PRACTICE REPORT

Practice Report

(Vilniaus Žemynos gimnazija)

1. Basic arrangement

Members of practice group: Natalija Gerdevič, Ana Feofanova, Jolanta Gaidukevič, Darius Šlepikas, Mindaugas Lekavičius

Practice teacher and classes: Vida Vilieikienė, Audronė Sadonienė; 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D, 9E, 9F, 9G

Textbook and major aids: Solutions Intermediate Student's Book Author: Falla, T & Davies, P A;

Publisher: Oxford University Press; Publication Date: 2008 and. The all set include Solutions Intermediate (Student's Book, Workbook, Teacher's book, Audio, MultiROM)

Timetable and distribution of duties: I had 9 classes each week. Monday -3, Tuesday-1, Wednesday-2, Thursday-3, Friday-0.

I (Ana Feofanova) had 7/8 classes each week. I had classes every day, from Monday till Friday.

2. Classes

I had 3 groups of students: 9B, 9E, 9F. 9B and 9F were very strong groups and I hadn’t any problems with them, but 9E was a weak one, also in this class were only boys.

I (Ana Feofanova) had 3 groups of students: (9A, 9E and 9G). The strongest were the students from 9A. They worked hard and did their best during the whole period I was working with them. The situation was different with 9E where all the students were boys. Naturally, I did not managed to cope with them. 9G was the wickest class. The students worked a lot but it was difficult because we had to spend twice much time on the same material. On the whole describing the proficiency level so it was different, but the most suitable  level defining my students was intermediate level.

Natalija Gerdevič had 3 groups of students : ( 9C, 9D and 9G). The proficiency level of three classes was rather different. The most motivated was 9C. I managed to make a contact with the children very quicky. Some of students had some problems with speaking tasks, so I tried to practice speakind skills as much a spossible. Moreover this class was quite motivated, they were almost all prepared for the lessons, so I had no troubles with them. Unfortunatelly, in 9D there were some boys who were absolutely not motivated. They ignored everything what I was saying or class was doing. It was hard to control them, but finaly, after long conversations after the lessons, I managed to change their behavior. At least they showed some respect to me. The weakest class was 9G. We shared this class between three of us, so it was difficult both of us: for students, to have 3 different teachers per week, and for us, to teach those children only once per week. These students were working hard, but they had many problems with grammar and speaking. The level of my students was intermediate.

3. Teaching

During the whole classes we used our own plans. We had to follow them. Every lesson started with the clear setting of aims, short introduction, practice time, setting and explaining homework. Each lesson was devided into particular stages. Generally, we followed the model of PPP (presentation/practice/production). Most often we worked from the student’s book and workbook and occasionally we used our own material.

      Linguistic aims: teaching vocabulary, grammar, spelling, speaking, writing, listening, reading.

 Approaches to this:

- teaching vocabulary – sketches, exercises, practice exercises, presentations, tests and quizes, dialogues, role plays;

-  teaching grammar – presentation on the main rules, giving examples, practice exercises, homework, test, dictations;

- teaching spelling – listening to the recordings, production activities, dictations, practice exercises;

- teaching speaking – role plays, dialogues, texts, articles, group work, discussion, retelling the stories, short presentations, practice exercises;

- teaching writing – writing topics on a given theme, writing formal/informal letters, practice exercises;

- teaching listening – listening to the recordings, listening to the dialogues and variuos texts, listening for specific information, repetition, practice exercises;

- teaching reading – reading texts, reading for specific information, scan the text, true or false exercises, matching headlines.

All of us were quite successful during our teaching practice. Following the plan was really helpful to achieve all the aims. Talking about the teaching aims we achieved so, they were all different for each of us.

Ana Feofanova. In my opinion the most successful in my teaching was grammar, speaking and writing. Of course it depended on the classes I worked with. I liked the way I explained and presented the rules. I was quite clear and the result was obviuos after some test or exercises. Also, mentioning the speaking, it was extremely interesting to work with the students because they had many good ideas to share and present. I encouraged them to work in pairs in order to develop cooperative skills. The least achieved aims were listening and spelling because the students were not interesting in writing dictations and listening to the recording and recallin the information they heard.

Natalija Gerdevič. I thing the most successful in my teaching practice was speaking and writing. I noticed that my students liked the speaking tasks the most. We could discuus different issues, usually I asked many questions, to make students think, speak and share their experiences with the whole class. The students were very active( especially 9C), they showed that they are interested in politics, future of our country, their health and education. The least achieved aims were listening, because sometimes I had to play the recording twice and the students could not understand what the text was about. I think that their listening skills are not developed enough due to rare listening practice during the lessons.

4. Coursebook assesment

All 9 grade students were using the Student’s book Solutions and the same workbook. The teaching aid is suitable for the students of intermediate level of English. This set provides  a five-level general English course for 14-19 year-olds, who are preparing for the school-leaving exam. Solutions is quick to prepare and easy to use. Both teaching aids have a clear structure and step by step approach. A lot of attention is paid to speaking and writing. Also there are plenty of extra practice. The most interesting and useful thing is that every lesson has an outcome: the “I can” objective in each lesson gives students an immediate understanding of achievement.

In general almost all the students liked  the material we coverd because the topics we touched upon were very modern and contemporary. This is the reason why almost all the learners were involved and worked hard.

5. Personal assessment

Natalija Grdevič. Although I had no problems with what to say or ask, I think I have to prove my pronunciation. Sometimes I made some mistakes while speaking with my students. Moreover, I have to think more about how to explain some grammar rules for students in an understandable and proficient language. I managed to control the class, but sometimes it was hard to stay calm in unexpected situations when the students were shouting and disturbing the lesson.

Ana Feofanova. In my opinion, on the whole I managed to teach quite well. Still  there are some things that have to be improved. To my mind, I have to train my voice more. I have a lot of problems because of it. Sometimes even the students were making remarks to me and it was the most unpleasant thing. Although finally I got positive comments about my voice and that I made a huge progress but evidently I have to work on it more.

6. Advice on future practice organization.

Natalija Gerdevič, Ana Feofanova. To the mentor.

We want to advice our mentor to pay more attention to the students needs and interests. Of course it is important to work quickly and according to the textbook that the students have, hovewer, we noticed that some students need more explanation, more listening tasks, as they have some problems with it. We think that it would be useful for students to have some extra exercises from different sources. What is more, the students who have low speaking or writing abilities need more attention even after the lessons. The teacher should encourage them to work more, to explain some grammar rules if they need, to give some extra homework.

To the English Department.

We think that the English Department should change the amount of given tasks from different subjects during our practice. It is very hard to combine writing plans, searching for the material, preparing for the lessons and doing some extra tasks from the other subjects at the same time. We think that we had not enough explanation about our practice; consequently, we had some problems with the tasks and some unpleasant talks with the head of the school or the mentor. We were not enough informed about the procedure of feeling documents.

12 Plan of Evaluative Lesson / Materilas

Class: 1a (8:30-9:15)                                                                                       Date: 4^th March 2011
Level: Intermediate

Topic: Body and Mind

Aims: To develop speaking skills;

           To develop pronunciation skills;

           To indroduce English idioms.

Materials: Student book, Solutions Intermediate

                 Workbook, Solutions Intermediate

Time		Stage		Activities		Objectives		What if
				Teacher	Students
8:30		Introduction 2 min		The T greets the S and asks to sit down. The T briefly introduces the plan of the lesson.	The S greet the T and take their sits. Listn to the plan of the lesson.	To create a pleasant atmosphere and to catch Ss’ attention.
8:32		Dictation 13 min		The T asks the S to get ready for the dictation. The T asks to put everything aside. The T start reading the dictation. Firstly the T reads the whole dictation and after that she reads sentence by sentence. The T waits until until the S put the sentences down. Finally, the T gives several minutes for the S to check the dictation. The T asks to give in the dictations.	The S get ready for the dictation. They put everything aside and listen carefully to the T who is reading the whole dictation. After that they start writing. The S check the dictation and give them in to the T.	To check the Ss’ understanding. To develop writing skills.
8:45		Warm-up 1-2 min		The T asks the S to open their books at pg. 34. The T asks the S whether they remember the previuos lesson. She asks the S whether the S remember the SILENT LETTERS. The T asks t  Recall some words from the last lesson.	The S open their books. They look trough the page. The S say what they remember from the last lesson. They try to recall some words with the SILENT LETTERS.	To recall the information from the last lessson.
8:47		Practice 5 min		The T asks the S to open their books at pg 131 –Vocabulary Builder. The T explains what the S have to do. The T asks to do the exercise at once. The T asks to read in turns.	The S open their books at pg 131. The S start doing the exercise at once. They start reading the exercise in turns.	To consolidate the vocabulary on the parts of human body.
8:52		Speaking 7 min		The T asks to join into pairs. The T presents ex.4. The S have to ask and answer questions using “HAVE YOU EVER…”. The T explains that if the answer is “YES”, another question must include the word which is given for them in brackets. Before the S start working in pairs, the T asks to look through the questions (1-6). She translates unknown words and phrases together with the S. After a while the T asks several S to demonstrate their questions and answers out loud.	The S take a look at ex. 4. One of the S is asked to read questions (1-6). After each question the S provide the translation. If the S are wrong with the translation, the T helps them. After that the S start working in pairs. After that, some S are asked to demonstrate their and asnwers out loud.	To develop speaking skills. To improve the Ss’ fluency.
8:59		Introducing English Idioms 4-6 min		The T asks to look at the blackboard. The T writes down the IDIOM on the board. The T explains what the word IDIOM means. After that she asks to look at ex. 5 where the S have to complete the idioms with the words in the box and then match them with the meanings. The T asks the S to complete the task together with their partners. Afer a while the T asks to check the Ss’ answers by asking to read in turns.	The S look ate the board. First of all, they try to explain the meaning of the IDIOM. After that, they listen carefully to the T’s explanation. Then the S look at ex. 5 and start doing/completing it. The S work in pairs. After  a while they start reading and checking their answers.	To introduce English idioms. To expand the Ss’ vocabulary.
09:06	Listening (up to  4 min)		The T introduces the next task. Then the T explains that the S are going to hear 6 dialogues/conversations which illustrate the meanings of the idioms from the previuos exercise. The T also explains that the S have to match each dialogue with the appropriate idiom in ex. 5.		The S listen carefully to what the T is saying/explaining. They listen to the 6 conversations and match them with the appropriate idioms from ex. 5.	To chck the Ss’ understanding. To develop listening skills.
09:10	Practice 3 min		The encourages the S to look at ex 7. The T tells the S that they have to write two shord dialogues similar to the ones on the recording they have just heard. (Using idioms). While the S are working in pairs, the T goes round the class and monitors. The T answers the Ss’ questions if they have some.		The S start working in pairs. They asks the T about some words or if they have some problems.	To encourage the Ss’ to use English idioms in practice.	If the S do not manage to finish their dialogues in the class, the T asks to finish hem at home.
09:13	Setting HW       + Finishing 2 min		The T asks the S to put down their HW for the next time. The T asks the S to write the topic “The World of Work”. The T writes down the criteria of evaluation on the board. After that the T asks the S what they have learnt today. Finally, the T says goodbye to the S		The S write down their homework for the next time. Lastly, they say goodbye to the T.	To get feedback.

MY WIKI

http://contemporaryenglish.wikispaces.com/


This is my Wiki. I decided to set this task as a homework. I used a computer class in order to explain how it works. Due to the fact that our topic was ''The World of Work" i chose the appropriate text in order to finish completely this topic. I enclosed the text ''What are you meant to do'' and set two tasks for the students.

I was not sure whether all the students would do the task but little by little more and more students visited my wiki and left their answers there. I set this task on last Monday and gave them time till Friday. I am still waiting for more answers from my students.

Finally, the last thing i would like to say is that I got some positive feedback about my wiki. The students who had already visited it and completed the tasks, said that the text was interesting and thought provoking.

11 Plan of Evaluative Lesson / Materials

Class: 1a                                                                                                          Date: 1^st March 2011
Level: Intermediate

Topic: “Get Ready for your Exam 4”

Aims: To develop reading skills

           To develop speaking skills.

Materials: Student book, Solutions Intermediate

                 Workbook, Solutions Intermediate

Time		Stage		Activities		Objectives		What if
				Teacher	Students
8:30		Introduction 2 min		The T greets the S and asks to sit down. The T introduces the plan of the lesson.	The S greet the T and take their sits. Listn to the plan of the lesson.	To create a pleasant atmosphere and to catch Ss’ attention.
8:32		Quiz on words (Unit 3)      + Checking HW 10-13 min		The T asks the S to get ready for the quiz. She asks to concentrate and put everything aside. The T dictates 30 words in Lithuanian. She stops for a few seconds after each word. After that the T gives back their letters.	The S get ready for the quiz. They follow the T’s requests. They concentrate and start writing down the words. ( The S sometime ask the T to repeat one or another word). After that the S take a look at their letters.	To check whether the S learnt the words.
8:45		Pre-reading 5 min		The T asks the S to open their books at pg 33. She asks to look at ex 1. The T asks the S to work in pairs. She asks to speak about the dream job. Also the T asks to answer the questions from the exercise. After that the T asks to share their ideas with the rest of the class.	The S open their books at pg 33 and take a look at ex 1. They join into pairs and start working. They share their thoughts about the dream job. The S answer the questions from the exercise, too. After a while they share their ideas.	To get ready for the reading task. To develop speaking skills.
8:50		Reading 10 min		The T introduces the next task. She asks to look at the text. Then the T asks to start reading it in turns. The T asks to stop after each paragraph and asks whether all the words are clear. The T asks to translate the words that might be unknown for the S. After that the T asks the S whether they liked the text. Then the T asks to look through the statements under the text. She explains that they have to decide if the statements are true or false. She explains that they have to find eveidence for their decision. They have to write the letter of the paragraph where they have found the evidence. The T asks to work individually for several minutes and then check their answers by asking to read in turns.	One of the S starts reading the text. Then they continue reading in turns. They stop after each paragraph and look through the words togther with the T. After that they are working individually for some time. The S decide if the statements are true or false. The S find evidence for their decision. After a while they start reading their answers in turns.	To reading skills. To develop reading for specific information skills.
9:00		Speaking (pre -speaking) 3-4 min		The T asks the S to look at the photos they have in the exam task. The the T asks the S some questions: 1. Do you shop in markets?, 2. What kind of things do yu buy there?, 3. Do you go to a library? Why? Why not?	The S look at the photos and start answering the T’s questions.	To develop speaking skills. To develop critical thinking.
9:04		Speaking 7 min		Finally, the T asks to do the speaking exam task (ex 4). She asks to work in pairs. The T asks to compare and contrast the two photos and answer the questions below them. After that the T asks/listens to each group of the S. The T makes short comments.	The S work in pairs. They compare the photographs and try to find out the answers to the questions. Afer they did that, they start sharing their answers with the rest of the class.	To speaking skills. To encourage the S to work in pairs.
9:11	Setting homework      + Finishing (summarising ) 4 min		The T asks the S to write down their HW for the next time (workbook pg.29). After that the T asks the S what they have done today. Finally, says goodbye to the S.		The S write down their HW for the next time. They answer the T’s questions. Finally, they say goodbye to the T.	To get feedback.