Evaluation after the implementation of the Teaching Unit "Our families"

​

​

After having implemented my Teaching Unit, there are several aspects about which to reflect. My general impression about this intervention is very positive. I have been able to design a project that engaged very young learners with a low command of English to develop activities in that language; for instance, during the first session several of the students complained that they did not know English, and did not want to participate because they would not understand. Through the project, however, this attitude has changed, and kids were willing to be volunteers to develop the activities planned.

​

​

I believe the activities developed were appropriate for the learners’ level; they seemed to enjoy the games planned to acquire the vocabulary, such as the bingo, the memory and the colouring worksheets (sessions 1, 2 & 3), and did not have problems understanding them. The word search (session 1), though, was difficult for some of the youngest students. But what they mostly enjoyed were the arts and crafts activities, such as drawing their families and their family tree (sessions 4 & 5). Some of the kids were very imaginative, and because the activities were developed close to the book day and Sant Jordi, they even wrote and daw family books which they wanted to take home! This made me realise about their level of engagement, and made me very happy.

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moreover, in session 2 we developed a nice reflection after listening to the reading of the book “Who’s in a family” (Robert Skutch and Laura Nienhaus, 1997, TricyclePr). I showed to the students pictures of different types of families (monoparental, homoparental, large…) and asked them whether they though they all were families or not, and they answered very positively, argumenting their answers. What is more, this conversation was fully developed in English (from the teacher’s part).

​

​

In session 4 I had difficulties making children understand the idea of things that families have in common, so instead I asked them to explain things they liked doing with their families. Because most of them related with what their peers said, we could say this was a variation of the initial activity, not a complete change. E.g.: One of the students said he liked going to the cinema with his family, and then other children agreed with this idea.

​

​

At other moments, though, I had to turn into Catalan to make myself understood: for example, when delivering very specific instructions to some students, or when having to control certain behaviours. I am well aware turning into Catalan and Spanish is very easy and that I have to make an effort and make myself understood in English taking advantage of other resources such as gestures, voice tone or images. However, I am quite happy with my performance because I have improved from previous interventions. This is, although I have to still work on this aspect, I have turned into Catalan fewer times than in previous interventions.

​

​

Another aspect I still have to work with is the classroom management. Kids attending my English lessons were from 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade mixed; groups were not made regarding age, but regarding the English command of the learners. Although groups were of no more than 15 students, it still was difficult for me to control them at times, because of their misbehaving attitudes. Mostly because of their lack of engagement and understanding, students started to disturb other classmates. One of the strategies used to control behaviour was to give positive reinforcement to the groups by assigning stars at the end of the lesson; this strategy worked well during the first sessions when introduced, but afterwards children seemed to forget about it. I am well aware I still need more resources to control behaviour in the classroom, especially in English, because sometimes when I asked them to be in silence, they seemed not to understand.

 

 

I have to say, though, that managing the group was quite difficult due to external factors as well. For instance, children at this school are used to move freely in the space, and children sometimes left the class when they wanted, although they did not have permission from the teacher. Additionally, we did not have an appropriate classroom to develop the lessons; we were lended a small space with not enough tables and chairs, which made the kids sit on the floor, and with plenty of materials which distracted the kids easily. Not only that, but making the kids attend the lessons was a challenge too. Because they don’t have a specific time slot devoted to English, some special English timetables were created during the period of my intervention. Sometimes, other activities took place while the English lessons, and so some of the kids were not able to attend English; other times, kids were engaged developing another activity and were reluctant to leave it to do English. All in all, not much priority was given to the English lessons, and all this made it difficult to control the group as well.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regarding the timing of the activities, most of them were done on time, although some of them took me more time than the planned initially. For example, the routines took me quite a bit at the beginning of the project, but at the end of it they were done more rapidly. One obstacle I had to face during this project and which I had not considered before was how to manage students finishing tasks at different times. Sometimes I gave to the students who finished earlier some materials to keep practicing the vocabulary (bingo, memory…) but in other occasions I would just tell them to leave the class and go back to their own classrooms as they finished, not waiting to the rest of classmates. I am not sure at all whether this was an appropriate decision; shall they have waited in the class for the rest of students? And what strategies should I use with those learners that finish much earlier?

​

​

Regarding my performance as a teacher, I think this intervention has given me the opportunity to live a new experience and improve remarkably. I’ve tried to implement many of the tips learned at University, such as giving positive and encouraging feedback, accompanying my explanations with images and gestures, providing visual supports, among others.

​

​

As a conclusion, although there have been difficult moments in general my perception of this intervention is very positive; students have engaged and enjoyed during the project, and they have acquired some vocabulary regarding the topic of family and also about routines. From the teacher’s perspective, I have been able to work as a real English teacher would have done, I have been able to implement activities and resources acquired previously and I have been able to analyse my performance in order to improve it. If I had to implement this Teaching Unit again, I'd probably follow the same structure and activities, as they worked well.

 

Now it is time to keep working and improving!