Trust

"They seem to trust you with their problems but be careful you don't get too involved…" A teacher said to me after the string of learners coming to me with their problems. I assured them that I was aware of the safeguarding policy and that I always made it clear to learners that if the issue effected their safety, I had to refer them or let another teacher know. 

I was told by two teacher that I should distant myself from learners with major problems (safeguarding issues) because I might end up getting caught up in it. I think they said this to protect me and did not mean anything negative but I still felt a little uneasy with what they said. I was pleased that learners trusted me enough with their problems and I did not mind if they needed to talk to me privately about anything. I just made a mental note:

• Make it clear to the learner that you are not a professional - You are a teacher not a trained councillor 
• Know about what support the college offers learners with problems 
• Inform learners that if the issue effects their health and safety, I have a duty to refer them and let another member of staff know 
• Listen to what the learner says but do not put words in their mouth 
• Ask learners if anyone else knows about the issue and what support they are receiving 
• Ask other teacher if I can have access to the pro forma (Student records)
• Depending on the issue, inform tutor and head of department via email 

 

A Teacher Is...

So much more than just a teacher.

The day before I gave the student a blank art book: 'For when you cant articulate your feelings or emotions, write in this book... If you want, you can draw in it too. What you do with this book is up to you and who you show it too is entirely up to you but let it be a form of venting.'

 

Today, the same student came to me. After a rough night of being kicked out the house. The student looked exhausted and drained. I took the learner to their tutor who referred to 'Student Services'. I was told this was an ongoing problem.

 

Another student approached me yesterday: "I'm a father." I wasn't sure how to react but I was shocked. I let the learner know that this was a serious matter, which I was required to share with their tutor. I ran into a couple of problems, apparently this particular student has ADHD:

 

"ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It’s thought to be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain that affects the parts controlling attention, concentration and impulsivity.

This means a child’s behaviour can be anything from being ‘very dreamy’ (or unable to pay attention) through to being ‘always on the go’ (or hyperactive). A person with ADHD has difficulty filtering out all the information coming into his brain, so he’s easily distracted, tends to respond before he has considered things properly and doesn’t know when to stop."

Read more: http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/adhd/whatisadhd.htm#ixzz2nAy8jsyK

 

Although this was an issue, I tried to put my assumptions to the side. I have come into terms with the fact that learners are all diverse and with them comes various stories, background and experiences. For this reason it is important that I am aware of my boundaries as a trainee teacher: “The setting of professional and personal boundaries… is an important aspect of professionalism… a boundary is a limit on the extent of involvement.” (Francis and Gould: 2009: 12) As a teacher, I may encounter learners with varying degrees of needs such as disabilities, crime, refugees, health or housing issues. In these circumstances, it is important that I remain professional and objective and review points of referral to meet the learner’s needs.

Having said this, it dawned upon me that I am not very aware of all the help the college might offer for students these kinds of circumstances. In my previous college learners were given a diary which contained a long list of internal and external bodies that can support students by offering them information and advice. Any students in need of emotional support can be referred to the college’s counselling service or directed by them or myself to external bodies like the Samaritans (08457 909 090). There was also student finance (0845 302 1444), the National Drug Helpline (0800 776 600), career advice and a Child Protection and Vulnerable Adult team (020 7697 171) within the college.

 

I don't think the college I am in now has that much support but that could also be down to funding. Having been confided in by a couple of learners and in order to maintain good teaching practice, I will be going to 'Student Services' to speak to one of the staff about dealing with learners in difficult circumstances.



Learning Difficulties

To begin, I think it is important that I mention that I have a learning difficulty. I have found that a common misconception around people with learning difficulties is that we are all the same. 

When I tell people I am dyslexic, they are usually shocked because I apparently 'don't look it' or 'come across as having' a learning difficulty. I think this is because: 

• People are unaware of the different levels of learning difficulties
• Once a learner understands the way in which they learn and process information, the learning difficulty is no longer a difficulty 
• Learners are diverse and therefore must be recognised as individuals, which will ultimately affect the way they learn and how we support them.  For example some learners process information more easily through the use of coloured paper handouts whilst others do not. 

I think the best way to approach the situation as a teacher is to look at the ways in which that particular learner processes information and learns. Learners with learning difficulties need to be considered when planning and delivering inclusive learning and teaching. There are several ways I could support students with learning difficulties:

Differentiation

According to Gravells, differentiation is about: “using a range of different approaches and resources to meet the needs of individuals and groups.” (2012: 73) Using differentiation, I can select resources to meet the needs of my learners. Designing resources according to their ability and experience can do this. For example, students with learning difficulties tend to find it difficult to structure essays, I would create a worksheet showing how to construct an essay body or a list of alternative phrases and sentences. These worksheets can also be given to other students who may also benefit from them.

Resources

The resources I use can dictate the effectiveness of my teaching and learning strategies. According to Reece and Walker: “Increase understanding, reinforce key facts, create deeper learning, motivate… and simplify ideas.” (2006 cited Wilson: 2008: 73)  Resources are also important in meeting the needs of my learners and can add variety, which appeals to different learning styles. (Scales: 2008) 

In order to adapt and use a range of resources to meet my learners’ needs, I need to ensure that they are both accessible and inclusive. For example PowerPoint presentations can: incorporate other learning styles (still images, animations, video clips and sound/music), clearly present key points, be printed out as handouts and accessed online. I can also prepare clear handouts with images including one with media terminology and their definitions, create responsibility for their own learning, initiate peer support and communicate clearly without using slang or jargon. (Wilson: 2008) 

Assessment 

Just as resources and learning and teaching strategies are differentiated to meet the needs of all learners; there should also be variety of assessment methods available. To ensure my lessons are effective, I have to identify my learners’ needs, which can be done through an initial assessment. This will find out whether learners require additional support with literacy, numeracy, language or other disabilities. Carrying out assessments at an early stage can also help in identifying learners’ current level of knowledge (Wilson: 2008). Learning styles can also be assessed in order to understand my students’ preferred way of learning. Formative assessments are designed to check learners’ progression through informal methods such as quizzes, discussions or short tasks. If I use my own, I needs to take into account equality, diversity and treat each student as an individual. 

Records

Assessment records must be kept in order to monitor learners’ progression as well as evidence of the teacher’s observation of the learners’ performance. This can be done through initial or diagnostic assessments such ILP, which is also apart of self-assessment. Other records include tracking grades, progression reports, tutorial reviews and feedback. I have created my own form of record keeping for my learners so I can track their progression. I will also create a poster for the photography unit I will be teaching, so learners are aware of their progression with individual pieces of work. 

These records can also be used to assist teaching performance in delivering the subject and future lesson planning. (Wilson: 2008) For students who may not be performing well, teaching and learning strategies can be reassessed to check if they are meeting learners’ needs. In other cases assessment records can also be used to pin point any learning difficulties that a student may have such as dyslexia or dyspraxia. Once pint pointed the learner can be referred to a specialist and given special assessment requirements.

Task 2: Reflective Log Directed Entry 3 – Applying learning theory to teaching practice

For the purpose of this short assignment and as a result on reflecting on my own teaching, I will only be discussing the application of humanistic and behaviourist theory. I have come to the conclusion that keeping a balance plays a significant role in my teaching practice. One of my biggest worries when teaching is the balance between student and teacher relationship. I want to make sure I do not overstep the boundaries but I want to have good rapport with my learners and maintain professionalism. For this reason I have decided to adopt a mixture of the behaviouristic and humanistic approach.

Behaviouristic psychology:

> A person’s environment determines their behaviour hence we learn our behaviour from our environment or conditioning
> Humans are born as ‘blank slates’ and are moulded by their environment
> Humans and animals have similar ways of learning
> Behaviour can be reduced to a simple stimulus response

Humanism rejected the assumption of the behaviourist perspective which, focused on reinforcement of stimulus-response behaviour and heavily dependent on animal research.

The humanistic approach studies:
> Concentrates on individuals to find out, in depth, the ways in which people think or feel.
> Holism: The study of the whole person.
> Uniqueness of each individual: Humanism believes that an individual’s behaviour is connected to his or her inner feelings and self-concept.

Although the two approaches oppose each other, I think using both will ensure a balance within the classroom and my teaching practice. Within my placement I use a mixture to also help with the way I manage my class. I use ‘accommodation cards’ (similar to a voucher. Students accumulate these and get rewards) to reward good behaviour. This reward system motivates learners, creates healthy competition amongst them and helps discipline the class. The humanistic approach is very useful in understanding students’ needs and external factors that may affect their learning. One of the responsibilities of a teacher is to attempt to break down any boundaries that may hinder a students learning, however, there will be instances that we can not be helped and in these cases we will need to refer the learner. I have use the humanistic approach to help me deal with certain situations that requires an emotive response. An example of this is when a student approached me with a serious safeguarding issue. I asked the student if they wanted to talk about but was told by the student that they were unable to articulate their emotions. I decided to approach the matter by suggesting to the student that they can write about their feelings and thoughts instead and what they decide to do with the writing is entirely up to them. The student responded well to this and was able to communicate better.

Creative Arts

At my placement, I am fortunate enough to be a part of the creative arts team, which is a tight group of teachers who constantly discuss and share advice, ideas on lesson planning and difficulties with learners. They are like a small family.

Even though I have one mentor, it sometimes feels like I have a couple. I get a lot of advice and support from most, if not all, the teachers that work within that department. This has helped my confidence and has allowed me to explore other methods and strategies of teaching.

I often like to listen to their conversations because I learn so much from them. I learn a lot about the institution, teaching as a vocation and the diversity of learners. From their experience I understand further that teaching is something that is very much underestimated within our society and that parents rely on us to help their children. 

Music

Even though I am training to be a media teacher, I have been supporting music/radio lessons. Today I was asked to support some learners on the BTEC Music course. As it was my first time with this class, I went in with no assumptions and tried to get stuck in but found that the learners did to respond to me like my other classes did. By the end of the class I was a little confused but intrigued by the learners.

They were so diverse and I am not just talking about learning styles. The dynamics of the class and personalities are like no class I have ever been to…

The class has: 3 girls, 1 Asian guy, 1 Turkish guy and about 9 black guys.

I know I will get judged for highlighting their ethnicity, race and gender but I found that this is a crucial part of teaching. It helps us understand learners’ needs and gives us background knowledge of the area/community and college. I was told at the end of the class about the following students: 

> 1 learner has problems outside of college, which has affected their attendance and home life.

> 2 learners have learning difficulties, which means they have to be spoken to very slowly. Instructions have to be repeated because they often forget what is said to them by the time the sentence is finished. A light bulb flickered in my head when I was told this… No wonder they looked at me cluelessly! I  was explaining how they can structure their assignment so its easier to write and they looked at me like I was speaking another language and then turned to their screens like I had frightened them. They assured me they knew what they were doing but I felt like they wanted to get rid of me. Noticing this, I decided to leave them to get along with their work then check up on them a little later. 

> Most if not all learners have very poor attendance

> 1 learner has a personality that can only be described as “out of the box”. For the lack of a better word and to avoid sounding judgemental, I will attempt to describe it further. This learner is by far the most intriguing student I have ever met in my life. The learner: 

a)     Has a completely blank facial expression, which means no one can identity their emotions

b)     Has a lot of confidence

c)      Has possible learning difficulties 

d)     Does not communicate with other learners in a conventional manner

This is a very small selection of things I have highlighted. There are more but to avoid sounding judgemental, I think it is better I keep them to myself.

I decided to carry on attending this class because I think I can learn a lot about the diverse ways I can meet learners’ needs. This will open my eyes to students who need support in specific areas of their learning and will improve my communication. This will also help with my reflecting from the students’ lens. (Brookfield: 1995)

Critical Incident: Mixed theories

The teacher arrived to the lesson and asked me to give learners who arrived to the class before he did accommodation cards. A learner shouted to the teacher: "I beat you to the class…" and the teacher replied "Good, [My name] will give you an accommodation card. Keep it up!" This suggested to me that this method was used to motivate learners to arrive early to class. I identified this method as a behaviouristic approach.

Later on the class was getting loud and distracted, the teacher addressed this by highlighting whoever completed a certain amount of work will be rewarded with another accommodation card. This pushed extrinsically motivated learners. The teacher also used his knowledge of the class dynamics (rewarding learners in front of their peers) to motivate others.

The teacher noticed one of the students not working so he sat next to the learner and asked if she needed help. The learner started moaning saying she couldn't do the work. The teacher replied with questioning her on the task brief:
Teacher: Whats wrong?
Learner: I cant do this
Teacher: What does it say in the outline
[Learner explains]
Teacher: exactly, well done
Learner: Is that all I need to do?
Teacher: Yes and I'm expecting big things from you!

I liked the fact that the teacher was able to get down to the learners level and encourage and motivate her. I also like that he used questioning to check the learners understanding of the task and allowed her to identify the instructions herself before he explained anything. The approach used here is humanistic.

When the lesson was over, I spoke to students about the accommodation cards and they shared with me that they liked this teacher because he acknowledged their good behaviour and rewarded them regularly, which made them want to do well. They added that he was 'safe' (slang for a cool/good person), which suggested that the teacher had good rapport with them.

Critical Incident 2

I sat down with the student and as they spoke I knew this was going to be a sensitive issue so I tried to tap into the 'reflection-on-action' mode. I wanted to be there for the student…

I excused myself from the class and took the student with me (told the teacher I was team teaching with that I needed to leave for a bit). We went to an empty classroom and it was there that I was told what happened. It was a safeguarding issue. A serious one, which is why I am not going to go into detail but I checked with the student and was also informed by the tutor that the college is aware of the situation and are setting up counselling for the learner. I tried to be a supportive, caring and objective. I asked about the learner's well being and support they will receive. That was the most I could do.

Reflection-in-Action

Having broken down 'Magazine' into more manageable subjects for learners, I decided to use the lesson to check on learners' progression and support them individually.

Aims & Objectives
I begun by introducing the aims and objectives of the lesson and to my delight, the students thanked me and got on with their work.

Support
I went around the class to individual learners to check where they were with their work. I checked what they had done and gave them feedback on ways in which they could improve their work. I also asked them questions to get them to think about what they were producing. I told them to put themselves in the 'consumers' shoes', which will help them look at their work from different lenses. (A little like Brookfield:1995)

Task
I gave each learner a time frame to semi-/complete their advertisements/magazine covers/DVD cover/film festival flyer but I ran into a problem...

Reflection-in-action
Having went around the class. I noticed that most of their work was incomplete or needed a lot of improvement so I decided, on a whim, to run to the staff room and grab their 'reflective journals.' (College requirement, which students seem to dislike) I decided to get all learners to write:

1) What they did in the lesson
2) What they still need to do (list)
3) What they need for Friday

I checked their journals to make sure the level of reflection was adequate. I also decided that from now on learners are required to:

1) Start of the lesson: Write in their journals - What they are suppose to do/gain from the lesson
2) End of the lesson: Write in their journals - What they learnt and what they still need to complete

Doing this would ensure:

> Learners are aware of their progression
> Their journals are being followed through, checked and written in
> Learning is being checked

I shared this idea with learners and on a whole got good feedback.

I decided after going around the class, to set up a 2 hour intensive class on Friday on constructing cosmetic/perfume adverts for their magazine.

Critical Incident 1

Just when I was moaning about not being able to think of a critical incident I can discuss…

After speaking to a teacher about the incident, I was told that I have to email their tutor and the head of department:

"Potential Bullying Dear all,

Yesterday a student approached me about an incident.
Student 1 had distanced herself from the class, which gave me the impression that something was wrong. I asked her if something was wrong but she seemed reserved so I did not pursue the matter. 

Later on in the evening student 2 urged student 1 to approach me about what seems to be potential bullying. I was told by student 1, that herself, student 3, student 4 and (possibly) student 5 were discussing the ambiguity of a student’s sexuality (student 6). This seemed to have escalated and according to student 1, student 3 and student 4 in particular ‘ganged up’ on her and told student 7 (friends with student 6) that student 1 was being derrogative towards student 6. Student 1 added that student 7 and student 6 approached her about the matter. Student 1 said she tried to explain herself and apologised. According to student 1, it was during this explanation that she got punched in the face by both student 7 and student 6. I told student 1 to talk to another teacher but she refused. There seems to be tension within the class, which needs to be resolved…"

I learnt from this experience about 'safeguarding' and 'referrals' in more detail. In this instance, I was told that as a teacher, I must be able to record, in detail, and document any situations and problems. The college has something called a 'promonitor', which allows teachers to document anything important about their students. This information is guarded and is only used for teaching purposes. I don't have access to this but in these situations, I must be able to make an objective decision about whether its a safeguarding issue or something for referral.

Student' Eyes

In an attempt to incorporate plenaries, I used the traffic light method by cutting green, orange and red pieces of card into squares.

These cards were supposed to be used to rate and give feedback to each learner's film festival flyer. Sadly, by the end of the lesson one of the students was crying...

I underestimated the connotation of the colour 'red' which was held up at her work by her peers. The learner took it as an attack on her work. I felt so bad! I explained the relevance of the task and why I introduced it. Thankfully, the learner understood why I chose this method and ended up, with other students, giving me feedback on the whole lesson, which I was grateful for. Their feedback:

> They liked timed tasks because they worked better under pressure and ended up producing more.  

> They thought it was good that I introduced the purpose of the lesson as it made it structured and they knew what they were doing.  

> They liked it that I broke down the exercises through PowerPoint and visual aids

> They enjoyed giving and receiving feedback

As a result, I decided to implement these factors into future lessons. I also decided to completely get rid of the red cards when rating work or giving feedback and reiterate what each card indicates. Instead I will use the orange and green cards for learners to indicate whether they understand the topic or what they need to be doing

Workshop

Task:

As a follow up of my mentor’s lesson (car advert), learners were required to start creating their own car adverts.

CSG Workshop:

On Friday, I have a 1 hour workshop and sometimes top up lessons to ensure learners are able to get extra support or a form of scaffolding.  This session was made compulsory as a result of the learners’ pitches on their magazine ideas. They were behind with the developments of their ideas so this class was used to get them back on track.

Class Management:

Most learners were doing their work but naturally there were others who required a little more pushing. Two learners did not want to be present and argued they would do the work at home. I addressed this by highlighting they were given weeks to do their work at home, evidently nothing was produced and for this reason, I have had to introduce this session. It worked! Another learner wanted to leave early; I told this student she could leave if she produces a car advert. In the end I had to address her again because she had done the least amount of work, I highlighted this but sat with her and reiterated the task. I wanted to be able to address resistance by incorporating my managerial skills. I think I tapped into them well and managed to do it whilst keeping a balance between humour and discipline.

Addressing Whole Group:

I think I need to work on this because I find myself having to repeat things. Also, it helps with delivering instructions and information collectively. I will implement this by gathering all learners to one side to ensure that I have all their attentions.

Learners:

This session allowed me to learn more about the students’ preferred way of learning and previous knowledge of work. I found that one of the students I usually struggle with when it comes to delivering written pieces of work, excelled in the practical. In the future, I will need to try to incorporate colours and visual examples into demonstrating written work to differentiate. I also found that some of the learners had good knowledge in Photoshop, which I may use to promote peer to peer learning.

Task 5: Recording & Reporting on Learner Progress and Achievement

Record keeping is an essential part of teaching. Gravells says: “Records must be maintained throughout to satisfy your organisation, the regulatory authorities and Awarding Organisation.” (2011: 10) According to Tummons (2007), some key concepts of assessment are: fairness, validity, reliability, sufficiency, authenticity and currency. Another important principle is known as VACSR: valid, authentic, current, sufficient and reliable. (Gravells: 2011) Following these principles of assessment ensures compliance with regulations, qualification requirements assessment validity and reliability. Additionally, it is a legal requirement to keep accurate records on learners as internal and external auditors such as OFSTED may use them “to quality assure performances at organisational level against national standards, to justify appropriate use of public funds.” (Wilson: 2008: 338)

These records can also be used to assist teaching performance in delivering the subject and future lesson planning. (Wilson: 2008) For students who may not be performing well, teaching and learning strategies can be reassessed to check if they are meeting learners’ needs. In other cases assessment records can also be used to pin point any learning difficulties that a student may have such as dyslexia or dyspraxia. Once pin pointed the learner can be referred to a specialist and given special assessment requirements. Records must be kept in order to monitor learners’ progression as well as evidence of the teacher’s observation of the learners’ performance. This can be done through initial or diagnostic assessments such ILP, which is also apart of self-assessment. Other records include tracking grades, progression reports, tutorial reviews and feedback.

On BTEC Media course, the teacher keeps a digitised record of all the learners’ grades to monitor their progression. This also helps the teacher monitor: a) feedback b) progression c) student grades d) whether they have met the deadline e) marking process. Looking at the key, we can see that learners are given the opportunity to improve their work. Feedback is given to the students on their work, which is kept by the teacher. Any improvements that are made by the learners must be highlighted on the word document to indicate that the work has been rectified. The teacher shares this with me, which helps with when I support students, as I am aware of their developmental needs. For example, some of the year 2 students were having difficulty with constructing an essay, which was highlighted by their progression reports from other teachers. Knowing this enabled me to prepare a lesson on essay structure and I gave them hand outs (Glossary of Instruction Words and Sentence Starters) to support them. Significantly, the education system is dominated by meritocracy. For this reason grades are constantly emphasised and learners tend to concentrate on this rather than their feedback. Is this always true?

In my placement, teachers have been encouraged to incorporate AFL in the way they mark work. This means, students will get their work back with detailed feedback and no grade. This stems around the idea that if there is no grade, students will pay more attention to their feedback and developmental needs. I have found that this works to an extent. Whilst I agree that the education system is dominated by meritocracy, I think a small part of it motivates students and gives them a goal to work towards.

Reflective Log ILP – Direct Entry 1

I will be discussing my strengths and developmental needs. Learning is an ongoing process and plays a significant role in the development of an individual. For this reason, I will first of all look at ways of enhancing some of my strengths through theory that I can use in my classes. I will also look at ways in which I can use theory to help me improve in the areas I am not confident in.

 Strengths

Active learning is key in creating engaging lessons. I think that an important part of this is to try being creative and imaginative with lesson planning. This also plays an important role in catering to different needs and attention levels of students. Using various teaching methods and encouraging creativity, can give learners the opportunity to view the process of learning in a different way. I have been trying to do this through trying to incorporate and link learning styles and assessment methods.

Making connections between learning and vocation is very important in motivating students. There are occasions when students do not see the point of doing a piece of work. In these cases I tend to highlight the skills that are being learnt and how this relates to the world of work. An example of this is when students were put in groups for video production. I had to highlight to a group that this mirrored teamwork, individual responsibility and ownership of learning in the form of training at the workplace. I also like to let my learners know that I have worked as a part of a management team so they know that I have experience in the area.

Praise is very important in motivating my learners. I try to make an effort to let learners know what they have done well and what they can develop on. I also thank and praise students when they actively participate, which may encourage other learners to take part.

Being dyslexic, I like to be methodological in everything I do because I can get lost easily if I am not. In order to stay on track I will need to create detailed lesson plans and incorporate preliminaries.  

Development needs

I am concerned at times that I am too friendly or nice to students. I am worried that it will affect my ability to discipline some students. They might take it is a weakness or think I am lenient. I have decided to approach the situation gently by creating boundaries through things like the way I dress, the language I use and the way I offer support. Gravells points out: “the way you dress, act, respond to questions, offer support…” (2008: 98) plays a part in being professional.

I need to constantly remind myself not to have high expectations especially because students have different levels of understanding. I need to make sure my expectations are realistic and achievable for students. In order to do this, I will need to make sure I understand the needs of my students through initial assessments and checking previous knowledge of learners. Francis and Gould (2009: 69) say: “These will provide an indication of the level of skills or knowledge already achieved… likelihood of success if the learner is accepted onto the course.  A judgment can also be made as to the level if the course…” A more formal way of doing this would be through diagnostic assessment. This strategy identifies and assesses learners’ capabilities and needs, which highlights their learning styles and any support they may require to progress. (Wilson: 2008)

Although this is not a major concern, I think I need to pay a little more attention to the way I communicate with my body actions. E.g. getting down to a students’ level when I help them or not crossing my arms, which tends to make people look closed. According to Gravells (2008), teachers do not always realise or pay attention to their body language (facial expressions, eye contact, posture and appearance). This is important because body language is a form of communication and as teachers we not only need to pay attention to ours but to what our students are saying through theirs.

Although I praise students, I think I need to be wary about the way I give feedback. Having worked in retail I have learnt to be quiet blunt. With students I need to be careful that I am honest but sensitive. This also depends on the learner; I have found that learners are diverse in the way they react to certain forms of feedback. Keeping this in mind, I will need to look at the way I feedback and it benefit to the learner and how it will help them improve.

References

Francis. A and Gould. J (2009) Achieving your PTTLS Award SAGE Publications LTD

Gravells. A (2008) ‘Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector.’ Learning Matters LTD

Wilson. L (2008) Practical Teaching A Guide to PTTLS & CTTLS. Cenage Learning EMEA

Pitches

The second day of pitches and I wanted to rectify the lesson by addressing a collection of things that went wrong with the lesson

Classroom management

Unlike yesterday, learners were on time to the lesson. I decided to start the lesson by addressing their behaviour the day before. I told them:

• The importance of feedback and told them that this time when they filled the peer to peer assessment, they must include at least one positive comment and one developmental need.
• Their attitude: there was a lot of giggling during the presentations. I highlighted that when they go university or get a job, they may have to present work and being professional plays a significant part in this.

 

Motivation

I saw that after I gave learners feedback, they became really unenthusiastic. I was unsure how to bring them back so I went on with the lesson and hoped it might bring them back. Unfortunately, learners were still in a zombie like mood so I stopped them and tried to address the issue by getting them to sit up straight and show more respect for their peers. This still did not work and it was only by the end of the class that the students started to perk up. For future lessons, I think I should highlight vocational importance of the work or get them up and out their seats, to do a mini task that would bring their energy back.

Workshop

After seeing the presentation, my mentor and myself decided to make the Friday workshop compulsory. We saw that learners were not developing their ideas so he decided to do a lesson on creating a car advert, which I would follow up with the workshop. This will give me the chance to see how my mentor incorporates art into media and allow me to help learners’ in the process of creating their car advert.

Froze

I was supposed to do some teaching with the Media BTEC year 2. They had to pitch their magazine to the rest of the class and they had to cover.
> Adverts:

1x car double spread
1x cosmetic
1x perfume/game
2x films
> DVD re-release
> A film festival flyer

They were asked by my mentor to do this on A3 paper like a poster, which gave them creative control. I had planned the lesson; I created a lesson plan, which gave me a rough idea of how I thought the lesson might go. I even incorporated a preliminary task just in case the pitches ended earlier.
 

But this is what happened…

Some of them came in late, which held the lesson up because I couldn’t start without all the students present as I needed them to fill ‘peer assessment forms’.  On top of that they were being loud and immature during the presentations. Then students from another class kept interrupting because they needed the technician (technicians room is also within the classroom I was in).

I completely froze and crawled into a shell. I panicked and became completely passive. My mentor saw this and took over the lesson. After that lesson I was completely broken and nearly in tears. I felt like a complete failure. Looking back at my reaction and how the lesson went, I think this happened because things didn’t go the way I planned and I did not know how to respond. I also think having my mentor watch me teach intimidates me because I feel like I am already failing in front of a professional.

Having explained my reaction to my mentor (except for the intimidating one which I should bring up), he decided to address my worries:
> Stand by the door and don’t be afraid to check the corridors and bring them in.
> Have a talk with them when I think they are behaving badly and explain why it is not appropriate. If I need to, I should also bring in vocation and university goals. By doing this I will possibly touch on their intrinsic/extrinsic motivations. 

This also means I need to get my manager side out so I can address behaviour and tap into learners’ motivation. By relating learning to work.
> Every Friday I have a workshop, I need to make this weeks one compulsory because they did not do the work properly.
> I should have checked that learners understood how to fill the form and made it clear that each student needed to give at least one positive and developmental form of feedback.

Upon my reflection I started asking myself questions. As a member of management in a company (outside teaching) I did not understand why I did not call on this side to aid me when I needed discipline or swift feedback on behavioural management. I have decided that I need to build a strong connection between the two if I want to succeed.

I decided to try this out the next day…

Our Autobiographies as Learner’s and Teachers

Denicolo and Pope found: 

“When teachers are asked to explain why they favour certain approaches, frequently they evidenced their choice of method of, for instance, by reference to a formative experience of their own, whether it be a positive one which they seek to emulate for their students or a negative one which they strive to avoid reiterating for others.” (1990:156) 

It is true. As a trainee teacher I always refer to my favourite teachers and their teaching practice and strategies for learning to improve my own. Although I reflect on my own actions within the class and when I teach (not much), much of my approach is drawn from my experiences as a learner then  teacher. 

But of course Brookfield highlights:

"I use autobiographical reflection myself because I think it’s a good starting point… The intrinsic problem with approaches to private self-reflection is that when we use them, we can never completely avoid the risks of denial and distortion." (1995: 33) 

My Experience of 'Bad' Teaching 

When I was in Primary school, I found it very difficult to learn how to tell the time. The teacher tried to explain it to me but it went completely and utterly over my head! The teacher got frustrated with me. 

                I remember, in front of the whole class, she called out my name and got one of the students to hand me a clock. She asked me to show her a certain time but I couldn't. I helplessly stared at the clock not knowing what time she wanted me to move the hands to. She got so annoyed at my lack of understanding and started calling me "stupid" and then started to get animated as she vented to the class. She eventually gave up on me and asked another student to show her and me the correct time. 

                I eventually learnt how to tell the time, on my own and with the help of my dad but ever since that experience and till this day when someone asks me for the time I am terrified! I know how to tell the time but its like my brain shuts down so I end up embarrassingly showing my watch to the person. It reminds me of then. 

Although this is something I experienced in Primary school, I never want any of the students I teach to ever feel this way. 

And this is why this quote spoke millions to me:

"When we fail to learn something as quickly and easily as we would like, we experience all the public embarrassment and private humiliation, the fear, anxiety, and pain that some of our own students are feeling." (Brookfield: 1995: 51) 

How many people have felt this way? Whether you are in an educational environment or at work amongst your colleagues, I am sure everyone has felt like this at some point of their life. This is why it is important that as a teacher:

> I need to check students' learning to ensure my teaching method is working and if not I need to improve it (Via methods of Assessment & questioning) 

> Try to create a comfortable environment where mistakes are welcome: 

I think Sir Ken Robinson would be a great person to refer to in this sense. I would show his videos to the class.

> Be able to support learners in various ways by catering to their needs. I can do this through initial assessments or at the beginning of the course by finding out about students through an exercise that was done by a colleague of mine. She did her micro teach on identity. I can link this with their way of learning as well as finding out about my students. 

Assessment

In order to improve the way I assess learning:

According to Gravells (2012: 89) “Assessment is a way of finding out if learning has taken place. It enables you to ascertain if your learner has gained the required skills, knowledge and/or attitudes needed as a given point towards their programme of learning.” I will be using the assessment cycle to show how types of assessment are used. The assessment cycle is usually followed and will continue until the qualification and been achieved by the learner. The cycle consists of five steps:

 

1. Initial assessment: these are done before the course starts and can begin with an interview and/or examination to assess potential and suitability. Francis and Gould (2009: 69) say: “These will provide an indication of the level of skills or knowledge already achieved… likelihood of success if the learner is accepted onto the course.  A judgment can also be made as to the level if the course…” A more formal way of doing this would be through diagnostic assessment. This strategy identifies and assesses learners’ capabilities and needs, which highlights their learning styles and any support they may require to progress. (Wilson: 2008)

 

2. Assessment planning: following organisation guidelines, suitable methods of assessment are agreed upon and setting appropriate target dates. This stage must be: specific, measureable, achievable, realistic and time bound. (SMART)

 

3. Assessment activity: this relates to the methods used to assess. Records of this must be maintained. Several types of assessment are used in lifelong learning. Informal assessments (discussions, quizzes and journals) are used to check the learners progression and do not necessarily count towards a qualification. In contrast, formal assessments (exams, essays and assignments) count towards a qualification. 

 

4. Assessment decision and feedback: judgments are made about the learners’ achievements and constructive feedback is given. This can also be done through self and peer assessment. 

 

5. Review of progress: learners’ progression is reviewed, which gives them the opportunity to discuss possible improvements.

The cycle can be used to maintain consistency, which ensures fairness. (VACSR) (Gravells: 2011) 

Playing with Toys

I did my second micro teach but  it was individual and I had to present it to a class with diverse disciplines.

About: I had to do a 10 min, yes a 10 min lesson on my subject! (media/sociology) My lesson was about gender stereotypes and how toys play a big part in embedding these ideas from an early age.

1st Page 

2nd Page: What is a stereotype?
Next time: I should have contextualised and say why stereotypes are important to know about.
I should link this to the introduction of the lesson and
possibly add my aims and objectives for the lesson. 

3rd Page: Gender Stereotypes
Next time: I should also say why gender issues are important.
I could have also done this in quiz format and allowed students
pick answers for hat they thought the definition for these were. 

4th Page: Toys promoting stereotypes
Next time: I was given feedback about asking directed questions
I pointed out I did not like this method because I thought some students
would find it uncomfortable. In the future I will tackle this by possibly getting the quieter students to sit at the front.

5th Page: Toys & gender stereotypes
Next time:  If I had more time, I would have asked learners
what stereotypes these toys might be portraying.

6th Page: Activity
The class got into groups and I gave them a Barbie and a Action man each.
I gave each group a handout with 3 questions. Each group was required
to examine these toys and answers the questions.
Good: Students were engaged with the tasks and seemed to enjoy it.
Next time:  I should have considered grouping students. 

7th Page: References 

All in all:

Strengths

Areas for Development

> Confident > Kinaesthetic/active learning included > Engaging task and thought provoking > Encourage independent learning as well as peer to peer learning > Effective use of activity to encourage group discussion > Good use of Q&A as well as using open ended questions > Effective use of Q&A to test previous knowledge

> Set context – Why are stereotypes important to know about? > Improve use of questioning by using targeted questions to get everyone involved > Ask students what they learnt to check learning: Methods to consider: > Seat quieter students at front of classroom > Aim to create a learning environment where its ok to make mistakes > Introduce a strategy to get all student involved in answering questions: Get students to hold up their answers on a piece of paper.