Reflexiones Portafolio

Reflexiones Portafolio

Laura Marcela López Guerrero

Profesora Magda Hernandez

Práctica Profesional II

Universidad del Quindío

Armenia, Quindío

Noviembre15 de 2013

My capsule of

moments:

Teaching.

“In learning you will teach, and

in teaching you will learn.”

My first day of class

“First time” It sounds a bit scary right? I was nervousbecause it was my first time teaching teenagers even though Iknew I was ready, I was still somewhat scared. I do not knowwhy because when I walked into the classroom, it all feltdifferent. You never imagine how your first day of class willturn out to be; but after studying all of the things you haveto do to get there and start, you are just way too excited toapply all of the things you have learnt during ninesemesters, almost five years of hard work. There are manythings to say from my first experience in the classroom.First, I realized that you plan a lot of things but therewill always be things that come up in that moment that youhad not planned, even if it is just a comment or attitude inthe students there will always be something new for you but Idiscovered that this events are part of the class becausethey are going to allow us as teachers to learn a whole lotmore, so the best thing I got from it was “Continue andpretend it is on the lesson plan”. I mean anyway working withteenagers it is just different to working with kids, theylose focus in one second and they are going throughbiological changes and this has effects on the whole dynamicof the class so the key to the success of the class it is tofind a way to call their attention and to make them feelcomfortable and interested in what you are saying, and thisis when lesson plan becomes so important because you have tobe prepared, they are teenagers, actually if you planned 2activities, be ready and have a plan B because in a classroom

this is definitely likely to happen. One thing that I learntis that we can get easily frustrated, but I mean this is allto improve, to get better results and to put all our loveinto this process because it is a beautiful process in whichyou are enriching not only your knowledge but your heart.Think positive, it is only the beginning of a process, andyou will eventually lose the fear, after all, you are takingcare of other people and giving them knowledge and of courseit is not easy at all, but if you do it with love you willlearn a lot of things.

Laura Marcela López Guerrero, August 19th

“Teacher!”

The second class was the perfect opportunity to

have some more interaction with the students, making them

feel comfortable around me and in this way getting to know

each of them a little bit better. After having, let’s call it

a “successful” first class, I decided all of the things that

needed improvements because I want my class to keep on

getting better. I have this entire bunch of expectations and

I really wanted for the class to turn out great so I decided

to have a group activity. It is so amazing when you know that

things are getting better, that there are positive results,

the students were talking, and this is not only good for them

but for me also. I was so happy to know that they actually

trusted me, that their attention was on me and that they were

interested on the activity. They also knew that I was in

charge of the class, best feeling ever for a teacher,

successful results and nice environment in the classroom. I

was finally doing what I love, teaching, and I was enjoying

it so much, teaching is such a satisfactory thing to do but

for you to be successful you have to be perseverant and

patient. “Teacher” they call me now, and it feels so good,

they trust me, they respect me and they love what they are

doing, this are the best things you can get from teaching.

This second class in both of the classrooms also thought me

that the students are looking for identity, and that at this

stage of life they need support, different things to do and

to talk about; finding out all of this stuff will help me as

a teacher to build effective activities for them so that they

do not get bored at all.

Laura Marcela López Guerrero, August 29th

Classroom together!

The third week of classes was pretty big for me; I

confirmed this strong bond I had already built with my

students, that great connection. I started getting involved

with each one of them as much as possible, it is not only

about teaching them the two hours and that is it, it is more

about being there for them, making them feel together. As you

mold a group, you will notice how after they trust you they

start seeing you as kind of their role model and you need to

take advantage of that because it means that they respect you

and that they put all of their hopes in you. To keep up with

creating this bond prepare cool stuff for them, exciting

activities, make the classes fun and interesting. You will

definitely know when you had impact on them because it is

notorious and they will let you know through the way they

act, they will actually let you know what they want and how

they would like to learn it. I believe that the relationship

between student and teacher needs to get strong with time,

you need to know what they want or how they feel in

particular moments of the class, all of this is imperative

because you need to get interested in their lives because

that all has to do with the class. There are many things they

love to do as teenagers and you can take advantage of it,

activities like, songs, games, movement routines will power

up the flow of the class and will encourage them to work as a

whole, as a classroom together. After this week, it was time

for me to think about how my process of teaching was going,

and I realized that I was getting better at teaching with the

help of my students and that is how I felt this sense of

belonging to my class, belonging to this teaching process I

am loving so much.

Laura Marcela López Guerrero, September 5th

All from me, all from you

Next week was finally here, it is funny how time

really flies but there is no frustration of inhibition

anymore from part of the students or me, we are just going

with the flow of the class together. I felt so confident this

last week. I now feel like I know what I am doing and it

makes me so happy to know that every class it is a piece of

knowledge for me, I feel like I am continuously learning from

them, it is an ongoing process of learning between them and

me. I know that to reach my goal in teaching them the topics

chosen, it takes a lot from me, so I am giving my best for

them to go further and I am very happy to say, they are. I

decided to let them know that I had been their age too. So

what did we do, we had an activity in which we all got

together, we all paid attention, we all raised our hands and

we all participated, how fun right? I can say it was

successful because they learnt a lot, and they were able to

do so many things with the activity that I had not even

thought about, that is the amazing thing of working with

teenagers; they show you their perspective of so many

different things. Now I know what they like, and I am

definitely going to take time to strengthen these aspects

that they love, writing, creating, getting together,

speaking, so many different things to do with them that now I

feel like the class is not even enough for me and when they

start saying “The class finished so fast” I know that they

feel the same way. After this whole class, I realized how

full of will I am to teach this guys, to reach big goals with

them and to help them in this stage of their lives, let

yourself not only be a teacher but a guide.


Time for Assessment!

So this was actually the first time I evaluated the

groups, also my first time evaluating because I have had

primary students before but did not have to evaluate them. I

wanted to prepare an exam in which the students were going to

be comfortable about what they were writing and sure about

their answers. There is no point in writing a completely

difficult exam and then making all of your students reprove

it, there is also not a point in writing a very easy exam.

So, I was very meticulous when preparing it because I wanted

them to be able to show their knowledge about the topics and

off course do good. In the exam I think they did well, some

of them had questions and some of them did not. When I graded

them I realized that the one that have been showing a good

process did very good, and I was so proud, and some of the

ones that had not been working so good, they surprised me too

because they showed me their real abilities. Grades turn

important because they kind of measure if the process of

teaching and learning was successful, but I have learnt that

it is really important to pay attention to the entire process

because sometimes the exam results do not mean that the ones

who failed are bad. I have had enough time to get to know

each of my students, and I have also understood how different

each one of them is. They all have different ways of

learning, different interests and different ways of showing

me that they are interested in learning. I feel very lucky to

be able to teach these guys, but also very lucky because I

get the chance to feel so proud about them and what they have

reached with this classes. All I can say is keep u with the

good work!

Laura Marcela López Guerrero, September 18th.

Here for each other

My main goal now is to motivate the students to

keep learning and to keep enjoying languages. After having

been together for some classes now, we are partners, we talk

to each other and we appreciate our company to each other.

The students finally know and understand that learning does

not have to be so schematic and “boring” as they call it

sometimes, they learnt how to study but how to have fun at

the same time, we laugh, we share, we participate , we have

lots of fun but we also learn. I realized that your students

also start appreciating all of your effort, and although

sometimes they do not understand this at the beginning, they

take their time to know you and then they really get how much

you put of yourself to make the class successful. Thus, I

learnt that every class has to be different in interesting

ways, so this week I decided that I did not wanted to have a

typical class, we were going to have an amusing class, a

class in which we would learn from our experiences and indeed

we did. Studying synonyms and antonyms fun and the guys

enjoyed it because we are studying them in a nice way, they

were sharing so nicely that I was just so happy to see them,

I was surprised of how interested they were in learning this

because usually sometimes they tend to get dispersed when a

new topic but when I saw them working after I explained the

topic and the exercises we were going to start, I was just

blown away. This taught me that you have to learn how to call

their attention so that the classroom does not become a mess.

In my case, with every class, I feel more and more attached

to these growing humans with such strong personalities, they

just brighten up the day with their witty and their hunger

for knowledge.


This is a beautiful ride!

I am not tired of saying it and I probably will never be, I

love these students! They have not only enriched my teaching

experience, they have made me a better person in so many

other different aspects, and they have taught me that we can

give unconditional love and care to others without expecting

anything back. I feel so proud of what they have done, they

have learnt so many things, now that we are studying Modals,

and they have been having fun with these, talking about

different situations of daily life and dreams that they might

have. I am really enjoying teaching this topic because there

are diverse ways of teaching and so many different topics to

add to it, and that is exactly why I have taken my time with

this topic, to do so many different things. For the first

time, I started reading to them, and they enjoyed it, we

actually enjoyed because we were interacting all together. I

showed them videos, we learnt about different accents from

people all over the world. At the end of the classes this

week, I just knew that my mission had been effectively

accomplished, the exercises worked out completely okay. Now I

can say that you need to be aware of the things that your

students enjoy doing, plan activities that are completely

different to what they are used to doing because that will

allow them to experience and explore so many different new

things. I now start thinking that I am running out of time

with these amazing guides I met and I just do not want it to

be over.

Laura Marcela López Guerrero, October 24th

I don’t want to say goodbye!

This was one of the last 2 weeks of class, who would have

thought that time would go so fast. We have been studying

modals topic and I just could not stop thinking that it was

one of the last topics I was going to teach, so I just pushed

myself to make the class amazing, I had images, music, songs

and amazing activities for them. These last classes are like

evaluation day for me, because I noticed how much they had

learnt, they were talking openly, participating, they were

just showing all of the things and proving that they had

learnt. I also realized that I had learnt how to handle

discipline because I mean the classroom is not always perfect

but they were very focused on what we were doing. As I could

not stop thinking that this was one of the most amazing

experiences of my entire life, and of how much I am going to

miss them. They became such an important part of my life that

I would never forget my first amazing groups, we learnt

together how to support each other and be there with a smile

to make the days better. I think that this experience is

going to change my perspectives for life, seeing the world

through the teacher lenses is completely different to the

normal, they have a different views of everything, they know

how to help you see with this lens and change your world.

Teaching is amazing, I do not regret one single thing, not

even when they would get disorganized, or every break we

spent together, and all of these little moments are making my

last semester amazing.

Laura Marcela López Guerrero, October 30th

English day, yay!

The school and teachers had planned some activities for the

kids, so I decided to go be with them and we had a lot of

fun, it was very funny because now that they trust me so

much, we just want to stay together. The teachers told me

that they are always counting the days for English class, and

I realized I am just the same. While being in these

activities with the students I realized that I have gotten so

attached to them, and I also understood all of the many

different things that they have taught me. People sometimes

say, being a teacher is easy, but now that I did it, I give

all of my respect to the teachers all over the world, being

the guide to these spirits and souls is not an easy thing,

because being a teacher is not only about teaching an

specific topic, being a teacher is about helping a person

also grow in heart, in values and help them be integral.

These activities were very interesting because we learnt in a

collective way, we played sports and group games and they

were just so excited to do it. This games also helped me

understand that we work as a family, and they are like seeds

that you are going to see grow. After having had a lot of

motivation maybe some ups and downs because I felt confused

at the beginning, I realized that I am made for this, and

this is one of the things that has had bigger satisfactory

results because they really trust me, and they taught me that

I can do so many things, they helped me be a better human

being. I cannot believe is almost over, saying goodbye is

going to be very hard.

Being together is…

We had been planning this day activities for some time, I

wanted my students to have fun but I also wanted to have

meaningful activities that would have an effect on them.

First I wanted them to remember that we are learning English

and that we love it, but without forgetting that we can have

fun too. We got together and decided what to do, it was so

beautiful to see all of them collaborating and deciding how

to do it and what to do, which topic to choose and how to

decorate the classroom and stands, they understood that the

school’s activities are to take advantage of them, they

decided that they wanted to pick a city and its most

important features including its society and I was not going

to stop them from doing it, with bursts of creativity they

chose a whole bunch of characteristics and important matters

of London. I could not believe it; they had so much fun and

they were so eager to present and show all of the things they

had done and practiced. we played music and we sang all

along, we danced, we played and we supported the rest of the

school’s students. I enjoyed a lot seeing them so happy, I

felt that it is really about to be over, but they did not let

me get sad, and with those big smiles and sparkly eyes we

kept on having fun. These 80 students really changed my life

in every aspect, I really know now that being a teacher

cannot be described in simple words.

A week away from the end…

I never imagined that I would get so attached to these guys,

I find hard to believe that next week will be the last time

that I am going to teach them. The time of these last months

truly flew out of my hands, all of the things I got to teach

them and I cannot help but feel like time maybe is never

enough. I feel very happy in the sense that last class they

wanted me to realized that they have learnt so much and that

they took advantage of every second, even though they are

kind of scared about the final exam, they made sure that all

of their doubts were clear; they asked questions and they

expressed everything they did not understood, this was very

useful for them and for me because I know which aspects need

to be strengthened in the activities I had proposed because

they can be so much more improved. I cannot really picture

goodbye, I even tell myself that I made a somewhat important

part of their lives, and I also like to think that they will

grow as integral people to become what they dream of being

and what I dream of them being too. This last class I want

them to have fun and to analyze what we learnt but taking it

more into the chemistry of us as an entire group, I want to

help them understand that they are all the same type of souls

and that we are all the same. I am really going to miss my

students; they opened up my world to so many new things and

perspectives that sometimes how do not even know to react. I

know I will have to change my lens again, but I know they all

will start exploring new lens to and they are going to see

how amazing the world is. I really love you guys, keep the

good work up.

Laura Marcela López Guerrero, November 6th

Mixed feelings

So the day of saying goodbye arrived, I do not even know if I

feel happy or sad about it. I know the students are very

happy about finally going on vacation, I mean, I am too but I

seriously find hard to think that I might not see them

anymore. We got to spend amazing moments together; in both of

the groups I created amazing bonds with each one of the guys;

UI actually did not think that I was going to feel so

attached to them because I always thought that high schools

students were so much more complex than primary school kids,

in this sense, I learnt that you cannot judge a book by its

cover because even if all of the are going through such a

conflicting and confusing stage of their lives in which they

are looking for identity, they made me feel like I made part

of their marvelous worlds, they each showed me their own

dimension of a whole bunch of different aspects that I had

never confronted. I can only say now that I thank each one of

my students for the things they thought me, and I am proud to

say I think I won a small spot on their hearts, maybe a small

one but I did. This life is about experiencing so much more

and teaching is the perfect way of opening your eyes to so

much more because it is an ongoing process of sharing

feelings, thoughts and opinions about mostly anything.

Teaching these two grades gave me the chance of improving my

knowledge about so many other things, about my activities, my

practices, the things a need to improve, the bonds inside the

classroom, so many things that I know I will never, ever

forget.

La Teacher loves you guys.

Laura Marcela López Guerrero, November 12th

A final Reflection…

With a changed heart and mind I can say that in every process

or experience we will always have a bunch of feelings and

reflections at the end of them, we would start an emotional

facet that brought us change and enrichment. We understand

that such experiences are going to take us to better places

because we are continuously learning, we never stop and if we

do, we are dead. That is why my pedagogical practice in high

school level, one of the best experiences I have ever had and

one of the things that taught me the most, I have a lot of

different things to say and reflect about because it changed

me. It is imperative for me to say that it was essential for

me because this was the glance of a whole new chapter of my

life, especially of my career, because I put into practice

all of the things that I had been studying. I wish I had had

more time to spend with my big stars, my students, because I

know that I would have continued to improve and to learn more

about them. In teaching, there are some bad things that

sometimes you go through, but the good things are so much

more, with each class, you learn the way the students behave

and act, the good things that you have done and the things

you need to change. That very moment you see them practicing

what you taught them, the feeling of satisfaction is just

amazing, you know that you have their attention and that all

of your effort was all worth it. People that have not taught,

they can never understand what it really is until they do it,

these practiced showed me what it really is like.

I can now give some suggestions to people that are planning

to star their practice. First, be prepared, do not take your

students for granted, they will always change the path of the

class. Learn how to call their attention; you do not want

them to lose focus because that will make your class so much

harder. Try your best to help them, trust in you, show them

that they can and that you with them are a team.

All in all, my teaching practice was amazing, I would not

change any moment of it, I learned a lot form the kids but

also from myself; even if it was hard at the beginning the

results are just too amazing. This practice opens up a whole

new world for you when talking about education, let it be

meaningful to you. Finally, I would like to say that I love

my students and that I am going to miss them like crazy, they

managed to change all of my perspectives and all I can do is

thank them, this journey was amazing.

Laura Marcela López, November 14th 2014

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