The course Design for Diversity (EDG3000) has me focusing on how lessons can be diversified - not only academically but also with regards to embracing/catering different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds. Being that I am in an international school, I am finding that students are very aware and sensitive to different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds as it is. I think this is due to the fact the majority of the students are sons and daughter of expatriates, whom therefore move around geographically. Students have been exposed to a lot more cultural groups than say a the son or a daughter of a couple who have stayed in the same geographic space their whole lives. Due to this fact, when it comes to catering for all people group, I find the students very receptive, respectful and knowledgeable.
When it comes to academic diversity, it is proving to be rather difficult in the exam classes (Key Stage 5). There is a set amount of work which students need to get through and a certain level to be achieved, meaning there seems to be less flexibility to diversify lessons. Time restrictions do not help, there seems to be a lot of work to get through and a very limited amount of time. Without a diverse assessment (exam) it seems a little tough to try and diversify the lessons. I am struggling to see how this is practically done.
Key Stage 3 (year 7,8,9) is different, they are not exam classes thus there is more flexibility to differentiate. My mentor is a fan of the MUST SHOULD COULD idea. I see it working well in his lessons. On each handout there are MUST SHOULD COULD tasks which everyone gets. So instead of giving an 'easier' handout to the SEN students and a 'more difficult' one to the GnT, he is giving everyone a chance to give it go. I notice that this avoids segregation in the class. I have seen and actually done this before, where I have created 3 groups by colour - Red (GnT), Blue (SEN), Yellow (Avg achievers). I made different worksheets and put them into their colour groups. They were very quick to notice it was done on academic level and in a nutshell, it did not go well. So I like this technique of letting everyone have a go.
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
24 | 05 | 2012
I have just been in a lesson where the teacher is literally the pin up teacher for Positive Behaviour Support. She makes a concerted effort to praise those students who are (1) on time, (2) have their homework done and (3) have their resources they were asked to bring to this lesson in the previous one. There were students who came in late, but did have their resources. There were students who came on time but did not have their homework. There were students who came on time but did not have their resources. In every situation she focused on the positive and what they had done well.
For example, one student arrived a good 8 mins after the bell had gone, but when he came in the first thing she said was "Welcome to the class, I am very glad you made it, and I see you have your homework and your resources for this lesson, well done".
I asked her why she did not say anything about him being almost 10 mins late to class and she said that he is a student who does not respond well to the negative, he recognised that he was late, and apologised for it, which she felt was enough. If she had made a big deal out of it, he has the type of character to then shut down for the rest of the lesson and not participate to his capable standard.
WOW! I really found this interesting. I think I default to the traditional model of focusing on the negative and thus potentially 'damaging' the student. This teacher knows her students really well and genuinely cares for each one, and I think as a result, it was clear that they work hard for her, they want to do well for her. They were on task and engaged throughout the lesson.
What I took from it:
(1) Positive Behaviour Support
(2) Student-Teacher relationship
(3) Genuine care for students
For example, one student arrived a good 8 mins after the bell had gone, but when he came in the first thing she said was "Welcome to the class, I am very glad you made it, and I see you have your homework and your resources for this lesson, well done".
I asked her why she did not say anything about him being almost 10 mins late to class and she said that he is a student who does not respond well to the negative, he recognised that he was late, and apologised for it, which she felt was enough. If she had made a big deal out of it, he has the type of character to then shut down for the rest of the lesson and not participate to his capable standard.
WOW! I really found this interesting. I think I default to the traditional model of focusing on the negative and thus potentially 'damaging' the student. This teacher knows her students really well and genuinely cares for each one, and I think as a result, it was clear that they work hard for her, they want to do well for her. They were on task and engaged throughout the lesson.
What I took from it:
(1) Positive Behaviour Support
(2) Student-Teacher relationship
(3) Genuine care for students
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
23 | 05 | 2012
Today I was in the year 10 Psychology class. They are currently working on researching for a presentation. The key questions is: Can media make you aggressive? They are working in groups of up to 4 people, and can present it in any way they want. PowerPoint, video, interview, poster, leaflet. They have all been encouraged to take risks with how it is presented, and to try and be different.
This topic, is not in this unit of work, it is the next unit to be covered. The teacher of this class wanted to gauge the year 10's research and presentation skills and see what they could come up with before the unit of work started. I think this is a good way to test research and presentation skills, also to find out what they know before the topic is started.
I like how she has catered for different styles of learning and different Intelligence's by giving students the freedom to chose in what form they present it in.
This topic, is not in this unit of work, it is the next unit to be covered. The teacher of this class wanted to gauge the year 10's research and presentation skills and see what they could come up with before the unit of work started. I think this is a good way to test research and presentation skills, also to find out what they know before the topic is started.
I like how she has catered for different styles of learning and different Intelligence's by giving students the freedom to chose in what form they present it in.
22 | 05 | 2012
This morning I had a lesson of PSHEE with year 7. They are currently on the topic of Fair Trade and working in the ICT room on a presentation. The teacher gave the students the option of working in a pair or working on their own. I really liked that she gave them the option. I have noticed some students work better on their own.
I starting thinking about group work and the following questions came to mind-
- Is it better to give students the option to work on their own?
- Does there need to be a balance between individual work and group work? Like, surely those students who want to always work on their own need to learn how to work in a team environment? I wonder what a 'healthy' ratio is for this?
- Does the teacher assign people to groups?
- Do you want to mix up the GnT and SENs with the rest? or do you make clear GnT and SEN groups so that you can give them the level of work relevant to their ability?
I asked the teacher who said it really does depend on the work that is being covered at the time. It is always good to have a balance of group and individual work. In some cases it will be appropriate to mix GnT with SEN's so as to challenge the SEN's and get the GnT's to teacher the 'weaker' students. On the other hand, its also good to have definite ability groups where you can aim who assignments/tasks to a group. She said a subtle way of putting people into organised group is to, at the beginning of the year, stick a colour dot on their books. That way when you do group work its easy to assemble groups all you need to say is "all blue dots together, all yellow dots together..."
I starting thinking about group work and the following questions came to mind-
- Is it better to give students the option to work on their own?
- Does there need to be a balance between individual work and group work? Like, surely those students who want to always work on their own need to learn how to work in a team environment? I wonder what a 'healthy' ratio is for this?
- Does the teacher assign people to groups?
- Do you want to mix up the GnT and SENs with the rest? or do you make clear GnT and SEN groups so that you can give them the level of work relevant to their ability?
I asked the teacher who said it really does depend on the work that is being covered at the time. It is always good to have a balance of group and individual work. In some cases it will be appropriate to mix GnT with SEN's so as to challenge the SEN's and get the GnT's to teacher the 'weaker' students. On the other hand, its also good to have definite ability groups where you can aim who assignments/tasks to a group. She said a subtle way of putting people into organised group is to, at the beginning of the year, stick a colour dot on their books. That way when you do group work its easy to assemble groups all you need to say is "all blue dots together, all yellow dots together..."
21 | 05| 2012: The start of second prac
For the next 3 weeks my timetable has me in my second teaching area. Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHEE) and Psychology. Although I have done Sociology and Psychology at University, it was during my undergraduate study, which ended in 2006. It's a while back! And because of this, I am so unsure about the content. Combine this with have no idea at what level this is taught in a secondary school - and I feel pretty out of my depth.
I think this will be a good time for me. I really hope that once I am qualified I can go onto the supply teacher list - with being a supply teacher, you don't always teach in the area you qualified in. I think this next 3 weeks of getting familiar with unfamiliar content can only be a good skill to have in my back pocket.
I think this will be a good time for me. I really hope that once I am qualified I can go onto the supply teacher list - with being a supply teacher, you don't always teach in the area you qualified in. I think this next 3 weeks of getting familiar with unfamiliar content can only be a good skill to have in my back pocket.
Tuesday, 1 May 2012
02 | 05 | 2012
This morning I had a great talk with my mentor. We talked about my blog and how I am feeling about my time so far. I have learned so much in these past 3 weeks of prac. We chatted for a while about the power of a voice in the classroom, about how you can use it to get attention and keep attention in a variety of different ways. I always think I talk way to loud! He gave me a few different examples of how it can be used which I found very very helpful.
He also said something which I found rather profound/enlightening. Each lesson is a lesson that those learners will never have again. Once its done its done. There is no going back or revisiting. WOW. Such a good realisation for me, this is no game. This is educating the next generation. Every lesson that I teach needs to be well planned, well resourced, organised. I owe it to my students to give them the best lesson, every time.
27 | 04 | 2012
A week ago my mentor teacher gave 7 higher order thinking students a task to do. They had to prepare a 10 minute lesson on El Nino which they would teach back to the class in small groups. Each would be given a laptop to use, if they wanted to show a video, or do a powerpoint.
This was a great lesson. I think ever single student had the chance to learn something new. My mentor encouraged the "students" to ask their "teachers" as much as they could about the topic during and after their presentations. I think being in small groups was a good idea, it was intimate and allowed each person watching a chance to participate. It seemed that they really enjoyed the variety and change from a normal lesson. It was learning in action for sure.
This was a great lesson. I think ever single student had the chance to learn something new. My mentor encouraged the "students" to ask their "teachers" as much as they could about the topic during and after their presentations. I think being in small groups was a good idea, it was intimate and allowed each person watching a chance to participate. It seemed that they really enjoyed the variety and change from a normal lesson. It was learning in action for sure.
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