Observations on Petas Teaching strategies

Gaining Attention
Hand up thankyou
Power of the pause and giving the look- stopping and looking, as in to say I am not happy
and we will not be progressing in this lesson until I have everybodys full attention
Stop work, pens down, eyes on me
Hands on Heads, Hands on shoulders etc.

Giving Instructions
Very detailed and descriptive
Sets noise level and expectations before giving instructions
Asks for students to clarify what was asked t ensure they understand
Gives an example to students of what is expected so that students are set up for success

Managing Transitions
Make sure full attention is gained before instructions are given. No particular strategy is used to
manage transitions as there is often a lot of different things going on in the classroom due to the
two grade levels.

Organising Groups
Using Kagan Cooperative learning strategy for the organisation of groups (seating arrangement in
groups of 4). Each group of desks contains a High, High Medium, Medium Low and Low level
learner.
Depending on what area of learning is the focus is how groups are organised. For example if it is a
reading activity, students will be grouped according to their reading level, however, for other areas
of learning such as Maths, students use their team and work with a shoulder partner (high with low)
or face partner (high with medium high)




Managing Behaviour Proactively
Within each class is a reminder, warning and timeout process in which 4 stages are visible on
the wall for children and names will be moved throughout each stage if children are off task.
This however is barely used within Petas classroom as behaviour is managed without
threats. Students know what is expected of them.
Body language encouraging
Descriptive encouraging. Lots of positive praise to those people on task which helps to
redirect those who are off task without individually pointing them out.
Does not raise voice at children but rather uses the power of the pause or selective
attending.
Noise Meter to manage the voice level of activities.
So what noise would I expect to hear if we are using partner voices, do that now
Counting back from five
Pause and look. Pause until students are looking and back on task. Will not keep progressing
lesson until students are quiet
Setting expectations to previous behaviours

Giving Praise and Feedback
Lots of positive praise and feedback which helps to create a positive learning environment
Re directing childrens attention by giving praise and feeback to students doing the right thing
rather than focusing on the negative
Getting students to self-praise and give peer praise often.
Use of Questioning Techniques
- Checks fro understanding by asking if they understanding
- Asking questions that relate to real life scenarios, encouraging higher order thinking.
- Bringing back together to refresh memories and check that everyone is on the right track
- Class discussions, drawing out the knowledge

Relationship Building
The first week of school has been based a lot around the relationship building amongst the class
and teams. Using Kagan strategies, lots of activities around relationship building have been
implementing to establish confidence and a sense of trust within the room.
Running through classroom rules and what is expected, for example not talking about each other
behind their backs etc.

Whole Class Profile
Kagan seating plan works well to encourage students to think for themselves
Most students struggle working independently therefore sitting in groups works effectively to assist
low level learners
Need explicit and detailed instructions for everything they do otherwise they will not understand
Respond well to ICT
Enjoy hands on activities being up and out of their seats





















Kagan Cooperative Learning Classroom Layout


























Morning Session Day 1
Team 4
Team 5
Interactive Whiteboard plus poster board
Teachers Desk
Setting expectations- Less time spent on this area compared to what I have seen in the past because
Peta knows the students and has taught the students in the past therefore believes they know what
is expected. Instead refreshes memories on basic rules such as what it means when we raise our
hand etc.
The Effective Classroom
Testing To-Do Folder
When a child is away from school and misses a test or some sort of work, a test with the childs
name on it can be placed in this folder to stay up-to-date with who needs to be what.
Maths
It is good to know misconceptions when teaching new concepts so you can show students where
common tricks exist to therefore prevent them from happening in the first place. This shows
students where they could possibly go wrong and common errors which make them more aware.
Team and Class Building during the first week
As research shows, establishing a positive and safe learning environment in the first week is vital for
learning. This means that children need to develop relationships with each other to ensure their
classroom is productive, positive and encouraging. For the first week of school, each morning a team
building activity has been planned to help establish these relationships. After going to the PD on
Kagan Cooperative learning, the students desks have been rearranged into groups of four in which
Seeing this implemented is only more encouraging for me to ensure this is incorporated in my
classroom as I believe one of the most important aspects of a childs upbringing is their self-esteem.
When this is increases the childs personal expectation of their achievement and belief in
themselves will also increase

Friendship Web- Start of Year activity
- Great bonding activity to build relationships between students
- Students sit scattered on the floor. As the web (ball of wool) is thrown around the
classroom, each person ahs a turn at introducing themselves and what they did on the
holidays
- Once everyone has had a turn the teacher discusses how the web represents the friendship
between the class as a whole and what she expects (qualities of friendships, being kind,
trusting and respectful, trying their best, equality)
- Will be used as a visual reminder throughout the year as required when it is evident that the
web is being broken

Classmate Bingo- start of year activity

Reading Groups
1) Jed, Sean, Charli, Jemma, Sam B
2) Charlotte, Kayla, Bella, Hal, Mia, Cam, Joel, Maddy, Bailey, Claire
3) Lotus, Alwyn, Philip, Olivia, Paige, Hayley, Jarrison, Nathan
4) Phoebe, Lachlan, Jess, Finn, Sam B
Spelling Groups
Level 2) Phoebe, Phillip, Sam R, Paige
Level 3) Jessica, Hayley, Harrison, Nathan, Finn, Lachlan
Level 4) Claire, Charlotte, Alwyn, Olivia, Nathan
Level 5) Lotus, Bella, Hal, Cam, Joel, Maddi, Bayley
Level 6) Sam B, Charli, Sean, Mia, Jemma
















Reporting 29/01/14
After engaging in a conversation with my Mentor Teacher I was extremely interested in hearing her
advice on reporting and grades. Great advice offered from Peta which helped me to seek clarity on
what the best approach is for starting at a new school
Peta first sets up a Microsoft spreadsheet with each childs name down on side and the KLA ares.
This allows her to report into this all year round to stay organised. Twice each term grades will be
documented in the spreadsheet with the name of assessment (that way it shows what areas of C2C
are covered)
Pet will also seek to find current levels of children and all ares and tests that schools report on. On
the following age is a guide to Assessment Tools and Year level expectations as a guide to where
students should be as an expected minimum achievement.
This placed so much emphasis on using Diagnostic Assessment and knowing your students. Using
this information is vital for providing learning experiences that cater for the needs of all students and
building off their current levels. I love how organised Peta is and I will definitely take this in my
stride and learn from her examples.

C2C Planning (Lesson and Assessments) 30/01/14
When planning for the C2C assessment, Pet backward designs, first looking t what they need to
know to complete the assessment then analyses the lessons, picking out the most important prts
she needs to focus on during her lesson. It has come to my attentions that the C2C expects a lot fo
knowledge to be taught in such a short amount of time and sometimes the activities provided in the
lesson plans are not really significant or beneficial to students. Therefore backwards planning allows
teachers to plan the lesson sequence based on the knowledge needed.
With this in mind, I will do some research on backwards planning design and refresh my memory as I
do remember using it at university and its importance.

South Australian Spelling TEST
Used as a diagnostic test at the start of the year to see what level the children are at. After this is
completed, students will be organised into reading groups depending on the results.





Observation: Checking for Understanding 03/02/14
Whenever you do any activity with children it is important that you really dumb it down and give
extremely detailed instructions. I have noticed that Mrs Bullen often explains in small steps, shows
all possible scenarios and gives an example of the board what is expected. For example- So if I was
to do this. Etc. Another strategy
Another strategy I observe Peta doing is giving children reassurance that they will be okay and
succeed in their work eg not this might be a bit difficult or tricky at the start but I know how
talented you all are so I am sure you will succeed Setting expectations HIGH!.

Observation 03/02/14- Introduction to C2C English
Explains what we are going to be doing (Reading Rohl Dahl books
Says assessment and what is expected at the end
Today we will be looking at what you already know
Enthusiastic voice
Walks throughout class as she talks to encourage engagement and to scan the class
Rally Robin 1 thing they know about Narratives and how they are written
Reassurance I am going to help you to succeed, no need to worry
What they need to get out for lesson
Praise giving- Good organisation over here etc
Are you organised and ready, then you should be sitting up nice and straight reading for
learning
Stopping and waiting for everyones attention
Referring back to active listening skills poster and setting high expectations for students
Putting your hand up if you think your pretty good at writing stories (keeping attention)
Brainstorming as a class running through narrative sheet
Higher Order Thinking questions to activate students thinking
Lots of praise for given input. Never says no, but rather makes their input valued








Maths Tip 04/02/14
It is good to know misconceptions prior to teaching a lesson so you know you can show students
where common tricks exist and prevent them from happening. This can be done by showing
students where they could possibly go wrong


04/02/14 Observation of Petas teaching
Prior knowledge what we looked t last week (refreshing memories)
Doesnt continue until all eyes are on her so they know it isnt acceptable
Explains what they are going to do today but first introduces new concepts
Uses descriptive language
Behaviour Management- Doesnt have to address behaviour aggressively but rather moves
students to the reminder card and makes eye contact as she is doing it
Great use of questioning which encourages students to think
Gets students to justify answers. Why is this so?
















Class observation 05/02/14 (Class profiling)
During spelling this morning whilst the children completed their spelling tasks, it was brought to my
attention that a lot of the students had trouble reading nd interpreting instructions. It seems evident
that if the students read an instructions that dont directly say what they have to do in simple terms,
they put their hand up and ask without re-reading or thinking about prior lessons where they have
had to the same thing. For some students, straight away if it seems too difficult they give up and go
off task rather than persevering.
Therefore, with this in mind I will do some research on how I can get students to follow instructions
and to critically think about things before they ask. I remember when I was in Grade 5 and the class
was given a sheet of paper. When given the sheet of paper the teacher said read the whole thing
first before starting the activities. Off I went, read through the first couple of lines but decided I
didnt need to read the whole thing, instead I would start the activities in each of the numbers on
the list. However, after doing all the activities, the last numbered point said now that you have
followed instructions and read through to the end first as I asked, you can bring your sheet to me
and go on free time. I will never forget this activity and how important following instructions is.

















My Checklist
Have I set clear expectations of behaviour noting
positives and negatives

Have I checked everyone understands

Have I given detailed instructions

Have I ensured each child will experience some
sort of success

Have I told them what they need to know to
complete activity

Have I begun with the end in mind of what
students need to achieve

Have I set a positive learning environment?

Have the students set goals?

Have I sid what we are learning and what will be
achieved by the end of the lesson and how?

Have I given descriptive and positive feedback?

Have I encouraged Higher Order Thinking with
open ended questions?

Did I make sure no students were left behind?

Have I addressed behavioural issues by focusing on
positive redirection?

Did I get students to reflect on their learning









Standard 4 Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments
Behaviour Management
Behaviour management is one of the most vital parts to having an effective classroom. What I have
learnt, is that if you dont have control of your classroom and your students dont respond well to you
then the learning is going to be affected. Obviously your ability to teach the students is a vital
component, however if you are spending half the lesson trying to control students and get them on
task them it doesnt matter how good of a teacher you are, 50% of that lesson is being wasted. With
this in mind, I have observed Mrs Bullens approach to behaviour management and the way she
manages behaviour.
Aligning with the ten essential skills for classroom management, I believe that the one of the most
effective ways to manage behaviour is to set the expectations. Tell students straight up what you
expect them to do and what it looks like, what it sounds like. Straight away your expectations are high
and the students know exactly what they need to do.
Reinforce not just expectations but the positive consequences from following expectations and also
the negative consequences. I create this with the students so they have a sense of ownership over
there learning and a really clear idea of what to do. For my internship I plan to focus the first couple of
days on behaviour management and I will create into posters to display at the front of the classroom
so I can refer to them at any point.
Implementing the 10 essential skills for classroom management is defiantly one of the most effective
ways to manage the classroom effectively. With this in mind, I will create a checklist of the skills and
reflect on the implementation of these skills to ensure they are evident in my teaching. Up to this date,
I feel I have reasonably effective strategies in place that tend to help students be on task and also
respond to me quickly when I need their attention.
Below is a list of preventive strategies to manage behaviour. At the moment a large range of these
strategies are in place however I realise pushing into the year more I may need to adapt my approach
and mix things up a little bit. The preventative strategies are awesome because it means that
behaviours are managed before they occur meaning that negative situations are avoided.
Preventive
Volume meter
Clear rules displayed
Traffic lights
Day 1 & 2 social skills (whole school)
Planned seating groups
Positive feedback - acknowledge kids, be specific and truthful.
Cooperative learning
Intrinsic motivation - personal goals (within the learning goals), ownership of learning and tasks,
authentic tasks
Language that we use (friends, us, we)
Verbal incentives for upcoming lessons - I'm looking for the best behaved group to start...
Planned exit from seats - to transitions and breaks
Encouragement of peer interactions and mentoring
Using different groupings
Planning interesting, engaging lessons
Making use of pastoral care - teaching skills of cooperation, social skills, resilience,
Bucket system - put the peg where you are feeling (empty, half-full, full) try to support those with
empty bucket
Whole school reward systems

Supportive
Time reward
Happy grams
Raffle
Got-cha
Popcorn pancakes (pancake party at the end of the term)
Behaviour tick chart (group prize at the end of the week)
Parallel acknowledgement - catching kids doing good and praising
Money bank
Body language -
Scanning
Selective attending
Restorative justice phrases (your work is usually neat and well written, today it's not at that standard
and i am really disappointed.... I'd like to see you taking more pride in your work)
Balls in a jar (empty one and full one) - put balls in when class doing the right thing - can be for the
whole class - reward at end of month or term for full jar
Bean jar - marks up the side to earn small rewards, medium, major
Games factory - are you having a 'strong or weak' moment - put onus on kids to make decisions
Traffic lights - pegs, traffic lights, move pegs with names between the lights
Movie board - Individual and group reward - movie poster cut into pieces, get to pick a puzzle piece
with a number, corresponds with the board, (individual and group rewards)
Number board - distribute numbers for those on task/rewards - at the end of the week - draw our raffle
(lucky number)
Spots signalled in the room - when teacher stands in 'the spot' it means, stop look and listen

Corrective
Buddy class
Time out chair
Responsible thinking rooms
Line writing
Lunch time detentions
Giving choices and alternatives
Clapping patterns
Traffic light cards (warning system) - if you get a yellow card - you have five minutes to correct your
behaviour, otherwise you'll get a red card

Key points from readings
Importance of feedback - to and fro to build understanding - not just yes, or no you're wrong
Importance of teacher/student relationships
Balance of 'dominance' and 'cooperation' - let the students know you are in charge and confident, but
also allow for their input and involvement
Showing 'withitness' - responding to valid suggestions students make - working with the 'teachable
moment' (catching the chain of 'mis-behaviour' before it escalates')
Energy and enthusiasm is infectious - "if you can't do it, we'll all do it together" - quick assessment,
interactions, transparency
Relationships - consider the background of kids - what do they bring, why do they misbehave?
Different home/school expectations (are kids masking inability to do something, are they displaying
learnt responses to frustration that they need to learn alternatives)
Avoid public power plays.
Authority is okay - authoritarian behaviour isnt
Communicate clear expectations, consistency and compassion
Classroom as a community - focus on the learning, not on a noise-free zone
Trust and respect - belief followed up by appropriate action.


























Kagan Seating Plan 1 (5 weeks)





















Paige Sam
Sean Bella
Alwyn Finn
Maddi Lotus
Phillip Phoebe
Sam Claire
M i a J e d
H a y l e y H a l
Cam Harrison
Charli Charlotte
Olivia Lachlan
Bailey Kayla
Nathan Jess
Jemma Joel
Kagan Seating Plan 2 (5 weeks)




















Olivia Jemma
Phoebe Lotus
Harrison Bella
Jess Mia
Phillip Sean
Lachlan Joel
Cam Charli
Paige Alwyn
Nathan Sam
Sam Bailey
Claire Jed
Finn Charlotte
Hal Kayla
Hayley Maddi
Kagan Seating Plan 3 (5 weeks)




















Harrison Jemma
Hayley Maddi
Cam Sam B
Nathan Joel
Paige Sean
Brayden Lotus
Lachlan Charli
Hal Charlotte
Finn
Olivia Kayla
Jess Alwyn
Phillip Bella
Sam R Mia
Claire Jed
Phoebe Bailey
LEP Reflection 4/3/14
Today I implemented my first LEP to the Grade 3s. Mrs Bullen stayed with
the Grade 5s in the classroom therefore I had to control the behaviour
management.
Overall I am happy with my first lesson because it gives me great ides as
to what aspects I need to work on in improving the productivity of my
lessons.
I realise the most important part of a lesson is Behaviour Management.
This is because if it isnt managed effectively, the learning is affected by
the constant disruption of behavioural issues. Although I am aware of
strategies, the students today ( a couple in particular) were disengaged
and disruptive. I understand it is difficult sometimes for children to have a
long attention span, however I felt I was spending a lot of time
redirecting students back on task. This means I need to refresh my
memory on the ten essential skills for classroom management and make
sure I have a proactive system in place that manages it effectively.

Confidence in myself and the content
Another aspect that contributes to behavioural issues is confidence. It
doesnt matter if the students are 9 or 10, they are still scanning the
teacher and able to work out in a second whether they are confident or
not and if they are organised and know the content they are teaching
about. Because I am still starting out, my confidence is obviously not
where it should be at the moment. This means my teaching is hesistan






Standard 4 Create and maintain supportive and safe learning
environments
(Identify strategies to support inclusive student participation and
engagement in classroom activities)
Exercise 05/06/14
Something I have been thinking about to implement during my internship
is more exercise. I believe that teaching children about the importance of
exercise and having that urge to exercise in their daily routine will be an
awesome way to start the day.In a new study, researchers found that
children who are physically fit have faster and more robust neuro-
electrical brain responses during reading than their less-fit peers.
These differences correspond with better language skills in the children
who are more fit, and occur whether theyre reading straightforward
sentences or sentences that contain errors of grammar or syntax.
It is scientifically proven that exercise increases the blood flow and
oxygen to the brain therefore meaning they have an increase of focus. I
have decided that during my internship I will take the class up on the oval
for fifteen minutes of the day for a fun game that involves running.
Although this will take fifteen minutes away from their learning, it may
just improve their overall effort meaning that a 45 minute of English is
more effective than an hour of English where students are not engaged.
After noticing that a fair few students who are more athletic than
academic would thrive off starting their day in their strength. I will
defiantly reason with them and make them appreciate their time on the
oval so they have a better attitude to learning when they come back. Not
only this, but if I design the games in a way that encourages all student
participation and team building skills it adds even more benefits to the
morning, creating student inclusion and positive learning environment.






Reflection on English Lesson 02/06/14
Standard 3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
The implementation of my English lessons during my three week block
has been a great experience for a huge reflection to my approach to
teaching. It has come to my attention that the design of my lessons
Building a productive learning environment means knowing how to
explicitly teach students to put their learning back on them and their own
interactions and learning. There is nothing more powerful than a group of
students that take responsibility and monitor their own learning. With the
class currently being reasonably dependent on the teacher at most times
of the day, this approach to learning is something I will defiantly be
paying close attention to in the future. At the end of the day sometimes it
isnt the content that is most important but the habits students develop in
being proactive, trying their best and being self-reflective. As it is these
habits that will help students to persevere in life at whatever it they may
want to do.

Effective teachers act in the knowledge of their learners and
respond authentically to their contributions and learning needs.
Furthermore explicit teaching actively enables students new
learning to be informed by what they know enhancing the
transfer and application of skills and knowledge across the key
curriculum areas. Teachers and students are then able to act in
the knowledge of what they are doing and why in order to
mutually accomplish purposeful teaching and learning.








Teacher Self-Reflection questions
Ask Yourself: What counts in my lessons? Do I accomplish what I set out to teach? How do I know? Is it
evidenced in the talk of the classroom?
Checklist
Evident Developing
1. Do I use assessment information to guide my practice? Do I plan for
learning opportunities where the purposes for the learning are clear
and well-defined?


2. How do I introduce the main learning goals of the lesson? Is the new
learning made explicit? Do I share with students the specific nature
of the task, the rationale for learning and its value to their learning?

3. Does the talk ensure students are aware of what it is that they will be
expected to demonstrate to show achievement of the task?

4. Is the literacy learning focus maintained throughout the lesson?

5. Does my talk authentically respond to students learning needs in a
way that supports and extends their learning?

6. Do I scaffold the learner through explicitly demonstrating and
modelling new skills and knowledge?

7. Do I provide explicit feedback to students that specifically links lesson
goals to student responses and performance?

8. Do I allow time in the lesson conclusion to connect students to their
learning for students to reflect on, reformulate or articulate their
learning?

9. What are the take-home messages students are left with as a result
of this lesson?








My guide to planning my Literacy Lessons- Gradual release
A Framework for Explicit Instruction Focused Literacy Lessons


Maintenance of the specific literacy learning focus

Introduction

Elaboration

Practice

Review







Brief Lesson
Orientation
Setting up
focused lessons in
terms of specific
aspects of literacy
Overview of new
learning
Purposes of
assessment tasks
are made clear
Review of relevant
prior learning

Linking new to known concepts;
re-teaching if necessary
Clarifying
Demonstration and modelling
Guided Instruction usingGuided
reading/writing,Reciprocal
Teaching orCooperative Reading
Guided Student Practice

Independent
practice
Skills,
knowledge &
use of aspects
of literacy
Application of
new learning

Summary, Review &
Reflection of specific
literacy learning
(oral and /or
written)
Student
reformulation and
articulation of
learning

Formative assessment through monitoring of the talk is
ongoing across the phases of the lesson















Day 1 Differentiation 26/05/14
3 Week Block
Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning (standard 3)
One area I need to work on is my ability to differentiate. I realise this is the
fundamental area of teaching because no two students will ever be at the same
ability and as teacher it is my role to ensure students experience some sort of
success. What I am still developing is how to cater for all the needs. I notice in some
lessons, some students race off ahead because the work is too easy for them,
leaving them sitting there bored because they dont know what to do. Then there
are other students who are struggling completely, and only having one teacher
means that I cant get around to everyone at once.
With this in mind, I am purchasing a book offline that will give me strategies to
differentiate and speaking with Peta as to how I can approach the situation more
effectively. Mrs Bullen did give me a differentiation checklist that I will start utilising
in my lessons and especially in my internship.
Differentiation Tips
Four planning steps set the stage for effective differentiated instruction. First,
teachers must have a thorough understanding of the academic content or skill they
want their students to learn. Second, they must determine how much their students
already knowand what they do not knowabout that content. Then they must
decide which instructional methods and materials will most successfully address
those needs and, finally, design ways to adequately assess student mastery of what
is taught. Taking stock of student knowledge and understanding is a key first
component of successful differentiation.











Standard 3 Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning
29/05/14 Effective Pedagogy
This morning I supervised two groups during literacy rotations. One group was doing
independent reading cards whilst the other was completing a language sheet.
This made me think about their English unit and their desperate need to practice the
understanding and use of language features such as nouns and noun groups, verbs
and verb groups, adverbs and adverb groups and prepositional phrases.
Especially for my internship I will ensure that I incorporate the focus of the English
unit into literacy rotations so that the knowledge they are expected to know can be
practised and refined explicitly in smaller groups with Mrs Bullen, Troy or Miss
Michelle. English is my opinion is the fundamental area of all learning and it really is
not possible to get too much.

Rotation Groups worked well however differentiation could be useful for the gifted
students who fly through the sheet without hesitation. Higher order thinking skills
could be incorporated.
















Day 11 03/06/14 Being Organised
3 Week Block
Something I have come to notice in the students is their lack of organisation. Many
students have extremely messy and unorganised tidy trays. This results in students
Having their tidy trays fall out of their desk when they open them, therefore
becoming a distraction in the class for everyone who hears it as well as being
a time consumer on the time spent picking everything up
Contributes to students losing sheets of paper or unable to find their
stationery which therefore wastes time again and creates stress for the
teacher who has to organise an alternative because they dont have
necessary materials to complete their work.
One important thing I have learnt in life is that being organised and keeping things
in order reflects many areas of your life. If you maintain a clean and organised
working area/bedroom/car it is easy to focus and have a focused mentality and
maintain proactivity. However, being unorganised seems to lead to distraction,
confusion and reflects your ability to take pride in yourself and your work. One of
the school rules is take care of your property and of others. This skill is not only
reflected in school but is life skill.
Reflective Practice
With this in mind, I will ensure that I am a role model to students and keep my desk
neat and tidy. With so much paper work and marking, it is easy to misplace things
and create a massive mess in the matter of an hour. Therefore, I will ensure I get
labelled paper trays to collect students work that needs to be looked at and that I
will keep my desk neat and tidy at all times. I will also ensure there is time for
students to have tidy tray clean outs and let them know the value of being
organised. This can be completed with a follow up inspection of tray to see if they
can maintain its cleanliness. Never underestimate the small things as I believe these
sorts of skills are all life long.









Day 12 03/06/14 Teaching strategies and the collaborative classroom
3 Week Block
Today I was really impressed with the implementation of my Maths lesson. To start
the lesson, I did some explicit instruction on maps and scale. After giving students a
revision workbook the prior lesson, covering everything we had learnt up to date in
Mapping, I was able to identify which areas they were struggling most with so I
could revise with them. Ratio and scale is defiantly a hard concept to grasp for the
first time and needs to be explained more than once. Therefore, to begin the lesson,
I displayed a Map I had created myself with a ratio scale and explicitly explained
how ratio works. I got students to say it with me, 1 cm on the map equals however
many metres in real life depending on the scale. Next we did a practice and I asked
some questions to get them thinking. They responded well to this and stayed
engaged. Finally after we completed a finding a mystery point all together, students
got to create their own independently then collaborate this with a friend. For those
who stayed on task, I gave them the opportunity to come up the front and have a
go using their partners directions on the whiteboard. They were grateful for this and
it kept them engaged.
What I have come to realise is that many teachers abuse their authority over
students. They believe that any sign of noise means that students are not on task
and arent learning. However in our classroom, using the Kagan seating plan means
student learning is designed to be collaborative. As the students dont have much
independence and often rely on the teacher too much, getting students to work
together encourages them to think for themselves and work together. From
observing Petas interactions with the students, it is evident that with her relaxed
nature she doesnt let the first sign of noise stress her out. If it is appropriate then
she lets them go rather than trying to gain power and use her authority over them.
Reflective Practice
This is an area of my practice I need to reflect on. I feel that sometimes
noise starts to stress me out and I feel students are off task, however, I have
recognised this and started to observe each group of students and tune in to
their conversations and first distinguish whether or not they really are off task
or if the conversations are actually related to their learning. Half the time this
is actually the case.