August 2nd class

👉What tools, apps, or websites has your team teacher used in class to create materials or activities, and how did students respond to them?

The team teacher used several didactic activities to make the class memorable. Specifically, during this class, she used "Bamboozle" to encourage teamwork. The students had to structure grammatically correct sentences depending on what tense was used: present simple or progressive. The game began with the students forming groups, choosing a leader, and naming their teams. Then, they resolved the proposed exercises. For example, if "she (to be) sad today" appeared on the TV, the students had to identify the appropriate form to change the verb. The students really liked this game, which helped them socialize and appealed to their competitive instincts.

Furthermore, the teacher used the online version of the textbook to provide feedback on a vocabulary exercise to the students. To check their understanding of the past simple, students played a Wordwall game where they had to choose the correct past form of a verb. It was evident that they knew few irregular verbs in the past and tended to add -ed or -d without knowing whether it was regular or not. To combine knowledge of the present and past, students had to make a pamphlet about things they like or do not like anymore, or vice versa. Students really enjoyed that activity, and it was useful for identifying their knowledge weaknesses on the topic.

In addition to other activities, she used a bomb timer to keep track of time. Also, the team teacher brought markers that students used to do the pamphlet, which made them feel excited because they chose their piece of paper and marker, taking into account their favorite colors.

👉What classroom management strategies have you observed in your assigned classes, and would you consider trying a different one?

From the beginning, the team teacher started asking the students how they were doing and how they were feeling to measure their mood. She also made it clear from the first class that eating during class was prohibited. The team teacher used management strategies such as counting to ten, raising hands, looking at the teacher, and asking the most distracted student for the answer. All of these strategies were used to get the students' attention. The most effective strategy in the first group was having the students put their hands up, then to the front, and then to the sides. This way, the teacher could see who was distracted because they were not following the instructions. After that, the students focused on the activity. In the second group, the most effective strategy was calling on the most distracted student because two students were talking to each other. However, when the teacher called on one of them, they started paying more attention in case they were called on again.

On the other hand, the least effective strategy was "look at me" because only one girl knew how to respond. However, I don't consider this important because the other students who didn't know the answer now have learned it and will be able to answer next time. The strategy of counting to ten was not very successful because the teacher had to raise her voice to make them understand that they would have to be seated when she got to ten.

Also, during the activities, the team teacher put students in pairs with people they did not know, encouraging mutual respect overall. She stayed aware of the balance of interactions and how often each student participated and their willingness to do so.