Final reflection

FINAL REFLECTION

      At the beginning of the year I was asked to write an initial reflection describing my strengths and weaknesses as a prospective English teacher. Now the end of this year has arrived and I am supposed to write my final reflection based on the initial one. Therefore, in the following reflection, I will describe my growth as a prospective teacher and as a student, the partial improvements of my weaknesses and how taking this subject has broadened my horizons as an English teacher.

                To begin with, as the year unfolded I realized that as a student there were some aspects that needed to be polished like my grammar in the writing of the reports and the use of indirect questions. Therefore, I tried to improve these aspects as the year went by. I believe that by the end of this year, I did a little bit better. Moreover, I have learnt a lot from my teachers, classmates and from the theory read in class. First, I realized that setting a warm and relaxed atmosphere is key to develop learning. This I learnt it from my teachers who are very nice and friendly to us. Secondly, my array of possibilities and activities to apply in the classrooms grew significantly from the experience of my classmates and the theory read. For example, I learnt a lot about new ICTs, among other things. Moreover, I experienced team-teaching and delivering presentations. Thirdly, through the theory read in class, I learnt to carry out a needs analysis and to develop Industrial Security and Hygiene material which was a really demanding and nice experience.

                As regards the weaknesses highlighted at the beginning of the year, I believe I tried to improve them and did so since I incorporated strategies for improving the delivering of the classes and found the contents studied very enriching. What is more, I tried to work on being more calm and relaxed. In my view, I have improved a little bit but I know it isn’t something I can change in a year so I will keep on working on that.

                Throughout this year, I discovered that there is a wide spectrum for English teachers to work on. For example, I had the opportunity to observe a class on intercomprehension in Germanic languages which was really nice and challenging.  Furthermore, I learnt that many teachers teach from the comfort of their houses using the computer thus I became familiar with new technologies and new ways of improving lessons.

                All in all, I believe this has been a very fruitful year and I have grown as a prospective teacher, I have tried to improve my weakness and also spotted new ones.