3rd Journal Entry

Hans Humberto Oviedo Gómez

Reflective Teaching Course

M. A. Edgar Alirio Insuasty

Neiva, September 29^th, 2015

Reflecting upon my Lesson Plan Intervention # 3

This third lesson is the last of the three sessions proposed for developing the workshop. As you know, this workshop was designed to be developed in three different but continuum sessions, moving from general concepts and vocabulary related to the topic to the possibility to perform, state positions and argue by giving supports.

Planning supports and arguments

The main goals proposed in the objectives for the third session were to state a position (agree or disagree) according to a statement given and, to assume a role to support a position in favor or against abortion by giving arguments and defending it. These objectives should be accomplished in sequence to the previous ones (last two lessons) to guarantee good and significant results in terms of reflective thinking.

Debate guidelines - Workshop

In this session, the instructions were also clear and students did what they were asked to do. There was a chance for a missing group from the previous session to perform and it did not affect the time and activities proposed for the current session. The language used was clear for the students and they were very active at participating and giving their ideas by supporting them. The activities were challenging but not difficult. They had to take a role in a debate by supporting their arguments and they did it in a good way.

At the beginning of the third session students were also shy. But in this opportunity, they faced this fact easily and broke the ice quickly. This could be seen because students were in a process in which the topic was known and they were already in contact with the vocabulary. One of the things that could be improved is the pacing of the Debate in last session. Maybe, there were some misunderstandings about what a debate is although they have the definition and instructions included on the workshop. As a consequence, I would be more specific in the role participants and leaders have in a debate in the third session. This is done to improve and enrich the debate session into a more enjoyable and challenging activity.

Debate session

The application of this workshop during these three sessions allowed me to be clear in the importance of Learning Strategies for language learning since they are, as stated by Oxford (1998), tools that foster active, self-directed involvement, which in turn is fundamental to develop communicative competence and language learning. This could be evidenced when you are being explicit about the awareness, use, application and internalization of Learning Strategies along the workshop. What I consider relevant about my intervention was the initial idea of developing content-based instruction towards controversial topics (critical thinking) by targeting the communicative skills. Although there are some things and features to improve as mentioned above, this one was a good attempt, the objectives proposed were achieved and students were involved into the activities proposed.

References

Oxford, R. (1998). Language Learning-Strategies: What every teacher should know. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.

2nd Journal Entry

Hans Humberto Oviedo Gómez

Reflective Teaching Course

M. A. Edgar Alirio Insuasty

Neiva, September 30^th, 2015

Reflecting upon my Lesson Plan Intervention # 2

As mentioned in the first journal, this workshop was designed to be developed in three different but continuum sessions, moving from general concepts and vocabulary related to the topic to the possibility to perform, state positions and argue by giving supports.

For the second session, the main goals were to analyze the causes and effects of abortion in relation to real cases and, to perform what would happen in any of the scenes given. These objectives were partially achieved. Students were working hard but unfortunately the time was not enough.

Acting out

In practice, in this second session instructions were clearer than the first session and I tried to be sure my students understood what I needed them to understand. The activities were interesting to them, they liked to perform in spite of the short time for preparing. The language used was clear for the students and they were very active at participating and giving their ideas by supporting them. The activities were challenging but not difficult.

In this opportunity, I tried to correct the things I had to improve from the previous lesson. In the second lesson the language used and the participation increased notably. Time was one of the points that affect the development of the whole class. Students did not have enough time to prepare and develop well organized scripts and there was one group missing to perform.

In this opportunity, the biggest trouble I had was related to time. What I have to improve if I teach this lesson in the future is being aware of the time and provide them with an “extra minute” to organize their performances in a proper way. Students did not have enough time to be prepared and there was one group missing. 

1st Journal Entry

Hans Humberto Oviedo Gómez

Reflective Teaching Course

M. A. Edgar Alirio Insuasty

Neiva, September 29^th, 2015

Reflecting upon my Lesson Plan Intervention # 1

Since the conception of the lesson, the idea about how to design a lesson plan by trying to achieve some patterns became a challenging task. Making emphasis in Learning Strategies throughout a workshop design was my initial concern about what I pretended to reflect in my lessons. The importance of developing materials have become a proposal in my personal interventions and practices. As stated by Nuñez and Tellez (2009), teachers should do their best to develop the most effective, appropriate and flexible materials for their students and their programs. Due to that concern, the effectiveness of materials used for English language teaching depends on how meaningful, relevant and motivating these materials are to the learners. This is done by bearing in mind learners’ needs, interests, attitudes and expectations.

This lesson is the compilation of three divided activities from a workshop designed for a Basic English II course at Universidad de la Amazonia. This first lesson reflects to some extent, the application of a workshop developed to foster content-based instruction towards controversial topics (critical thinking) by targeting the communicative skills in undergraduate students. This Abortion workshop was designed to be developed in three different but continuum sessions, moving from general concepts and vocabulary related to the topic to the possibility to perform, state positions and argue by giving supports.

The main goals proposed in the objectives for the first of the three sessions were to explore vocabulary related to abortion and, to organize ideas with the use of a mind map while reading a general concept about abortion.

In practice, the development and design of the workshop was meaningful. The topic selected was a success and students were active at participating and very creative when drawing, selecting, and presenting their mind maps in a clear way including what was required in the instructions.

I could realize that one of the main facts in the first intervention was that objectives were not as clearer as I wanted. At the beginning of the first session students were shy. This could be improved by stating a better “hook” in the anticipatory set and relating it to their prior knowledge. Although a picture was presented, students were a little bit confused about the topic. Sometimes, the language I used was not understandable for the students. I should look for other words like synonyms in order to avoid misunderstandings in the instructions.

As mentioned above, there are some aspects I have to improve if I teach this lesson in the future. First, selecting a better way to present the topic, not only by showing a picture, but also, by asking questions that led students to guess the topic. Second, trying to have more language elements available, not in the case of materials or tools, but in the case of most common expressions or vocabulary and clearer language. I have to be aware that instructions were clear and understood by students. In this sense, students do not get lost in the activities and the pacing and time will be better handled.

Vocabulary Activity

References

Nuñez, A. & Téllez, M. (2009). ELT Materials: The key to fostering effective teaching and learning settings. PROFILE Vol. 11, No. 2, 2009.

Autobiography

Hans Humberto Oviedo Gómez

Reflective Teaching Course

M. A. Edgar Alirio Insuasty

Neiva, September 30^th, 2015

My Professional Autobiography

I would like to start my writing by saying my mother and my nearest aunty are teachers. These two important people in my life have marked and shaped the conception I had about teaching and about being one of them. Since my very beginning years I was learning from excellent teachers who taught me not only knowledge, but also experiences and values. When I was around 4 years old I started my First Grade and one of the things my mother was proud about was that I was really good at reading and writing. Then when I was in Third Grade I was the best in my course and I was promoted from 3^rd to 4^th grade. The curious thing in this fast advance, was the fact that I did an English Exam to be promoted, I did it and I approved it! :) this was one of my first direct contacts with English.

Throughout the past of the years my mother and I realized the importance of taking some extra classes. But, what kind of extra activities should I have to do? Well, I learnt many things from different fields. I was attending piano, guitar and trumpet classes in terms of music. I used to do some familiar presentations and public ones in the schools where I studied. I was the musician in the family every Christmas. Regarding sports, I was also attending soccer classes and I had the opportunity to travel around the country with my team many times. I also learnt how to play chess, I was really good at this strategic game, fortunately I got a gold medal in Florencia and a bronze one in the departmental games. Meanwhile, I was also attending to different courses to improve my English. Something that marked my childhood was that my aunty Zonia was an English teacher, in vacations she used to teach all our family some basic knowledge about this interesting language. During these years in which I was a student I realized the importance of teachers, but good teachers, to determine successful learners.

Then I was moved to a private school where I finished my Elementary studies. I graduated from 11^th grade at Colegio Domingo Savio, this school was specialized in English. I remember, during the afternoons I used to go to the school with the people who had weaknesses to improved, but in my case I went to learn about more topics because I thought in the mornings English classes were not enough.

When I was 14 years old I graduated from high-school. I wanted to study in Bogota, but as I was too young my mother thought it was better for me to stay here. I studied “Licenciatura en Inglés” and “Administración de Empresas”. In 2011 I graduated from both careers and I continued with a specialization named “Especialización en Gerencia Estratégica de Mercadeo” (2012).

At the beginning I did not want to be a teacher but opportunities were coming one by one and I started to love this profession. As fast as I finished my careers I entered to work to the university, Universidad de la Amazonia, in the Idioms Center. I had the opportunity to teach Basic English Courses to university students about to graduate and who needed to have an English course certification. I started thinking about this profession seriously, I liked the way I taught and I liked the comments my students made upon my way of teaching. In this sense I started to be in the track of English Teaching rather than Business Management. Then, I started to work at some schools and finally as an English teacher for the Language Teaching Program at this university.

These experiences, since my childhood, have given me the support to say I love this profession and I want to continue working in this field. Teaching is the best way to build human beings, and that is my principal desire and proposal in my life. I want to contribute in at least a small portion of a better future for this and the coming childhoods. 

Hans' Teaching Metaphor

Hans Humberto Oviedo Gómez

Reflective Teaching Course

M. A. Edgar Alirio Insuasty

Neiva, September 19th, 2015

My Teaching Metaphor

My teaching metaphor reflects all the aspects I think I have in terms of my teaching practice. This exercise has let me reflect upon my characteristics as teacher. Regarding these characteristics I would like to mention some of them. First, I realize the importance of being sociable and friendly with my students, peers and in general, with the community I belong to. Second, I relate myself as an open-minded person, ready to learn and ready to teach. Finally, my teaching practice during these years has showed me the benefits and consequences of my experience. In this sense, I can conclude this is an ongoing process, full of opportunities to grow. Hope this metaphor increases each time in terms of the characteristics I mentioned and the ones I have to be working from now.