On one significant moment of which remained in my mind was my intuitive respond towards this particular pupil during a clay work lesson-Still life. She had told me, “I brought an apple, but most people have an apple too. I don’t think I want to do it. I want to change.” Instead of giving in, I proposed this thought where I replied gently, “You know, you are wearing the same colour uniform as everyone else which is green too, isn’t it? But we both know you’re different. So just like the apple, imagine you are it.” With realisation, I could see her thinking and eventually going ahead with it. The other pupil sitting beside her has listened in to the conversation made changes to her own typical round apple.
This focus reminded me of my past experiences that have impacted me in my methods of teaching today as I was one of those students that was shy to ask questions. But when the teacher had asked me, it was addressing my thoughts of which consisted of opinions I had yet to share and eventually did. And by expressing them in words, things became clearer. From there, by helping me opened doors from the subconscious part of the mind, I felt less lost and found my way back on track. I think that inspiration comes from within and self-evaluation, but it requires assistance to reach it.
The classroom environment that I try to create after months of teaching the first year’s pupils, has become one that is cooperative which is nurtured with trust. Ken Robinson had mentioned, “everyone is a natural learner to absorb surroundings visually and respond as we do as humans.” Which reminded me of a conversation with fellow student teachers that impacted me, “Teachers are there to letpupilslearn, to let them discover for themselves.” And issues in class are minor that I found sometimes is due to the lack of confidence the pupils might have or losing interest because the task had seemed difficult. I can relate having been distracted often too and so, my approaches were trials of different methodology along with their feedbacks that shall prove best to raise the quality of the pupils learning. For example, rewarding them with prizes, an extrinsic method I would not have considered because they will be given a new drive, knowing the reward is something else to work for rather than the accomplishment from their own work. It is not sustainable as the learning objectives would have been lost on them.
Following the assertive discipline model, which I’ve been doing already, knowing only for a good lesson to happen is to have preparations of plans to be done in advance applying particular discipline, methodology and differentiation. There were also struggles in balancing the ways to handle in which if a pupil behaves inappropriately which affects others as well. By displaying logical consequences for example, a negative reinforcement of giving more homework will only backfire as the pupil would then feel disconnected, feeling this threat of consequence. Instead, I try to stimulate them by giving choices, allowing them to make the logical choice, of choosing to complete their task with focused attention in that very lesson or else, they would fall behind. Or towards someone who is reluctant, punishment is not
necessary as it only encourages pupils misconduct. Carol Dweck mentioned fixed and growth mind sets in progression can be built with praise. “Just the word yet and not yet after a student has a setback we are finding creates greater confidence and persistence (Dweck, Developing a growth mind set, 2014).” Behaviour comes with habits which is manageable and can be improved. Behind my intentions is carried by the AFL (assessment for learning) model which does not focus on the end product. Instead of projecting what I expect, I conduct discussions either individually or as a class, opinions are always encouraged to assist me as a feedback. Not only that, I think it is crucially important to celebrate every success even if it is small to know that with every effort, it gets the pupil closer to greater achievements. And after Brian Murphy’s class of questioning, I learned the importance of asking the right questions to activate their brain activity to improve cognitive thinking. Previously, I also follow the Kounin model, recalling the ‘ripple effect’ that could be affected with one decision. Making use of that, I always share pupils’ learnings in class so others would be well informed and improve with what they observe of each other. Engaging with the subject ties in with what they can relate and what they relate to most closely, is the friends they sit beside with in class.
What I have discovered is for pupils to truly benefit from a good lesson and learn well together, one needs to facilitate learning by creating a flexible understanding environment. I also need to expand my differentiation methods because there had been times I noticed the quiet ones progressing in a different direction because they were not sure. Also, to create a stimulating and challenging activity that is also motivational, the planning of smaller strategic activities must be stronger to allow pupils to have sustainable learning that prolong their long-term memory. I think that I need to remind pupils more to reflect and celebrate their success but also learn from mistakes along the way. That could be done is by class presentation, where it not only enhances their literacy skills but their confidence in speech, talk about their own works. I would make it a habit to expand peers learning further as there is no closer connection a pupil can have than the friends they see every day of every class together.
No comments:
Post a Comment