FIRST JOURNAL

FIRST JOURNAL

I did the presentation of the topic we were going to work for de next weeks to the students of eighth grade, they were truly interested in understanding what are we going to do.

Also I presented my partner Noryda Leon who talked to them explaining the reasons of her presence. The students welcomed her and showed interested in her role.

When I started the presentation I tried to speak all the time in English but because of their misunderstanding in what I was telling to them, I had to speak in Spanish to clarify the concepts or expressions.

Most of the time, almost all of them were interested in what was I telling. But, sometimes some of them misbehaved by not paying attention and speaking with others.

I noticed that while most of the class was attending some students bullied some classmates. Because of this situation I had to call their attention.

In a pair of occasions Noryda had to intervene to support me, by explaining or clarifying some concepts.

At the beginning I thought that I had to do so. And the most important reason was because this was going to be observed and evaluated by the advisor. Because of that I was not feeling comfortable. At this instance, Noryda decided to explain to the group the activity in Spanish. At that moment I realized that sometimes we need to use the first language to make us understood.

Through the session students watched a video about some bully situations, and after that, they answered a little questionnaire asking for their opinions about the situations presented on the video. Noryda told them that it was important they answered those questions honestly and if they didn’t feel able to answer in English, they could do it in Spanish. Some of them did it. Others asked for our help to express their ideas in English.

I felt happy because of their interest and their effort to do that. Also I allowed them to use their personal devices to translate what they were trying to express.

After that activity, I did a ppt. presentation in which I explained the concept of bulling, the types of bulling and the cycle of bulling.  I tried to use a lot of mime to support my speech in order to make me understood by the students.

All the time I promoted participation and allowed them to express their opinions and feelings.

It is sometimes frustrating that students seem not to be learning or even remembering those things that they are supposed to know. But I am not going to give up, I have to persist. Principally because through the class time, they start to show a wider understanding and to refresh their background knowledge, so, I need to transmit to them the security, the love and the importance of trying hard to understand and to develop their skills.

Finally, there was no more time to develop what we had planned, so, we agreed to continue next session.