Coping with stage fright

Being confident is one of the essential characteristic a teacher must have.
It is really important to be confident because is a key to success and can improve the interaction with our students.
Body language says a lot when we are teaching, so we need to think in our posture, enter to the classroom with our heads up, back straight and walk safely will give us an air of confidence.

Also we need to be prepared, this includes anticipating the challenges we might found in the classroom while managing our students, or potential situations that could arise and how we might deal with them.

As well, teachers need to know that we are not perfects, and we need to set that clear to our students, we all can make mistakes, and we all are here to learn,so we can turn a negative into a positive, and this will help us not only to build confidence but also will really improve our practice to don't fear criticism, and use it to strengthen our strength. 

It is really important to take time and reflect what we are, why we are like that and what we want to share with others, so we can pull out the positives. This will really help to overcome negative self perception and recognize our strengths in the classroom.

 Hence by recognizing this strengths  and celebrating them we will build a sense of self worth and belief, that will lead us to the key of success, confidence.

Materials

Material are one of the most important preparatives to each lesson. The importance of them is that they can be use to motivate student, and keep them active and focus on what they are asked to do.

While preparing materials, there are some aspects we need to take into consideration, specially if we are dealing with children. This aspects are:  

• Materials.
• Color.
• Size.
• Creativity.

When I talk about materials and creativity, its because we can create our own material with some recycling thing we have at home, such as: plastic bottles, cans, socks, wood, cartoon, etc. Hence, at the end they are cheaper, they are unique and catchy for our students.

The size of the material should depend on what we are going to use, but they need to be big enough so student wont force their eyes to see what is in there, and as a teacher says “ The bigger, the best”. And that is why, color take an importan role, because the more colorful they are the better is for the children.

Some material we can create and adapt them to our own teaching are:

• Flashcards

• Modeling clay.

• Puppets.

• Music Instruments.

• Spinning wheel.

• Flip card.

Beside materials is important to considerate some grouping techniques because this is one way to give the opportunity to improve their cooperative learning. There are many techniques that we can apply, as a random technique or  we can adapt our lesson and incorporate it in a way to group our students, for example: if we are teaching colors, we can have a box that will contain different color papers and students will have to take one, and look for the partner that have the same color. Or we can divide an image into two parts and they will have to look for the partner that complete the image.

The importance of having catchy and unique materials is that it will motivate students, and keep them active, focus and interested on what they are asked to do.

Speaking activities.

Speaking is the way that we show how we think, how we organize our thoughts and ideas, also while speaking is a way in which we can process information an remember it.

Vygotsky (1962) sugested that thinking develops into words in a number of phrases, moving from imaging to inner speech to inner speaking to speech. This means that  talking is the representation of our thinking. And that is why a class should be filled with talk.

But we need to remember that, in order for students to talk, they must be motivated to speak. Because sometimes at this age, the learners aren't motivated by the language, so we as teacher need to motivate them by an activity that shows them they are part of the class an they are all learning.

Some activities that were presented were:

• The broken telephone.

• The hot chair.

• The interactive activity with puppets.

• The guessing game.

• The flying balloon.

One of the most important things I learned during workshops is that we need to give clear and concise instructions, if our students are beginner in the language that would be helpful for them to understand what they need to do, and in order for us as teachers they have understand what to do, there are some appropriate phrases such as: “Is it clear?”,  “Is there any question?” or  if students are in a more advance level we should say: “ Did I make myself clear?”.

It is really important to make our students feel confortable and make them feel integrated in the activities, and we are going to achieve that if we motivate our students with our activities, so we need to take into consideration the materials we are going to use, the size, the color, the purpose, specially with kids.

Song and chants.

While teaching kids, catchy rhythms of songs and chants are very important, specially if you want to keep kids motivated and interesting on learning.

But, what is a song and a chant?, well, its pretty simple, a song  is a short metrical composition intended or adapted for singing, and a chant is  simple vocabulary spoken over a background of music or rhythm, and they are based on a model of repetition and learned response.

 Example of song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e54m6XOpRgU


Example of chant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiJ8tlsmA7w

In order to choose any song or any chant to teach, is very important to take into consideration the age, the stage, and the purpose of the song.

To integrate  any song or any chant in a lesson is really important to have clear the objective of the lesson and the purpose of the song or chant; for example to include a song or a chant as a warm up, we can included iic we have already taught a topic and look for a song that contain that vocabulary or simple we can look up for a catchy song to break the ice. But also, they can be included in a during stage, so students get familiar with the topic and the vocabulary in a catchy, interesting and funny way.

As teachers, is really important that we think in the best ways to help our students, and the benefits of using any activity. With songs and chants we can help our learner to become familiar with the pronunciation, intonation and stress of words, that means that we are not only developing speaking skill, but also listening skill. It also help us as teacher, so we cant get closer to our students an provide them  a relaxed, active and motivating learning atmosphere.

Catchy rhythms of songs and chants are very importan, so we can encourage our  students to get familiar with that language and expose them to the real pronunciation and intonation of words. So, as teacher, we need to be able to adapt any song or chant with an specific purpose to accomplish our objective of the lesson.

Learning disabilities and difficulty.

How important is for teacher to learn how to handle and how to identify learning disabilities and disorders. It is really importan because in the teaching field there might be students with this problems, and teachers needs to get familiar with it.

So, we can start knowing that learning disabilities and disorders are not problems with intelligence, or motivation, it’s not a matter of being lazy, because in fact, most are just as smart as everyone else. It is just that their brains are wired differently, and this differences are the ones that affects how they receive, process, and acquired information.

Learning disorder or difficulty is like and obstacle, are this problems that can affect child brain’s ability to receive, process, analyze or store information. While, Learning disability is something that incapacitates, is a significant lifelong condition that starts before adulthood, it not only affects the way a person learns new things but will also find hard to understand new information and cope independently.

Teachers are not the ones that determine if a child has a learning disability, instead they need help from a doctor or phycologist to diagnose what type of disability the kid has. But, it is really important that teacher spent as many time as they can with this students so they can be a facilitator to help to improve, accept and manage their disability.

Also is important to  be aware of some signals that can be a hint to identify if our student deals with a learning disability or disorder,  some signals can be: the level of hyperactivity, -get distracted with objects, impatience, changing topic suddenly.

Most common type of learning difficulty:

• Dyslexia: which affects the process of reading, writing, spelling, and speaking.
• Dyscalculia: which affects the understanding of time, money, and math.
• Dyspraxia: which has to be with hand-eye coordination and balance.

Most common type of learning disability:

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): troubles with making friends, communicating or making eye contact.
• Down Syndrome:  affects memory, concentration, problem solving, and understanding consequences of their actions.
• Spina Bfida: affect language processing and the ability to read or solve problems.

It is really important  for us, as teachers, to learn how to handle and identify and get familiar with  this leaning disabilities and disorders, due to this students needs more attention and more time in order to overcome and accept  their differences.

Lesson Plans.

Plannings are the most important and convenient way that will keep teachers organized and on track while teaching. It is also a way to ensure that our educational objectives are achieved.

My experience while planning began when i thought about how would I like my students to approach their learning, what would I like my students to do, what would I like them to understand, know or be able to do at the end of the lesson. I realized that  as teachers it is really important to consider the effects of our teaching and activities on our students' learning. At the end of the process of planning I realized that  it help me as a teacher to be more organized and give a sense of direction, so it will help me to be more confident while delivering the lesson.


Being teacher might  not be seen as the brilliant job, but being teacher for me is one of the most rewarding and inspiring job.

Don Bosco University

Teaching  Practicum I “Teaching English to Young Learners.”

Teacher: Karen Vanessa Aguilar Rodriguez. Date: August 24th, 2015

Topic: It’s my birthday party!.

Objective: At the end of this lesson. SWBAT ask and answer the question “ how old are you?”, by saying the number from 0-15.

Target Skill: Listening, Reading.  Planning Framework: PDP

Students number: 20  Age: 9 - 11  Time: 60 minutes.

Time	Stage	Activities/Procedure	Details.
5 Min.	Warm-up.	Sharks are coming. (Game) T: Sharks are coming, sharks are coming.. S: how many? T: Five. or any number. S: ( get in groups of the number that the teacher says, or in this case show in the flash card.) -Students will be asked to get in groups of an specific number in order to introduce the number.	Aim of the activity: To introduce the numbers. Materials: Flash cards with numbers. Type of learner: V, A, K. Interaction: T-S
10 Min.	Pre- Listening.	-Ss will listen a song “How old are you?” twice while the teacher show the numbers according to the song using pictures and projecting the lyrics in the whiteboard. eg. The song says: How old are you?, how old are you? and the answer is  “7 years old” the teacher will show the same number.	Aim of the activity: To introduce the question “How old are you?” with the numbers. Materials:  -Flash cards with numbers. -Flyer with the question “How old are you?.” -CD Player. -Projector. - Whiteboard.  Type of learner: V, A, K, V. Interaction: T-S.
15 min.	During Listening	-Lottery Game: Students will work in trios while they fill up a lottery game. T will pick up a picture, say the name and show it to the group. This lottery game is going to contain numbers.	Aim of the activity: Reinforce. Materials:  -Lottery number cards. Type of learner: V, A, K, V. Interaction: S-S.
15 min.	During Listening	Replay the song: How old are you? -Ss will work in pairs, student A is going to sing how old are you? and student B is going to answer but this time they will  say their real age. Eg. Marcos sings “How old are you?” and Ana answer “I’m 9 years old”	Aim of the activity: Reinforce. Materials:  -CD player. -Projector. -Whiteboard. Type of learner: V, A, K, V. Interaction: S-S.
10 Min.	Post Listening	Get information. Students will walk around the classroom, and ask 3 different classmates the age by using the question How old are you?. After that, students will share with the classmates and the teacher, the ages of their classmates.	Aim of the activity: Put in practice the question and the numbers. Materials:  - Type of learner: V, A, K, V. Interaction: S-S, T,S.
5 Min.	Wrap up	Reflecting. Students will have the opportunity to share what they liked  or to clarify any doubt about the class.	Aim of the activity: Share and clarify doubts Materials:  -. Type of learner: A,V. Interaction: T,S.

Don Bosco University

Teaching  Practicum I “Teaching English to Young Learners.”

Teacher: Karen Vanessa Aguilar Rodriguez. Date: August 29th, 2015

Topic: It’s my birthday party!.

Objective: At the end of this lesson. SWBAT write and name number from 0-15. 

Target Skill: Vocabulary, writing (spelling). Planning Framework: PPP

Students number: 20  Age: 9 - 11  Time: 60 minutes.

Time	Stage	Activities/Procedure	Details.
5 minutes	Warm up	Hot Potato. (Game) Students will be arrange in a circle. Then a song will be played, so they can play hot potato, the person who gets the ball one the song is stopped would have to wrap up the first layer of the ball. Each layer will contain a number, but the classroom will be decorated with the spelling of the number from 0 to 15.Hence, the student will have to match the number with the correct spelling and paste it on the board.	Aim of the activity: To introduce the spelling of the numbers. Materials: ball made with paper with numbers in each page, sheet of paper, white board, masking tape, CDplayer. Type of learner: V, A, K. Interaction: T-S,
15 minutes	Presentation.	Students will be presented a power point presentation, that will contain numbers from 0 to 15, their correct spelling, and their pronunctiation.	Aim of the activity: To identify and recognize how numbers are written. Materials: white board, computer, powerpoint presentation, projector. Type of learner: V, A, K. Interaction: T-S
20     minutes	Practice	Students will be divided into four group, name each team. Students will be given a set of pieces of papers and organize them to form the correct spelling of an specific number.Once a team find out the correct spelling, they will be asked to paste it on the boar. Finally The team that finish first will win the game.	Aim of the activity: To identify how numbers are written. Materials: white board, pieces of paper, masking tape Type of learner: V, K. Interaction: T-S, S-S
20    minutes	Production	Students will get in pair  and  will be given a piece of paper whit a box that will contain numbers, and also they will be given the question “How old are you?”. Each couple of students will have to create a 5 lines paragraph, in which they will be asked to write a short conversation using the question, and the answer of it, with the correct spelling of the numbers. Once they are finish, students will be ask to  share their conversation in front of the class.	Aim of the activity: To write the numbers with the correct spelling in a real life conversation. Materials: Piece of paper. Type of learner: V, A, K. Interaction: T- S, S-S