About Me

Wanganui, New Zealand
Personal motto: no-one is free until we all are free. HOMETRUTH: The quest for a peaceful sustainable society begins at home. It begins with us. It begins in our hearts and minds before it can inform our actions. It begins with our cultivating our connectedness, compassion and sense of mutual responsibility, and teaching our children about these. When we habitually think of social justice as a matter of personal responsibility for one another, then we create the conditions for our young people to feel a sense of belonging and a desire to participate responsibly in social life. As teachers we need to be constantly learning, not only because there is always so much new research to engage with, but also for that precious understanding of the fragile subjectivity of the learner that enables the committed teacher to nurture the nascent spirited imagination of an emergent young adult. I HAVE A DREAM ..... TO FILL THEM WITH A LOVE OF LEARNING, A FEEL FOR THEIR POSSIBILITIES, RAMPANT CURIOSITY, TOOLS TO FIND, DISCRIMINATE, AND CRITICALLY EVALUATE INFORMATION, FINDING THE CONFIDENCE TO DISCOVER THEIR VOICES, THEIR IDENTITIES- AS INDIVIDUALS, AND AS CITIZENS.

Saturday, 4 August 2007

My First Block Course

REFLECTION OF PERFORMANCE ON TEACHING EXPERIENCE BLOCK 1

Well, it was only three weeks but what a busy three weeks it was. The best thing about it was that I got to teach history which I love. They were small classes, and not particularly into it, but I did my best at sharing my passion for the topics and hope the student's feel more enthusiasm now they have a sense of the relevance of the Vietnam War, development issues and Elizabethan times.

My teaching appraisals were very positive and affirming, and I found the feedback extremely uiseful.

I am posting my post TE 1 assignment which gives my thoughts about various aspects of my experience.


Task 1: Identify 4-5 key aspects of my performance that were good in relation to the learning outcomes (P.4 Teaching Experience 1 Red Book).

LO. 1 Identify and develop a personal philosophy of teaching.
My interactions with colleagues and students are shaped by enthusiasm and respect. The key focus of my professional activity is enhancing the learning capacity and experience of all students and contributing to a sense of community and whanaungatanga within the classroom and the school and wider community. I want students to feel acknowledged, encouraged and able, and to see school as safe, interesting and worthwhile.

LO. 2 Establish professional standards.
I conducted myself professionally in that I was early to school, slow to leave, well-prepared, took my duties and responsibilities seriously, participated where possible in the life of the school, and dressed and spoke appropriately. I approached the other teachers in a spirit of collegial co-operation. I critically reflected on my teaching sessions and discussed them frankly with my associate teachers to refine and deepen my teaching skills and strategies.
I sought to be inclusive and flexible in my classroom teaching which was informed by an awareness of how contextual factors influence teaching and learning. I researched the school records (stanine scores, test results) and spoke to associate teachers so I understood the levels of ability and diversity within the classroom for both lesson planning and face-to-face interaction.
I took care with my pronounciation of te reo Maori and asked students when I was uncertain (such as doing the roll and encountering unfamiliar names). I took every opportunity to expose the class to a range of cultural, gender, and socio-economic/class perspectives.

LO. 3 Plan, prepare and implement written lesson plans.
I researched and planned each teaching session using the principle of instructional scaffolding and a variety of learning theories, resources and assessment to structure the lesson with the objective of ensuring the students were clear about what they were learning, why, that they were making progress and experiencing themselves as successful in their learning.

LO. 4 Apply a range of strategies to manage student behaviours.
I conducted myself confidently and was warm, interested, and positive. I quickly established routines and made it clear to the students my expectations regarding their behaviour. I modelled the behaviour I wanted – respectful, attentive, co-operative and was consistent in following through on what I said. I learnt the school discipline policy and was prepared to use it if necessary (it wasn’t, because I defused situations non-confrontationally before they got out of hand). I sought to get to know each of the students as quickly as possible, first by learning their names and using a class photo ID sheet to help me do this. I looked for opportunities to speak to each of them individually and learn a little about them personally so a relationship could grow between us. I sought to create a structured and calm learning environment in which students felt valued, safe and experienced successful learning. I used positive reinforcement to encourage appropriate behaviours and where student behaviour was inappropriate, I responded in the least intrusive manner I could see would allow me to deal with the disruption effectively without drawing attention to it or allowing it to disrupt the momentum of the lesson.

LO. 5 Familiarity with subject curricula.
I have a good knowledge of my subject areas which I am passionate about and keep up to date through reading widely and voraciously across a range of media. I worked hard at researching my lessons and pitching the content material so that it was at the appropriate level for the class.

LO. 7 Select, develop and use a variety of learning and teaching resources.
In planning my lessons, I gave a lot of thought to finding and developing a range of activities and resources so that the different learning styles in the class were accommodated and student engagement promoted. Since beginning the course, I have been busy building up my resources, and used my TE to extend my resource treasure-trove by exploring the department’s resource rooms and on-line materials. I also spoke to my associate teachers about the resources they used and shared with them particular activities or resources I had found that I thought they would be interested in.


TASK 2: Aspects of my Teaching Practice I Need to Address.

LO. 3 Plan, prepare and implement written lesson plans.
I tended to over-prepare for each lesson and had too much material and too many activities so that I was struggling to create realistic timeframes for each component of the lesson. I had problems estimating the time an activity would take and managing the activity so that it didn’t sprawl beyond the time allotted. Another challenge I faced is how to manage the students that weren’t present at the previous lesson (or lessons). The time it took to bring them up to speed was a significant chunk of time I hadn’t accounted for when scheduling the lesson.

LO. 4 Apply a range of strategies to manage student behaviours.
18 years of projecting my voice across a large lecture theatre to university students and being used to lecturing for an hour or two means I have a loud voice and tend to explain and discuss at length. I took up too much of the lesson talking and explaining. I also tended to find myself at times talking and giving instructions to the class when I was walking around the classroom while they were working on an activity.
Task 3: Identify 4 specific goals linked to the learning outcomes that I intend to address during TE 2.

Goal 1: (LO. 7 Select, develop and use a variety of learning and teaching resources).
I wish to learn more about
what is involved in developing learning environments that promote (a) student engagement in the learning process and (b) self-directed learning.
Using digital and on-line environments.
These both will require on-going research and discussion with other teachers.

Goal 2: (LO. 4 Apply a range of strategies to manage student behaviours).
I wish to address/change my speaking behaviours, in particular
make sure I speak quietly when speaking to individual students as I go around the class when they are working.
Once I have set the class to a task, be quiet and allow them to get on with it.
If someone asks for help, or I am speaking to a student 1 on 1, then I will go to them and speak quietly with them.
If I feel what is being asked is a “teaching point”, I will go to the front of the room and give my attention-getting signal (clap hands and say “pens down, eyes up front” then wait silently and expectantly for them to do so) then speak briefly to the whole class about the point in question.
I want to work out an effective strategy for stopping students from spontaneously calling out answers when I ask a question. I also want to further explore what my position is about this – whether it is better to ask specific students to answer so that the same ones aren’t answering all the time, or does this put the ones one singles out ‘on the spot’ and unintentionally make them feel threatened and withdraw? More research needed!!

Goal 3: (LO. 6 Demonstrate an awareness of assessment and evaluation processes).
I wish to develop
my capacity to effectively apply diagnostic, formative and summative assessments in planning and teaching.
My grasp of the NCEA structures and processes.
These both will require on-going research and discussion with other teachers.

Goal 4: (LO. 3 Plan, prepare and implement written lesson plans).
I wish to
Develop my ability to promote rich discussion and higher-level thinking using open-ended questions, prompts, non-verbal cues.
Give students more time to respond to questions, using pairs or group discussion, and encouraging them to use a range of responses to answer (e.g. drawing a concept map on the whiteboard).
Refine my judgement as to how much can realistically be covered in a lesson, allowing for interruptions and the unexpected, while being able to maintain progress through the curriculum. Practice makes perfect.