LISTENING

It is considered the first step on communication and as human beings we are used to listening since we were born (even before it). Children acquire this skill and our role is to provide a meaningful and relevant input. Without listening there is no interaction. It is an active and not a passive operation where students make effort to understand and later speak, trying first to imitate sounds and simple words.
In our country, it is important to reinforce this skill because our environment is pretty much in Spanish so students don´t have the opportunity to interact in the second language. In my experience, I try to speak in English all the time so they must try to understand and follow the instructions. It is not an easy process and there is a big difference between bilingual and not bilingual schools. The accomplishment of this skill is not only based on listening exercises. It is this and more.
This is my advice to all teachers:

• Use a vocabulary according to the level of our students.


• Do not speak all the time. Give some instructions with bodily expressions, gestures or drawings. Don´t translate into Spanish.


• And even make mistakes to find out if the students notice them


• Give the students the chance to repeat after they hear


• Teach songs, rhymes and chants that are very useful with children


• Practice at home listening exercises. I started using this web page http://www.esl-lab.com/

WRITING

Writing as a skill that allows people to communicate through distance and time. History and all we know nowadays is possible because of writing and of course, because of a writer. Personally, I enjoy writing, more in Spanish but with this exercise (blog) I started feeling at ease with English too. I try to remember that the more I write, the more I learn and improve my skills and that´s the reason for doing this reflection with each module.
Writing must be a tool in order to identify what our students know about any topic you are teaching. But we have to be careful. To spend all classes doing writing exercises or copying from the board is not enough and doesn´t mean you are a good teacher. What is really important is to promote writing with a purpose and use games in which students are producing and having fun at the same time.
Finally, what happens with the mistakes? To make mistakes is part of the process - I need to be aware of this idea – We should let students produce a text and depending on the objective of the activity, you can correct them or not. I think is the way you do it that helps the student not to feel frustrated and as teacher we are not smiling and friendly all the time.
Some examples to introduce in our lesson planning:
§ Running dictation: in pairs, one student goes and reads a text that is pasted on the wall and dictates what he/she finds to the other student
§ Ping pong writing: write a word and the next person have to write another one with the last letter of the one you wrote
§ Journals: start with a question so students can write and express what they think and feel
§ Questions on the wall: write some questions and let students write their answers
§ Create a story with some words
§ Write, read and rewrite

Since this class at the university, I created a place in my classroom to paste students production because I know it is important for them to show and celebrate their process.

Reading

To understand how we are supposed to teach Reading in our class, I consider important first to have clear what Reading means. As humans we read all the time and not only words but also gestures, signs, symbols, bodily expression and so on.
Am I a good reader? This question must be answered to ourselves as we must be honest and aware that we can´t demand something we do not practice. Reading is a skill that allows people to obtain knowledge and later communicate or transfer its content in a meaningful way, especially in our daily activities. In order to develop the habit of reading it is necessary to be consistent with our students and share with them the importance of doing it in their lives.
Some aspects to take into account as teachers:

• Let students participate in class, Reading aloud and silently too
• Use a text to introduce new vocabulary and recognize pronounciation
• Invite – if you can do it – students to be part of the selection of the book
• Select the Reading exercises according to your students´s needs, interests and level
• Internalize Reading as part of your life and not only as an academic task
• Be clear with the purpose of the Reading exercises and share it with your students
• Know about Reading strategies and guide students to use them properly in their process in order to improve it