REFLECTIVE JOURNAL - 31 - CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT AND ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR

25TH MARCH, 2015

Today my lecturer asked us to reflect on our field teaching experience and to ask ourselves the following questions:

• What are some ethical issues which we experienced?
• Why were they difficult to deal with?
• How did we feel about having to deal with such issues?

These questions warranted some soul searching. I needed to see if I was impartial and professional in treating with the students. Sometimes we may have good intensions, but still we express biases as we engage with the students. My lecturer reminded us of the need for us to be extra careful in that area as students notice these biases early.

While the content of a lesson is important, teaching is much more than that. We must ensure that our actions are ALWAYS ethical in nature. As we interact with students and form varying degrees of interpersonal relationships, we have a responsibility to ensure that students always see us as fair. This can also be used to our advantage when we are trying to effectively manage our classrooms.

On another note, I have always stated, "When I get to Heaven, I have to ask God why He placed this love for teaching in me." I have made that statement in light of multiple job offers which I have received. These jobs were quite lucrative in nature and no one understands why I continually pass on those offers. The last position I was offered, one month's salary was equivalent to four months of the current teaching salary. Perhaps now my reasons for making that statement is understood.

I made mention of this because of something my lecturer said at the end of class. It seemed to answer my question, I no longer need to reserve that question for my life after. My lecturer said, " If you are called to be a teacher and you know you are truly called, don't try to be anything else. God chooses well.  He does not choose any and anybody to deal with His children. Teaching is in fact a calling, a high calling. If God has chosen you, know that He didn't make a mistake. It's because He knows you would do right by the little ones." ........................I rest my case.

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL - 30 - FIELD TEACHING DAY THREE (LESSON TWO)

11^TH MARCH, 2015

 Our final “official lesson” was a Visual Arts lesson. We did this lesson immediately after the Social Studies lesson. The students seemed overly excited to do anything related to Art. This activity was mainly teacher directed in nature, but the students worked in harmony. For the first time in dealing with this class, I had no need to correct any child for misbehavior. It was almost too good to be true. I was seeing a side of the class that I did not see initially. I thought to myself, “If my lecturer did not speak to us the way she did when she visited, I would have never experienced the euphoria I experienced today.” When this second  lesson was completed, I began to feel unwell again, but even though I was  physically unwell, my heart was joyful. I was able to look  deep within myself and feel a sense of accomplishment in my efforts. I was also pleased to be confronted with my shortcomings; if I do not know what my problems are, then I would not be able to fix them.

I am looking forward to my next Field Teaching experience where hopefully, I would continue to progress.

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL - 29- FIELD TEACHING DAY THREE (LESSON ONE)

11^TH MARCH, 2015

Today was the final teaching practice for me. If I had my way, I would have remained in bed. Firstly, I was very sick and the simplest of tasks now became a major chore. Secondly today marked the anniversary of when my father was buried, and it also marked the birthday of the man who filled the gap when I lost my biological dad (but he too is now deceased). Today I needed all the help of God to get up, get dressed and show up. I guess my humble prayers were answered.

I arrived at the school and realized that the co operating teacher was going to be absent for the day. Generally I would not have been too bothered about something like that, but based on how I was feeling, I felt unable to adequately fulfill the demands of that day. Thankfully, by some miracle, I began to feel better and I was ready to face the day.

My partner was concerned about what we would do with the children for the entire day and I told her I would think of something. Instead of attending the assembly, I sat and drafted a schedule for the day.

We had planned to do our first lesson after the students had breakfast.  All was set for the lesson to begin when suddenly, we were greeted with very loud noise from outside. What ever form of work was taking place outside of our classroom caused a major disruption. We were forced to abandon the lesson because the noise was too great. We allowed the children to read or colour quietly because any activity which involved talking would have been counter productive.

We tried to begin the Social Studies Lesson again after Recess. All was well for a while  but then we were greeted with the noise again. We were once again forced to temporarily put our lesson on pause. I was slightly upset, but I did not allow it to affect me. Some students were afraid of the noise and we had to help calm them down.  I once again experienced a part of teaching that is not defined in the curriculum. I was glad to be able to bring some measure of comfort to the little ones.

The students’ previous knowledge for this lesson was more than we anticipated, but we were careful not to repeat the mistakes we made in the previous lessons. We moved ahead with the class instead of  dragging on certain areas.  This was another  satisfactory lesson in that the students stayed on task and their behavior was more controlled. By this time, the students had formed a natural bond with us, and we were able to use this to our advantage.

If I were to improve this lesson, I would have a large simulated map to better help the children understand the approximate locations of the places we were teaching them about.

 

 

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL - 28- FIELD TEACHING DAY TWO (LESSON TWO)

4^TH MARCH 2015

We taught our second lesson in the afternoon. This was a Science lesson.  This lesson was enjoyable for both the students and us teachers. I took my lecturer’s instructions into consideration as I taught this lesson. My partner also made an effort to work on the areas which we were told needed to be addressed.

 The lecturers often say, do not say, “The lesson went as planned and we achieved all our objectives.” The truth is, that is an honest summation of how the lesson was delivered. I honestly wished my lecturer was there to see this lesson and to observe how we tried to implement what she told us. My partner echoed the same sentiments. There was one part of the lesson that we altered slightly because  we felt it would have enhanced our delivery, and the outcome was satisfactory. After each lesson my partner and I also critiqued each other, however, we could not find anything negative to say about the other. I know there is always room for improvement, however, in this instance, if I had to do it all over again, I would not have changed a thing.

 Perhaps this is a dangerous mindset to have, but I suppose I am still too inexperienced to see the shortcomings. 

 

 

 

 

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL- 27- FIELD TEACHING DAY TWO (LESSON ONE)

4^TH MARCH, 2015

Today was “THE DAY.” My lecturer was coming to view our lesson. This was also the day the police had a road block in my area. What usually took me five minutes drive, took forty five minutes. My partner truly is a gem. She waited for me in spite of the delay. I told her to go ahead when I realized I had no alternative route out. However, she insisted that she was not going to leave me behind. I was already in the wrong frame of mind because of the turn of events, but my partner and I were able to keep each other calm. We therefore began supporting each other before we even entered the classroom.

We arrived in the nick of time, and we moved quickly to our classroom, then to the Principal’s office. We were unable to meet with the Principal once more, but we met our lecturer. Even though I knew she was here to assess me, I did not feel as anxious as I had been before. We went to the classroom after assembly. While my lecturer wanted us to begin our lesson immediately, we had to wait for the students to eat their breakfasts. My lecturer asked us to try to “speed them up.” For some reason I was not comfortable doing this, but I obliged. I understood why it needed to be done, but that did not change the fact that I felt uncomfortable.

My lecturer asked us about our experience  the first day. We were happy to report more positive encounters  with the teacher. I realized after that I should have spoken first about our successes or failures, but that was the human nature coming to the fore……the one that allows me to judge others before I judge myself!!! At least I had something noteworthy to say about the teacher..

Finally, the moment of truth arrived. I went to the front of the class and tried to call the students to order. I gave several instructions to remove all items from the tables, but of course that was a strange thing for the students because they were used to having multiple books on their tables while the teacher taught. I had to manually remove some of the items for myself. This was not a good start to the lesson.

 The classroom was also not arranged in the groups that we met the first day when we went to observe. We took it for granted that the furniture would have been arranged in the four group seating arrangements. I attempted to try to place some students closer to the others so that the class could work in groups, but some students were not cooperative. One girl in particular started crying uncontrollably and protested that she did not want to sit by any of the students. I was a bit annoyed at this because this girl was one who was always bold and outspoken, and she interacted with all the students in the class. I do not know why she choose this morning to "act up."  Eventually I got her to settle down, but another student started crying, and then another. I could not believe this was happening to us. What was going on with these students this morning? That experience unsettled me a bit, but the lesson had to go on.

Eventually we got into the lesson and I must confess, even though it did not begin on a positive note, there was a silver lining. This was the calmest and quietest I have ever seen this class, and I was very appreciative of that fact. While my partner and I felt proud about this, my lecturer was not impressed. She said to us, “Your classroom management was, WOW!!! You need to work on that! You need to be more firm with the children.” I felt saddened by that comment, not because  I do not know how to receive constructive criticism, but because I felt we had a great improvement from last week. I felt sad because I felt we even had the class more controlled than the co-operating teacher. I felt sad because after last week, I went home and pulled out my psychology and classroom management textbooks and I sought solutions for dealing with these children, because I desperately wanted to get it right. Yet, here I was being told that I had missed the mark. My lecturer had other comments for us, but for a moment I could not focus because I kept thinking to myself, “STRIKEONE!!!”

Sure enough, there was a STRIKE TWO!  My lecturer commented that I did not use wisdom in instructing the students. We did a Language Experience Approach Reading Lesson. As part of the lesson, I had to engage the class in reading the sentences. Some of the students were able to read the sentences fluently, however, I  thought  it best to slow down the lesson to facilitate those who were struggling with reading. My lecturer told me that I dragged that part of the lesson too long and that I needed to find another approach because some of the students showed that they were ready to move on. While I agreed with my lecturer on that point, I still did not know how best I could have improved my lesson to provide balance within the classroom. I felt as though there would always be a group who may be disadvantaged.  My mission now is to continue to research further to see how I can make this situation a win-win one.

Thankfully, my lecturer left us with a positive comment. She said the lesson was generally well done. That comment was not sufficient to pick my heart up from the floor, but I  need to learn to deal with it. It is a work in progress and I am learning everyday. I am glad for the opportunities to see my shortcomings, but the truth is, there is nothing to rejoice about when you work hard at something, and still fall below desired expectations.

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL- 26- FIELD TEACHING DAY ONE (LESSON TWO)

25^TH FEBRUARY, 2015

Our second lesson was a Creative Writing  lesson. It followed our previous lesson and the students were more cooperative than with the first lesson and my peer partner and I worked  more like a team.

 Students needed to be given some words to assist them with writing their story. I was shocked at some of the words these children were asking for, because I thought they should have been above that level (For example, words such as  mother, love, like). We wrote the spelling of the words the  children asked for on the board.  I realized that I have lost a sense of reality in terms of these students’ level of language skills because I gauged from my own daughter who is five years old. It took me a while to realize that I am not dealing with my daughter (who is advanced in reading and spelling).

Teaching this lesson was a more pleasant experience than the previous lesson.  Even the  most disruptive student remained focused and followed directions.  My peer partner also pointed this out to me.  Delivering this lesson in a satisfactory manner did a lot to boost my psyche because the first lesson left me despondent and emotionally drained. I felt as if all my hard  work didn’t pay off, but this second lesson made up for the disappointments I experienced  in the Mathematics lesson.

 The students also worked quicky, so that was an added bonus. This lesson was accomplished within the estimated duration of time. The class teacher said she enjoyed the lessons, and I appreciated the feedback.  I can not think of  anything in this lesson that should be omitted.

What could have been done differently, however, is devising a fair way to  select which students got to share their views` with the entire class. Every student wanted a chance to speak, but it was not possible. A similar situation occurred during the previous lesson, but the students were more confrontational in that lesson.

 When the Creative Writing lesson was over, my partner and I sat together and corrected the assignments using a rubric. This process took longer than I had anticipated because she seemed to be much  more generous with marks than I was. Eventually we agreed to grade individually and then find the average of our marks.  I learnt something about my partner and myself through that experience. Even though we differed  in opinion, we disagreed in a very amicable way, and I appreciated her level of honesty and maturity.

 Our turn to observe the class teacher at work came once more. I must confess that there was a remarkable improvement in how she taught today and interacted with the class. Today I saw her true “teacher’s heart.” Last day I was doubtful about  whether she was serious or passionate about this job, but today she showed me that she was. I was glad I got another chance to reconstruct my opinion of her, for I now have more pleasant things to attribute to her. Perhaps when we just met her, she was having a difficult day. Perhaps she had that persona because she was taken by surprise when two UTT students were suddenly "dumped"  on her. All in all, the day was a productive one. I am looking forward to next week.

 

 

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL-25- FIELD TEACHING DAY ONE (LESSON ONE)

25^TH FEBRUARY, 2015

Today was the “big day.”…………..Finally I had to teach the lessons we planned.  I tried to keep a positive attitude (which by the way was very difficult because it was one of those mornings where everything that could go wrong, did.)  I thought I would have reached late that day because of the unforeseen obstacles I faced that morning to get to my destination, but God saw it fit to intervene in my dilemma.

I came to school with my partner that morning. That was not our original plan, but that’s how it worked out. We were able to encourage each other as well as rehearse our lessons once again. As we drove into the school yard, my partner was bombarded by teachers, parents and students who were glad to see her again. Getting to the office was very difficult as we tried to press through the “mob.” Seeing the love displayed to my partner was delightful to behold, and  it helped alleviate any nervousness or tension which we may have been experiencing. Eventually we were able to make it to the office, but we were not able to meet with the Principal because she was otherwise engaged. We waited until after the assembly to see if we could have met with her then, but she was still unavailable. My partner and I decided to go to our class and we informed the secretary that we were on the compound.

The class teacher greeted us very warmly. She seemed to be in a better frame of mind than the last time we saw her. We spoke with her briefly about the lessons we had planned for today. Originally we were told that we could do our lessons between recess and lunch time. However, The teacher said that her class is already in a routine of doing Mathematics before recess and she would like us to do our Mathematics lesson early. I was displeased with this sudden change of plans (and you may recall how much I detest change), but I did not protest. I recognized she was the class teacher and I respected her as such. We therefore asked her to allow us to use the last half an hour before recess as we were still waiting for the projector from the secretary. The class teacher agreed to this arrangement.

My partner and I left the class to see if the projector and/or the Principal was available. We were still unable to meet with the Principal, but we got our projector; my partner had called the day before to request its use. When we returned to the class, the teacher was telling the students a story. We sat quietly at the back and listened. The story is not one I was familiar with, but I admired the way the teacher allowed the class to discuss the pictures in the story and any other point they wished to contribute.

While I appreciated the teacher’s delivery, I could not  help but notice that “our” time was now going. We sat and  waited for the teacher to begin to wrap up her story, however, she seemed to be in no hurry. When she finally turned over to us, we only had ten minutes before recess. I thought to myself, “She had to be crazy!!!” But again, I maintained a calm head and professional disposition. I reminded her that we needed twenty five minutes for our lesson and that we only have ten minutes remaining. She stated that we could just "run through" the lesson and leave out some things. At this point I reminded her that that was not the agreement and I would prefer to have the full time to teach the lesson. She then told us to start the lesson and we would continue after recess.  I did not like this arrangement either, but we agreed because we were trying to respect the teacher’s authority in the class.

 My partner tried to set up the projector while I tried to settle the class to begin the lesson. There were extra students from another class with us that day. The class felt overcrowded and chaotic. It was difficult for me to figure out what was the arrangement of the tables. There was no proper structure. This was also something I had to deal with internally. I like to see order. I felt claustrophobic standing in the midst of those disarranged furniture, however, I did not know how to fix it without eroding the few minutes I had.

 We did our set induction and Teaching point 1, then paused for recess. I took this opportunity to arrange the furniture in a more structured manner.  Through out the recess period we realized that we had not explored the logistics of where and how the projector would be set up. We had great difficulty in trying to find a suitable place in the classroom to use it. Cleary this was an oversight on our part. We were also inhibited because we did not have an extension cord, or a proper place to rest the projector. Thankfully, we were able to work out a compromise, however, using a projector in our assigned classroom was not a very wise idea.

The students returned from recess and we continued with our lesson. My partner and I were accustomed to taking turns in peer teaching, however, our lecturer does not believe in that approach. I tried to communicate this to my partner as best as I could, however, she seemed unable to break from the old habit. This caused me to be concerned as I felt she could have been more involved when I was giving an instruction. I tried to incorporate her more, however, she did not always hold out with me. However, I thoroughly enjoy working with her because she always works hard and she genuinely cares about the students’ well being.

Dealing with extra students in the class created challenges as well. I was very pleased that I listened to the “small voice in my head” which told me to prepare extra copies  for each activity. The extra resources that  I prepared were just sufficient to provide for the additional students. The class was also very unsettled, they seemed to be accustomed to an environment  of noise. They displayed a certain level of rowdiness both with us and with their class teacher. The students  had a habit of having several books out at one time, and doing other activities such as colouring while they are being taught another subject. My partner and I tried to discourage this practice, however, we were met with great opposition by the students.  Yet, we were able to stand our ground. At the end of  the day, my partner and I discussed these traits of the class and we agreed to try other approaches to improve our classroom  management skills.

Sticking to the time frame was very important for me. I became a bit anxious when my partner seemed to be callous where time was concerned; hence, we went over the time limit. I resolved within myself to not allow this to happen again. We were also robbed of time when a teacher walked in  the class in the middle of our lesson and began openly discussing trivial things.  I was appalled at the timing. I recognized, however, that situations like these are to be expected and that I need to avoid stressing over every minute detail.  While I desire for everything to be perfect and in order, I myself am far from perfect.

In this lesson I also learnt how easy it is for miscommunication to occur. My partner and I met to plan our lesson, we walked through it together at a later time, and we rehearsed it a final time on our way to school. Imagine my surprise when I saw her doing something different to what we had agreed upon. I tried to steer her back on course in a way that did not seem obvious, but I was unable to bring her back. I couldn’t understand how or why she would have done something like that. However, when I later spoke to her, I understood how the activity could have been misinterpreted by her. The conclusion of that scenario is that my partner’s idea was also a very good one and she was still able to achieve the objective. I am glad I did not interrupt her because I think her interpretation of the teaching point was more engaging than what I had in mind.

The students enjoyed the collage activity at the end of the lesson and I was pleasantly surprised to see the type of creativity displayed by them.

On set back we experienced while teaching is that we did not remember many of the students' names. Name cards would have helped us greatly, so we decided to have some available for our next field teaching practice.