Spanish lesson for Gina

VERB TO BE --- SER / ESTAR


SER



ESTAR





In this first lesson you have to:

1. Pay attention to the conjugation of the verb ser and estar (Subject/verb).

2. Identify the main uses of Ser.

3. Identify the main uses of Estar.

4. Recognize when you use Ser and when Estar.

5. Try to create some sentences where you apply this.

Run ons, Comma splice.... my own mistakes!! I'm not perfect!!

First of all I have to admit i'm really bad at punctuation!!!!

As future teachers we should know some important principles.

As future teachers, we should know some important principles.

because many times the language is taught in an isolated way, they learn grammar and vocabulary without a real context, they do not use it in their daily lifes so they do no see the purpose of studying it.

because many times the language is taught in an isolated way. They learn grammar and vocabulary without a real context, and they do not use it in their daily lifes, so they do no see the purpose of studying it.

I think it is important to relate English with other subjects such as biology, maths, etc. or subjects of interest for them.

I think it is important to relate English with other subjects, such as biology, maths, etc. or subjects of interest for them.

involve students in social interaction so that they not only learn to read and write in English but also use the language to communicate ideas, it is important they can work in pairs or groups so they engage in solving problems and negotiation of meaning

involve students in social interaction, so that they not only learn to read and write in English but also use the language to communicate ideas. It is important that they can work in pairs or groups, so they engage in solving problems and negotiation of meaning.

It is important that they know we trust them because they can perceive when teachers do not think they are capable and this lead to unmotivation

It is important that they know we trust them, because they can perceive when teachers do not think they are capable, and this lead to unmotivation

Key Principles: Teaching Language through Content, Teaching through Social Interaction and Faith in the Learner

As future teachers we should know some important principles. The first one is teaching language though content, it is important that students have a real purpose for learning English, specially in a context like Chile, where English is taught as a foreign language, because many times the language is taught in an isolated way, they learn grammar and vocabulary without a real context, they do not use it in their daily lifes so they do no see the purpose of studying it. I think it is important to relate English with other subjects such as biology, maths, etc. or subjects of interest for them.

Another important thing is to involve students in social interaction so that they not only learn to read and write in English but also use the language to communicate ideas, it is important they can work in pairs or groups so they engage in solving problems and negotiation of meaning to understant each other.

Apart from this, it is also important to have high expectations and faith in the learaners, to give each of them the opportunity to learn, even if it implies looking for different strategies for them to understand. It is important that they know we trust them because they can perceive when teachers do not think they are capable and this lead to unmotivation.

As a future teacher I will try to use all the things I have learn here, I will try to make interactive, entertaining and interesting classes, like Gina's classes. Teaching through content so that they can use the language, working in groups, making projects, giving them feedback to improve, etc.

Chapter 6: Learning Take Place in Social Interacction.

Question nº4:

How could you know if a classroom you were observing REALLY contained social interaction? Create a list of factors that we can look for when we visit classes.


The class should have purposeful activities, ideally written down on the board.

The class should link English with other interesting subjects for students.

The teacher should engage students in simulation and replication activities, or at least in one of them.

The class should not be focussed just on grammatical competence (usage) but also on the correct "use" of the language.

The students must be able to apply the knowledge they acquire in the class when negotiating meaning in real and authentic situations.

The teacher should give the students a chance of having some minutes of the class for talking freely about their previous day, and then the teacher could assess their students by asking them a report of what they talked.

Ironic

Dear Alanis,

My name is Paulina and I am from Chile. First of all I must say I really like your music but the reason of this letter is to pint out an interesting fact I just realized in one of my classes. I paid attention to the lyrics of one of your most famous songs, Ironic, and in spite of the fact I think it is a really good song I also think you don't have a good understanding of the concept of Irony Isn't it ironic... don't you think? From my understanding, there are 3 modern types of irony: Verbal Irony is a difference between what the speaker says and what he means, the second type is Dramatic, a difference between what the character nad the audience know, finally we have situational irony which is the difference between what someone mean to happen and what actualy happen so as you can see your song doesn't fit in any of this categories, this doesn't mean it is not a good song, on the contrary I really like it, I just wanted to point out the irony of this fact.

I hope my opinion doesn't bother you

Looking forward to hearing from you

Pau

Content-based activity

Subject: Comparative use

Activity: First interview your grandparents or parents and ask them to tell you how life used to be when they were young. Then compare what they have told you with your own life experience.

What are the differences and similarities?? use comparatives to write a report.

Pasco High School Visit

This week we went to Pasco.

The first day we went to visit the elementary school, they had a reception where they told us a little more about the school and the way it worked, we entered different classrooms to see how teaching looked like, the thing that i liked most was that children were taught in their first language so that when they are ready they can start having classes in English, we visited Russian and Spanish classrooms.

The second day we went to Pasco High School, there the director told us about the way the school works. Pasco High has many students, it is a huge school, we saw the computer and wood workshops that had all the necessary things to work there, they had like a theatre, a big gym open to the whole community and a music band. The majority of the students there are Spanish speakers (they had students from many countries), so most of the staff knew spanish so that they can communicate with the parents of the children. Students can take courses to obtain credits for university

I think it has many positive things, i liked the way they take care of the students, every teacher and other members of the staff are in charge of a group of students, so that they are responsible for checking their attendance, their grades and can help them. The director or principal of the school is very involve in the educational process, he observe the teachers and the staff nad seems very close to them and also the students.

That day we went to observe some real classes, the first hour I met the teacher, his name is John Kerr, there were also two other teachers, they talked about the school, the diversity of the students they had and the problem with gangs, they also talked about the educational system in the US and how the chilean system looked like. After that another classmate and I went with professor John Kerr to a science class taught in Spanish, there we had the opportunity of seeing and experiencing a real American class, there were about 29 students, they were learning how to mesure things using a ruler, the class was good and the Spanish of the teacher as well. He told us that since it was the 7th hour the students were a little tired and that that was the reason of the mess with the students but honestly, compared with many chilean classrooms the students in this science class behaved very well. I liked the way of the teacher to introduce a little bit of English, he was relating some of the spanish words with their equivalents on English and when the students were being too loud he started to speak just in English so that the students had to be silent and pay attention to understand, another thing is that to make students silent the teacher stood his hand and all the children had to do the same thing and I really worked. The teacher was really nice, with the students and also with us, it shows the he really loves his job.

The Third day we were with the same professor, in another two science class but now i English, in 9th grade, students were measuring volume of different shapes in groups. This was a really good experience because we were able to observe real classes, to talk with the students, to see a different reality and contrast with our reality in Chile and also to get some new ideas and perspectives. After the class we did like a kind of debriefing, there we discuss about similarities and differences between education in Chile and the US, because in Chile there are not a wide variety in terms of culture and many children do not see the purpose of learning English in a country were all speak Spanish nad we are surrounded by Spanish speaking countries. The teacher also told us about the Crystal Apple an award for teachers... I think in Chile we should also have something like that and give more importance to the education and the role of teachers. As a last point, all the security system really called my attention because there were cameras everywhere and all people had to have the identification card of the school, despite the principal said the school was very safe.

As a conclusion I have to say that this was a great experience, very different from the reality in Chile, but still we can take the good things. Apart from that I have to say they treated us very well and were very nice.

Youtube Video

This is part of a TPR class

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikZY6XpB214