Didactic Sequence*

A didactic sequence is a group of activities created in order to reach an objective. Those activities must follow an order and an organization. That means that each activity has its own purpose and all of them work together in order to reach a bigger objective.

Another characteristic of didactic sequences is that they must have a rhythm too.

According to Zabala Vidiella, didactic sequences must have the following characteristics:

•  “They must test the previous knowledge of the pupils and adapt the class to the level of knowledge of students.” (Rodriguez, n.d)
•  “The contents of the class must be meaningful and must represent a challenge for students.” (Rodriguez, n.d)
• “They promote mental activity and construction of new concepts.” (Rodriguez, n.d)
• “They promote autonomy and met cognition.” (Rodriguez, n.d)

• The didactic sequence must develop in students knowledge, abilities and attitudes. And must help the student to take his abilities outside the school. (Obaya, n.d)

A didactic sequence for English must have four main elements:

1. Activities: “What students will be doing in the classroom.” (Harmer, 2006)
2. Skills: “Which language skills  se wish our students to develop”
3. Language: “What language students will practice, research or use”
4.  Content: “Select content which has a good chance of provoking interest and involvement.

Cognitivism is a theory that began on 1960. It arose as an opposition to the behaviorist approach of the time. Cognitivism is based on the mental processes that students use in order to reach understanding. Some of those processes are perception, memorization, thinking and resolution of problems.

Cognitivism was the basis of the constructivist theories of the time. It as related with Vigotsky and Piaget´s theories and it supported them.

Some of the principles of Cognitivism are:

The subject is an active part in knowledge and the relationships between it and the environment are very important in order to acquire a real learning.

The own reception and organization of knowledge is pretty important to get understanding as well as the strategies that the subject use to it.

Human beings are able to learn by themselves, using the elements around them and using their previous knowledge too.

Learners construct their own knowledge by making their own information structures.

Cognitivism is based on the idea that people construct their knowledge by changing the understanding, meanings and concepts  of things inside them.

Besides using constructivist theories (Piaget, Vygotsky and Ausbel), Cognitivism also use other knowledge theories, including the Information Processes one.

So, at the end of the day, Cognitivism is about how students learn by themselves, constructing their own knowledge using all tools around them, including social interaction, previous knowledge and culture.

But on the other side we have the Metacognitivism  theory too.

This theory goes beyond the first one, because it is concerned not just about  the students building their own knowledge, but also how about they realize they are building it.

Metacognitivism is based on the idea that students must know about the strategies they need to apply in a specific time in order to reach understanding.  This means that students will be able to know about their best developed abilities and the worst develop abilities in order to take as much advantage as they can to take control of their own learning process.

If they can do that they will regulate their own learning process and will create effective  strategies to  reach the best understanding they can.

http://www.eumed.net/libros/2007c/322/secuencia%20didactica.htm

http://www.izt.uam.mx/contactos/n63ne/secuencia_v2.pdf

Why it is important to keep communication with students in order to improve their knowledge?

Mexican education has a new challenge, to become a formative education, this means that students must learn not just about historical dates, facts and concepts, but they also must develop abilities and good attitudes for become an positive and important element of society.

Traditional education used to teach students to memorize concepts, students must be able to know a lot of dates, mathematical concepts, parts of the sentence and parts of the body, but it didn´t matter if they were not able to apply that knowledge to the real life (Monereo, 2007).

Actual education concerns about students being able to apply knowledge to the real world, but also they must develop abilities and attitudes such as responsibility, respect, team work and others in order to become a competent element for society (Monereo, 2007).

So, nowadays education must be communicative. This means teachers and students must feedback each other, and talk about their objectives, their goals, their desires, their problems and their interests. This way teacher will help students to get ready for live in a society.

When people communicate each other they can know about each other and they can help each other to reach common goals. I traditional education, teacher must talk and students must be quiet, but with this way of education teachers couldn´t really know if the students had personal problems that limited their learning or they didn´t understand the topic.

However, actual education promotes communication, specially from students to teachers. Students need to ask questions, to give their ideas, to make discussion, to defend their point of view. In first place because with communication abilities they will have a better development in their future job and relationships with society; in second place because secondary school students are teenagers, and is our duty as teacher to guide them when they feel insecure, Mexico has a lot of problems such as addiction to drugs, familiar issues, violence etc., and if a teenager is in the middle of a problematic situation, that can affect not just their academic development, but their entire life too.

Because of the importance of communication in education I made a research about the opinion of the students around the topic.

55 students answered a small interview with the following questions:

Do your teachers talk to you about your personal life or the school?

Would you like they talk to you? Why?

What would you like to talk to your teachers about?

Do you think communication between students and teachers will help you to improve your learning process? Why?

Most of the students answered their teachers didn´t talk to them about anything. This shows how Mexican communication between teachers and students must get better.

When students were asked if they would like to talk a little bit more with their teachers they answered:

	Number of students	Percent
Yes, I would like to talk more to my teachers.	27	49%
I don´t know, maybe.	14	25%
No, I would like to talk more to my teachers.	14	25%

Those students who answered they would like to talk more with their teachers, said that teachers don´t talk to them a lot, but they would like to talk to them about their learning process, about hobbies and other stuff, in first place because maybe that would help them to reach a better understanding of the subject, but also because if students and teachers can talk, they will get more confidence with each other.

The students who didn´t know said that maybe they would like to try this idea, that could be interesting and help them in school.

The students who said they would not like to talk to teachers said that they had friends for talking about their problems, they have no confidence with the teachers and the students´ life is not business of the teacher.

As we can notice must of the students would like to have a better communication with their teacher; there are also students who are not pretty sure about the idea, but they are considering that possibility; and finally those students who are not interested say that there is no confidence with teacher.

With the results of the research I conclude that we teachers must improve communication with students and show them how they can count on us when they have any kind of problem, show interest in their life and in their learning process. Even if they seem not interested, we must show them support and maybe they will come to us if they need help.

Finally there are some advices to improve communication with students:

1) “Begin on the first day of school”

2) “Be proactive”

3) “Become an active listener”
4) “Make sure you say, “I heard you.”

5) “Do unto others”

6) “Use non-judgmental and non-accusatory communication”

7) “Communicate clearly and briefly."

8) “Serve as a model of honesty and dignity."
9) “Accept repetition”

10) “Make humor an integral part of your communication.”
 (USC TA Wiki, n.d.)

Information sources

-      Monereo Carlos Conference (2007). Available on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbugPz0nMyk

-      USC TA Wiki. Communicating Effectively with your students. Available on: http://uscta.wikidot.com/conduct-effective-communication-with-your-students

Students surveys

Research*

How do students learn? *Based on the studies about The theory of multiple intelligencies*

The studies about the learning process are pretty important in order to help our students to get a better comprehension, understanding and application about what we try to teach them in the classroom.

“I want my children to understand the world, but not just because the world is fascinating and the human mind is curious. I want them to understand it so that they will be positioned to make it a better place. Knowledge is not the same as morality, but we need to understand if we are to avoid past mistakes and move in productive directions. An important part of that understanding is knowing who we are and what we can do... Ultimately, we must synthesize our understandings for ourselves. The performance of understanding that try matters are the ones we carry out as human beings in an imperfect world which we can affect for good or for ill.”  (Gardner, 1999.) 

Because of that, this essay is based on the research made by Howard Gardner about multiple intelligences and education, so we teachers can discover which are the most effective ways our students learn English.

Let me start by talking a little more about this important Psychologist.

ﭪ    Howard Gardner´s Life

Howard Gardner was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1943. Howard Gardner's interest in psychology and the social sciences grew (his senior thesis was on a new California retirement community) and he graduated summa cum laude in 1965 (Smith, 2008).

Howard Gardner then went to work for a brief period with Jerome Bruneron the famous MACOS Project ('Man: A course of study'). Bruner's work, especially in The Process of Education (1960) made  a profound impact on Gardner .     (Smith, 2008).

Howard Gardner beg  in  to get  interested  in human cognition. He proceeded in a very different direction to the dominant discourses associated with Piaget and with psychometric testing. (Smith, 2008).

ﭪ    About his theory

ﺱ    The Intelligence

Howard Gardner defines intelligence as “the capacity to solve problems or to fashion products that are valued in one or more cultural setting”    (Smith, 2008).

He develops the existence of the following 7 intelligences:

©      Linguistic intelligence involves the ability to learn languages, and the capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals. This intelligence includes the ability to effectively use language to express oneself rhetorically or poetically; and language as a means to remember information    (Smith, 2008).

©      Logical-mathematical intelligence is the capacity to analyze problems logically, carry out mathematical operations, and investigate issues scientifically     (Smith, 2008).

©      Musical intelligence involves skill in the performance, composition, and appreciation of musical patterns. It encompasses the capacity to recognize and compose musical pitches, tones, and rhythms      (Smith, 2008).

©      Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence entails the potential of using one's whole body or parts of the body to solve problems. It is the ability to use mental abilities to coordinate bodily movements       (Smith, 2008).

©      Spatial intelligence involves the potential to recognize and use the patterns of wide space and more confined areas     (Smith, 2008).

©      Interpersonal intelligence is concerned with the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations and desires of other people. It allows people to work effectively with others     (Smith, 2008).

©      Intrapersonal intelligence entails the capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one's feelings, fears and motivations    (Smith, 2008).

ﭪ    The application of the Theory to education

According to the approach and methodology of Mexican basic education, nowadays Howard Gardner´s theory can be completely useful. In first place because nowadays education is about develop in students the capacity to be successful, independent and competitive in their lives, not just their academic lives, but also their social and personal lives. This means that today intelligence is not just about a wide and deep knowledge of science, is about the ability of searching the right information for achieving our own purposes.

Besides, if we talk about our specific subject: English, the Multiple Intelligences theory of Howard Gardner is pretty useful and maybe some of the intelligences he talks about s even more useful for our purpose as English teachers.

In first place we must notice that English students develop Linguistic Intelligence, because it is used when people are learning a new language. And according to our methodology, students will develop this intelligence when they practice the foreign language, when they read original and authentic texts and listen to authentic conversations. Every time they can be practicing the new language into the right context they will be developing the linguistic intelligence.

In second place students develop the interpersonal intelligence too, because we teachers must apply the constructivist methodology. And according to Piaget and Vygotsky theories, the child can develop real knowledge and learning just by interacting with the world around him (“Desarrollo Cognoscitivo,” n.d.). Vygotsky is the one who refers to the construction of knowledge by interacting with classmates and adults, but also he refers to the interaction between the child and the elements of culture, such as society, values, family, history, traditions, etc. (“Desarrollo Cognoscitivo,” n.d.). So, if we connect the principles of the methodology we teachers must apply with Howard Garner´s theory, we conclude that students develop their interpersonal intelligence too.

ﭪ    The Research

According to the survey applied to the students and the observations made during the lessons, the results are:

Intelligences	Bodily-kinesthetic	Linguistic	Interpersonal	Logical-mathematical	Intrapersonal	Musical	Naturalist	Spatial
Percent	70%	41%	41%	40%	35%	31%	31%	27%

*These are the percents that most of the students obtained in each one of the intelligence tests.

So according to the results we can notice that the most developed intelligence is the kinesthetic one, with 70%; then is located the linguistic and interpersonal ones, both of them with 41%. But on the other side, we notice that the less developed intelligences are the spatial, the naturalist and the musical ones.

This research is pretty important because it can help us to take advantage of the most developed intelligences in students and to help them to develop the ones with a lower level of development. For example, in English it is very useful that they have a linguistic and interpersonal intelligence highly developed, because they will help with the construction of knowledge and the acquisition of a second language. But also, when we know about their kinesthetic intelligence we can take advantage of it too, we teachers can create more activities in which students use their body and their movements, and that will help them and us to reach a better learning.

At the end of the day is pretty important that teachers make this kind of research with their students, because that will help them to create new strategies in order to improve their English learning.

ﭪ    Information Sources

- Lane Carla. Multiple Intelligences. Available on: http://www.tecweb.org/styles/gardner.html

-Multiple Intelligences. Available on: http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.php

-Smith, Mark. (2002). Howard Gardner, multiple intelligences and education. Available on: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm.

- Teoría del Desarrollo Cognoscitivo de Piaget y Vygotsky.

Essay

How do students learn?* [Essay]

When we talk about learning process we must have in mind different aspects, like the age of the students,  their interests, their reasons to study, the subject we teachers are trying to teach, and of course,  the motivation that our students have.

Learning is a wide field in education, because it has a lot of aspects, actors and characteristics that related each other can improve or make worse the education. Learning has also a lot of troubles and a lot of people trying to find an effective solution for each one of them. One of those troubles is that in the different levels of education, children, teenagers and even adults do not want to learn anymore and seem to care about nothing that happens around them.

Because of that, the present essay aspires to answer the following question: How do students learn? First by exposing the trouble about the students that nowadays are not interested in acquire knowledge; second by explaining some important aspects about some  learning theories; and third by presenting a personal point of view about how education should be and also making some suggestions.

By way of introduction, let me start by saying that the present essay is focused in the learning of a second language (English) in the High Schools of Mexico.  The learning of any subject, but in this case of a second language (English) requires interest, disposition and motivation by those who are interested in learn it, but also requires to take advantage as much as we can of the age of students, because it will be easier for them if they start the acquisition of a second language at an early age.

 Krashen´s theory talks about the existence of "different periods for acquire a second language. He says that it is easier to a child to acquire a foreign language since his birth until the age of 13 to 15 years, after this period, people will have more troubles for speak and develop a foreign language(Schütz, 2007, S.K)".

But in Mexico we have a serious problem, we do not take advantage of the age of the children , because the teaching of English begins at age of 11 or 12 year old, when students are about to finish their rank of age for learning in an easy way a foreign language, so we are wasting all the childhood of our students.

On the other hand, we have a second trouble, when students start the study of English they are teenagers, and they are crossing for a phase in their lives in which they don´t know who they are or what they want, so they have personal identity issues and they are not interested in acquiring any kind of knowledge, including English.

So, when we have these important troubles, what we teachers must do for our students learn?

I consider  that the communicative approach for the teaching of a foreign language is pretty good, because it reflects the real interest of students when they are learning a second language, this real interest is communication, when someone is learning English he or she wants to communicate, wants to be understood and wants to be able to understand the other person who is talking to, so grammar rules get less important when the main function of knowing a second language is communication.

By other side, "knowledge is built when persons interact each other" (Meece, 2002, p.35)this means that any kind of knowledge will be easily acquired when people are talking to each other, when they are exchanging ideas, because when students work inside a team, they will help each other and they will correct their own mistakes.

But also it is very important that students reflect about their own knowledge, that they find their own problems and figure out how to solve them, that they become the main subjects of their learning process, by making their own analysis, reflections and conclusions

So, what I mean with this three aspects is that for a student learn English it is necessary in first place that they find it useful for they can communicate with other persons, so if they follow this way, they will practice and will improve their language; in second place, it is important that they get  in touch with other students who have the same interests, purposes and objectives, for they can work together in order to help each other; and in third place, it is important that the teacher does not give them the way in which language works, but they should discover it by themselves by reflecting, analyzing, and finding the resolution to their own troubles.

However there is another important element in the process of learning a foreign language. This is motivation, and most of this motivation should be promoted by teachers, because we should find the way to encourage our students to learn, we must elaborate strategies in order to they get involved with the topic, and they feel motivated to learn, because without motivation, students will not care about learning.

So, as we see, most of the work of student´s learning is responsibility of the teacher, because he or she must create all the necessary conditions for  students learn, it is not just about exposing a topic to them, it is about encouraging them to reflection and use of language, to practice and interaction with their classmates.

However, despite all the elements before are necessary for students to learn, at the end of the day I can say that  for achieve a real learning of the students we must make deeper changes in the Mexican system of education, because all the good ideas and theories that must be applied can be really useful if they  are applied in the right way, the Mexican system of education is not just about proposals of excellent methods and theories, it is about a total transformation in the system, for create the best conditions  in order to apply it, so, it is true that we teachers have a great responsibility to prepare good classes for students can really learn, but we need the cooperation and coordination of the entire Mexican system of education.

Essay*

Level of knowledge of the students*

Mexican English studies program for basic education establish that at the end of basic education students must reach A2 Waystage Level (180-200 study hours) according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. This means that at the end of secondary school students:

“Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). Can communicate simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. Can describe simple terms aspects of his /her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate needs.”

According to the level of English that the student is supposed to achieve, I focused my research on the study of the second grade at Técnica No. 43 Secondary School.

Let me start by explaining the objectives and knowledge students must reach at the end of First Grade.

The purposes of First Grade are:

X	To acquire basic vocabulary and fixed expressions in order to communicate in English in the foreign language classroom.
½	Become familiar with a variety of oral and written texts (quotidian, academic and literary) and use them for limited purposes.
1/2	Acquire confidence in using a limited range of structures and vocabulary.
X	Develop and rely on some basic strategies in order to compensate for a lack of the language.

* X means a ability that has not been developed. ½ means and ability that has been developed in a medium level.

According to my research, students had not acquired basic classroom vocabulary. I could notice this because when they asked me for basic permissions or they wanted to talk to me about something of the class (such as asking permission to go to the bathroom, asking for help, asking questions, asking to repeat instructions, etc.) they talked to me in Spanish.

Also I noticed that they had not developed strategies in order to compensate their lack of knowledge of the language, because when they were producing their own texts and they didn´t know how to express a sentence or a word they asked me for help.

However I could notice they became familiar with written texts and they probably were comfortable with them, because their attitude showed they knew what they were doing and how to do it. But they were not familiar with oral texts, they seemed to be embarrassed about them and they seem to do not know what to do.

For my research I asked my students first to create their dream house, then they should make a composition describing it, my objective was that they used the new vocabulary of the class, but I did not limit them to the new words. I asked to describe their dream house, so they must have used another kind of vocabulary they know in order to make a clear and complete description.

The vocabulary and grammatical structures I wanted them to use were:

•  
• Furniture Vocabulary
•  There is/ There are
• Prepositions of place

But they could also make use of another kind of knowledge, such as:

Structures students used	Structures students did not used in a correct way
And	Colors
a/an	Prepositions of place
	Verbs in third person (s)
	A/an
	But

The structures I expected them to use were structures they had knowledge of, because they must have learned about them in first grade, but most of them were not applied by the students.

Although I was supposed to teach my students Prepositions of place, this is a topic they should already know, because this is of first grade. However I could notice most of them did not remember it at all.

Some of them used very well the article “a” and the article “an”. Most of them did not include colors in their description. Some of them used verbs without “s” when they were talking in third person. Any of them used “but” in their description.

At the end of the day is very clear that we teachers need to improve the integrative knowledge, this means we should to integrate previous knowledge in every class, because if we do not do this, students are not able to apply everything they know. So if we teachers do not achieve our students can communicate effectively, we are not following the communicative approach and everything we teach them becomes “Forgotten Knowledge” (Perkins, 2003).

Information Sources

David Perkins, Smart Schools. From training memories to educated minds. Barcelona. 2003. Gedisa Ed

 Educación Básica. Secundaria Programas de Estudio 2006. SEP. 2006

Images of the House descriptions

Research*