January Daily Reflections

University of Puerto Rico-Humacao

English Department

Date: January 11, 2013

School: Dra. Conchita Cuevas High School Cooperating Teacher: Eduardo Martínez

Daily Reflection # 1

Practice teaching is the final leap towards graduation. It a long process that takes lots of

time and dedication. I believe that to make this process go as smoothly as possible, one must be

as prepared as possible. I believe in planning ahead, and not leaving for tomorrow what can be

done today. Although the practice teaching isn’t supposed to begin until Tuesday, My partner

Emmanuelle and I, decided to go today. We went to see the school’s location, meet the principal

and other members of faculty and meet our cooperating teacher. The school is really easy to get

to because it is right next to the highway exit. It is a big school with lots of open spaces. There are

three floors, a covered court, and a couple of workshop areas for the vocational students. When

we got to the school, we met the director, Magda Resto. She is a nice lady who absolutely loves

her students. She told us about her trajectory as an education professional, which included

several years as a teacher in that very same school. She gave us some tips on how to approach the

students, and advised us to come to her if we ever heard of any serious problem a student may

have. She seemed passionate about her job and about wanting to improve the school and the

lives of the students. She called them her angels. Next, we met our cooperating teacher Eduardo

Martinez. He is the 11th and 12th grade English teacher, the senior class advisor, and among other

things, he gives self-defense workshops after school. He also seems very passionate about his

students. He also knows all the rules and regulations that come with the teaching profession. He

is a true professional with a caring nurturing side for his students. He also informed us about the

school and the English curriculum. I am anxious to meet the students and see how they interact

with the teacher.


English Department




Officially, day one of practice teaching has come to an end. I was so anxious and nervous

because it was finally officially day one. I got to the school earlier than I was supposed to, so I

observed from 9:00 and on. Surprisingly, day one was just a day of reflection. Kind of like the

warm up before doing exercises. The teacher used a quote that said, “Every day is a new

beginning. Make the most of it”, with all of his classes. Among other topics, he discussed: politics

in Puerto Rico, in a general manner because of the change of government; about the graduating

class activities, like prom, class night, and graduation; and about life in general, the future and

making wise decisions. All of these topics were important to the students, so they listened and

commented often. I was surprised to see they were so calm and attentive. Unfortunately, I had a

mindset that kids that age were rowdy, disrespectful, and out of control. But, they were just

normal teenagers. This school is very different from the school I went to. This is my first

experience in a public school in Puerto Rico. I must admit I was a little hesitant about me being

able to do this, but now I feel more confident that I can do it. It is what I have been preparing for

for the last 3 ½ years. It is natural to feel nervous…

For my activity period today, I decided to start the nucleus study. I made a diagram of the

school, it is way bigger than I expected. It is also triangle shaped. The cooperating teacher told us

that it was designed like a prison! The same architect/engineer that designed the school designs

prisons. He suggested it was anti-pedagogical. It was definitely a structure I had never seen

before. Now, I’m anxious to start planning and giving class, checking out case study subjects, and

searching for the school’s needs for the special project!


English Department




Today was the second official day of Practice teaching. I’m still feeling the nerves because

I know what is coming ahead. I am anxious to start planning, interacting with the students, and

giving class. I even bought a projector so I could use it to visually enhance my lessons. I noticed

the students respond well to all things visual. These past two days Emmanuelle and I haven’t

really been able to see a normal class. The teacher has given a reflection per day, and based off

that he and the students discuss different aspects of life. Some of the topics they talked about

were: love, family, responsibility, decision making, the future, and others. These topics are

important and relevant to the students’ lives, but I would really like to see how a normal class

flows with the students. This is only the beginning and

As part of our activities for the day, Emmanuelle and I interviewed the principal about the

Nucleus Study. She dedicated lots of time to us and gave us all of the information we needed. I

could tell she is really dedicated to her profession. She wants to protect the school environment,

which is why she dedicates a lot of time to each individual student or any individual case. When

we interviewed her, we found out the school had a lot of needs. For example, there is no school

nurse and no social worker yet. However, the school does have many academic offerings, great

security, and other positive aspects.

I am still observing to see who will be my Case Study and what Special Project I will do at

the school. I’m anxious to start all of these projects. Partly, my preoccupations are because of the

time constraints, but mostly because I want to be able to help an individual and the school

community. I believe this is going to be a great semester at Conchita Cuevas High School.

University of Puerto Rico-Humacao English Department

Date: January 17, 2013 School: Dra. Conchita Cuevas High School Cooperating Teacher: Eduardo Martínez


Being a teacher is not all about classroom time, there are extracurricular activities and

meetings that are part of the profession. Today Emmanuelle and I got to experience a

professional teacher’s meeting. It was the Caguas Region English Teachers meeting. This meeting

took place at the Justina Vazquez Elementary School library in Caguas. It is a charming school. It

was very clean and spacious. I was delighted to visit such a lovely school. There were about 20

teachers present at the meeting; Emmanuelle and I were the rookies. This meeting was to discuss

the events that would be taking place in celebration of English Week. English week is from the

10th to the 16th of March. Some of the activities would be taking place before that time because

they are contests that will begin at a district level, then regional, then the whole island. Among

the activities, there will be different types of competitions: a spelling bee, an oratory contest, a

poetry reading, and a poster contest. I am proud to say that the Dr. Conchita Cuevas high school

will be hosting some of these events. Emmanuelle and I will be involved in the process, which is

excellent!

During this meeting, we found out that the Dra. Conchita Cuevas High School does a

fabulous activity to prepare and motivate the students for the Puerto Rican Exams. They call it the

Academic Olympics. It’s like an academic field day. The different groups wear different color

shirts and have their representation for the different subjects. I think it is a great motivation for

the students to study and use the knowledge to be the best they can be. I am excited to see how

it all turns out, and eager to participate and help out in anything I can. Although today there was

no class, we did get to see other parts of the profession. It is great that these education

professionals are eager to work beyond the classroom to organize these events and make them

possible for the students.




Today was a great day for me at Dr. Conchita Cuevas High School. Friday is activity day for

my cooperating teacher, Eduardo Martinez. The activity of the day was that the students had to

tape a piece of paper to their backs. Each student had a marker. Everyone had to come up with a

positive adjective to describe each other. The students love activities like these where they can

get up from their desks and interact with one another. This activity is a good way for them to

build vocabulary. It is also a great way to boost their self-esteem. After the students finished

writing on each other’s backs, they sat down and read their favorite adjectives from the lists they

made. They felt special because of all the positive words their classmates used to describe them.

It was an upbeat and happy day!

We were finally introduced to the classes today! I will be with a 12th grade class. They

seemed to have positive reactions when the teacher told them we would be their practice

teachers. I can’t wait to start giving them class. I loved the group, because they were good kids. I

want to make the class fun for them because it is their last semester in high school! I also want to

help prepare them for college. I also met the 11th grade class. They are so great! They have such

spontaneous personalities. I would love to give them class as well!

For my activities of the day, I interviewed the head security guard of the school. Her name

is Coralys . She has been a security guard in that school for seven years. She is very responsible

and cares a lot about the safety of the students. I also interviewed an eleventh grade student

named Luis Resto. He is a very smart and open minded young man. I am very happy Emmanuelle

and I interviewed him because he gave us a student perspective on what a good teacher is and on

what the school needs to become a better place. He suggested extra help for the students, like a

tutoring program. That could be a possible special project. Another special project idea we got is

to get uniforms for the school sports teams, especially basketball because they have none.

Emmanuelle and I could possibly talk to sponsors to get the uniforms. This will increase school

spirit and boost the team’s motivation.




Today was a great day at Dr. Conchita Cuevas High School. The morning began with a bit

more traffic than usual, but I was still able to arrive on time. Emmanuelle and I were stunned to

receive our first visit from our Practice Supervisor, Dr. Aníbal Muñoz. My heart was beating a mile

a minute, because I got nervous thinking about this and all of his other visits. I just have to

remember, through my nerve rant, that I am prepared for this. I have been preparing for this for

the past 3 ½ years. This was the exploratory visit. The professor wanted to see how we had

integrated into the school. In my opinion, our integration has been great. This is in large part due

to the fact that the staff has been so welcoming and helpful.

Today I passed out the group profile questionnaire to my class. They filled them out in the

first ten minutes of class. The cooperating teacher was kind enough to give me a few minutes of

the class to administer the questionnaire. I am still a little nervous talking in front of large groups.

I hope I can lose these nerves because I really want to make this class great for the students. I

must say that I am worried about the difference between my cooperating teacher’s teaching style,

and mine. His class is more about reflection, talking about life, beliefs and past experiences than

the actual academic part of education. To this date the students haven’t started material, they will

be beginning tomorrow. I guess I never had a teacher quite like him. He is great and very pro-

student though. The teacher told us that this week my group would be doing debates on certain

issues. One side will be pro and the other con on a given topic. I think this is a great activity that

students love. It is also great because students are using their prior knowledge, searching for new

knowledge, and applying everything in constructive arguments. I know they get pumped up for

winning as well! This will be interesting to see.

On another note, today Emmanuelle and I interviewed the school secretary, Mrs. Lissette

Candelaria. She is such a lovely and caring person. She is invaluable to the school because she

does so much work beyond her duties. She has been working in the school for the past 21 years,

and she says she loves it! It was very nice to chat with another very important member of the

school personnel.




Today I woke up with an internal battle. From time to time I think to myself that I can’t do

this. The truth is I am very nervous about giving class to the students. I’m pretty sure the students

can tell I am nervous too. I wish these feelings could go away forever because this is something I

want to do. Nothing is perfect, my lesson plans will never run as smoothly as on paper, I will have

outside interruptions, and I may need to reteach some things, but I am okay with that. What I am

most worried about is me in front of the students. It’s intimidating to have so many students with

big and loud personalities, and me being so quiet and kind of shy. That is my biggest worry. Plus,

some of the students look older than me. Sometimes I wonder if I should have studied for

elementary school instead of secondary. Either way I am here now and this is my duty. I know

my groups are composed of good kids, but I still have to build a tougher character in order to

teach them. Today my group started something new, debates! The situation was the following:

you are offered a bride of 5 million dollars to spend 5 years in jail for testifying guilty to a crime

you didn’t commit, would you take the bribe or not. Emmanuelle and I served as the judges for

both senior classes. It was nice to see the students work together to find good arguments for their

cases. This was a good activity for them. I believe they enjoyed it. My cooperating teacher was

in on the action too, participating with the students. Like his students, he has a big and loud

personality as well. Not that I have a problem with this, I think he is great, but my style is very

different from his. It worries me a little for the students to have that transition as well. I don’t

know if they will be disappointed because I know they love their teacher. During my Activities hour

Emmanuelle and I worked on the group profile. Time is so important to us now, every minute and

every second is precious and valuable, never to be wasted.




From all the groups that I have observed on a daily basis, I have to say that I really like the

11th graders. They are so eager and willing to participate and they have lively personalities.

Emmanuelle and I are actually helping an eleventh grade student who is going to enter a Poetry

Out Loud Contest. We are helping her in the selection of poetry she wants to recite. We are so

glad to help her because she is willing to do it. I love that part of being a teacher. My group, the

twelve graders are in a different mood. They are in the “I’m graduating!” stage, so they are not

looking forward to working. Mr. Martinez began giving class this week. He began with a nice and

energetic debate yesterday. Today, he had the seniors read a newspaper article and separate the

pros and cons of the specific topic. This took the class the whole period and it was not finished, so

tomorrow I will see the continuation of the lesson. The kids worked. Well, most of them worked.

Others were sleeping, talking or on their cellphones. I know it will be a challenge for me to get

students to really work, and not depend solely on one or two people during group work.

I am still nervous to start with them. My heart beats fast when I see them coming in the

door, because I don’t know how they feel about me being their teacher. That’s a big worry to me

because I know they love their teacher, Mr. Martinez. I’m nervous about classroom management

as well. They are good kids, but they like to procrastinate as much as possible, and I have a lot to

do with them.

On another note, today Emmanuelle and I participated from the school student “Confra”

meeting. The meeting was packed! Although religion is not supposed to be mixed in with public

school, the students created the club and attend voluntarily. It’s great because they are looking

for positive things in their lives. They spread messages of hope for a bright future and they

provide a root of moral and knowledge for decision making, which they are very much exposed to.




Friday finally! If practice teaching was just about lesson planning and facilitating learning,

then it would be a breeze. All of these projects and the proximity of their due dates are really

taking a toll on me. I have to balance being a wife, a daughter, working, being a student, and

being a teacher this semester. But I know I can do this! I am still nervous about teaching, but I

know those are just the first day jitters. Aside from that, I am confident that I can do it!

Today was a different day at school because the periods were shorter and classes were

finished at 1:30, which is one period after lunch. We were informed that the 2nd and last Friday of

every month were like this because teachers had staff meetings in the afternoon, therefore classes

are dismissed earlier. Because the classes were so short, the teacher only had time to assign a

special project to his group. I finally got to use my projector. I suggested to the teacher that we

write the special project in Word, and project it so that the students could copy them into their

notebooks. It was great for the students. They are instantly attracted to all technological devices.

Unfortunately, Emmanuelle and I could not stay for the staff meeting because we had to

go to the university to turn in the school nucleus study. We did however observe classes, work on

the group profile, and create a questionnaire to give the students the first day we begin to give

class. Since their classes have been so informal, we wanted to know what the students wanted to

do in English class. We prepared questions like: What do you want the teacher to help you with?,

What type of activities do you want to do?, What is your favorite literature genre?, and others. I

am anxious to see what they will answer, but I know some of them are reluctant learners. That is

why I want to make the class interesting and relevant to their lives. I want to do activities that the

students like, and I want to make their last semester of high school special. I hope I don’t let my

students down. I hope they learn a lot this semester, like the classes I prepare for them, and like

me as a teacher.




Today was definitely not a regular day at the Dr. Conchita Cuevas High School, at least not

for Mr. Martinez’s students. He gave no class today because he was measuring the students for

their graduation togas. He is the senior class advisor, so he is in charge of all of these endeavors.

Events like these are also part of being a teacher, so I know Emmanuelle and I are glad to see the

different tasks a teacher can perform to help the students.

Because our practice teacher was busy with the senior class, and did not give class today,

Emmanuelle and I did two very important activities. First, we interviewed the school counselor.

She is a very nice lady who is very dedicated to helping the students. She showed us that she gives

the extra mile in order for them to succeed. Second, we talked to the director about the proposal

we have for our special project. We want to create a student center. The director was very happy

with our plans, she approved immediately. Along with the director, Emmanuelle and I made a list

of companies we could ask donations from. These can be cash donations, or materials like paint,

tables, chairs, board games, and other items. Emmanuelle and I are going to write a letter

explaining what we want to do for the students. In the letter we will explain that the students

have no place be in their free time, so they are just outside, and probably not doing the best

activities to keep themselves entertained. The youth needs a safe place, where they can spend

their free time in productivity.

We want to make this student center great for the students. We were even planning on

getting the 11th and 12th graders (the leaders of the school) involved in the preparation of the

center. With all that support, I know this place will be a success, and it is something the school

really needs.




Today was my first official day with my twelve grade students at the Dr. Conchita Cuevas

High School. I was extremely nervous to begin with, but I think that’s normal. The class was very

informal. I used the time to get to know the students a little more. The class began with a

reflection, the students were not really responsive, but I guess they are just warming up to me, as I

am to them. I asked them to fill out index card with their names and contact information. Plus

their parents’ names and contact information as well. With these cards I plan to take attendance.

Next, I asked the students to fill out a short questionnaire about what they want to do in English

class. I told them that I wanted the class to be interesting to them, and that I wanted them to

participate, which is why I gave them this questionnaire. I also told them to take advantage of this

opportunity and to be honest. They all said they needed help in writing, reading, and speaking.

They wrote that they love comedy, adventure, drama and horror. They want to do activities like

role plays, drawing, watch videos, have discussions, use music, and others. not many students

wrote what topics they would like to discuss or reflect upon, but the ones that did said they

wanted to talk about love, current events, life, happiness, God, the future, history, sports, and

technology. Finally, I did an activity called chain fairy tale. It was fun! The students were split into

groups of four and five. They had to write an original fairy tale starting with Once upon a time…

The students liked the fast paced activity. A lot of them however wrote in Spanish. I am going to

give them the opportunity to edit their stories, because the truth is they are very creative and

funny. Behavior wise, I already had a few problems because the students were kind of rowdy.

They would work, but the transitions of activities were rough. Also, there are many factors that

affect the class like, I am looking forward to helping them improve.

Aside from that, today I worked on my group profile. I am almost done analyzing the

results. It is very important to know the students in paper, but nothing compares to knowing

them in real life.




Today was my second day with my twelve grade students. I started class officially.

Yesterday was a get to know each other and warm up day. Before I started the class, I decided to

write the classroom rules along with the students. The class made the rules themselves. I think

this is a good strategy because they feel empowered. The best part was that they took it seriously

and made real rules that will make the class great.

Today we began the topic of process writing as a first unit. The students will be writing

How-to essays about their own topics. Today we brainstormed what a process is. From our

brainstorm, the students had to write an original definition of process. Then we made a list of

examples of activities that involve processes, and finally we made a list of why processes are

important. I projected the class through the in focus. The students like and respond well to the

presentations. I will continue using them because they need that visual guide. I was very pleased

with their participation. Although some of them didn’t want to speak in English, others did give it a

try! I am very proud of them. This is just the second day I am with them, so they are still warming

up to me, just like I am to them. Overall I am pleased with the lesson. I could see that the students

grasped the concept of process by their original definition and by their examples. I think this was a

great start.

I am having a bit of a culture shock in this school, because I am comparing it to the schools

I have been to. The classrooms are one of the big differences in appearance and facilities. I think

the students could benefit so much from more facilities. The amount of students in the classroom

is insanely large; there is barely any space in that classroom. It is anti-educational.




Today was my third day of teaching my students. Today I asked my students to sign a

paper that said they received a copy of the classroom rules, they read and understood them, and

they will follow them. This is a paper I will keep in my records in case something happens. The

reflection of the day was about dreams. All your dreams can come true if you have the power to

pursue them, by Walter Disney. The students

liked and understood the quote. After reading

the quote, I passed out starts for them to write

their dreams. They shared their dreams with the

class, and explained what they would do to

pursue their dreams. Afterwards, they taped

their star dreams up on the dream wall. I think it

was a good activity. The majority of the class was

really motivated, and had a good time with this

activity. The rest of the class was dedicated to

continuing the topic of process writing. The

students read how to make a ham and cheese sandwich to get an example of what they needed to

do for the group activity. Unfortunately, time was against the class, and we did not have time to

do the group activity, but that will be done tomorrow. In the last few minutes of class, I assigned

the groups their topics, and gave them the worksheets. Tomorrow they will work on this activity.

I know they will have fun because they have to write their process (each step using transitional

words), the materials they will use to accomplish the process, and the outcome or final product.

They will also have to illustrate their process; I know they will enjoy that.

Overall the day went really well. The class went smoothly, although I am having some

trouble with talking during class, but I will learn to deal with that little by little. The students

themselves have been really helpful by telling their classmates to keep quiet. They are great kids. I

will do my best to help them.

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January Daily Reflections