Reflective Teaching Journal for Virtual Tutors

Purpose: Through this reflective teaching journal I will keep a record and monitor what happened through
the lessons. Then I will self-assess my own teaching practice by analyzing, reflecting and setting an action
plan to improve my teaching performance. [Adapted from Richards, J. (1996). Reflective Teaching in Second
Language Classroom. CUP]

Student
Laura Melissa Marchan Saenz Course English III Date 02/09/2019 Week No. 1
tutor
UNIMINUTO virtual y a
Institution Cooperating virtual tutor Ximena Bahamón
distancia (UVD)

Week Reflection Questions

1 What sort of online tools and other resources will I start using to support the students’ learning process?
2 What problems on the platform did I encounter this the week? How did I deal with them?
3 How can I promote the use of L2 in a virtual environment when foreign language acquisition is the main
focus?
4 How effective was the evaluation of the project? What things can be improved regarding assessment of
learning outputs?
5 What changes should I make to my role as a virtual tutor after having received feedback on my teaching
assessment performance?
6 What other foreign language teaching approaches can be implemented in a virtual learning environment to
promote L2 acquisition?
7 How would I evaluate my performance in the videoconferences? How would I describe the performance of
the students?
8 What problems have you encountered in your role as an online language teacher? i.e. Use of different e-
learning tools to promote the practice of language skills, follow-up on special cases, learning difficulties,
being on time with your responsibilities as a tutor, etc. What solutions have you applied for the problems you
have encountered?
9 What changes should I make to my role as a virtual tutor after having received feedback on my teaching
assessment performance?
10 What aspects of a virtual tutor are useful in my development as a language teacher in the classroom?
11 What were the most effective and the least effective units of the online course?
12 What research problem would you formulate if you were to improve something on the English course you
have recently taught?

Reflective analysis and literature review

Description
(analysis of why it happened, initial ideas of
(what actually happened)
improvement + Theoretical support)
Minimum 2 authors

WEEK nº 1
What sort of online tools and other resources will I
start using to support the students’ learning
process?
There are too many technological tools that can be
used to improve and assist in the process of learning,
teaching and guiding students of virtual English.
Learning with technology has become essential today.
Technology in one way or another has always been part
of the learning of all students but it becomes an
indispensable tool and is part of the teacher's
professional toolbox in virtual courses such as English
III. Knowing how to use this tool is important for the
successful development of activities.
In the virtual classroom there are digital learning
resources that include the content of the sessions that
include the learning activities. These activities in turn
contain images, videos, texts and audios that show the
information of each activity and that support their
development.
However, having several tools available to students, I
decided to look for new ways to support the learning
process for students, since the first week was to give
them some tips to begin a good process in the field.
These resources were presented to students through
video conferences and messaging, such as: Making
slides showing them different pages and apps that they
have at their disposal to learn and investigate more
about the topics covered in each of the units. I also
gave them some programs and shows they find on
YouTube to improve their language skills.
As a tutor, I also decided to learn how to use the
Moodle in which the virtual classroom is developed in
order to provide a better explanation and better
development of student activities and projects, so when
there were doubts and questions regarding these issues
or the use of The platform I would have the knowledge
to answer them.
The technological tools are quite a lot and they have a
great variety which must be used to improve and take
advantage of them to do the right activities and learn
more about the topics covered.
Morison, Julia (2018) suggests some ways in which
technology improves education such as:
1. Digital Simulations and Models
In traditional learning it is sometimes difficult for
students to get a concept. Digital simulations and
models can help students not only better understand
various disciplines, but also get acquainted with the
wonders of the modern world.
Plus, technology has also proved to be a helping hand
for teachers who sometimes find it hard to explain
certain things within the boundaries of a physical
classroom. Tech-savvy teachers are able to prepare
their lessons in a more strategical manner by including
different types of text, activity models, and interactive
controls for students.
7. Online Groups Collaboration
The idea of group study has been improvised in the
cyber world. Now, the students don’t need to get
together physically; online collaboration platforms
make things done. There, not only students can discuss
and chat, but also share documents and notes. This
practice turns out to be a great option if you are
assigned a group project.
For example, this form is very useful for English III
students since they must develop a collaborative
project in which they make use of the different tools to
communicate and develop the work.
According to Michel and Lockyer (2013) “Student
attention and engagement with these resources helps
them to process the information into working memory.
When students meaningfully interact with the
multimedia information, they encode this information
into their long-term memory. This meaningful
interaction might involve learning activities within the
digital resource itself and/or as a lesson that is created
by the teacher.” (Pag. 9,10)
And while it is true that students are more interested in
technology because they use it every day, it is always
important to create an interest for students to use
 technology to learn and develop activities better.

For me it became a challenge to improve my skills

with technology since I did not make proper use of
them for my learning and I did not use them to teach.
Since I started the practice as a virtual tutor, I knew
that I had to acquire several skills that would help me
in my process with this practice. For this same reason I
successfully completed my practicum to the virtual
classrooms.

References (Include 2 references)

1). Morison, Julia. (2018). 8 Ways Technology Improves Education. France: eLearning Industry. Retrieved from:
https://elearningindustry.com/technology-improves-education-8-ways

2). Michelle, J. E. (2013). Tools for learning: technology and teaching strategies. Australia. Deputy Vice-
Chancellor (Academic) – Papers. University of Wollongong of Australia. Pag. 1-23