First experiences in Young Learner Education
First experiences in Young Learner Education
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Partner institution
Partner institution
Location
Location
My first teaching practicum took place in the kindergarten of Colegio Los Médanos, located at Gobernador Irigoyen 257, B6400 Trenque Lauquen, Buenos Aires. The institution is publicly funded and privately managed.
Institutional profile
Institutional profile
The mission of Colegio Los Médanos is to promote the holistic formation of its students, encompassing intellectual growth, attitudes, and abilities. It seeks to offer rigorous academic preparation together with character and personal development, equipping students to take an active role in a globalized and ever-changing world.
English department
English department
The English Department of the school establishes its objectives in accordance with students’ developmental level, cognitive processes, and, above all, their continual pursuit of effective communication. Mastery of the language is a tool that grants access to bibliographic resources as well as to information and communication technologies, enabling better opportunities for future employment.
Work group
Work group
The personnel directly involved in the practicum consisted of the director, Mercedes Rivarola, who generously welcomed me in the institution and whose leadership was shown to have a profound impact in every aspect of institutional life, and the wonderful English teacher of the group, Ani Ríos, who provided invaluable insights and support at every stage of this learning experience.
I'm not the best teacher in this picture... but at least I learnt from the best!
Ani Rios (supervising teacher) — Bani Grisson (me)
Ani Rios (supervising teacher) — Bani Grisson (me)
Group diagnostic
Group diagnostic
Classroom work and materials
Classroom work and materials
During our time together with the group we played fun games like dress up and the flyswatter game. The following materials, as well as a cardboard wardrobe, and a cardboard tunnel, got to be part of the new ELA —a sector of the classroom that we inaugurated during this practicum.
For these two posters, students chose from a pool of clothes, decided if they belonged to hot or cold climate, and pasted it where appropriate. The whole class participated through dialogue and elicitation, and each child had the opportunity to paste an item.
Hot climate clothes
Cold climate clothes
For this poster, our starting point was a family (to review language taught in previous units) that needed clothes. Students picked one clothing item to paste in each family member. This activity also provided an opportunity to practice vocabulary like big/small and colors, follow instructions in English, collaboration and teamwork.
Here we were work in small groups and each child decorated their own hat, which they got to wear afterwards. The hat model can be seen here, although the ones made for this class were larger.
Journal
Journal
In this Padlet I share some day-to-day thoughts and reflections documenting my learning process during this practicum.
Lesson planning & classes
Lesson planning & classes
The lesson plans developed for this practicum can be found here. The feedback provided after each class by Ani Ríos, the supervising teacher, can be downloaded here. She was also kind enough to provide some general feedback I'll share below:
Bani, quiero destacar lo increíble que fue tu práctica y tu crecimiento en la misma. Desde el primer día, se notó tu creatividad y dedicación: todo el material que preparaste, desde los posters, el ropero, los hats, hasta el cuento de Pete the Cat con pop-ups, fue hecho por vos y pensado para que todos los chicos pudieran participar.
También quiero resaltar tu flexibilidad y observación: supiste adaptar las actividades según la energía del grupo, como cuando planificaste una actividad artística los lunes para canalizar la energía de los niños.
Otro punto muy valioso fue cómo capitalizaste las observaciones que te dimos: organizaste la semana siguiendo los parámetros sugeridos, creando un equilibrio entre arte, cuentos, juegos y actividades lúdicas, y lo hiciste todo con mucha creatividad y predisposición.
En cuanto a sugerencias para seguir creciendo, te propongo seguir afinando el manejo del grupo y las transiciones, ajustar un poco la duración de las actividades según la atención de los niños, cuidar la continuidad de los conceptos, y animarte a usar más el inglés durante las clases. Tenés un muy buen dominio del idioma, y sería fantástico que lo aproveches aún más para reforzar la inmersión y la práctica del grupo.
Tu práctica fue excelente. Mostraste creatividad, dedicación, capacidad de adaptación y un vínculo muy positivo con la sala. ¡Realmente un trabajo muy valioso y disfrutable para todos!
Final thoughts
Final thoughts
These classes were my first experience teaching and interacting with children of this age group. As such, they were continuously surprising and rewarding. I was fortunate enough to work with a wonderful group of children, a team of supporting colleagues, and very wise and patient professors from Lenguas Vivas.
The individual and grupal conversations with children were some of the most enlightening parts of this work. They allowed me the opportunity to know each child more, and to better prepare my classes with their stories, preferences, and personalities, in mind. Once this connection happens, learning theories come to life, since they greatly emphasize, and lean on, the individual aspects of each student (previous knowledge, interests, family, pets, questions, etc.) and how to build from them.
More personal thoughts are available in this short presentation.
Unexpected photo after the last day of practicum. Special thanks to Ani, who took most of the pictures in this site.
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