Mi equipaje 

What are some things that I learned during my practice that I will take with me? The experience that I have taken with me the most during my practicum was the part of behavior managements. Dealing with first grade was not easy for me. I was so used to teaching fifth grade and sixth grade. However, during my practicum it was completely different because with first grade they don't know how to seat still or have self-control with their emotions. So, it was challenging for me to control the classroom. However, fortunately my teacher Mariell Miranda taught me a technique called "peace maker" which is where I draw a peace sign, and I write the students name in the peace sign. After I write each name in the peace sign, I would say "thank you" to each student that I wrote their names in the peace sign, and one by one the class would get quieter until everyone is quiet so we can continue with the class. Another technique I used that works is the, "attention grabbers" such as I would say to the class "holy moly" and the kids say back to me "guacamole". This makes the kids to pay attention to me. These I believe I've learned the most, since dealing with first grade was sometimes out of control, but seeing how these techniques work really well has help me see how effective it was. The other important thing that I learn in the classroom is how to make the students especially the ones that don't know a lot of English to be comfortable in participating in the classroom. By making presentations of different topics such as: emotions, five senses, family members etc. and asking the students what each word means really made students comfortable to participate even if they didn't have the right answer, it makes the class more fun, and they are still practicing in speaking in English. 

Do I feel prepared to exercise my profession as a teacher? I feel more prepare as a teacher, thanks to the practicum. If it wasn't for the practicum, I would have been a disaster as a teacher. The reason why I say this is, that there is so much organization skills as a teacher that I never knew existed. The fact that for first grade that I had to plan a week ahead just to have everything ready for next week it can be stressful and frustrating at times, because there are times that there will be a vacation day that I didn't know about or they have a field trip or just an unexpected power shutdown in the school that it makes me have to readjust my lesson plan and that part is frustrating. I'm so grateful to have this practicum because it taught me so much about the students and how I can better my teaching skills during the practicum. Now I feel more prepared for my future job. 

What are my strengths as a teacher? One of my strengths as a teacher is that I can be creative in teaching the classroom. For example, when I was teaching the different colors in English to the students, one of the ways that I could teach the kids in a fun way is we use finger paining to learn the primary and secondary colors by mixing the colors together. The students had a great time learning through finger painting. Another strength that I have as a teacher is for the classroom to participate in the classroom. I love seeing students especially the students that haven't master English to participate. The reason way is that I am encouraging them that no matter if they know little English, that it is completely okay to participate and make mistakes because that is the best way to learn. If no one makes mistakes, no one will learn.

What areas do I need to develop more? One of the area of which I have to improve on would be competence #10 where it is about personal development. I still believe I have a lot to learn about being a better teacher, especially in the area of classroom managements. Even though I educated myself on different strategies on how on managing the classroom, what I need to work on is, to not be so nice to the kids. I feel bad when I have to call their attention on their bad behavior, and I don't want to yell at them to capture their attention. So, I will be bettering myself in this area to bring more order in the classroom. 

How can I better the area of weakness that I have as a teacher? Like I mention before, since my area of weakness is personal development, one of the ways to better myself especially in the area of classroom management is to go to seminars of classroom management especially from kindergarten to third grade. By going to these seminars, I know that I will learn a lot on how to better myself in this area. Another way that I can better myself in the classroom management is reading research paper of what has worked in the classroom and implement it in my teachings for three weeks to see if that makes a difference. If it doesn't, I will keep using other techniques to better the classroom management.

What are my expectation and projections? My expectations in the future, is to be able to find a job quickly. Once I get a job, then I can start earning money so I can buy a home soon. Once I have a home, I would like to get married hopefully and to build a family. During my teaching job I expect to have gotten better in managing the classroom and slowly gaining the trust of my future students. Also, that they are improving in their English communication and writing skills. I want to be the best teacher for my students. One of the things I inspired to be is that the students love to learn English. 

What do I desire to add for the education in Puerto Rico? One of the ways that I would like to provide for Puerto Rico is that people are not afraid to speak English. That they have the confidence to speak English freely without the fear of being made fun of for their lack of social and writing skills in English. What I want is to make kids fall in love with English. On top of that, that they won't limit themselves to just to learn Spanish but know that English can add value and opportunities in the future.