2º integrative assignment. Draft

            Part 1

Becoming a Reflexive Teacher: A matter of practice[YC1] .

            A teacher is not born critical; a teacher becomes critical after experiencing classroom situations that challenge his or her structures. Teacher training colleges [YC2] should include in their Curricula spaces especially designed to lead students’ into reflective practices. Fernández González, Elórtegui Escarlin[YC3] , and Medina Pérez (2003) stated that ¨ “the critical incident is a pedagogical strategy used to present students’ with specific unexpected teaching problems which they are supposed to solve. This practice allows students’ of a Teacher Training College to start developing a more critical view on classroom reality and more resourceful attitude at the moment of having to deal with unexpected problems[YC4] ¨. “. (p. 104)

            Fernández González et al. (2003) introduced a structure to facilitate the analysis of these conflictive situations. They propose[v5]  a four labelled structure:

1)      Context.

2)      Description of problem.

3)      Possible causes.

4)      Possible Solutions.

Is it enough for a teacher or student to reflect on the conflicting situation only? Or is it necessary to share it with colleagues? Do fictitious critical incidents, created with a pedagogical purpose, serve the purpose[v6]  of triggering reflexion and resourcefulness on teachers and students?  Do the practices in Teaching Training College prepare students for real life action? [v7] 

As teachers, we know that classroom situation is nothing but a fictitious portion [YC8] purposefully prepared to generate teaching and learning processes, and teaching practices are not the exception. If it is accepted that teaching is for life then, learning is for life too. As a consequence, ¨ “fictitious critical incidents prove to be an effective didactic instrument to train students/teachers to face, analyse and find solutions to problems¨ “ in their fictitious classroom when they are students, to be later transferred to their real classroom as teachers (Fernández Gonzáles et al., 2003, p 110).

Where are your references?

You have to include both papers in one document but you had to respect format conventions.

As for the conclusion of your journal entry, why not ending with your own words?

Narratives: Journal Entries
Name and Surname:				Topic:
Draft #                               Date:				Title:
Dimension	Criteria					Points
LAYOUT	1	2	3		4	(5 to 20)
Format	No headers, no page numbers, no clear margins. Spacing problems. Inappropriate font.	Header included. Page numbers absence. Spacing problems.	Header and page numbers included. Spacing problems. Inappropriate font.		Clear paper’s presentation. There are page numbers. Respected margins. Correct spacing and type & size of font. 1.5 or double interlining.	3
Header	Not included.	Included. Too much information.	Included. Not well balanced.		Included. Precise info is given. Well balanced.	2
Main Title	Not included.	Included. Not appealing. Underlined, highlighted or italicized.	Included. Appealing. Underlined, highlighted or italicized.		Included. Appealing. Centered.	3
References (IF NECESSARY)	Not mentioned. Plagiarism.	Mentioned vaguely. Not on a new sheet of paper. Not clear use of references or erroneous sources acknowledgement	Not clear use of references or erroneous sources acknowledgement.		Sources cited clearly in a reference list at the end of the paper. APA style.	1
In-text citations (IF NECESSARY)	Not included. Plagiarism.	Little use of in-text citations. Incorrect use of required style.	Included. Not well balanced. Repeated pattern. (e.g. too many quotes, only paraphrasing, etc).		Included. Well balanced. Different techniques applied. It is read smoothly.	3
CONTENT						(7 to 40)
Data analysis	Not clear analysis. Relationships & comparisons cannot be followed.	Brief. Not substantial. Some connections can be followed.	Clear. Good analysis. No evidence presented. Inversion. Hedging. Conditionals.		Very good. Clear analysis. Comparisons can be established.  Evidence is provided. Inversion. Hedging & conditionals.	2
Terminology/ Word choice	Difficult to follow. Not understandable. Imprecise language. No acronyms clarification.	Inappropriate terminology. Little clarification. Some terms are not academic.	Legible terminology. Clarification. More academic style. Effective.		Legible terminology. New terms clarification. Effective vocabulary. Good use of connectors. Academic style.	3
Spelling	Full of errors. Unreadable.	Many errors. Some parts unreadable.	Few errors. Readable.		All words are spelled correctly.	3
Sentence variety	Many sentence fragments. Same pattern and length.	Some sentence fragments. Same pattern & length.	Most sentences are complete and varied in pattern & length.		Complete sentences in a variety of patterns and lengths.	2
Organization	Vague ideas. Long & confusing intro. Unrelated development. Blurred conclusion.	Some ideas connected to each other. Purpose established. No transitions. Main point presented. Two of the three parts are not clear or too long.	Connected ideas.  Clear purpose. Marked transitions. One of the three parts is not clear or too long.		Connected ideas: supporting the main topic. Clear and concise introduction. Clear development: good clarification of major points. Clear conclusion.	2
Punctuation	Frequent and major errors that obscure meaning.	Some frequent or major errors: Readers’ confusion.	A few errors.		No punctuation errors.	3
Paragraph length	Few or no paragraphs relate to the topic. Not balanced: too long & too short paragraphs are presented.	Some paragraphs relate to the topic. Not balanced: too long or too short paragraphs are presented.	Most paragraphs are related to the topic. Well balanced.		Paragraph length has been respected & achieved. Smooth. Clear and precise.	3
Grammar	Grammar choices are confusing. Mixture of tenses.	Grammar choices sometimes confuse the readers.	Appropriate grammar choice. No meaning interference.		Completely appropriate grammar choice: Help readers understand meaning.	3
Details	No or little details (such as explanations, examples, etc) to support & explain the topic.	Some accurate details. Do not always support topic.	Accurate info that supports the topic.		Accurate and relevant info that fully support the topic.	3
Tone & audience	Unclear & inappropriate tone. Audience not considered.	Inconsistent tone. Incomplete idea of audience.	Appropriate tone. Audience is considered.		Appropriate & consistent tone. Audience correctly identified.	3
Focused Journal Entries	Confusing ideas/ concepts and opinion are presented. Topic: not considered.	Unclear ideas. Topic proposed: partly respected. Reflection presented.	Ideas, concepts and reflection are present. Some paragraphs do not correspond to the proposed topic.		Ideas, concepts and reflection are present.  TOPIC respected. Clear expression of personal opinion. Experiences shared.	2
Unfocused Journal Entry	Topic chosen: not appropriate. Unclear ideas.	Topic chosen: confusing. Not clear ideas. Experience shared.	Topic chosen: interesting. Some ideas are not clear. Experience shared.		Topic chosen: appealing. Clearly presented. Experience shared.	NO
					Total	41/64

NOTE:  Parameters will vary according to the type of journal requested.

Part 2

Mind the Chesschess

      In September 2002 I was finishing my practicum in TEFL[YC9]  College in La Plata. That day was going to be a relaxed one because I had to present a simple grammatical topic- used to. I was so well prepared; I had rehearsed the class in front of the mirror for hours, as if I was going to teach mirrors[v10] . The material was ready and my teacher was not going to observe the class that day. The students were always so friendly in the classroom and the teacher of the class was so kind to me that nothing could fail.

I used to tach [YC11] a group of 23 students in their 1º year of Polimodal at Bellas Artes, but that day they taught me. As soon as I entered the room, I was shocked. Instead of being sitting[YC12]  in rows as usual, the students were sitting on the floor on big black and white squares all around the classroom, mingled with giant black and white pieces of chess specially designed to play Human Chess. I did not know that the tradition in that school was to celebrate Spring Week, when all the classes of the school were involved in a contest, in which they had to decorate the classroom in the most artistic and original way.

For me, nothing was more important than the presentation of ¨ used to ¨, not even that most expected celebration of the year at school, so I asked them to move the pieces aside and bring desks and chairs because the class had to start- that picture was so far from the sitting arrangements I had studied from books. Not even one student hesitated to say ¨no¨. I could not believe the teacher did not say anything to them- was a giant chess game more important than an English lesson?

I was so puzzled at the beginning, but after some minutes, and as soon I could open my mind and relax myself, I must confess that I started enjoying walking around a human-sized chess while teaching. That day was a memorable teaching exchange[YC13] .

[YAC14] Critical Incidents
Name and Surname:			Topic:
Draft #                               Date:			Title:
Dimension	Criteria				Points
LAYOUT	1	2	3	4	(5 to 20)
Format	No headers, no page numbers, no clear margins. Spacing problems. Inappropriate font.	Header included. Page numbers absence. Spacing problems.	Header and page numbers included. Spacing problems. Inappropriate font.	Clear paper’s presentation. There are page numbers. Respected margins. Correct spacing and type & size of font. 1.5 or double interlining.	3
Header	Not included.	Included. Too much information.	Included. Not well balanced.	Included. Precise info is given. Well balanced.	2
Main Title	Not included.	Included. Not appealing. Underlined, highlighted or italicized.	Included. Appealing. Underlined, highlighted or italicized.	Included. Appealing. Centered.	3
References	Not mentioned. Plagiarism.	Mentioned vaguely. Not on a new sheet of paper. Not clear use of references or erroneous sources acknowledgement	Not clear use of references or erroneous sources acknowledgement.	Sources cited clearly in a reference list at the end of the paper. APA style.	Not needed
In-text citations	Not included. Plagiarism.	Little use of in-text citations. Incorrect use of required style.	Included. Not well balanced. Repeated pattern. (e.g. too many quotes, only paraphrasing, etc).	Included. Well balanced. Different techniques applied. It is read smoothly.	Not needed
CONTENT					(7 to 40)
Data analysis	Not clear analysis. Relationships & comparisons cannot be followed.	Brief. Not substantial. Some connections can be followed.	Clear. Good analysis. No evidence presented. Inversion. Hedging. Conditionals.	Very good. Clear analysis. Comparisons can be established.  Evidence is provided. Inversion. Hedging & conditionals.	3
Terminology/ Word choice	Difficult to follow. Not understandable. Imprecise language. No acronyms clarification.	Inappropriate terminology. Little clarification. Some terms are not academic.	Legible terminology. Clarification. More academic style. Effective.	Legible terminology. New terms clarification. Effective vocabulary. Good use of connectors. Academic style.	3
Spelling	Full of errors. Unreadable.	Many errors. Some parts unreadable.	Few errors. Readable.	All words are spelled correctly.	3
Sentence variety	Many sentence fragments. Same pattern and length.	Some sentence fragments. Same pattern & length.	Most sentences are complete and varied in pattern & length.	Complete sentences in a variety of patterns and lengths.	3
Organization	Vague ideas. Long & confusing intro. Unrelated development. Blurred conclusion.	Some ideas connected to each other. Purpose established. No transitions. Main point presented. Two of the three parts are not clear or too long.	Connected ideas.  Clear purpose. Marked transitions. One of the three parts is not clear or too long.	Connected ideas: supporting the main topic. Clear and concise introduction. Clear development: good clarification of major points. Clear conclusion.	3
Punctuation	Frequent and major errors that obscure meaning.	Some frequent or major errors: Readers’ confusion.	A few errors.	No punctuation errors.	3
Paragraph length	Few or no paragraphs relate to the topic. Not balanced: too long & too short paragraphs are presented.	Some paragraphs relate to the topic. Not balanced: too long or too short paragraphs are presented.	Most paragraphs are related to the topic. Well balanced.	Paragraph length has been respected & achieved. Smooth. Clear and precise.	3
Grammar	Grammar choices are confusing. Mixture of tenses.	Grammar choices sometimes confuse the readers.	Appropriate grammar choice. No meaning interference.	Completely appropriate grammar choice: Help readers understand meaning.	3
Details	No or little details (such as explanations, examples, etc) to support & explain the topic.	Some accurate details. Do not always support topic.	Accurate info that supports the topic.	Accurate and relevant info that fully support the topic.	3
Tone & audience	Unclear & inappropriate tone. Audience not considered.	Inconsistent tone. Incomplete idea of audience	Appropriate tone. Audience is considered.	Appropriate & consistent tone. Audience correctly identified.	3
Critical Incident	Steps are not clearly presented. The topic of the incident is not clear enough presented. A few details are introduced. Thoughts and feelings are not shared.	Some steps seem not to be respected and presented. The topic of the incident is presented. Some details are introduced. Thoughts and feelings are shared in quite confusingly.	Five steps respected and presented. The topic of the incident is clearly presented. Details are introduced. The incident is academically described. Thoughts and feelings are shared in an appealing way. Attractive.	Five steps fully respected and clearly presented. The topic of the incident is clearly presented. Clear details are introduced. The incident is academically described. Thoughts and feelings are shared in an appealing way. Attractive.	3
				Total	51/56

Good job. Prepare a final version with the help of your peer editor and upload it to your blog.

Your mark is 5 (five)

---

 [YC1]Check capitalization.

 [YC2]Change it, please.

 [YC3]Spelling.

 [YC4]55 words: It should be a block quote.

 [v5]Tense

 [v6]Repeated

 [v7]I cannot see the relationship between this paragraph and the previous one…

 [YC8]Are you sure it is like this for everyone?

 [YC9]Clarify acronyms.

 [v10]Pretty clear and astonishing… we have all behaved that way somehow…

 [YC11]Spelling.

 [YC12]grammar

 [YC13]I relieve that we should be prepared to teach under any circumstances but it’s true that sometimes we think that a class should have chairs and tables and stds facing the board.

Thanks for sharing! J

 [YAC14]Wrong placement.