Section 2: Planning a Project_Activity 3: Needs Analysis.

Good evening Ms. Giles and course mates,


This is the information I could gathered for this activity.

Comprehensive Strengths and Needs Matrix
	Curriculum		Instruction		Organization
	Strength	Need	Strength	Need	Strength	Need
Student	Students are familiarized with their English programs	New comer students come across a harsh adaptation period	Students are instructed to satisfactorily obtain their English language certifications (Cambridge, Toefl ibt)	Students sometimes need to value the work that it  is performed in the classroom by their teachers	There is a well structured working plan for the school year.	Need of closer track of students behaviour.
Staff	Teachers know the programs implemented and apply them efficiently	Not being an impending issue,  some activities, not included in the programs can be included in the curriculum	The staff is closely guided and supervised by the English department coordinators and executes their programs efficiently.	Collaborative work is implemented in class, but some more can be implemented more frequently	The staff understands and follows the institution policies and teaching philosophy.	New personnel need specific training concerning collaborative work and technology implemented in education
Parents/Community		Parents are not fully involved with the objective and contents of the programs	Parents are comfortable with the teachers performance	Parents are not very well involved in what it is going on in their children classes	Parents participate in the events/decision made by the school
Facilities/Materials	The facilities provide support for the English programs, such as computers, Internet, and software.	Sometimes the number of multimedia classrooms is not enough for the numbers of student groups.	The materials cover the students need adequately. The facilities provide some practice additionally to the regular classes.	The multimedia classroom are not always available for English classes	The institution always tries to provide its personnel the most advanced technology available for education	More multimedia classrooms, or reschedule of current time tables

Based on the information in this matrix, it seems that the strengths overcome the needs in the institution where I am conducting my social service. The strengths concerning parents and the curriculum were difficult to spot. There was not an aspect that could be considered as strength, from my view at least. This might be because parents do not look really interests in being familiar with the curriculum. Something similar happened with the parents/community in relation to the organization. There was no conclusive need which could be pointed out. 

The senior high school principal as well as the English coordinator was especially interested in the analysis of the students’ behaviour (reflected on the students-organization section). This issue includes the number and percentage of referral by grade level, identified “high risk” behaviours, attendance and punctuality data and suspension/expulsion rate. My social service will be, based on this ground, on the school climate related to these aspects.

This seems a demanding and challenging project, but I feel that if it is well organized and executed, it can provide my receiving institution with the necessary data to deal with this issue.

Thank you for reading. I look forward to your comments.

Yours,

Sergio

Activity 1. My development as a teacher

My development as a teacher has gone through different stages. In my early practice, I did not have any formal training to be an English teacher. I had studied the language, but I did not possess the skills that can be taught at school or in teaching courses. I started building these up by reading the teachers’ books I used and observing the way a class is developed. I could notice different techniques and strategies that are implemented in an English class. I gradually started feeling more comfortable by combining these and the experiences that I had in my classes.

I tried to take the best advantage of any learning opportunity. Many teaching seminars were offered where little teaching training was provided. I took everything that could help me develop my teaching skills. Additionally, I took the Cambridge University exams (KET, PET, FCE, CAE), which are evidence of an English language user. I also took the Cambridge TKT Modules 1, 2, 3 exams, which are evidence (in theory) of the skills an English teacher should possess. I say 'in theory' because they are exams that anyone with a B1 level of English can get. There are books which provide theory and practice tests. The teaching practice is not assessed in the classroom. When I took them, I did not buy any books, I just answered one practice test, and that was it. I had been working for some years by then.

In my fourth teaching school year, I began training students for the different Cambridge exams (Young learners and KET, PET, FCE, CAE). I opened an English school which was open for 4 years where I kept working with the students’ Cambridge exams training. Currently, I work not only as an English teacher, but as a literature, science, and art history teacher as well (these classes are taught English). I have been provided with the opportunity to expand my teaching skills beyond teaching English as a second language. Studying this BA has enormously reinforced what I have done for years, and broadened my view towards further academic development, such as a Masters degree. I believe that a teacher should never stop learning.

I feel that something that can be improved is my research skills. This BA has given me the opportunity to try this area, but I think I need to practice more in order to be more comfortable when carrying it out. I believe I will have another chance to work on this when I take my ‘Experiencia Receptional’.

Thank you for reading. I look forward to reading your blogs and comments.