FINAL REFLECTION

Hello!! I can't stop writing without sharing with you my great impressions about this experience at L'Alzinar School. Thanks a lot for being a key part of it!

Ultimately, I would like to stand out that this second practical period has been as positive as the previous one. Even so, it is true that this one has an added ingredient which is my educational intervention titled Walking through Campins!. I put into practice with students from third and fourth grades of Primary Education. From this perspective, I would like to highlight different impressions and ideas in relation to both this school experience and my practical classes with a handy group of pupils.

In reference to this school stage at L’Alzinar, a rural centre from Montseny’s area, I would like to say that during that time, I have reaffirmed that I really want to become a teacher in a close future. Therefore, there is no matter about the type of school because I think each one has its magic essence for how it works and you, as the teaching professional, have to be the one who makes it possible and discover what is the best of it all.

What’s more, I both prefer the two stages: Elementary and/or Primary Education. As previously thought, L’Alzinar permitted that I was able to interact a lot with children of an extended range of ages from P3 to 6^th grade. In addition, I stayed with an interlevel group from 2^nd to 4^th grades, a totally different classroom as any other seen before. This group has enriched me a lot: not only because of the way of organizing the grades in terms of tasks, but also for how each one was different and special from the rest at the same time.

The possibility of knowing how a rural school works has been one of the most standing issues to learn about it. L’Alzinar belongs to the ZER Baix Montseny with two other centres (Puig Drau and Pont Trencat) and I could also know these schools thanks to the meetings I attended with my staff. I would like to show my grattitute to let me meet with them in a weekly way because I felt myself as a real teacher with an active listening attitude and passion for new educational aims.

Generally, it does signify that I was bound to live an experience that was very different and positive from the one I got from my previous years as a child and a Primary School Student. This is a total balance of enrichment because I compared, checked, understood multiple ways of doing, rethinking and becoming a teacher in a school.

In reference to my tutor, I can express that I have excellent memories from her and the way of working as a teaching professional. This is not only perceived in front of a real class atmosphere, but also behind the room for planning and making new and real aims possible with effort and capacities such as cooperation or enthusiasm.  

Another relevant group has been focused on families. They were fundamental in my day-to-day routine as a result of high levels of interaction (at the beginning of the morning, before and after lunch time, in the afternoon…). I started to know them and I consider that it has been possible thanks to the close relation it exists among the school community.

Finally, I would add the environment of this school around Montseny’s Natural Park. I remember me driving my car till the parking or having memories at School with great levels of illusion to go over the landscapes (diferent textures, shapes and, surely, colours and mixtures of them...). This was represented in a scene that is difficult to find in a urban area and not as easy as it is in a rural zone like the one I have been staying for two months.

Regarding my educational intervention, I can verify lots and lots of aspects to point out right now. To make a summary of the main relevant themes, I am going to comment some of them and my related impressions. One of the most satisfied elements is the time I had because I could check that it is always an indisputable value for a real school experience. Greatly, I occupied the time I had planned at the beginning for almost every session of my teaching plan.

I took into account special needs and, at the same time, the motivations of my group of pupils to make them participate in each session according to their capacities and abilities. Similarly, I found important to find initial information about the topic (in my case, Campins) to design suitable activities that were able to connect with my curricular and personal aims of the centre of interest.

In this direction, I do think it was essential to plan an evaluative process that could be meaningful for me as a future teacher. Therefore, I organized an initial, formative and final process to check the evolution of either every pupil and the class group in a more individual and cooperative dimension with different indicators and grills especially designed for my intervention.

To sum up, I have to recognize that I was aware of the material, resources and space distribution that the school had and by which I also planned my sequence of activities to adapt them to the real essence of it. All in all, I believe that what counted more here was my daily tendency to start each session with a smile from ear to ear to guarantee a first and positive connection with my students based on willingness and illusion.

Best wishes to everyone!! If you want to get in contact with me, don't hesitate and write me an email to: raquelpa1@blanquerna.url.edu

It will be such a nice pleasure to have news of you all! :-)

SESSION 9: WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT CAMPINS?

Hey again!!

It smells like our project is near to be finished... and as we don't want to, we will maintain this Blog alive forever and ever in our both hearts/minds and, for sure, this screen!!

It was time for a new Tuesday full of energy and emotion and they were ready to check their levels of understandings of this center of interest. I began one of my last sessions of the planned intervention with a final test. It was prepared to show what they have learnt from a written perspective. I adapted it among two levels for reaching an Education for All programme again and adapting them to their specific needs.

Now, once I corrected them, I am so glad to verify that they achieved concepts about the village of Campins and its surroundings with precision, either in terms of spelling, grammar or mental acquisition. This makes me feel proud of them because they were the main protagonists and the whole process noticed that it worked as better as planned at the beginning.

As a future teacher, I prefer to measure their process behind a more qualitative perspective in which each phase of the centre of interest and different activities also counted for what they learned from each session. It is important to point out that we should learn to evaluate by competences, and not only by a numeric mark because each ingredient of the final result counts a bit more.

From this perspective, I considered fundamental to express orally their opinions and impressions about the project in a free way. It does signify that everyone wanted to tell us his feelings and the main preferred activities of it. Fortunately, I am so satisified to announce that they transmitted lots of things, like the following phrases: I loved it because we could live these adventures all together as a team. / I think each activity was funny for something. / Thanks for sharing your English and your love for teaching…

Look at them and see how much concentrated they all were!! It does mean something... 

Just a little summary of some words that they expressed during the oral brainstorming...

To end up this magical session, I opted to record that moment with a photograph in front of the screen projecting another photo we took on another day... lots of emotions that come to mind right now! 

Enjoy it and see you soon!

SESSION 8: PARENTS COME TO HEAR US!

Hi!!!!

But after this closing session, it was not time yet to finish this day because the final session of my teaching plan was bound to be achieved on next days!! Before receiving families for the School Tour, I let them time to practice once the sentences and movements around the corridors. They did it very well, so it was a symbol that they were feeling important for that day.

Parents were punctual, so I said with slow voice: ready, steady, go!! A girl started with the first sentence for welcoming parents, grandparents, cousins, and some aunts and uncles that wanted to attend this meeting. I opine that they got impressed and they loved the opportunity to feel the school close to them and show what their chidren were doing at class with me.

I prepared for my pupils a real accreditation with a code, each one’s name and their role (in that case, they were acting as if being presenters of a Tour). Personally, I want to stress out that it was a great signal to make them feel the protagonists and, in general, be a great occasion to put the final point of this trip. As a future teaching professional, I want to summarize this day with the relevance of keeping in mind every idea that comes to you and try to think if it can work greatly for your students. If so, I consider that you only need your own desire and grains of willingness to take this dream and make it become true till the end! 

And now, I can't wait to show some memorable photographs about this Tour!! Have a look at them and have fun...

P.S.: Please, if you have some other photos or videos about it and you want to share them with me, you can do it while sending an email to my account: raquelpa1@blanquerna.url.edu 

I will upload them here, no doubt!

Thanks a lot for your collaboration... and surely for attending to this School Tour!! Bye!!

How much proud they were of their accreditations and ready to start!!

Do you want to watch this video and rediscover it? Here you can do it just clicking on it!

SESSION 7: PREPARING OUR SCHOOL TOUR!

Hello parents!! What's going on?

I want to present a new entry to be read... are you ready for it?

After playground time, I followed a powerful session of my educational plan about the School Tour that is going to take place on next Friday. For preparing it, I had initially written a provisional dialogue to say in public, and now, they were able to understand and read it in a cooperative way: they loved it since the first minute! Then, I started to divide which sentences were better to be pronounced by each one.

I think here it was fundamental to take into account their needs and motivations for English language and the degree of pronunciation in public too. Each one agreed to say one, two or even three sentences with a smile and enthusiasm for telling their adventures to their parents too, another fundamental group of this experience. For last minutes of class, as they could finish as planned, they could read a piece of Jaume Cela’s book in a very relaxed atmosphere.

We also started to think of possible materials to decorate the walls and which distribution would make more sense to be reflected on this project. I loved how they showed so much interest to participate and say a list of multiple resources that haven been bought later on, apart from some others that I considered important to use. Obviously, I let them time to classify these ingredients in a mental way for the basic tasks being performed by themselves and photographs that would be the main protagonists too. 

Here below you have some photos of what seems to be a future School Tour... Let's create expectation of it till the end!!!

POSTER ABOUT THE SCHOOL TOUR!

Hey!

If you look deeper at the School Entrance, you will rapidly find this poster to invite you to next School Tour to show what your children have learnt during the development of this centre of interest. 

Remember that... it will take place on next Friday 7th April 2017 at 16:30 hours. We are waiting for you!!

NEW FAMILIES' NOTE!

Hello to everyone!!

This note is for inviting you to the School Tour that your children are preparing about all what they have been learning and discovering from this project. 

Best regards!!

P.S.: In case of having any doubts, please don't hesitate and contact me.

_______________________________________________________________

Benvolgudes famílies,

Sóc la Raquel, l’estudiant en Pràctiques de Magisteri que està a la classe dels vostres fills/es. Com ja us vaig informar a la primera circular, estem a punt d’acabar el projecte Walking through Campins! i és per aquest motiu que us voldria fer la proposta següent:

Ara que s’han convertit encara en més experts per conèixer Campins a través de la llengua anglesa i múltiples activitats, arriba l’hora de mostrar-vos-ho a través d’una exposició que es farà a l’interior de l’Escola el proper divendres dia 7 d’abril de 2017 a les 16:30 hores.

Hi esteu tots convidats: mares, pares, germans, avis… Els nens/es porten molt temps treballant-hi i del que estem tots ben segurs és que tenen moltes ganes d’ensenyar-vos tot allò que han anant aprenent i descobrint. Us hi esperem!

Finalment, aprofito també per animar-vos a veure i comentar el blog del projecte (enllaç: https://walkingthroughcampins.blogspot.com.es/) amb aportacions o curiositats que vulgueu compartir.

Moltes gràcies per la vostra atenció.

Keep in touch!

Raquel Pagès Amenàbar.

___________________________________________________________________

SESSION 6: LET'S DRAW INSIDE MONTSENY AREA!

Hi again! What's up?

Time runs very fast and I was ready to do my sixth session with an active listening attitude and lot of things to share in a different place: Sant Guillem’s Hermitage. Before getting there, they took their bags and had breakfast at class, and also they went out of the school in turn to listen to what they were bound to experiment. For a while, we were walking with each one’s folder and an imaginative bag full of imagination.

I got impressed by how most of them said to me that they were feeling a bit sad because I was leaving this Pràcticum Period very soon with a phrase that let me think a lot with a sensation of both melancholy and satisfaction because they appreciated me a lot like: if you don’t come at class, I won’t go to school because you make classes become different! You are cheerful with us all and you make activities that are so much fascinating! You will be always one of our best teachers!

Sant Guillem was illuminated with an added light apart from its own essence: the Sun. The sky was looking as brilliant and the landspace was transmitting a sensation of relax in turn to get inspired by the nature and sounds from multiple birds mixed with the air. I told the activity that they were likely to start: it consisted in drawing a part of this area around Sant Guillem while enjoying the possibility of being in a non-usual school place and applying the techniques of charcoal.

To do this, each one had a piece of charchoal and a specific sheet to draw on it and time to move around the zone and find their inspiration. I loved how they rapidly found a place to sit and start to make an initial scheme that then turned to be a drawing similar to reality. I found necessary that they had tissues to clean up themselves, the area, and a bag to put the materials used all together. At the mere beginning, two of them seemed to be not as much motivated as desired because they looked tired, but they progressively started to feel free by a motivating purpose inside the nature which made me feel proud of them too.  

When they had almost finished, we went back to school and they wrote a title behind the drawing on a piece of cardboard that summarized it, and at the end, they pasted the final result on a cardboard in order to get a lovely and artistic composition. From my point of view, this session worked excellently well as they were joined to learn from experiences about a new material, the charcoal, while cohabitating among classmates and getting their bodies relaxed to reach their final drawing.

Once at class, it was time to... rethink of how cardboards would be pasted to get the final... the final... pieces of art!

Is there a better way to finish than with a video about views from our immediate nature? I think here you can find your way and get inspired as your children did on last day too!