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In this observation stage I tried to be, at all times, really aware of what was going on
inside of the school. I made an extra effort to observe and analyse every single aspect
of the school, the classroom and everything that happened in there. This is what I
observed.

The school it is located in Simpson street N er 126, next to Ascensor Polanco, in

Valparaiso. The building it is pretty big. They made it bigger 5 ye ars ago, so part of the
school (half of it) it is practically new. It has 4 floors, and two main areas. The area next
to the street belongs to Primary, and the one in the interior belongs to Secondary. The
school counts with a very large yard, where childr en can play during brakes. This place
it͛s also new. It is only 3 years.
The school counts approximately with 480 students in Primary and 280 students in
Secondary. The schools belongs since it beginnings to a Franco Masonic organization.
Their ideals are Freedom, Equality and Liberty. They always try to make their students
realize how important these values are. They do this by means of setting the example,
from the director to the people in charge of the cleaning.
Rules inside of the establishment are very clear, and each student knows them. Both,
teachers and the principal of the school are continually getting together to discuss
different changes concerning behavioural policies.

Classrooms are wide and spacious. They count with enough light, both natu ral and
artificial, something really necessary to have a proper learning environment.
Instruments like seating are in very good conditions. Children seem to take a lot of care
of these devices. Windows are continually open, so air can change inside of the
classroom. Whiteboards are spacious enough. Classrooms do not count with
technological equipment like data shows, a computer or even a radio. However, if you
need some of these devices to prepare your class, you have to ask for them one or two
days earlier.

The activities that teachers use are pretty much the same every class. Writing on the
board and the use of photocopies are some examples of them. Many students spend
their time talking and sharing what they have done lately with their friends. Most of
them just do not participate actively in the class. Teachers try to do the class and some
students, the few of them, seem to be really engaged in the activity. They, in fact,
participate in what the teacher is saying. Participation from students is less current in
7th grade. However, students from 3rd grade seem to be more engaged in the activities.
The school counts with many instruments teachers can use to prepare their classes in
the best way. They have a data show, radios, projector, etc. If the teacher wants to use
one of them, she has to ask for it probably one or two days before the class takes
place.

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The first thing I noted, since I was in the classrooms, was that most of the students are
very motivated. They participate a lot and seem very enthusiastic about learning new
things related to English. They seem to like English very much, but at the same time
seem less compromised, however, with their learning process. This must be because,
for example, 7 th graders are little and do not tend to take things to seriously. However,
students from 3rd grade secondary do their work, and study as they are expected. They
do not expect the teacher to do their work for them. They do always wh at they are
assigned and try to find their own answers. Most of the time they stay quiet in the
classroom and pay a lot of attention. This seems to be a bit difficult with students from
7th grade. They may like English, but some of the techniques teacher uses do not
motivate them most of the time.

Both teachers are constantly encouraging them to do their work. Students tend to be
really noisy, so they have to find the way to keep activiti es interesting and engaging.
This is not true most of the time in the case of the 7 th grade classroom. The idea is that
they do not ramble and lose their focus. They motivate them to participate, to go to
the board and some other activities. There are no s tudents with special needs, so they
are all treated the same.

Something I could recognize, right away, was the different levels of English there are in
the classrooms. For example, there is this student in the 7 th grade classroom that
understands everything. He can recognize everything the teacher says in English, what
the text book says, etc. However he can͛t talk, yet. There are some others students in
the 3rd grade classroom that can both, understand and speak English. But they are the
few. Some others just do not understand at all. English can become something really
difficult for them. But I also saw that these students do not feel alone. They ask their
classmates that understand better for help, and they seem really willing to give it in
both classes.