MDD 1

Standard

CONTEXTUAL FACTORS

Author: Carolina Rebolledo M.

Teacher: Mara Gabriela Sanhueza

Task 1
1.-
Lesson Title: English as a Foreign Language
Grade levels: 7th grade and 3rd grade secondary
Institution: Instituto de Humanidades Alfredo Silva Santiago
City: Concepcin
Address: Colo-Colo #24
Mentor Teacher: Mariana Palma

The aim of this institution is to preserve the concepts related to the religious beliefs
of this school related to the Catholic church in the students, which are perceived as
something very valuable at the moment to educate them and introduce values that
may help them to become better persons. One of the main activities that can be
seen within these beliefs are attending regularly to the school chapel and
participating in various activities that promotes the application of the power of the
faith in the school environment.
As a student-teacher I must adapt myself to these methods and contribute in the
giving of these values, participate in activities of the school and provide help to my
guiding teacher and the community in general.

This is an institution in which all students count with their own room and enough
equipment for a more updated way of learning, such as a projector. Apart from the
classrooms, English teachers count with an exclusive classroom to work on English
tasks with the students and also an equipped computer lab which is available to vary
in activities and develop all the competences that the students need.

In a lesson teacher uses most of the time visual aids and devices inside the
classroom, such as a laptop and projector to support her lessons. Depending on the
grade teacher uses other kind of resources such as sticks and a ball to promote
engagement in younger students.
In overall, the classroom environment is good because students are willing to work
when they are required to do it, and in general terms as this is a bilingual school
students tend to manage the ideal level of English for their stage.
There is a total of 900 students approximately and 30 to 35 students per class.
(Unisex school). It can be found students from preschool to primary and secondary
levels, most of them born in Chile and immersed in a religious environment (Catholic
school).
The great majority of the students are capable to participate in all the lessons, and
for students who need more assistance and observations regarding their
behaviorism or other needs, the school count with a special department to give them
psycho pedagogical support.

Most of the lessons are being taught in English, because it was implemented only a
few years ago a new program that consists in convert the institution in a bilingual
school. Therefore, students have to fulfill certain requirements to start a new unit,
which are the expected knowledge for it and being able by the end of that unit to
produce and apply all these knowledge in spoken and written forms at most.
Speaking in English during the lessons and outside the classroom encourage
students to apply what has been taught in class and really accomplish the main aims
of the school, which is demonstrating to become a bilingual school.
The school also counts with extracurricular activities, such as pre-sports, dancing,
football for males and females, volleyball, ping-pong and basketball. (Instituto de
Humanidades Alfredo Silva Santiago, 2017)

Task 2 - Characteristics of the students

The students I have been observing during the last weeks are from 7th and 3rd
grade secondary respectively. Most of these students were born between the years
1999 and 2004. There are approximately 30 to 34 students per class and
predominantly females inside the classroom. Therefore, students demonstrate the
intended level of English for their stage. As a manner to test and demonstrate these
facts, my guiding teacher applied a diagnostic test to set a kick start for the contents
they need to review during the semester and set the goals they need to accomplish.
Students are capable to follow a conversation and instructions in English given by
the teacher. Hence, students are capable to express opinions about contemporary
topics and the ones of the unit.
Additionally, students behaviour is acceptable and they respect the teacher and
classmates as they should. Their attitudes towards the classes create an
environment suitable for learning and accomplish the goals of the subject and
school.

All these facts will affect my lessons in the following manners:

a) Use of all classroom resources available:

As the school is well equipped and students count with the economical resources to
follow all the activities that might be done, as a teacher I have to take advantage of
these possibilities and provide activities suitable for their context, level of English and
accurate with the technological updates we got nowadays to get a more enjoyable
and interesting lesson. As teachers we also must adapt our manners of teaching
regarding the context of the entire institution community. According to this, Cumann
(2007) argues that teachers can be able use a wide range of stimulating and exciting
materials to teach the concepts outlined in the curriculum in order to ensure that
students are actively involved in their learning.

b) Promoting values according to the school aims:

As this is a Catholic school, teachers are required to fulfill all the activities regarding
this religious belief. This means that apart from planning my own lessons and in case
I have to apply my lesson plans in the first module of the morning (8 am), I must
encourage the students to thank God for a new day and give them the space for
praying for themselves or their beloved ones.
 Reflexion
According to what has been observed during the last three weeks of practicum I can
state that this is not a context and place to underestimate. The challenges here are
big, because as an English teacher I must accomplish all the goals set by the school.
Students have a great level of English, the environment for teaching is suitable and
for that reason this is a great chance to work harder and make the students current
level of English something bigger and massive.

There are still some other aspects apart from teaching that I should learn and
observe carefully, which are the roles of the head teacher, the importance of the
classbook for the institution which contains essential information about the students,
and get to know my students better in terms of their names, behaviorism, strength
and weaknesses in the learning processes, etc.

Finally, this is not only an opportunity for improving my teaching skills, but also to
improve my social skills and being able to interact in a respectful and accurate way
outside and inside the institution, because the behaviorism that teachers have may
affect our students in some way. Hence, it is important to create self awareness
about this situation to grow as a professional and person.

References

- Cumann, E. (2007). Approaches to teaching & learning. INTO Consultative

Conference on Education. p.11.

- Instituto de Humanidades Alfredo Silva Santiago Concepcin. Misin y Visin.

Retrieved from: http://www.ihcass.cl/web/?page_id=13 29th. March, 2017.