School Prac Visit 5

6th May 2010

This week I had organised with my colleague teacher to attend my observation practical on a Thursday. Since the teaching schedule is fixed for each day of the week we decided it would be a good idea for me to try and attend school practicals on days other than a Wednesday to get an all-rounded experience for each Key Learning Area. I am grateful that I was able to organise additional visits to my school for each day of the week so I can settle in to my ES1 classroom (and hence the school’s) schedule with ease once our intense 3 week practical block begins. There’s nothing like jumping into the deep end and at this point, I am not prepared to test the waters at a time where I feel we should at least be able to float if not swim. In light humour, the only concern I want to deal with is how I am going to tie up my students’ shoelaces as my pregnancy draws to an end.

Thursday begin with 15 minutes of morning prayers followed by English, news and phonics (1/2 hour lesson); Jewish Studies (1 hour); Recess at 11am (15 minutes); Mathematics (1 hour); lunch at 12.45pm (55 minutes); and H.S.I.E (1 hour). Class is dismissed at 3.10pm
I began my day by following Miss G. to English (reading and writing). Miss G. is an assistant teacher that tutors select students requiring additional help with their literacy skills. At least 3 times per week, my colleague teacher sends her weaker students to Miss G. where she spends time teaching them reading and writing skills. This ensures these students get the attention they need to improve as well as identifying exact problem areas so they can be quickly and adequately addressed. It also means that these students are able to keep up with the rest of the class where possible and that the rest of the class is not falling behind in their English content because the teacher is busy trying to keep the students requiring additional assistance up to speed. During the lesson, I note Miss G.’s questioning and responding. In her introduction, she showed her students pictographs drawn on the whiteboard and asked them to explain what these images meant. She continued to reinforce their meaning by asking the students to demonstrate the five L’s of classroom management: Look, Listen, Lips (sshh whilst teacher or a student answering a question is talking), (hands in) Lap and Legs (facing forward). This was followed by a picture of a hand raised straight in the air to demonstrate that this is what students must do when wanting to answer a question. Upon observing this, I remembered Barry, K. and King, L.’s (1998) ‘procedure for responding’. I also observed that when a student called out an answer without raising their hand she either ignored the call-out or responded with, “Oh dear. It seems you forgot our rules so unfortunately I can’t accept your answer”. When asking questions, Miss G. also adopted many of the suggestions put forward by Barry and King (1998):

· Asking questions in an encouraging manner – Miss G. was enthusiastic , warm and friendly which encouraged students to feel comfortable with her yet maintain a certain level of respect
· Questioning was direct – Miss G. directed her questions to the entire group and paused before choosing a student with their hand raised to respond
T: “I wonder what sound these letters make. Can anyone tell me?”
(pause)
T: “Yes, Joshua”
· Incorrectly answered questions were redirected but in a positive manner or redirected to encourage multiple answers by students for a single question.
T: “Are you sure this is the sound these letters make, Joshua?”
“What other sounds can we think of?”
· Questions were not directed to specific students but fairly distributed between the group
· I did not observe any rhetorical questioning.

All in all, I found Miss G.’s questioning and responding style quite effective and I will surely be adopting some of her techniques to incorporate into my own teaching style.
Following morning recess it was straight into Mathematics and group work activities. I would like to focus a little on group work here as it has been a main style of teaching and learning in my ES1 classroom. Though a little different to the group structure proposed by Whitton, D. et al (2010) whereby students are grouped in a team-style structure and work together towards achieving a common goal, ES1 is divided into groups but complete the same activities individually. The content and structure of the maths lesson was quite interesting and focused on ‘Position’. My colleague teacher introduced the concept of position by standing in the middle of the classroom and asking various students to either stand or sit in a position near her. That is, either to the left, right, in front, behind her, and so on. Students were then instructed to join their groups and each group was directed to a work station. The work stations were as follows:

(1) Drawing a robot with square tiles only. The position of the tiles will determine what the robot will look like.
(2) Cut and paste activity. Students were required to cut out objects and paste them in certain positions within an illustrated landscape. A bus on the road, for example.
(3) Computer activities: Maths Made Easy 1
(4) Counting down by rolling the dice and taking away counters corresponding to the number on the dice. This activity aimed at teaching students to subtract and was taught in a previous lesson.

The groups formed were mainly eclectic though the students with learning difficulties were grouped together. The groups were permanent, comprised of 5 students and given names of Australian Native Animals. In supervising group activities, I noted that most students worked well within their groups however, the group with learning difficulties proved a challenge to manage as they were disruptive and did not pay attention. I found it quite difficult on most occasions to ensure the work required was completed within the short time-frame allocated. Though the students worked individually within their groups, they were able to work harmoniously on most occasions and developed interpersonal skills between each other so that they were able to enforce a common discipline amongst themselves to earn points for their team.
The afternoon ended with H.S.I.E and an interactive class activity on the smartboard – a truly effective use of an instructional resource! Students were initially introduced to homes and materials used to build homes through shared reading of a big book. The lesson developed and ended with interactive activities on the smartboard: building a house and identifying homes belonging to various animals and insects. Refer to website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/wwww/homes/kids/index_choice.shtml

It was clear that students thoroughly enjoyed the lesson through their eagerness to participate and answer questions. ICT has surely come a long way. It will be a challenge trying to keep up with new and improved technology.

References:
Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C. & Nanlohy, P. (2010). Chapter 15: Grouping. In Effective Teaching and Professional Practice Handbook, (pp151-154). Australian Catholic University Ltd, North Sydney.

Barry, K. & King, L. (1998). Developing instructional skills. In Effective Teaching and Professional Practice Handbook, (pp160-171). Australian Catholic University Ltd, North Sydney.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/wwww/homes/kids/index_choice.shtml