REFLECTIVE JOURNAL - 19 - CRITICAL INCIDENT FROM PRACTICUM III

This semester has produced many critical incidents for me. These have stemmed from both the influence of my lecturer as well as that of my fellow classmates. The most significant game changer or intervention was as a direct result of my lecturer's timely impartation of wisdom. However, I wish to share another experience.

A couple weeks ago, my Practicum class engaged in in-house teaching exercises. While one of my colleagues shared, reference was often made that, “You all are in Class X now, so you are supposed to know about Topic A.” This is a statement I have often made, however, hearing it from someone else caused me to realize how erroneous we can be in our deductions at times.

 In planning lessons, we are often required to state the previous knowledge of the learners, however, in reality, this previous knowledge is often characteristic of some or most of the learners, not all. This was one thing I felt necessary to not lose sight of as I continue on my journey as a prospective teacher.

Secondly, the colleague used concepts of time by the analog clock to reinforce the lesson being taught. It was assumed that all students had a working knowledge of time because we were all in Class X.  This took me back to my days at school. The concept of time had evaded me for almost my entire Primary school life. To this day, I am not sure how that was possible, but the fact remains. My colleague used these concepts to build an understanding of a new topic, which was being taught. I thought of my level of understanding when I was a student and I knew, had that lesson been taught to me then, I would have been completely lost. While I may have been able to understand the lesson, I would not have been able to make the necessary connections if the concept of the hands of the clock were used. My confession is, I learned to tell time in Standard Five. It was an embarrassment I silently endured for many years. I had found a way to mask it, so much so, no one in my home ever realized that I was unable to tell time. From this exercise, I understood the importance of truly knowing your learners and to not take anything for granted.

This situation was compounded because the lesson involved left and right movements. While this may be something that most persons master perhaps from as early as pre-school, this was always a challenge for me. There was nothing SIMPLE about left and right. It was ALWAYS a big deal for me. Again, another burden of “shame” I silently carried while growing up. I always needed a couple extra seconds more than my peers did, to locate my right hand, then I could have moved on to the next instruction. Again, if this teacher had taught me in my former years, I would have been left behind because instructions were being given at a quick pace. Perhaps the teachers I had were just like my colleague, for I was in fact left behind. I do not know what accounted for this “deficiency” in my learning, especially since I often placed in the top three for End of Term exams. This fact added to my personal shame even more. 

This experience reminded me of how clinical the role of a teacher is. It taught me the need to be more critical of my strategies and examples if a student is not grasping a concept. It reminded me of the need to meet students at their level and provide the one to one intervention that they may need. It is my hope that what I faced in Primary school would not be experienced by any of my students. Strangely, I had never before considered the possibility that dealing with my inability was also part of my teachers' responsibility.  Instead of a child going through years of shame and trying to mask areas they feel incompetent in, he or she should feel comfortable to approach me with his fears. I am hoping that I would still be observant and discerning enough, that even if a child still lacks the confidence to approach me, I would be able to detect gaps in the learning. 

Finally, as the lesson progressed, I literally found myself “lost”. My colleague made reference to a particular animated movie to which everyone else in the class came alive and engaged in interactive discussion. My colleague used this as an opportunity to elaborate on the teaching point. While the example seemed to be an excellent one, the problem was I had never seen the movie. I was not familiar with what the rest of the class spoke about. I sat in silence, as I was unable to contribute to or participate in this aspect of the class. I tried my best to understand how the characters being discussed could have helped me understand the teaching point, however, I was beyond reach.  I am glad I had this experience because it reiterated the fact that as a teacher, I should not take anything for granted. There may be the odd number of students in my class who may not have been exposed to certain factors or experiences. As such, I need to be mindful of these possibilities. I may also need to ask specific questions to ensure that I am not leaving any of my learners behind.

In essence, this experience has caused me to look at myself more critically and see how I may be able to conduct my lessons in a manner that can engage each student. At no time must I take it for granted that because something or someone is popular, all my students would be aware of it or him/her. Additionally, I should not assume that because the students are a certain age, in a particular class, or able to attain a particular grade, those students are fully aware of what is deemed common knowledge. If I am to attempt to reach and influence my learners, I must always be able to connect with them.

 

PS: How I learnt to tell time.

For my 11th Birthday, someone gave me a watch. It was undoubtedly my most beautiful personal possession, however, I did not wear it because I was afraid someone would ask me the time.

 

I desperately wanted to wear my watch, so I embarked on a personal journey to learn to tell the time. I had a vague idea of the concepts involved and the terms used (that is, quarter to, ten minutes past, etc.). I devised a plan to slowly try to figure out how to tell the time.

First I asked a family member to set the correct time on the watch for me. Then, I started asking random persons at random moments to tell me the time (using their watches of course because I kept mine hidden). Each time they responded, I wrote down what they said, and I quickly took out my watch and drew exactly what I saw.

I did this for  a period of time and I studied all the data I had gathered to see if I can make sense of it. I found the lesson on time in my Mathematics Textbook and I tried to study it. It took me a while to catch on, but finally, one day I experienced that Eureka moment!!!! There are not sufficient words to express the pride I felt.........not to mention, I was now able to sport my new watch.

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL - 18 - INDIVIDUAL LESSON REFLECTION/ APPRAISAL

On Wednesday 29^th November, 2014 I co-taught a lesson with one of my colleagues as part of my UTT Practicum 111 Assessment. Ideally, the lesson was designed to be taught to a group of twenty Infant 1 students, however, the actual lesson delivery was done with  a group of ten adults (peers) who aided in  simulating the classroom setting (my lecturer included). Our lesson was designed to introduce students to the concept of the number three.

            Before we even attempted to teach the lesson, we had to draft a Lesson Plan. My colleague did a Social Studies lesson and I did a Mathematics lesson. However, we needed to decide on one lesson. This presented the first conflict for us as we each chose a lesson with which the other was not most comfortable. I gave my colleague  the option to choose whatever she wanted to teach, and I assured her that whatever she chose, I would support it one hundred percent. I made this decision because I realized that in the Primary School setting, teachers would be responsible for teaching all aspects of the curriculum regardless of how we feel about a particular topic. My colleague expressed the same concerns. Eventually, she selflessly opted to do my Mathematics lesson; hence, we crossed our first hurdle together.

            My colleague and I divided the workload between ourselves and we communicated with each other via emails and short meetings at school. A week before our lesson delivery, we presented our Lesson Plan to our lecturer. She made a number of recommendations; a sure indicator that we needed to go “back to the drawing board.” My colleague and I also got some new ideas regarding how we wished to present our lesson. We decided to do a complete overhaul of the original lesson and we worked arduously to ensure that the new lesson was satisfactory in design and delivery.

            One of the concerns our lecturer expressed when she viewed our Lesson Plan, was the impracticality of delivering such a content filled lesson in twenty-five minutes. She also suggested that we did a dry run of the lesson, and time ourselves. Once we completed our Lesson Plan, we met to ‘practice’ teaching the lesson. This exercise took much longer than we had anticipated as we often found ourselves being “stuck” at key areas of transition. We rehearsed and gave each other feedback. We did not leave the room until we were both satisfied that we were ready to execute the lesson. Based on our lesson’s rehearsal, we made some final adjustments to the Lesson Plan. These adjustments were also necessary if we were to stay within our allotted time. Planning and working with my colleague was very rewarding as we both have mutual respect for each other, and we share the same ideals of striving for excellence. Although we often had very different perspectives or preferences, we maintained respect for each other’s opinions. At no time did we lose focus on the fact that we were a team. I felt comfortable working with my colleague.

            The day before our lesson delivery, my colleague and I had one last meeting. We met to ensure we had not overlooked anything, and to prepare the classroom, as a part of our lesson incorporated the use of pictures stuck on the classroom walls.

            When we entered the classroom on the morning of our presentation, we soon realized that we had to adjust our lesson delivery. Our lecturer had suggested that we incorporate the use of technology to enhance the closure of our lesson. We did a PowerPoint presentation; however, there was no projector in the class that day. We quickly realized our first mistake was failing to remind our lecturer to walk with the projector. We took it for granted that it would have been in class because our lecturer was the one who suggested that we used it in the first place. Our second mistake was that we arrived to class fifteen minutes late. Had we been present before the start of class, we may have been able to deal with that matter. Despite the setback, we were able to implement an alternative method by using a picture book, which we had made to be used as a future resource tool in the classroom. Before the lesson began, we already had key experiences regarding what to do (or not do) when preparing for a lesson. We recognized the danger of taking too much for granted.

            My colleague blew a whistle to call the class to order, and thus began the set induction. This part of the lesson was well executed in my view as the class remained engaged the entire time. I tried my best to observe my colleague and the class to determine the atmosphere created at the beginning of the lesson. I felt pleased to see smiles on every face and all eyes focused on what was taking place at the front. I moved back and forth during this part of the lesson, but my movements did not seem to distract anyone. The set induction went well, and I was particularly impressed with my colleague’s delivery and level of questioning.

            During the set induction, I recognized my lecturer had taken on the role of a student who may have been a special needs student. Her performance tested how we would address diversity in the classroom. Fortunately, while my colleague and I were rehearsing our lesson, we kept thinking and strategizing about what we would do if a student was not conforming to our instructions. We had discussed how we would adjust our teaching to deal with such students. I believe this helped us to deal with the surprise elements that presented themselves in the form of students not operating at the normal or average cognitive level.

            The role taken on by my lecturer was difficult to “diagnose” as it varied among characteristics of various disabilities most likely to be found in the classroom. There was not a constant adherence to displaying one type of disability, hence we got an opportunity to teach a range of complex behaviours which we may encounter. Besides our lecturer, other students also took on the role of slow learners or disruptive students. They also increased the challenge of being able to teach the lesson successfully. While every teacher would like to have well-behaved, independent, intellectual students, that is not the reality of the classroom, hence the odd experiences were welcomed in an attempt for us to get an all rounded experience.

            I was responsible for delivering the next two teaching points. I tried to keep my focus on all the students and I kept calling on those who may have had a tendency to become distracted. A main fault of both my colleague and me was that neither of us had a watch or other time keeping device on our persons. Again, had we used the computer, we would have been able to gauge our time. My task was to introduce the students to the “manyness” of counting to three, and also to teach and evaluate how to choose a group with three items. While in rehearsal of the lesson, we tried to strategize for deviations that may occur; I found it necessary to change the teaching activity impromptu to make allowance for the students who “did not readily grasp the concept.” At one time, I called three students and had them demonstrate counting a group of three. These students initially carried out instructions incorrectly, spoke constantly, claimed they were incapable of doing the activity, or had a tendency to distract the class. While this approach may have ensured the students grasped the concept, it also utilized some time I had not catered for.

            Perhaps I should have asked my co teacher to briefly take these children aside and try to give them individual attention while I focused on the rest of the group. Perhaps all the children could have been regrouped to move on to the next activity.

            During the entire teaching exercise, my colleague and I circulated the classroom in an effort to give each child individual attention. This worked well for us as we were consistently able to detect the students who were misguided, and we could have dealt with it immediately. We tried to pay attention to detail, for example, my colleague encouraged a student to “pinch her pencil” so that she would have the correct pincer grasp.

            During the lesson, an assessment checklist was done. The results showed that all objectives were achieved, even by those students who seemed to be slow at grasping concepts. For students who did not immediately understand instructions given, I was mindful that before I dismiss it as a “learning deficiency,” perhaps I should change my delivery approach.

            We tried to praise each child constantly and encouraged the rest of the class to applaud their friends when they did or said something noteworthy. I even used stickers as an added incentive to motivate the students to feel good about their work. Students were also allowed to display their work before the lesson was over.

            I enjoyed teaching this lesson with my colleague. We tried to make it student centered and interactive. We used concrete objects, bright colours, songs, actions and movement. While everything was not perfect, I am pleased with the effort that was put into the lesson planning process, and I would love to teach this lesson again and improve on the areas that were marked for improvement.

           

           

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL - 17 - ASSESSMENTS

When I first thought about the concept of assessment, I mainly thought of test papers and worksheets. While this is what usually comes to mind for me, I have always been an advocate for various forms of continuous assessments.

Formative assessment is conducted throughout a student’s period of learning or instruction.

As a teacher, I have understood that this is applied to measure a student’s progress as well as measure the effectiveness of a teacher’s lesson delivery. Some of the forms it takes are observations, journals and questions and answers.

Summative assessment is an evaluation of a student’s learning at the end of the period of instruction.

As a teacher, I have understood that this is applied to rate a student’s understanding of what was taught. It may take the form of an end of term test, a portfolio or even a performance.

About the levels of flexibility and adaptability, I believe that I will have to familiarize myself with which types of assessments are best used with specific types of objectives or activities.  I would also need to research how to effectively apply assessment, which caters for diversity in the classroom.

My strategies may need to be constantly reviewed because there is always room to improve one’s self. Thus, if one form of assessment was used in association with one lesson, a reflection may cause me to opt to do a different type of assessment should I do that lesson again.

The immediate challenges that I can identify are determining when to apply assessments for individuals, and when to apply them to groups. Also, recording assessment details of multiple students while conducting a lesson is challenging as well.

The road ahead is paved with optimism when I consider past and present experiences with administrators, as well as the contemporary education system. This is because I have always used several forms of assessments. These assessments and the results were often shared with my administrators and their input was always acted upon by me.