something does not work as I expect. As a conclusion, I can say that this really helps and empowers my performance because it has shown me the way that things in my teaching should be done.

teaching

Well, I would like to say teaching is an amazing experience that makes me grow not only as a future teacher but also as a person.  I am really glad to be teaching 9^th grade because the students are really nice and intelligent. Moreover, their teacher, my tutor or professor, is a great person, and she always gives instruction and makes the students aware about their own learning in an EFL environment. However, there is a thing that I do not like at all which is that students just use the target language in a 30% of the time in class. The teacher speaks in Spanish almost all the time, but it is important to clarify that students do not understand the teacher when speaking English. Though students are taught in Spanish almost all the time, they are really interesting in the target language. the enthusiasm they have is stunning, and they are willing to learn English.