My computer and Internet skills

Definitely we are making easier our lives through the use of technology. We apply computer knowledge everywhere and at any moment.


I have heard that people in the past had to do everything in handwriting, but suddenly computers and typing machines appeared to make the workers and students’ lives easier. In these days, computers are popular and are used anywhere. There are thousands of tasks that can be developed in computers, and in addition to that, this technology continues evolving, so it is necessary that we keep updated in order to not to remain behind of the technological world. What can be implemented is that schools throughout the country have their own computer labs so the new generations of students don’t have the same lack of computing knowledge. But we witness the reality in which schools of the suburbs or from rural places don’t have these privileges. In my particular experience I can say that my school didn’t have such resources and that’s why I started High School without any computer knowledge.


Being in a classroom where the majority of the students had a basic knowledge about computers was difficult for me because it was embarrassing, and my teacher was not so patient to explain the procedures from the beginning. Thanks God I was offered a free coursed sponsored by the MINED in which we were going to learn how to design web pages. There, I learned a lot, starting from basic learning. It really helped me to enter into the technological world that computers offer. My computer skills gained through my academic education have influenced in my learning because I have done many homework assignments using my computer. Undoubtedly computer skills are essential in these days because we do almost everything via computer. Teachers don’t want hand written exams anymore; they want students use this resource since the very beginning of their education.

Dealing Large classes

Working with large classes is indeed a challenge that a teacher might face at any time. A teacher might feel overwhelmed by a very large class if he doesn’t know techniques to manage with this problem. Teachers have to have their senses alert due to the demand that teaching a large group of students involves and the unexpected behavior that students might present.

In some Salvadorian schools, teachers face the difficulty of large classes but they usually teach subjects different to English. I would say that large classes do exist in our educational system, but I would not say that their learning is a success because the teachers may be not properly prepared to work out this issue. I think that if teachers have the necessary knowledge and experience, and the physical conditions of the learning process, as the classroom space are comfortable, they can accomplish this challenge appropriately in our country.

Pedagogical planning:

Teachers must be smart enough to think of the outcome of the student’s behavior and the unusual events that might occur to plan their classes. The comfortable and supporting environment of the class is crucial for having a desired class and expected behavior. A diagnosing test would be appropriate to now students’ background from the very beginning, and then establish a set of activities and strategies that work well with each students or the group as a whole.

All teachers’ effort should be focused on making the students feel free and important in the class, so the teacher should not level students but view them equally.

Classroom learning systems:

The arrangement of the classroom must be the best due to the delicacy of the process; it must be large and free of noise. Students should be able to listen to what the teacher is saying. The classroom learning system must help the teacher to accomplish the goals, so is important that the teacher set the expectations and routines along with the students and agree with them that they are going to make an effort to carry them out.

Student behavior:

Students’ behavior has been a headache for the teachers in the learning process, but it may be controlled if we resort to a variety of techniques that are indispensable for dealing with students’ behavior. To begin, teachers have to treat the students fairly and respect them as important persons. Teachers must keep proactive all the time and they will see results of this behavior. The behavior expectations must be set and shown to the students for them to know and practice them. In some cases a reward might be useful to shape certain behavior. Knowing the factors that cause the bad behavior is important to cut the problem from its root.

As we have already taken didactics in Spanish, I remember that we had classes in which we studied about the problems that teachers face when teaching. We studied the different learning problems that students might have while learning and problems as large classes. During some English classes, some teachers have already mentioned those problems such as large classes, disruptive students and physical environment are indispensable problems.

We do know that when we teach children or adults, we always have problems, so we can apply the same techniques. We have to take into consideration the difference between teaching children and adults according to what we studied about age levels, and then adapt the techniques according to the age classes.

USING INTERNET TOOLS IN THE CLASSROOM

We all know that as the technology has evolved, and that along with it we have to change. We use technology almost for everything we do; teaching is one of the activities we develop by the usage of some technological devices. Internet is one of the sources that have come to be popular and useful while teaching.

Particularly, I consider that we count with a complete tool for teaching any subject when we talk about Internet tools. One of the advantages that we can find if we are teaching or studying EFL is a variety of information that may be useful. We can develop the four macro skills of the students since we can find web sites that offer divers activities and sources like videos, audios, tests, interview, etc. teaching a foreign language is indeed a challenge; to do so, we have to count with very effective tools, and Internet tools meet that demand.

The last time I used Internet tools was interesting as it used to be; I used them as a student, but I get stunned because I realize that in Internet we have so many sources to learn whatever we desire. I felt surprised when our teacher showed us some web sites where the learning process can be reinforced.

We can develop some intelligence through the different Internet sources we have access. For example, if we bring to the classroom a video or slices, we develop the visual intelligence, and if the video includes music, we work with musical intelligence.

Contextualized English:

As in the video is shown, contextualize English is the meaningful language use for real communicative purposes, or the act of adapting the learning process of English to real situations or the environment and students’ age. When we are teaching certain language, we tend to relate the features of our teaching to cultural aspects that are part of our reality. Particularly, I think the students likes are also part of this issue, since in some curriculums or teaching methods, classes are taught in a democratic way so that the context and the reality can be related with the learning process.

When we contextualize the teaching process, students feel familiarized with the contents because they work with real situation or topics that are popular at that moment. In addition to that, the class is enriched by a variety of activities that drag students into a meaningful and integral learning.

When teaching to children, we have a different context to when teaching adults; therefore, we have to adapt activities to their age and to what they know so far. After that we have to be on the look out of leading students toward the learning purpose of such a language. As an example we can say that the English learning aim can be business or education, so teacher have to be aware of that in order to adapt topics and contents to the prime aim.

While teaching English, there are contents that can be related with certain topics. For instance, when we teach THE TO BE BERB, we related it with occupations. That is how we get students involved with topics that we previously prepare for them to have a better understanding and a relationship with reality.

A positive classroom environment:

I think that a positive classroom environment depends on the teachers and students attitude. As teachers, we can start improving our personality and behavior, and then, we will lead the students into the environment we desire.

The respect toward each student is fundamental; we can have fun with them, but we also have to set some limits. Having a fun class doesn’t mean to disrespect the others.

Each student is important in the class; therefore we have to value them as persons and assist their needs.

There are teachers who try to intimidate their students to have a, let’s say, a peaceful class, but students don’t learn appropriately in those circumstances because the environment is tense. Teachers have to learn to manage with those disruptive students so that the rest of the class can be normal and the environment can be amazing.

Teachers have to drag students into a relaxed relationship, and they also have to work as a community; as members of the community, teachers have to be reliable and real friends.

This is what I consider can contribute to create a positive classroom environment.

Teaching across proficiency levels

Teaching a foreign language is always challenging, since we have to manage with a class that is pursuing an integral learning.

Role of the teacher:
Teaching at some levels has different degrees of difficulty, so teachers and student’s performance will vary.

As teaching beginning levels is considered the basis of the foreign language process, the role of the teacher must be very active.
As beginners are students that have few or no knowledge of the target language, the teacher is going to be the spring from which students will absorb the knowledge. Teachers have to be the model to follow, so they have to speak accurately and clearly so that students can understand the transmitted message. As the teacher is the center of attention, he has to be careful with the pronunciation of tricky words. Teachers have to manage students interacting activities in order to take advantage of peer support, given that we always have students who have a more advanced knowledge or better understanding than others.
When students are in a beginning level they act as if they are babies who learn to talk in their native language; therefore, the material presented in the classroom has to be as abstract and meaningful as possible.

Authentic y of language:
When teaching beginners, teachers have to be very conscious that they are working with students who may not have the expected expertise to understand simple language spoken in a high speed, so they have to make pauses and stop using technical language. As everything goes from the simple to the complex, teachers have to start with easy patterns as greetings and commands, lots of repetition and activities appropriate to this level. As the course advances, teachers should increase the difficulty of the spoken language.

Student’s creativity:
For being creative, we have to speak, draw or act, then, as students don’t have lots of vocabulary, their creativity is limited. But they can be creative in their context; for example, when students invent words in the target language, make assumptions of certain grammatical matter, or inquire in something related with the target language, they are being creative. Teachers have their students write and speak freely to let them be creative and discover hindrances as they perform and then correct their mistakes. We are very intelligent and what we need is an appropriate guidance and constant motivation.

Teaching English across age levels

Now that we have study some theory about teaching in different ages and with my experience as student, I can conclude that teaching children, teens and adults has its own differences and teachers might find it hard to teach one of these levels.
Particularly, I would teach teens rather than teaching children and adults because I find it mentally and physically tiring to control children behavior as they perform in the classroom. When we work with children, we have to treat them softly, and we have to have an array of techniques to lead them since we rarely negotiate with them and therefore, sanction their fault.
It is true that teaching children may seem easier according to content since we teach them Basic English, but we have to deal with the maintenance of their attention span and their motivation.
Working with adults is cool as they are more conscious about what they want to learn, and their attitude toward education is more responsible than the majority of teens and children. However, sometimes we find troublemaker students while teaching adults, and at some point it is difficult to work with them. I would like to work with teenagers because they face a crucial phase in which their identity is being shaped; therefore, what a teacher does to help them is always unforgettable. We can influence positively on teens identity by helping them to overcome their difficulties. As students need real friends and affection, the relationship that exists between students and teachers is special. You can negotiate with teens as you do with adults, and the best part is that you can have fun with them, but you have to set limits so that you can keep the due respect.