FIRST HOT REFLECTION

Describe It was around 3:00 pm, and I was giving my first 50-minute class at English Access First year. It was the first time I had to deal with basic students to give a lesson. I was nervous as it was the first time twenty basic students were learning from my class. I remember the teacher being writing on his page, and I could not help feeling a little nervous. He was next to the door to let me control the class. Besides, he had a great view of what was going on in the class. And a little bit more centered in my general view of the back part of the classroom, I could see some students, Abigail, Christian, Joselin, and Natalia paying attention to the development of the lesson. I started my warm-up activity, which was a modified version of the common “Hot Potato.” I used three balls – one meant affirmative, another one negative and the last one interrogative. The students had to pass the balls, stop when I said it, and provide a sentence based on what the ball they got meant. I provided an example of what I was asking for. Although I did not have any problem to give clear instructions, I noticed that  the warm-up was not suitable for their level. It was difficult because they do not have the ability to speak without fear, and they do not know a lot of vocabulary to build their own sentence. However, I felt happy because students got my instructions, and they participated in the best way. This part of my class helped me to discover that with basic students, I need to be  very careful while assigning a task to encourage them in the best way paying attention to their level.
(Analyze)		Plan Action
Interpret	Generalize
My modeling helped students´ understanding and willingness to perform the actions. They saw me doing and not just saying	Modeling the activities to avoid giving long and confusing explanations is one of the key factors of effecting teaching, mostly with beginners	Before giving my lesson, I will dedicate some time to practice giving clear directions and modeling with gestures. This will lower my TTT.
Assigning a task according to students’ level is really necessary to have positive results because they need to feel comfortable to participate.	Most students fear being asked to do something right in the spot, mostly when they are starting their learning process.	The next time I teach this lesson, I will consider their level to choose suitable activities because it helps to achieve the objectives.
Students´ struggle with some pronunciation (Possessive, question, tall) hindered their comprehension and performance at some point in the activity.	Students need to have a clear idea of the pronunciation of the new words to make a clear picture in their minds connecting meaning, form and use.	I will include more pronunciation drilling in my lessons to help students become aware of the pronunciation of new or already-known words.