2. Task 1:
My practicum at Liceo de Niñas de Concepción from August to December was
great. When I first started I was very excited to meet everyone and to put into practice
what I had learnt in the past five years of study. I also remember being really nervous
given that I did not feel prepared to assume the responsibility of teaching every single
day during an entire semester. It was after a few weeks at school that I not only
confirmed I was happy with my decision to be an English teacher but also that I was
ready to be one and wanted to do my best for my students.
To begin with, I now know by experience what it is to be a teacher in Chile, with
its pros and cons. I learnt that teachers have to deal not only with planning, marks,
TICS, materials and everything that we were taught at university but much more than
that. I learnt that a good teacher needs to be organised, funny, engaging, have a good
sense of humour and more importantly, effective classroom management techniques;
elements that will help teachers establish a good rapport with their students and
therefore facilitate their job. Ultimately and according to my experience at this
particular school, sometimes a teacher needs to be a counsellor, a friend, and act as a
parent with their students.
I also learnt that classes can be tremendously different between one another and
even though students are the same genre and age it does not mean they are similar.
Actually, students do not like it when teachers compare one class with another and a
teacher should be really careful with that. Luckily, I never verbalised my surprise when
I noticed both of my 11th grade classes were so different from each other, but it was an
important aspect to have in mind when planning my lessons. Even though both classes
were expected to learn the same, they ended up learning through different ways and at
their own pace.
3. I have also learnt to be more confident. At the beginning of the semester I was
constantly asking my guide teacher whether my ideas were right or wrong and asking
my students if they understood or not. I was terribly insecure about my performance and
I thought my students were not learning at all until I overheard one of them stating quite
the opposite. Truth is I did not feel a proper teacher by that time and it took me a few
weeks of my guide teacher constant support to realise I was doing a good job. Another
example of when I became more confident was when we organised the Spelling Bee
contest. I was able to show different skills that my guide teacher did not know I had,
and in the end not only the English teachers congratulated me but also different
members of the school as well. Thanks to that, now I know I need to believe in myself
and trust on my instincts more often because as they told me I demonstrated to be very
dedicated and committed.
On a more interpersonal level, I believe also learnt a lot during these past few
months. I met so many teachers at school and I believe I have learnt a bit from each one
of them. One of the history teachers for instance, is very passionate about what he does
and is always trying to make things better at school. He participates in every single
activity the school organises. I admire his work because he is very dedicated and puts a
lot of effort in everything he does, and it can be seen his students appreciate that. Even
though he is not my guide teacher I have learnt that some students do appreciate their
teacher’s effort and therefore I have been doing the same thing with my students.
I had the opportunity to talk with teachers about the Chilean educational system
and how everything has changed in the last decade, with special attent ion to the
school’s reality. We also talked about their experiences at different schools, even
though most of them have worked for more than 2 decades in Liceo de Niñas, and
believe I learnt a lot from their experiences and the advices they constantly gave me.
Miss Yolanda and I have had many conversations about this and many other topics and
I have learnt valuable lessons from her experience as well. In general, I like the fact we
4. can all have a chat about random stuff in our break time because that creates a nice
atmosphere for all teachers during the day.
Even though this experience has taught me a lot about my teaching skills and
about myself in general, I still need to improve some aspects in order to be a better
teacher. One of the aspects I need to keep on working is timing. Timing has always
been an issue for me since I was a child, but I have started to take it more seriously in
the past few months. This is why I need to be more aware of time when I am teaching
and need to constantly check how much time is left in order to complete the activities
on time. Luckily, in the future, I will establish time more precisely than I did in this
practicum and I will not struggle with this problem anymore.
I also believe I need to improve my classroom management skills since I
consider they have an immense impact on the overall learning process of my students. I
had to use many techniques with one of my classes given that they had massive
behaviour issues with every single teacher at school, and even though they thought
everything was ridiculous at the beginning of the semester they eventually learnt how to
behave in class. I cannot say they were perfectly behaved but we all managed to have a
proper class. Due to all of these reasons I believe if I have an established routine with
my students, my lessons will flow smoothly.
In conclusion, I can honestly say I had a very good experience as a student
teacher in Liceo de Niñas de Concepción. I believe I learnt many new things, on both a
professional and personal level. Aspects which I had not considered to be part of my
learning process before and I hope to continue learning in order to be a great teacher
because even though is really hard work I it is what I love doing.
Camila Cuevas Araneda.
