My first lesson: How can I make it better?

The day has finally come, I taught my first lesson today! I taught maths to year one and two (I have a composite class). I’m happy to report both lesson went well and I felt so comfortable (to a certain extent) in front of the class and really enjoyed myself. I also used the IWB with the kids for the first time ever. I must say I was amazed at the children’s response to the maths games I played with them, and will definitely be using the IWB again and again! My YR 1 lesson focused on counting by 2’s and 5’s and YR 2 on place value.

Here is a link the IWB games I used:

Spooky Sequence Counting by 5's (year One)

Place Value game (Year Two)

My teacher had lots of positive (only a few negative) pieces of feedback about my lesson.  After my lesson my teacher asked me how I thought I had gone. I was very honest and said I thought I struggled with the way I explained the concepts as well as behaviour management, but overall enjoyed myself. I am fairly lucky not to have a lot of behaviour management issues in my class and when I watch my teacher implement strategies she makes it looks so easy! When I got up there I almost felt apprehensive to discipline the kids.  I found the discussions with my teacher extremely helpful for me personally and made me think about the importance of being reflective as a teacher. I asked me teacher how often she reflects on her own teaching to which she replied “All the time, I’m constantly reflecting to see how I can make my lessons better” It made me realize if my teacher is still reflecting on her teaching after 27 years, I better start to master the art of reflection!

Reflecting as stated by Briggs & Potter (1999) is a way in which teachers maintain professionalism, continue developing their teaching skills and knowledge about themselves and their profession. As a beginning teacher having completed a formal lesson and a handful of small lesson, I’ve found that I  have already been critically reflecting about myself from my lessons. I have already found areas I can improve upon and am looking at literature to help achieve this for myself. The ability to be critical and reflect on your teaching will probably not always be easy but a skill I hope to develop and continue throughout my teacher career. 

As my teacher, who is kindly passing on her 27 years of teaching knowledge to me says “you will never get two classes that will be the same, what has worked for one class, won’t work for another so you are constantly reflecting and changing your teaching style to suit you and your class.”

References:

Briggs, F & Potter, G. (1999). The early years of school: teaching and learning. Frenchs Forest: Longman

Technology?!

Element 4; Aspect 4.1.5 – Use a range of teaching strategies and resources including ICT and other technologies to foster interest and support learning.

How ICT can be used in the classroom

I am very excited today; I have seen a lesson on the Interactive whiteboard! I observed a writing lesson which my teacher conducted with my prac class. My teacher conducted a modelled writing lesson with the students and then used maths games on the IWB as a warm up for a maths lesson. The children’s response to the IWB amazed me. As soon as the teacher said we are going to play some maths games on the IWB it was like a switch and the children were sitting beautifully, facing the IWB and ready. If this is what technology can do for children in the classroom then I need to be a techno genius!

Learning and teaching in the classroom in the 21^st century requires future and practicing teachers to be ready to meet the transformational challenges of ICT use in education (Finger et al, 2007). This is the future of education as a teacher and there is nowhere to hide from technology falling upon us. I admit it is scary to think a lot of children I could potentially teach will be more highly skilled than me with technology, but the benefits of ICT in the classroom far out way my apprehensions.

As a beginning teacher I know the more I embrace new technologies which are being used in the classroom the better equipped I'll be when it comes time to take a class of my own.  A case study conducted by Hammond et al (2009) looked at the way student teachers use ICT in teacher education courses. What the case study found was that many beginning teachers who had good use of ICT skills during teacher training, found themselves to be better contributing to the professional idea of being a ‘good teacher.'

I agree with findings of the case study conducted by Hammond et al (2010). I know from only one semester at university I have learnt so much more about ICT and technology then probably ever! Professionally I know I am learning the skills I’ll need not only to teach the children but to meet the standards set out by the NSW Institute of Teachers. I guess I am intrigued to see what I am capable of doing next...the technology world is my oyster!!

Until my next reflection where I will have taught my first lesson and am using the IWB for the first time. I am excited to see what lies ahead, fingers crossed it will be a positive!

References

Finger, G., Russell, G., Jamieson-Proctor, R & Russell, N. (2007). Transforming learning with ICT: Making IT happen. Frenchs Forest: Pearsons Education Australia.

Hammond, M., Crosson, S., Fragkouli, E., Ingram, J., Johnston-Wilder, P., Johnston-Wilder, S., Kingston, Y., Pope, M & Wray, D. (2009). Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 18(1), 59-73. Retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy1.acu.edu.au

Image retrieved from http://www.computers4kids.co.za/images/integration.gif

Did I just ask that?

I feel like I am settling in quiet well with my classroom and am enjoying every minute being there. Today my teacher asked me how I would feel about taking a small group of year 2 students for a maths activity. I was both excited and nervous to see how this small group activity was going to play out. I am happy to report the small group activity went really well! The kids were for the most part well behaved and I felt almost like a teacher (well at small group work anyway)

During my time with my group, one thing I found myself stumbling on was the types of questions I was asking the children. After each question I asked myself “was that a good question?” “Was it open ended?” and lastly “was that even the right thing to say??” Gall (1984, as cited in Barry & King 1998) states that as teachers we can ask up to several hundred questions per day! They also state that effective questioning and responding to answers are one of the most difficult skills in teaching (Barry & King, 1998). Wow, I think I have my work cut out for me!!

 I can see why it is a difficult skill and it is really something as a teacher I feel I would need to plan for.  I observed my teacher for the rest of the afternoon to see what types of questions she was asking and how she worded them. I actually wrote many of the questions and responses she gave to the children down and she seemed to do it so effortlessly. I spoke to her later about her questioning technique and she said it was all about planning and hinted to me that it’s a skill you develop naturally after teaching for so long.

I wanted to see how often questioning was referred to by the NSW institute of teacher and I found it in: Element 4: 4.2.2 Use questions and classroom discussions effectively to probe students understanding of content.  The questions I ask need to “enhance and extend students thinking and assist them in learning from the experience” (Fellows & Oakley, 2010). I now know these are the types of skills I will need to demonstrate as a teacher and should be developing fairly quickly.

I have added a video from Youtube which I found really helpful. It has great examples of questions the teacher was asking the students in a Grade 5 class in reference to the novel they are studying, take a look:

References

Barry, K. & King, L. (1998). Developing instructional skills. In Beginning Teaching and Beyond, (3^rd ed.), (pp144-167). Social Science Press.

Fellowes J., & Oakley, G. (2010). Language, Literacy and Early Childhood Education.

 Australia: Oxford University Press.

NSW Institute of Teachers. (2006). Professional Teaching Standards, Retrieved from http://www.nswteachers.nsw.edu.au.

Can I have a sticker please?

I came into school today all ready and excited for my second day of prac, ready to see what I was going to learn today. Again I had such a fantastic day and am really learning a great deal. I feel like I’ve settled in quiet well. Today I could observe the class more closely compared to my first day when I was overwhelmed with a busy day and learning everything I could about my class.

I made it my goal today at prac to look at the ways in which my teacher handles classroom and behaviour management more closely. I was happy to observe a number of different strategies in the classroom.

Classroom management

In my classroom my teacher has a sticker chart system. During class she gives children stickers not only for positive behaviour but positive attitudes to their work and other students. When children finish a whole chart of stickers they receive a prize (which they love). She also has the word TREAT on the board in bubble writing and would colour/uncolour parts of the word for good/bad whole class behaviour. If it is all coloured in at the end of the week the children get free play or to watch a movie.

An example of a sticker chart

Behaviour management

My teacher uses a few different strategies to suit different behaviours. She uses the clapping technique, a small shaker or reminds the class about the 5L’S of listening to gain whole class attention. For individual/small groups she varies in what she says which I found very interesting as well as overwhelming in that she knew exactly what to say to each individual child to reinforce positive or stop negative behaviour.

An example of the 5L's of listening

When looking at the research in regards to behaviour management, it is overwhelming and also something I am beginning to learn is somewhat of a personal preference and what “fits best” with your class.

I looked at the NSW Institute of Teachers standards to see where I needed to be as a graduate teacher and at professional competence level in terms of classroom management and found Element five:

Element 5:
 *Aspect 5.1.5 Demonstrate knowledge of practical approaches to managing student behaviour and their applications in the classroom

*Aspect 5.2.5 Manage student behaviour through engaging students in purposeful and worthwhile learning activities.

After reading these aspects I was left to question myself:

Will I be able to do this as a teacher?

How am I going to fulfill these requirements when I have a class of my own?

References:

NSW Institute of Teachers. (2006). Professional Teaching Standards, Retrieved from http://www.nswteachers.nsw.edu.au.

Back to school

So prac has officially started..wow it seems so early in the semester to be saying that!

I had my first day and I know after one day that I really feel like I have chosen the right profession, I left school today in such a happy mood and absolutely loved being in the classroom and it was only day one!!

I'll give you a bit of background about my school and class. I am in a school in the inner west and it is quiet a small school which is nice. I have a Year 1/2 composite class which I am slightly apprehensive and excited about being composite. The class has 25 kids 7 girls and 18 boys (the 18 boys are slightly overwhelming but I think the boys are going to grow on me).  My supervising teacher is really fantastic and I feel like I have learnt so much for her already and it is only the first day!

When I walked into the classroom the first thing I looked for was the Interactive white board and yes, there it was sitting beautifully at the front of the classroom. I said to my teacher “I am really excited to try some of my lessons on your IWB, I’m a bit scared to use it but would love to try” to which she replied back “Yes it is great, but I don’t like using it much, I think I’m too old for this technology, the kids know more than me”. This comment really made me think about age and technology and brought me back to one of the first readings about digital natives and digital immigrants which I re read. One of the quotes from Prensky (2001) really got me thinking. “Our digital immigrant instructors, who speak outdated language (that of the pre-digital age) are struggling to teach a population that speak an entirely new language.” I thought could this be true and was this what I was going to see in my classroom?

I completely understand the anxiety teachers can face with using new technology in the classroom, where the students will more than likely be teaching them how to use it! I am really looking forward to working with my prac class and my teacher and know I can overcome my own fear of new technology too!

References:

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon. 9(5).