BELIEFS

1. ENGLISH: 

I think that English like any other language is a means to communicate a message and construct social interaction with other human beings. Nevertheless, considering the demands of globalization, “English has become the world’s most widely foreign language” Richards and Rodgers (1986). 

Moreover, it is the most taught foreign language in Colombia. Under those circumstances, through new research English has become a tool to reflect upon topics related to the learning context, such as social issues and culture. Furthermore, I believe English is as beautiful as my native language that has helped me to be open-minded and meet wonderful people worldwide.

Finally I think every language is different and has its own enchantment, although English is an easy language, is popular and used everywhere, has captivated me and teachers around.

2. LEARNING:

1.       In my opinion, learning is accomplished when there is a real purpose to use the knowledge obtained from theory and practice. Coupled with, social interaction and experience are evidence of the application from that learning. As Fagan (2008) states “learning occurs through social interaction with others within specific contexts and communities”.

Additionally, learning is an ongoing process that passes through different stages that are embellished along with self-motivation, commitment and values.

3. TEACHING:

 Teaching is a dynamic process that involves a set of strategies to support, guide and facilitate learning. Besides, it is constructed by training, experience, and ethics. Hence, Knowledge is broadened and enriched by real and constant practice.

4. LANGUAGE TEACHING:

1.       Language teaching involves own and other cultures, as well as providing information about people and lifestyles, which encourage learners to be more open-minded to differences and similarities. 

      Furthermore, through language teaching, both teachers and students have the chance to reflect upon their social context, believes and values. This not only requires experience but also creativity, guidance, support, and the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

      Language teaching is continuous and evolves all the time, for this reason teachers need to be aware of changes through action research. As a result strategies and new methods emerge to uphold the language learning.

JOURNALS

Journal 1

August 05 2015

San Antonio School

8^th grade

The class started at 1:00 pm. Despite I knew the classroom did not have electricity and I asked the librarian to make my class in the library previously, I had to rush in order to set the classroom because she came late. I had already proved the devices but there was one single thing I did not take into account, I needed an (extension cable), because the one that was there did not work in that moment. I was very worried in spite of the fact I had a second plan, but I wanted to do something different with my new students. Fortunately, one of them was so skillful that took the cable and fixed it immediately. Due to this, I realized my students were talented, collaborative and smart people who are able to solve problem in and out of the classroom.

When I began the class, I attempted to speak in English but my students got shocked. They told me they had never heard a teacher communicating with them in that foreign language. Because the other teacher taught them only grammar. I told them to not worry about that because the learning of a foreign language was a process. Therefore, I made a deal with them, sometimes I spoke in English and when it was necessary I spoke in Spanish. Besides, I had already taught them some expressions for interacting in the classroom such as “how do you say/can I borrow/what’s up/how are you doing/ awesome/great etc. so I asked them to use them all the time.

In brief, students seemed to be enthusiastic and willing to learn new things. To begin with, my purpose for that class was to make my students identify and describe two places: the city and the country. As they live in a rural area, I wanted to know their beliefs and thoughts about each one of these places. In fact, some students tended to use the vocabulary learned in the previous class and others still were afraid of using the target language. 

Next, I told them we were going to play a game but they had to work in groups and I assigned the people for each team. At the beginning they did not like the idea to be separated from their friends but I think they enjoyed with their new partners.

The game was based on charades, where one student per group by turns was in charge to communicate with body gestures a comparison between the city and the countryside. And the others had to guess the words in English. Besides, I raised their motivation by giving them some extra points. After all, I was impressed that 20 minutes later they learned new vocabulary and started using it.

All in all, this was a nice class, my students and I had fun, nonetheless, there are many things we need to improve and as a teacher, I have to do my best in order to change negative attitudes and behaviors towards learning this beautiful language.

Journal 2

October 15^th

^{San Antonio School}

8th  grade

After some classes where the students learnt how to compare people, things, animals and places, I decided to challenge my students to create a debate. Of course, I did not want to traumatize them with the idea to be graded but I encouraged them to record them and then show them how good they looked speaking in a foreign language. Accordingly, I used some exercises to increase their confidence when talking.

First, I split the group in a half. Each group was in charge of reflecting about the advantages and disadvantages of living in the countryside and the city. Therefore, they had to discuss and take notes of their opinions and ideas. My role was to guide, scaffold and support the students in the pronunciation of the words.

When I was observing the students I realized some of them participated more than others, they were leaders and provided many positive things in the group. In fact, they cooperated and supported other students with lower levels. I also noticed there were students who expressed frustration because they did not understand what they had to do.  They said they were not in previous classes, therefore they did not know how to express their ideas in the target language. So, I talked to them and tried to explain but there were many questions and I needed to pay attention to the whole class. Hence, I told them to ask the leaders meanwhile I was assisting the other group.

The debate started, everyone was ashamed because they were not confident with the pronunciation of some words. So, I asked one of the leaders to begin and the debate began having flow. Some minutes later, the debate was repetitive, thus I encouraged students to defend their ideas. Nevertheless, they felt more motivated when I told them I was going to give them more points if they did it with passion. Everyone was active and their participation was fruitful.

If I had the opportunity to repeat this class, I would talk to the students who missed the previous classes and give them a kind of tutorial before the debate. Moreover, I would use other tools to exemplify a debate such as videos of other students in other schools. I think this would motivate more my students without getting used to gaining extra points for a grade. 

Journal 3

March 18^th 2016

San Antonio School

6^th grade

The class started at 10 am. The previous class I asked my students to work in a circle because the classroom was too small for them and for me, so there was not room to move or do activities such as playing a video, or play a game. The next day, when I was going to get into the classroom all the students arranged the chairs in a circle by themselves. So I was surprised they took that decision, but at the same time was happy because it seemed they felt more comfortable studying in such way. Therefore in such moment I decided to keep working in that way.

Well, at the beginning of the class, one of my students asked me if she could help me with the attendance list, as I saw her with great enthusiasm, I allowed her to do it. I noticed she felt she had the control of the class and imitated certain words I used to say when I did it.  It was funny but also it was fantastic to see my students are taking active roles in the classroom.

Sixth graders are very noisy and talkative, that is why, I prepared a song called “baby shark” to catch their attention and manage the class since the beginning of the class. Assuming that they did not know the words of the song, I taught it with gestures, so that any word was written on the board or notebook. My students told me I was a clown and had a lot of fun indeed. They imitated the same gestures and understood the message correctly.

Afterward, I told my students the main purpose of the class and the activities we were going to follow. As well as the challenges they had to tackle, they had to use the foreign language to talk about the activities that were part of their daily routine. In fact, most of the students were afraid of failing, nevertheless there were some of them who were willing to learn from their mistakes.

When I saw my students ‘attitudes, I told them I understood it was not easy due to the lack of chances they had to interact in English, but also I mentioned it was not impossible and that I was not a “punisher” but I would provide guide and support in their learning. With attention to that, I decided to show as an example my routine, hence, I modeled a way to tell a routine with gestures as well. Later, I asked my students if they had understood but most of them answer “so, so”. Due to this, I changed the example with one of my students, she told her routine with my help.

 In that moment another student became the translator of the class. I liked it because I knew he understood everything but also I was concerned because the other students were quiet. So, I told Sebastian these words: “Sebastian, te felicito porque sé que eres muy listo y entiendes casi todo, pero no crees que le estás haciendo el trabajo a los demás? No se lo dejemos tan fácil, no crees? He answered: uy si profe es verdad. Despite he agreed with me, sometimes he could not bear being calmed and translated again to his partners. He saw some of my gestures and he understood I needed his help.

After that, I asked the students to communicate their daily routines but in a creative way. Thus, I displayed some options such as an explanation through a drawing, a song, a guessing game, a role play, in a written form etc. I thought it was a good start to work with different learning styles. Moreover students were excited and eager to learn.

During that exercise, I noticed that students who chose music, changed their mind because they believed it was too challenging for them, therefore, I said to not worry about that and proposed other ways that could fit their learning style and preferences.

Unfortunately, the time was over and we could not finish the exercise, so the students were committed to show their works next class. Finally, when I was leaving the classroom, Sebastian gave a note that said: “teacher, you are the more pretty and the more intelligent, good teacher, thank you”

In that moment I felt grateful and proud of my job, Sebastian told me he had looked up the words in the dictionary and tried to write the message in English. Accordingly, he felt proud too. It was truly nice to receive those words from a student. Definitely, that note made my day!

Journal 4

September 20^th 2016

San Antonio School

Tenth grade

The class started at 10 am. When I got into the classroom, most of the students were doing their math homework. I greeted them with a lot of enthusiasm, so I caught their attention and kept their homework away. Then, I told them about the objectives and the activities planned for this class.

Most of the tenth graders are characterized as “lazy or uncommitted” but I hoped to obtain their active participation in class.

First of all, I wanted to activate their background knowledge through a guessing game. In the plan it was supposed to be done in the classroom, but when I realized the school basketball court was empty, I decided to work with the students there. They showed interest and were keen to carry out the activity in English. Personally, I love charades, so they had to work in groups to guess some words related to the topic they learned the previous class, “habits and life styles”. All of them participated and when I asked them to go back to the classroom, they expressed their disagreement but I told them I needed the white board to explain part of the topic, and I promised to do more activities out of the classroom.

 When we were in the classroom I taught them how to express their preferences in terms of music, sports and hobbies as well as how to ask questions to get that information from others. After that brief explanation, I said “without practice no knowledge” So it’s time to use this!

Consequently, I called the next activity “cycling dates”.  Students had 4 minutes to interview and be interviewed by one of the classmates. When they heard an alarm they had to switch partners or “dates”. At the beginning of this exercise for some students it was difficult because they had never been told how to pronounce in English, and some questions were not clear for them. But when they switched turns and continue interviewing other classmates, they learnt the pronunciation, and the questions and answers where more fluid.

Some minutes later, I realized when students are motivated they are capable and eager to do many things in order to learn this foreign language. For this reason I passed to listen to them and felt the necessity to reward then with some extra positive points. Of course, they felt more committed and earnest in English class.

At the end of the class, student said they felt satisfied because they practiced and used the things they were taught in theory. With this in mind, I think this was a nice experience for the enhancement of my professional and personal development.

REFLECTION

   


1. What do you usually do as a teacher? With what kind of rationale?

Teaching a foreign language is an ongoing process which is guided by the implementation of an approach or method. However it is not easy to choose the appropriate one, because it has to address the context of teaching and learning. For that reason, I use different strategies to endeavor the improvement of the real use of this target language. 

Eventually, working with pedagogical tasks has been one of the most striking teaching strategies I have used in my classes because they convey cooperative learning, active participation, and creativity. Besides, I like when my students analyze and propose new ways to see things. 

Therefore, I allow discussions of varied topics in class. Above all, topics that express controversy and inspire students to speak such as cheaters, obesity, drinking age, endangered animals and so on. I also like to work with small projects, and do different activities such as singing songs, playing role plays, playing games and so on, nonetheless I’m still seeking my own way of teaching.

    2.  What is your mind engagement like in the professional exercise of teaching?

I think teaching is a marvelous means of helping people which more than challenges it provides chances to learn and develop skills to grow personally and professionally. Therefore, during my teaching practice I have noticed that being a teacher requires not only the implementation of theoretical foundations but the necessity to acquire skills as an action researcher who reflects upon the problems that for years persist in class and claim to be unveiled to attain the progress and development of students’ target language learning.

In brief, I feel totally engaged in the professional exercise of teaching because the more experience I have the more perceptive I become in terms of my students’ background, learning styles, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, interests and the most important thing, how and what they need to learn for real life with specific purposes.

     3.  How would you characterize your professional, personal and experiential knowledge of teaching?

In terms of professional knowledge of teaching I have to say I feel gratified because God has given me the chance to learn new things from competent, admirable and exemplary people when I was studying in the undergraduate program at Universidad Surcolombiana, as well as the Master I’m doing now in the same University. 

Nevertheless, I have not fulfilled my knowledge because I consider learning is an ongoing process that needs to be updated every day of life. With regard to personal knowledge of teaching, this has become part of my life and has bolstered me to disclose certain skills and enhanced some qualities such as making decisions, guiding and becoming a model for people around me. 

Eventually, experience has built important essential principles and beliefs on my teaching practice, which have helped me not only to tackle problematic situations during the classes but gaining strengths and skills.

4. How do you see the relationship between theory, research and practice?

Research is more meaningful when it comes from your daily practice. Because the teacher is the only one who knows the real problems and necessities displayed in the classroom. 

However to support our assumptions and ideas it is decisive to rely upon theoretical foundations and also seek other studies related to our teaching and learning context and situations. Due to its valuable contribution in the pathway of solving issues and answering questions. Henceforth, I believe theory, research and practice are absolutely connected because one depends on the other to succeed.

    5. To what extent is there a cause-effect relationship between teaching and learning?

In my opinion, not every moment requires conventional training and not everyone learns from a permanent instruction from a teacher. Coupled with, sometimes we learn from experiences that affect or influence our ways of thinking and behaving. Moreover, we are responsible of our own learning. 

Nevertheless, teaching offers a better understanding and complement of the knowledge we acquire from practice and experience, and certainly it provides feedback, guidance and of course part of motivation. Given these points, I think both terms are important but there is not necessarily must have a strong cause-effect relationship, but they can complement each other.

MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY

MY  EXPERIENCE AND DEVELOPMENT AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHER

Noryda León Cordoba

When I started my adolescence, I was very curious about the English language. Its phonetics, the culture and people around it. Although my first English teacher was authoritarian, frightening, boring and I used to receive translation classes, English was my favorite class. I had what I needed, my “parents’ support”.  My dad used to give me the cds, posters, videos and photos of my favorite singers. Therefore, I used to learn vocabulary every day. Hence, I just needed an opportunity to interact, communicate and share my knowledge with others.

When I began my secondary studies at La Normal Superior School, everybody told me if I studied there I had to become a teacher. Of course, I did not want to be forced to do it, so I usually said I would never be a teacher. 

In tenth grade there was a new English teacher. So I was really enthusiastic about learning from this person. This was the first time I enjoyed an English class indeed.

This teacher decided to interact with the students in English and made us use it for real purposes. He was well-prepared and had a lot of fun with us. Thus, I admired my English teacher and wanted to be like him.

As time went by, the school taught me the real beauty of this profession. There I learnt about the social, academic and ethical commitment involved in it. Later, in eleventh grade I met another interesting person that showed me awesome things about being a teacher. She was a student-teacher from Universidad Surcolombiana, her name is Leidy Diana and now we are colleagues and classmates at the Master English Program of Universidad Surcolombiana. Leidy was very creative, friendly and responsible in every class. So when I had doubts or questions about this career I tended to talk to her.

Consequently, when I entered the English Undergraduate Program of Universidad Surcolombiana, I was convinced I wanted to be a teacher. There, I realized I was a talented person who could contribute in the improvement of the English teaching in my context.

Nevertheless, I had many fears and did not want to fail, so I decided to travel to U.S.A and deal with a new culture and people. There I was sure I was going to learn to have control of the situations and make decisions quickly. As a result, as a camp counselor I learned to be more creative, caring, adaptable, determined, engaging, joyful and have a good group manage. So, when I started my teaching practicum, I was not afraid of failing but I wished to learn and improve my skills as an English teacher.

I got my first job as an English teacher when I was in eighth semester of my career. I was only nineteen years old and my boss asked me if I was able to teach people older than me. I thought it was a new experience because I had never taught to adults, so I said yes. At the beginning I felt nervous and I was afraid of being rejected by my students. 

However, I thank God for having given me this wonderful opportunity to learn from myself and these amazing people. They were engineers, doctors, psychologists, undergraduate students, retired people etc. I have to say I really enjoyed teaching them because they were open-minded, joyful, fun and willing to do whatever to learn such as playing games, singing songs, making role plays and so on. Therefore, this experience has enriched my professional development.

As soon as I graduated, my second job was in Garzon, Huila. There I had to teach English to all the students from the school because the other teacher quit. Although I sometimes felt worn out because of the schedule, I learned from my students every day. I attempted to use the methods I learned in my University, but later I understood I could modify or change the methodologies according to the learning context.

After some other jobs, in 2010 I got a job in a public school, which has been remarkable in my teaching practice. There I met marvelous students and teachers who helped me comprehend the community was important in the process of teaching and learning. This allowed me to recognize it was time to start a research on social issues that affect positively or negatively in the English learning.

Now, I’m working in another public school, and let me tell you I have learnt a lot during these three months, due to the challenges that appear every day. Such challenges have encouraged me to review my teaching practice, my values, my beliefs and my knowledge. As well as, the search of new ways to transform and innovate in my teaching field. Therefore, I would like to leave a footprint and contribute for the improvement of this teaching learning context.

Finally, I’m studying a Master degree and feel very proud of being in the process of becoming a real researcher. I know I still need to learn more about this beautiful area but I am sure if I do my best I can grow as a researcher teacher and reflective practitioner.

MY TEACHING METAPHOR

Different methods or approaches have enriched the foreign and second language field and have helped teachers understand the teaching and learning processes in and out of classes.  Consequently, some teachers feel comfortable by following one single method which most of the time do not “match” with the learning context and as a result they become possible Passive Technicians.

Nevertheless, I have decided to apply different approaches according to the learning situations. As well as the adjustment or modification of others. That is why I tend to be creative and open-minded to tackle the classroom reality.

The first thing I feel is necessary when teaching English is “Humor”. Since the first moment you get into the classroom till the last second of class. Of course we are human beings and sometimes we are not in the mood. However, I consider this strategy must be applied as many times as you can. I have noticed students are more connected to the class when I apply humor in the explanations of the topic, when I give examples, start a speaking, reading or writing exercise. As a consequence, the class environment changes and the teaching and learning process improve.

Second, I like student-centered classes, because I love when my students are active and participate to enrich the class. I do not want my students to be passive and quiet. I do not want “Good pets” that imitate or please their “owners”. Therefore, I consider my students must be people that are able to analyze, reflect and propose in their Efl learning process.

Norton (1997) suggests that “a language serves to express perceptions of the world; that it is through language that values, desires and knowledge are conveyed”. This means, l2 learners must have the opportunity to reflect on their social environment and have spaces to build their own identities and ideologies that endorse the improvement of their target language using it in real life.

Hence, my third pillar is to teach English as a foreign language for a real purpose. So that I wish my students could express their feelings and interact socially using the target language. In this way, students have opportunities to reflect on their community problems and necessities as Fagan (2008) asserts “learning occurs through social interaction with others within specific contexts and communities”.  I’m aware of the difficulties for obtaining quick outcomes, but this is a process where we as teachers must be patient and persistent.

Fourth, my class must be surrounded by moral principles. Values such as respect, responsibility, love, cooperation and honesty are practiced in every single class. As Johnston (2003) claims “Language teaching and learning are shot through with values, and that language teaching is a profoundly value-laden activity” (p4). My students will never receive a bad treatment and I hope to receive the same treatment. This is helpful because I have a better classroom management and atmosphere.

Fifth, I like to listen to my students and attempt to support them when they have any problem. I try to advise them but correct them as well.

Finally, I try to put in my students shoes, so that I spend time thinking about their interests and necessities to make them enjoy the English class. Therefore, I use strategies such as rearranging the class setting, playing games, singing modern songs, using technology and so on.

I know I’m a good teacher and love my profession but I still need to change and improve my reflection on my teaching practice. Thus I’m starting my way to excellence!

Reflection and Innovation on Teaching and Learning