Week 3

I had my first observation today. I was thankful for the feedback as it allowed me to be more aware of areas where I can and should improve on.  The first constraint that I faced was the decrease in amount of lesson time. Assembly took about ten minutes away and with movement time accounted for, I had fifteen minutes taken away.  As such, the lesson plan needed to be altered on the spot.

I initially wanted to show a video but I decided to cut that out since it was not a pertinent feature of the lesson.  As the lesson went along, I did realize that it felt rather pressed for time and it was indeed so. I chose Sheela to come up and be the scribe for the class when it came to doing a mind map as she was one of the faster students who could grasp new concepts and ideas easily.  My own mistake was not to utilize the mindmap to its full potential to illustrate my points across. Also, Sheela’s mind map was a little untidy and messy and some students might not have been able to follow the interweaving lines that resulted. My other mistake was not to be able to help organize the mind map into a neater demonstration of the points discussed.

I was glad, however, to have raised the issue of wikipedia.  As budding historians, one of the grave sins to commit is to cite wikipedia.  Unfortunately, this is one mistake that is commonly made by many students.  As such, I took the opportunity to share with them the idea of reliaiblity of a source and how Wikipedia is not a reliable source to refer to.  It is essential that I follow up on this because the students tend to forget about the unreliability of Wikipedia.

These were my own reflections before the review with Jamie. After the review, I am much more aware of my weaknesses and have to work on them.  First, I am still lacking in the ability to fully utilize the resources around me. The mind map that Sheela drew was not referred to or utilized to its full potential in order to deliver learning points across. Also, the approach that I adopt with the class is far too laissez faire. As such, I need to be more in control of the flow of the lesson.  Also, I need to be aware of who my audience is and what my student profiles are.  Asking too many questions may incite some rigour but it may also turn students off after some time especially if they cannot catch up. 

In terms of lesson strategies, I should also utilize more tools on top of a mindmap. While a mind map was good, there are bound to be students that belong to multiple zones of intelligences and I need to cater to them by incorporating pictorial representations or even videos. Due to time constraints, I was not able to show the video that I had planned initially.  Another strategy that I need to sharpen is to keep time. It is certainly useful to let students see the amount of time they have left.  This will also help in my overall time mangement for the lesson as I myself will be made more aware of the time.

In a class where the enthusiasm is running high, it is pertinent that a teacher must be in control of the class.  This includes asking particular students questions and not allowing others to hijack the question.  This might deflate the student’s confidence and motivation.  A teacher must also be aware of who is more interested in the lesson and who is not there with the lesson mentally or emotionally. This comes with time and practise as the student-teacher interaction grows along the way. 

Most importantly, the lesson must benefit the students academically and that they learn something from it.  The lesson can be very fun and enjoyable but if the students are not learning anything, the objective is thus unachieved by the teacher.  It is quite a fine balance to juggle for teachers and I have much to learn.  However, I believe that if I continue to work at it, I will be able to get there in due time.  One thing is for sure. Teaching itself is never a boring job. 

The debate that was planned for the week turned out better than expected. The process of deciding on the number and type of sources was a meticulous one. The number of words, the type of words and phrases, the provenances as well as the number of sources were all selected, discussed and decided within the History department. It was also good for all to be aware of the process and also to reach an understanding since the entire J1 history cohort was going to do the debate. It seemed like our worries about the students finding the sources tough were unfounded.  The students could use the sources to full effect and the debate turned out to be better than we expected. That being said, our assessment rubrics also came in handy as we evaluated not just on content for our students but also their organization and oral presentation skills. Most had much room for improvement and I made an effort to let the students know, making time for consultations after class.  I thought that it was pertinent for them to know where they stand in terms of content and presentation skills so that they at least know where their strengths and weaknesses lie. 

The areas of improvement that I can make are time management and the ability to tap on every student’s thoughts and contributions in the classroom.  A great portion of time management is within my grasp of control.  However , there will always be a certain portion that is not especially when the class is at the start of the day or caught between a long bloc of classes for the students. As such, I will be forced to adjust accordingly, sometimes interrupting or even disrupting my lesson plan.  Flexibility is vital here and it is a skill that I have yet to master fully. Also, while I am heartened to see that my students contribute a lot in class discussions, I still need to work on how to tap on each student’s contribution and to create the first dimension of learning, which is essentially a comfortable environment for the students to learn and share their thoughts.

I also had the opportunity to attend the J1 adventure camp from Thursday to Saturday.  I was really glad for this chance for it gave me an avenue to bond with my future civics class and also get to know more students in the process through the house system.  I also managed to get to know more colleagues better, mingling and working with them throughout these three days.  It was a a major learning experience, not just as a facilitator in a group of students but also in terms of observing how an overseas camp is run.  The PE department did an excellent job in coordinating an event that involved about six hundered over people.  It was very humbling to find out what the tedious details, time and effort that went into the planning of this major event.  Nevertheless, I was glad that no one was hurt, short of some sick students, and everyone returned safe and sound with good memories of the camp. Personally, I felt that the camp was not intense enough for the students but then again, their expressions said it all when they returned home. Plain relief.

On the whole, week 3 has been really fruitful in terms of learning the teaching strategies as well as lessons for me as a teacher outside of the classroom. It makes me yearn for more of such lessons as the weeks come along.  With the J1 camp, I feel more at ease and comfortable with the students that I am and will be teaching as well. All in all, it has been a great week.