Hot Reflection #1, First Period

Hot reflection paper #1 (My first class in English Access Program)

Describe à It was around 3:20 p.m., and I was giving my first 50-minutes class at UNICAES in the English Access program. It was the first time that I faced real students in the university. I had to teach a specific topic that was “Simple Present Tense, Interrogative Form” to 21 students, and it was totally new for me. I was nervous because the teacher was observing the development of the class, but I tried to do my best.  I remember that the teacher was sitting in his desk, outside the classroom, near the door, writing in a sheet of paper, surely something about how I was developing the class.  The students were a little bit enthusiastic, and they seemed interested waiting for me to start developing the grammar part. I started to explain the grammar part and everything was good because the students understood the topic but there was a girl that had some problems to understand because when I was explaining she said that she understood the topic but after she said that she was confused, and I had to explain it again so it took me some minutes more of the class. When I finished explaining again, I asked her about if she understood, and I realized that she did it perfectly. Also, I used different kind of material to explain the grammar part in order to facilitate the students´ learning process. Every student wanted to participate in every activity I did. Definitely, this was a 10-minutes moment in the class that helped me to guide the class and to know the different kinds of students I had, and I took advantage between the connections I had made with my students. After this moment, I noticed that my students understood better and were motivated.
Analyze à		Plan Actionà So, in the future, I will make simple the grammar part in order to facilitate students´ learning process. Also, I will give some more minutes to the students for asking questions about the topic.
Interpret I can say that the girl did not understand the grammar part at the first time because it was something new for her and the time was my worst enemy because I had to explain it again.	Generalize Based on what I already know about the teaching moment is that the teachers have to be clear enough and patient while explaining a new topic or the grammar part. Also, the teachers have to manage the time in order to develop the entire lesson.
I know that I was nervous in some moments of the class, especially while I was explaining the grammar part. When the girl asked me at the moment I was confused, and I did not know what to say but then I got concentrated again and I answer her question.	Based on what I observed, I think students generally make questions after some difficult topics, and it is the duty for the teacher to explain them in a clearly way. Also, There are some students that learn quickly and others learn slowly.	In future lessons I will be sure about what I answer to the students because if I doubt about what I say, I can get nervous. I have to be self-confidence to transmit it to the class.
The understanding of the students is so important not only for teachers but also for students because it is the base of the class. Also, every objective that teachers stablish for any class is related with the student understanding.	Based on what I know about teaching is that every teacher has to stablish measurable objectives for every class and one part of an objective is the students´ understanding. Students´ understanding is so important for teachers because if they do not understand, he cannot continue the class unless he does not care about the students.	The next time I teach this lesson, I will implement new and different methodologies in order to improve the class, and make students active learners. Also, I will be sure that everybody understands about what I teach.
The troubles that I had to face when I was explaining help my students to have better confidence because when the girl asked me about her doubt I noticed that some of the rest of the class had the same doubt, and the girl was like the ice-breaker for everybody.	I believe that make questions can help students learning because sometimes some of the students understand what the teacher is explaining and the rest do not do it, but they do not ask the teacher because they are ashamed, and they are worried about what the rest of the class will say about him or her.	In future experiences I will also include some activities where the students can discover things by themselves or they can make questions in order to create a safe environment and increase students confidence.