Through my
particular experiences as a teaching practice professor, I can compare the
methodology used in this course and the one used at the university, noting the
differences and similarities. The main similarities are related to the content
taught, the elements in the lessons planning, and the focus given to the way
learners learn, considering their ages, level of proficiency and previous
knowledge of the subject. The main difference is in the methodology used: the
pragmatics and accurate usage of the language is relegated, giving more time
and importance to grammatical aspects and correct use of the language.
In the same
order of ideas, the insight of the students is not considered at the time of
the planning. I tend to organize and plan activities that are inside of my
comfort zone, most of the time using the learning style that characterize me.
This is something that I wish to change, mainly in the Special Didactics classroom,
because even though the methodology is practical, the main objective of the
course is lost in the continued application of the activities that are alike to
one another.
I consider
planning as the most important aspect of teaching, as it avoids improvisation,
also helps to take into account the individual characteristics of our students,
their strengths and weaknesses related to the content taught. the only downside
of lesson planning from the last two semesters are in the constant changes in
the content of the course and in the little amount of time given to implement
such changes, and the little amount of time between semesters; therefore, the
time for planning is even less. I am currently talking with two senior
professors that are in charge of these modifications in order to create a
teacher’s guidebook, helping the teachers with the planning of the course, as
well as giving them a wide list of activities that focus in more than one
specific learning style.
Finally, I
must say that even though this reflection is based solely in the Special
Didactics course, the lessons I have learnt so far can be easily translated to
the Teaching Practice course, as it focuses in the improvement of our students’
performance in a classroom. For that reason, I am particularly interested in
the content related to the teaching of grammatical aspects, so I can give a
more broad range of possibilities to my students, who tend to use a grammatical
approach in their performances.
