Reflect on your teaching practicum so far: What have you learned from your experience during TP? What kinds of challenges do you foresee as you develop as a Literature teacher in your specific school context?
I have a very experienced lit CT. She is very particular about the way I give my instructions to the class, and this is probably my main takeaway. Sometimes, we may plan great and fun and wonderful activities, but they don't go the way we originally imagine them to go. There are many factors for this, but to me, one of the greatest pitfall is the way we deliver instructions. Each activity - simple or complicated - requires a considerate amount of thinking and planning out instructions. How to prep our class for the activity is of utmost importance for the activity to work. This is one step I am (trying to be more aware) of when I am planning my lessons.
This is especially so since I am teaching in a school where students are not of the (hmmm....) highest caliber. They require more guidance and lack motivation.Out of a class of 30, I will be lucky if I can have 5 of them who read the book. Most do not have the book. If my instructions are not kept to the minimum and simplest, I lose my students' attention. Simple as that.
However, they are not un-teachable. Not trying to be politically correct, but students like them are the ones who will dare to respond - even if they give irrelevant answers and they know their answers are wrong. One challenge here, is then to always understand that no matter what answers they give, their answers are teachable moments and I have to turn them into relevant answers somehow. However, this requires a great deal of patience and rapport with the students, before i can successfully engage them in discussion.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Practicum
What have you learned from your experience during TP? What kinds of challenges do you foresee as you develop as a Literature teacher in your specific school context?
I think as far as Literature goes I have had a very encouraging experience in my school (Westwood Secondary) as the school stresses on communicative studies and includes drama and literature into their English curriculum. On the whole the departmental thrust is that of making literature likeable and popular among students so much so that even the NT stream are roped in projects that enable them to come up with artifacts that are literature based such as skits, role play etc. Having said that, it doesn't mean that the students have a real knowledge of reading literary texts because the motive is making literature more accessible, students are not really taught literary devices or figurative language very well-lower secondary literature is more about having fun-which hampers the students' understanding of literature and their expectations of literature when some of them happen to take it in upper secondary level.
I teach only full literature (called pure lit in my school) to a group of 14 students (1 boy and 13 girls), the class is extremely well behaved, so much so that I have to literally beg them to voice their opinions. But this is only my second challenge, my number one challenge is to make them read the text. Though they have taken literature, they do not want to read the texts allocated to them! They will only read the chapter I have specifically asked them to read. Challenge number 2 is to make them voice their meagre opinions on the chapter. Because they do not read, they have no prior knowledge of any kind related to the text, they do not even bother googling the novel or the author before coming to class. The students do not know how to make connections, so when I ask them, "You must have read about World War II, right?" I am met with blank faces and no nods, whereas my 1 NT class could tell me who Adolf Hitler was (response: the Nazi man, WWII, killed people)
How do I activate schema when they pretend not to have one?
Second incident:
As we are doing Lord of the Flies, a student asked me how come the plane crashed elsewhere and not on the island the boys were dropped. So I explained to them that when such a maneuver is made, passengers are dropped first and then the pilot would eject and the plane would probably crash a little further from the point where everyone was dropped off because the plane would be carried on due to momentum. Blank faces and question: What is momentum? Sec 3 Express. I ask them have you heard of Newton's Law of Motion? Nothing. Inertia of rest, inertia of motion? Nothing. Apparently they never did Newton's Law and have never heard of momentum.
I trust these students, I don't think that they would bluff me, they are not the joker kind, some of them are really interested in learning new things...but when I asked one of the science teachers, she was quite surprised that the students couldn't remember having heard of momentum. So perhaps they only study for exam purpose and quickly forget the concepts that they had learnt for exams.
We keep on talking about higher order thinking. When I tried to talk about postcolonialism, the feedback I got was, just concentrate on the areas of study and don't talk too much on concepts the students are not likely to understand. Yet, I persevered with the class, I taught White Man's Burden and Shooting an Elephant and tried to talk about colonization...showed them videos, I only got a bad APT form as a consequence. Then I decided to just go with the areas of study.
The challenges that I face and will continue to face while teaching literature are firstly, to ensure that students actually feel an ownership in their involvement in this course. I want them to understand that they have taken this course as their choice, having ann active interest in reading and researching on it would make their own lives easier. Once this can be achieve, having students understand that literary discourse believes in intertextuality and metatextuality. Therefore they must apply their knowledge of the world and of all that they have learnt about the world to use as they read texts. Only then, can they move towards being critical thinkers.
I think as far as Literature goes I have had a very encouraging experience in my school (Westwood Secondary) as the school stresses on communicative studies and includes drama and literature into their English curriculum. On the whole the departmental thrust is that of making literature likeable and popular among students so much so that even the NT stream are roped in projects that enable them to come up with artifacts that are literature based such as skits, role play etc. Having said that, it doesn't mean that the students have a real knowledge of reading literary texts because the motive is making literature more accessible, students are not really taught literary devices or figurative language very well-lower secondary literature is more about having fun-which hampers the students' understanding of literature and their expectations of literature when some of them happen to take it in upper secondary level.
I teach only full literature (called pure lit in my school) to a group of 14 students (1 boy and 13 girls), the class is extremely well behaved, so much so that I have to literally beg them to voice their opinions. But this is only my second challenge, my number one challenge is to make them read the text. Though they have taken literature, they do not want to read the texts allocated to them! They will only read the chapter I have specifically asked them to read. Challenge number 2 is to make them voice their meagre opinions on the chapter. Because they do not read, they have no prior knowledge of any kind related to the text, they do not even bother googling the novel or the author before coming to class. The students do not know how to make connections, so when I ask them, "You must have read about World War II, right?" I am met with blank faces and no nods, whereas my 1 NT class could tell me who Adolf Hitler was (response: the Nazi man, WWII, killed people)
How do I activate schema when they pretend not to have one?
Second incident:
As we are doing Lord of the Flies, a student asked me how come the plane crashed elsewhere and not on the island the boys were dropped. So I explained to them that when such a maneuver is made, passengers are dropped first and then the pilot would eject and the plane would probably crash a little further from the point where everyone was dropped off because the plane would be carried on due to momentum. Blank faces and question: What is momentum? Sec 3 Express. I ask them have you heard of Newton's Law of Motion? Nothing. Inertia of rest, inertia of motion? Nothing. Apparently they never did Newton's Law and have never heard of momentum.
I trust these students, I don't think that they would bluff me, they are not the joker kind, some of them are really interested in learning new things...but when I asked one of the science teachers, she was quite surprised that the students couldn't remember having heard of momentum. So perhaps they only study for exam purpose and quickly forget the concepts that they had learnt for exams.
We keep on talking about higher order thinking. When I tried to talk about postcolonialism, the feedback I got was, just concentrate on the areas of study and don't talk too much on concepts the students are not likely to understand. Yet, I persevered with the class, I taught White Man's Burden and Shooting an Elephant and tried to talk about colonization...showed them videos, I only got a bad APT form as a consequence. Then I decided to just go with the areas of study.
The challenges that I face and will continue to face while teaching literature are firstly, to ensure that students actually feel an ownership in their involvement in this course. I want them to understand that they have taken this course as their choice, having ann active interest in reading and researching on it would make their own lives easier. Once this can be achieve, having students understand that literary discourse believes in intertextuality and metatextuality. Therefore they must apply their knowledge of the world and of all that they have learnt about the world to use as they read texts. Only then, can they move towards being critical thinkers.
Tableaux Assessment
Here, in Woodlands Secondary School, the secondary 2 students have been told that a part of their CA grade (they do not actually have Literature exams here) will come from their performance of a tableaux dramatisation of the short drama text that they have been studying so far -- Gene Kemp's 'The Bully'. Prior to the start of the assessment preparation, they have read through the text and identified the various elements of drama -- characters and narrative structure.
Just before the commencement of the March holidays, they were told that they will have to select a scene from the text in which bullying takes place, and think of how they would re-enact it in the form of a tableau. In the first week of term 2, a lesson was dedicated to teaching them about stage blocking and getting them to brainstorm all the different types of possible emotions that the characters experience in their chosen scene, as well as the possible actions to express these emotions. After another two weeks of giving the groups time to discuss and prepare and fill in their pre-presentation worksheet (which served as scaffolding for the groups, but the contents of which will also be assessed as a reflection of their concept and planning), the groups will be ready to present their tableaux next week.
My CT designed the activity while I designed the worksheet and came up with the rubrics. The tableaux activity aims to assess the students on how well they have understood the play, and on their understanding of how drama, as a performance, functions. So far, having seen one group present, and having marked their pre-presentation worksheet, I've come to realise that the assessment is not yielding the results that I had envisioned. I don't think my CT is very pleased with the students' performance so far too, and I believe that very few groups will end up presenting effective tableaux. So far, the students have shown an awareness of the visual effect of drama in their visualisation of their various scenes, as well as their exploration of the various ways of positioning their actors. The activity has also given them the opportunity to focus on characterisation and character descriptions in making them act out the characters based on what they know of their physical description and the emotions that the face in the episodes of bullying. However, the students have not had enough time to study their chosen scenes in detail before, or in the process of, preparing for their tableaux performance, and the emotions that they have identified thus far consist mainly of very superficial ideas such as "sad"; "angry"; "scared", and "empowered". I guess the major flaw of this assessment is the fact that the students are neither highly motivated self-directed learners, nor are they very interested in the subject to begin with. Hence, the original plan of giving them only one week to discuss and prepare their tableaux had to be changed to two weeks because the students did not make full use of the time that was given to them and did not discuss outside of the lesson. Additionally, the students also did not take the time and effort to study their scenes in detail and come up with insightful interpretations of the characters and their emotions. Additionally, since almost all of the students have already made up their mind that they will not be taking Literature as a subject in the O-levels, most of them cannot be bothered to put in effort to their CA grades in the first place.
Given a more conducive environment in which there is a strong drama culture and support for Literature in the school, the tableaux would have been an effective and highly rewarding assessment activity. However, I do not foresee many good performances coming out of my school.
Just before the commencement of the March holidays, they were told that they will have to select a scene from the text in which bullying takes place, and think of how they would re-enact it in the form of a tableau. In the first week of term 2, a lesson was dedicated to teaching them about stage blocking and getting them to brainstorm all the different types of possible emotions that the characters experience in their chosen scene, as well as the possible actions to express these emotions. After another two weeks of giving the groups time to discuss and prepare and fill in their pre-presentation worksheet (which served as scaffolding for the groups, but the contents of which will also be assessed as a reflection of their concept and planning), the groups will be ready to present their tableaux next week.
My CT designed the activity while I designed the worksheet and came up with the rubrics. The tableaux activity aims to assess the students on how well they have understood the play, and on their understanding of how drama, as a performance, functions. So far, having seen one group present, and having marked their pre-presentation worksheet, I've come to realise that the assessment is not yielding the results that I had envisioned. I don't think my CT is very pleased with the students' performance so far too, and I believe that very few groups will end up presenting effective tableaux. So far, the students have shown an awareness of the visual effect of drama in their visualisation of their various scenes, as well as their exploration of the various ways of positioning their actors. The activity has also given them the opportunity to focus on characterisation and character descriptions in making them act out the characters based on what they know of their physical description and the emotions that the face in the episodes of bullying. However, the students have not had enough time to study their chosen scenes in detail before, or in the process of, preparing for their tableaux performance, and the emotions that they have identified thus far consist mainly of very superficial ideas such as "sad"; "angry"; "scared", and "empowered". I guess the major flaw of this assessment is the fact that the students are neither highly motivated self-directed learners, nor are they very interested in the subject to begin with. Hence, the original plan of giving them only one week to discuss and prepare their tableaux had to be changed to two weeks because the students did not make full use of the time that was given to them and did not discuss outside of the lesson. Additionally, the students also did not take the time and effort to study their scenes in detail and come up with insightful interpretations of the characters and their emotions. Additionally, since almost all of the students have already made up their mind that they will not be taking Literature as a subject in the O-levels, most of them cannot be bothered to put in effort to their CA grades in the first place.
Given a more conducive environment in which there is a strong drama culture and support for Literature in the school, the tableaux would have been an effective and highly rewarding assessment activity. However, I do not foresee many good performances coming out of my school.
Practicum Reflections
b. Reflect on your teaching practicum so
far: What have you learned from your experience during TP? What kinds of
challenges do you foresee as you develop as a Literature teacher in your
specific school context?
It has been a tough time for me in Swiss Cottage Secondary
School so far. As with everyone else, I have learnt that efficiency,
perseverance and patience form the backbone of a teacher’s arsenal – no amount
of teaching pedagogy will save you if you do not have these values instilled
firmly in you.
With the grind of churning lesson plans, establishing
rapport amongst students, and teaching, I’ve come to realize that every teacher
has differing styles of teaching, and that could be a blinding distraction from
actual teaching itself. Many times, I struggled to craft a niche and establish
a style of teaching that catered best for the students. For example, I found different
teachers to view certain teaching styles as overtly ‘loose’ in structure, and
wanted wordier slides to scaffold the student’s learning better. Also, whilst
some teachers considered feedback to be simple verbal cues, sometimes they
wanted more long drawn sentences as student feedback. Teacher Talk Time and
hand-holding were the preferred modes of operation, and students were not used
to being questioned and working as groups to close read certain portions of the
book. Instead, they were more comfortable with being led step by step, with the
teacher doing most of the highlighting and annotation.
The APT form therefore becomes more of an enemy than a
helpful tool. Whilst a certain style
might suit some teachers, it might not be for some, who are more comfortable
with using less words on their slides, perhaps less ICT and more student-led-
discussions. Are we being judged by the teachers on how closely we follow their
‘brand’ of ‘successful’ teaching? If students give positive feedback about your
lesson, but if a teacher gives mediocre feedback because he/she does not think
that it a good approach, who should we listen to? Our CTs or our real audience?
This has been a major problem for me during my practicum experience, and while
I’ve come to take all feedback as constructive and helpful, I cannot help but
feel like I am cramped in a tiny box; any form of creativity and ideas I have
for the lessons I want to teach seems to have dissipated. There were always these doubly binding
pressures working beneath me, threatening to deride my passion for teaching.
These questions manifested within me during one of my lesson
observations, and it exacerbated my nervousness, to the point I could not react
to certain questions the students had for me, as they were not entirely related
to the lesson. With two teachers (my HOD and CT) at the back of my class
heatedly discussing amongst themselves and looking at my direction, I was
pressured to re-direct my lesson focus, and yet felt that I needed to answer my
student’s earnest questions as well.
After a post-mortem on my lesson I learnt that I could have
structured my lesson better and clearly, which I am learning to get better at, however
one could not help but feel that a close reading activity is difficult to structure,
especially when a closer look at the text links to various other incidents in
the book, and opens up more possibilities for varied interpretation. I was
given friendly advice by another teacher not to use close reading lessons for
lesson observation, yet time is running short before their examinations and I
feel torn between teaching them what they need to know, as opposed to preparing
a textbook perfect lesson that was superficial, confined and neat.
That said, the journey so far has been intensely humbling
and enriching, as I’ve learnt many different approaches to teach a similar
lesson. Similarly, I think I have improved in classroom management, thanks to
some painful lessons (I learnt how to use a softer approach especially in
dealing with students with anger management issues – a boy crushed his
worksheet after I told him to re-do some questions that he copied off the
textbook’s answer key) and also some constructive criticism given by my CT, on
how I had to be firmer in my vocal tone.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Practical Reflections
b. Reflect on your teaching practicum so far: What have
you learned from your experience during TP? What kinds of challenges do you
foresee as you develop as a Literature teacher in your specific school context?
I
actually have not seen much of teaching before I stepped into my practicum (and
final posting, if I pass) school. To
say that it is akin to being thrown into reality with the flimsiest bag of
teaching tools is the closest I can come to articulating what has happened thus
far. Yes, I have struggled, and I am still struggling, and as recent as Monday,
I was called to the vice-principal’s office and told that I would “not pass
practicum”.
I have no idea what is going to
happen, actually (regarding that). The world of teaching is both fascinating
and horrifying. My students are hyper and insane and we have a love-hate
relationship. But I have a love-hate relationship with everything.
I have learnt that the one trait
that a teacher truly needs to have is that of fearlessness. (And
adaptability/quick-thinking comes a close second.) Every day is a walk-in to a
new audition, with fresh storylines and moody casting directors (the kids)
giving you the evil (or adoring, depending on who I’m talking about) eye. I
cannot begin to document the sheer amount of happenings that have taken place
(and are still taking place) every single moment since I have stepped foot in
the school. Even as I see my sec ones and sec twos (both express classes; they
are my two main classes) every single day, the power balance and dramatic
potential shift and morph drastically from day to day. I cannot begin to pin
them down (as they do me, I am sure) even though we are on very intimate terms
by now. I am on much Friendlier terms with the sec ones though. The sec twos… I
am unable to speak/write about them. The lack of fear in my
relations/presentation of self to them is not so much a declaration and
reclamation of power, but the way I model myself as someone who is unafraid of
their antics/bad behaviour, and hence able to successfully prevent a fight by
standing in between two boys while the whole class was banging on their desks
and chanting ‘fight, fight, fight!’ (This has now been relegated to being one
of the Mildest incidents at this point of writing.) Fearlessness has been
important, even up till today when one of my sec ones had yapped at me to chase
after a rugby ball (I can’t remember why I’d agreed to play captain’s ball with
them for Sports Day), and I’d obligingly done so, only to be pushed over onto
the ground by a small, hurtling force from out of nowhere (their opponent).
However, ever since the VP, the HOD, and my CT have spoken to me about my utter
failure in classroom management, I have decided to slip No-Nonsense over Fearlessness.
The importance of being No-Nonsense
and firm has never been more necessary than in my implementation of a classroom
management system. Being assertive would get the kids to listen to me (to stop
pacing/poking/stabbing each other, to be more exact), and then I could carry on with my lesson plan. Hence my lesson plan
comprises a proportionate amount of discipline to-be-done, which varies
accordingly from class to class. The discipline contracts I had inked with the
kids were a source of mirth for them (but since my CT liked it very much that I
“delivered discipline with humour”, fine whatever goes), and also for my “discipline
mentor”, the PE and Science teacher who faced the torment of one year of being
the sec twos’ class mentor (otherwise known as form teacher) in 2012. My CT has
assured me “they will stop laughing soon”, so okay, fine. Hence, the most
important skill to have for Surviving Practicum, and not getting burnt out when
you become a BT (I’m not sure about myself yet), is to have humour. To be able
to laugh at everything, and nothing at all. And a story-telling ability, such
that you can stay up till 2AM, not doing lesson plans but talking to your best
friend about the things that have happened – part of a recalibrating and
re-processing (from an other’s point of view) process. Ironically, I saw the
funny side in everything and that was why I haven’t been able to be really
angry with them, and to enforce consequences/ punish them. People get angry on
my behalf, but I couldn’t see the seriousness of the mistake I was committing.
And before that mistake kills me, I’ve to do a re-think of everything I’ve been
doing thus far, and “start all over, afresh” (in the words of the HOD, who had
me enact how I’d “deal with the sec twos” whilst she and my CT acted as them. I
had wanted to stab my heart out and leave the teaching profession there and
then. In relation to the enforced role-play, not the sec twos’ behaviour.)
I am unable to say much about the “kinds
of challenges [I] foresee as [I] develop as a Literature teacher” because I don’t think I’ll be/come a
literature teacher at all. I’ll be teaching English if and when I return to the
school, and the specific challenges for me are obviously classroom management
and how to balance humour with severity. I do very much admire the teachers who
have complete control of their classes and exude calmness from their very pores,
in their dealings with the kids. But perhaps everyone has their own style, be
it teaching or discipline.
Even
as I put on that front of being firm and fierce and no-nonsense, it is
gratifying (kind of a relief, actually) to have that front called a bluff at
the end of class, by one of the girls who giggled, “Ms Chng, were you serious?
I didn’t know whether to take you seriously when you’re fierce leh!” more
giggling, and followed by some boys who said, “we were giving you face, hello.
If we didn’t give you face….”
And
I do know I can’t have people coming in to scold my students for me every time.
While I figure out the logistics of how to get there, I hope to enlist the help
of as many of the teachers as possible (the supportive staff culture at the
school is one thing I am very thankful for).
To
be frank, it no longer feels a loss that I’ll be an English rather than
literature teacher (M, don’t kill me) – the opportunity to incorporate elements
of drama, poetry, and prose into my English lessons actually gives me greater
joy (than teaching the 1 NAs only
rhyme scheme for their unseen poetry component D: ). That’s for the sec one
class, of course, the ones who obviously see me as someone better than I am.
For the sec twos… I’ve to “manage” them, or I won’t be passing practicum.
TP Reflections
Reflect on your teaching practicum so far: What have you learned from your experience during TP? What kinds of challenges do you foresee as you develop as a Literature teacher in your specific school context?
I currently teach the lower secondary Express classes (since the school does not offer Literature for upper Secondary classes). A major problem is that students only have one hour of Literature class each week. This makes it rather challenging to cover both skills and content in-depth.
From my TP experience, it is unwise to assume that students have read the text. I don't really blame them, since they only use this text once a week, and since Literature is the only non-examinable Humanities subject (as I'd mentioned in my previous post). But this means that curriculum time is spent on checking that students know the plot. To motivate them to read their text before lessons, I'd decided to use some good ol' fashioned reward systems. They seem to love group work, so they've come up with group names, and I'm instilling some competitive element whenever there is group work. Groups have to answer plot questions, and each correct answer gains them a certain number of points. The first group to reach XX number of points receive....urm, we have not decided what they will receive. This competitive element seems to be working quite well, honestly!
I am finding it much more challenging to teach the skills though. The students have already been taught the PEE structure, but their work doesn't reflect that they understand the difference between Evidence and Elaboration/ Explanation. I had a look at their class test (which my CT is marking), and students tend to just copy out entire chunks of the set text without any Explanation. My CT and I have provided students with models of how to apply the PEE structure, but despite constant reminders, majority of the students are unable to (a) select relevant quotes, (b) explain how these quotes support their point. I think one reason might be that they lack the vocabulary to explain and elaborate. For instance, when discussing adjectives that can be used to describe a certain character's personality, students do not understand words like "passive", "unforgiving", "unaggressive" (This happened in the lesson today with a Sec 2 class). Reflecting on that particular lesson, I think I should have anticipated this problem and allocated some time to eliciting the meanings of these terms from students.
I've learnt that questioning techniques are so important. During the initial lessons, I tended to ask broader questions like, "So what does this tell us about this character?". That kind of answers drew blank looks. The questions need to be really specific ie "Can you give me TWO adjectives to describe this character's personality?" I've learnt that thinking through how to phrase questions is pretty important. Another useful technique is to ask questions that draws on students' personal responses ie "if you were this character, what would you do in this situation?" For the more responsive classes, such questions can generate pretty lively class discussions.
This school isn't my final posting, but I think that the major challenge for Literature teachers in this school is the lack of curriculum time. The once-a-week classes mean that it is not possible to give students timely feedback, whilst what they have learnt is still fresh in their memory. After one week's worth of Science, Math, Geograghy etc., the Lit teachers have to recap the previous week's lesson before starting lesson proper. The other challenge would be students' lack of school activities and CCAs that promote interest in Literature - I'm thinking of CCAs like Drama societies, Debating societies or activities like Poetry or drama workshops. Just some thoughts!
I currently teach the lower secondary Express classes (since the school does not offer Literature for upper Secondary classes). A major problem is that students only have one hour of Literature class each week. This makes it rather challenging to cover both skills and content in-depth.
From my TP experience, it is unwise to assume that students have read the text. I don't really blame them, since they only use this text once a week, and since Literature is the only non-examinable Humanities subject (as I'd mentioned in my previous post). But this means that curriculum time is spent on checking that students know the plot. To motivate them to read their text before lessons, I'd decided to use some good ol' fashioned reward systems. They seem to love group work, so they've come up with group names, and I'm instilling some competitive element whenever there is group work. Groups have to answer plot questions, and each correct answer gains them a certain number of points. The first group to reach XX number of points receive....urm, we have not decided what they will receive. This competitive element seems to be working quite well, honestly!
I am finding it much more challenging to teach the skills though. The students have already been taught the PEE structure, but their work doesn't reflect that they understand the difference between Evidence and Elaboration/ Explanation. I had a look at their class test (which my CT is marking), and students tend to just copy out entire chunks of the set text without any Explanation. My CT and I have provided students with models of how to apply the PEE structure, but despite constant reminders, majority of the students are unable to (a) select relevant quotes, (b) explain how these quotes support their point. I think one reason might be that they lack the vocabulary to explain and elaborate. For instance, when discussing adjectives that can be used to describe a certain character's personality, students do not understand words like "passive", "unforgiving", "unaggressive" (This happened in the lesson today with a Sec 2 class). Reflecting on that particular lesson, I think I should have anticipated this problem and allocated some time to eliciting the meanings of these terms from students.
I've learnt that questioning techniques are so important. During the initial lessons, I tended to ask broader questions like, "So what does this tell us about this character?". That kind of answers drew blank looks. The questions need to be really specific ie "Can you give me TWO adjectives to describe this character's personality?" I've learnt that thinking through how to phrase questions is pretty important. Another useful technique is to ask questions that draws on students' personal responses ie "if you were this character, what would you do in this situation?" For the more responsive classes, such questions can generate pretty lively class discussions.
This school isn't my final posting, but I think that the major challenge for Literature teachers in this school is the lack of curriculum time. The once-a-week classes mean that it is not possible to give students timely feedback, whilst what they have learnt is still fresh in their memory. After one week's worth of Science, Math, Geograghy etc., the Lit teachers have to recap the previous week's lesson before starting lesson proper. The other challenge would be students' lack of school activities and CCAs that promote interest in Literature - I'm thinking of CCAs like Drama societies, Debating societies or activities like Poetry or drama workshops. Just some thoughts!
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Back to School
b. Reflect on your
teaching practicum so far: What have you learned from your experience
during TP? What kinds of challenges do you foresee as you develop as a
Literature teacher in your specific school context?
Practicum has been an interesting and challenging experience so far. There are many (different) challenges each day, and I am thankful for encouraging CTs and for peers who can sympathise/empathise/are going through the same thing as I am.
There seem to be quite a few learning points from practicum, but the key points that I have taken away are
1) The need to rationalise and provide reasons for the lesson through telling the students your objectives for doing this lesson.
Students in my school tend to be more cooperative when they see the point of doing something. By stating the achievable lesson objectives at the start of the lesson, students will be able to see what the teacher hopes to achieve through this lesson, and how achieving the objectives would benefit them. In addition to stating these objectives, the objectives have to be achievable, if not the students would give up entirely and not try to listen at all.
2) The need to engage students.
Without engagement, students will be bored and will start to do other things, tuning out of the lesson. This, in turn, causes disruptions in class as the students who are bored will start to talk and distract their classmates. Hence, there is a need to engage the students so as to manage the class properly. In addition, engaging the students will get them interested and facilitate learning, thereby achieving the lesson objectives.
3) The need for routines and discipline in class.
All the classes that I take are N(A) classes. In these classes, there has to be a fixed pre-lesson routine or routines to follow, in order to let students get used to the order of events in class and to lessen the time taken for them to settle down. The routine also prepares the students for the lesson, and signals to both student and teacher that the student is ready for class. With fixed routines, it becomes much easier to carry out lesson, which in turn facilitates students' learning.
Possible challenges in the future:
1) Voice Projection
My voice is soft, and the people at the back of the class have problems hearing what I say. I have borrowed a mic to help with this problem, but I hope to be able to improve and work on my voice projection.
2) Discipline
Discipline is a key issue - once the students are settled down and behaving well, the lesson can be carried out very easily. However, it does not seem easy for me to reinforce discipline, and I have to work on being firm and fair, emphasizing my routines and rationalizing the concept behind this.
3) Homework submissions
I foresee that there will be many people who do not hand in their homework on time. However, there is a need to collect the homework and mark it properly, so that the teacher can check on students' learning and give feedback accordingly. I will need to think more about the different strategies that can be used in class and how to make it more interesting.
4) Getting students to read their texts
Most of the students in my classes do not like to read and this is a problem because they need to know the text in order to know what is going on in class. I have tried enticing them, rewarding them, and even 'punishing' them to get them to read, but these strategies have limited success. There needs to be more work and thought on this issue, as with issue 3, on how to deal with it.
Practicum has been an interesting and challenging experience so far. There are many (different) challenges each day, and I am thankful for encouraging CTs and for peers who can sympathise/empathise/are going through the same thing as I am.
There seem to be quite a few learning points from practicum, but the key points that I have taken away are
1) The need to rationalise and provide reasons for the lesson through telling the students your objectives for doing this lesson.
Students in my school tend to be more cooperative when they see the point of doing something. By stating the achievable lesson objectives at the start of the lesson, students will be able to see what the teacher hopes to achieve through this lesson, and how achieving the objectives would benefit them. In addition to stating these objectives, the objectives have to be achievable, if not the students would give up entirely and not try to listen at all.
2) The need to engage students.
Without engagement, students will be bored and will start to do other things, tuning out of the lesson. This, in turn, causes disruptions in class as the students who are bored will start to talk and distract their classmates. Hence, there is a need to engage the students so as to manage the class properly. In addition, engaging the students will get them interested and facilitate learning, thereby achieving the lesson objectives.
3) The need for routines and discipline in class.
All the classes that I take are N(A) classes. In these classes, there has to be a fixed pre-lesson routine or routines to follow, in order to let students get used to the order of events in class and to lessen the time taken for them to settle down. The routine also prepares the students for the lesson, and signals to both student and teacher that the student is ready for class. With fixed routines, it becomes much easier to carry out lesson, which in turn facilitates students' learning.
Possible challenges in the future:
1) Voice Projection
My voice is soft, and the people at the back of the class have problems hearing what I say. I have borrowed a mic to help with this problem, but I hope to be able to improve and work on my voice projection.
2) Discipline
Discipline is a key issue - once the students are settled down and behaving well, the lesson can be carried out very easily. However, it does not seem easy for me to reinforce discipline, and I have to work on being firm and fair, emphasizing my routines and rationalizing the concept behind this.
3) Homework submissions
I foresee that there will be many people who do not hand in their homework on time. However, there is a need to collect the homework and mark it properly, so that the teacher can check on students' learning and give feedback accordingly. I will need to think more about the different strategies that can be used in class and how to make it more interesting.
4) Getting students to read their texts
Most of the students in my classes do not like to read and this is a problem because they need to know the text in order to know what is going on in class. I have tried enticing them, rewarding them, and even 'punishing' them to get them to read, but these strategies have limited success. There needs to be more work and thought on this issue, as with issue 3, on how to deal with it.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Thoughts on Practicum
B) Reflect on your teaching practicum so far: What have you learned from your experience during TP? What kinds of challenges do you foresee as you develop as a Literature teacher in your specific school context?
The learning curve in Practicum has been steep, but I'm thankful for peers and colleagues who provide a lot of help and advice. I have been thinking and rethinking various beliefs about education, and so far these are the main lessons that I have been mulling over.
1) Engaging lessons make it easier for students to stay awake. One problem that I have been facing is perennial 'sleepers' in my classes. There are always one or two students who doze off ten minutes into my lesson and remain firmly asleep throughout. It has been a challenge thinking of exciting activities to do every day, and there were a few days when I just fell back on my default comfortable mode -- which is to do teacher-talk and write on the whiteboard. However, this has led to even more sleeping students. Last week, I decided to do a drawing activity with my Sec 3 Lit class. I just provided them with colour pencils and blank pieces of paper and asked them to draw their impression of a poem. They thoroughly enjoyed the lesson, I enjoyed myself too, and at the end of the lesson when I reviewed their drawings and notes I realised that they had actually picked up the learning points for the lesson although it was not explicitly stated. Hence, this experience has led me to rethink my dependence on direct teacher instruction. I must admit that teacher-talk is the easiest and most comfortable mode for me because that was how I was educated as a student, and this mode conveys the most information in the shortest period of time (versus doing activities that take up more time than expected). However, activity-based lessons might end up being the ones that help students to really learn. It's definitely still a challenge to think of activities for the students to do (as my NIE supervisor advised me -- "make them work"), but I think I shall try to continue with this practice for now.
2) When I was in NIE the idea that resonated most with me was the notion of "essential questions". I really liked how it brought coherence to a series of lessons and it was something that I really wanted to carry out during my Practicum. However, I am finding it difficult to actualise this due to several reasons. Firstly, there is often a Scheme of Work already set in place and so my role is simply to execute it. Secondly, the Schemes of Work that I have been given tend to be phrased in terms of coverage, e.g. cover Chapter 1 in Week 1 etc. Hence, that's what I've been doing so far. . . covering the assigned chapters in the assigned weeks. Unfortunately my lofty aims of structuring a unit around an essential question have been put on the backburner for now. I think I will revisit this idea in future, perhaps if/when I am given greater autonomy over what I plan to teach?
I foresee that in the near future my greatest challenge as a Literature teacher is helping students broaden their cultural understanding and helping them to "see what I see". For example, when I read a text I instinctively know what to look out for, which words to take note of etc. But I'm currently struggling to figure out how to bring my students to that point (in terms of their reading ability, sensitivity to the language etc.) Hence, I often find myself recalling what I did as a student and how my teachers taught me all those years ago, and trying to think: "If I am a student learning Literature now what would I want to know? How would I want my teacher to teach me?" I'm not sure if this is the right pedagogical strategy but for now this has been my thought process whenever I craft a new lesson plan. I'm also continually caught off-guard about what students know (or don't know) and so it is sometimes difficult to know whether the lesson is being pitched at a level that is too low or too high.
Overall, though, I am enjoying my Practicum experience although there are good days and bad days. The students make it worthwhile, really, especially when I see them progress in their studies and attitude. So yup I'm thankful and I really hope that my short presence here has taught them some lessons, whether big or small. :)
The learning curve in Practicum has been steep, but I'm thankful for peers and colleagues who provide a lot of help and advice. I have been thinking and rethinking various beliefs about education, and so far these are the main lessons that I have been mulling over.
1) Engaging lessons make it easier for students to stay awake. One problem that I have been facing is perennial 'sleepers' in my classes. There are always one or two students who doze off ten minutes into my lesson and remain firmly asleep throughout. It has been a challenge thinking of exciting activities to do every day, and there were a few days when I just fell back on my default comfortable mode -- which is to do teacher-talk and write on the whiteboard. However, this has led to even more sleeping students. Last week, I decided to do a drawing activity with my Sec 3 Lit class. I just provided them with colour pencils and blank pieces of paper and asked them to draw their impression of a poem. They thoroughly enjoyed the lesson, I enjoyed myself too, and at the end of the lesson when I reviewed their drawings and notes I realised that they had actually picked up the learning points for the lesson although it was not explicitly stated. Hence, this experience has led me to rethink my dependence on direct teacher instruction. I must admit that teacher-talk is the easiest and most comfortable mode for me because that was how I was educated as a student, and this mode conveys the most information in the shortest period of time (versus doing activities that take up more time than expected). However, activity-based lessons might end up being the ones that help students to really learn. It's definitely still a challenge to think of activities for the students to do (as my NIE supervisor advised me -- "make them work"), but I think I shall try to continue with this practice for now.
2) When I was in NIE the idea that resonated most with me was the notion of "essential questions". I really liked how it brought coherence to a series of lessons and it was something that I really wanted to carry out during my Practicum. However, I am finding it difficult to actualise this due to several reasons. Firstly, there is often a Scheme of Work already set in place and so my role is simply to execute it. Secondly, the Schemes of Work that I have been given tend to be phrased in terms of coverage, e.g. cover Chapter 1 in Week 1 etc. Hence, that's what I've been doing so far. . . covering the assigned chapters in the assigned weeks. Unfortunately my lofty aims of structuring a unit around an essential question have been put on the backburner for now. I think I will revisit this idea in future, perhaps if/when I am given greater autonomy over what I plan to teach?
I foresee that in the near future my greatest challenge as a Literature teacher is helping students broaden their cultural understanding and helping them to "see what I see". For example, when I read a text I instinctively know what to look out for, which words to take note of etc. But I'm currently struggling to figure out how to bring my students to that point (in terms of their reading ability, sensitivity to the language etc.) Hence, I often find myself recalling what I did as a student and how my teachers taught me all those years ago, and trying to think: "If I am a student learning Literature now what would I want to know? How would I want my teacher to teach me?" I'm not sure if this is the right pedagogical strategy but for now this has been my thought process whenever I craft a new lesson plan. I'm also continually caught off-guard about what students know (or don't know) and so it is sometimes difficult to know whether the lesson is being pitched at a level that is too low or too high.
Overall, though, I am enjoying my Practicum experience although there are good days and bad days. The students make it worthwhile, really, especially when I see them progress in their studies and attitude. So yup I'm thankful and I really hope that my short presence here has taught them some lessons, whether big or small. :)
So much feels about Practicum.
B) Reflect on your teaching practicum so far: What have you learned from your experience during TP? What kinds of challenges do you foresee as you develop as a Literature teacher in your specific school context?
To describe my TP experience so far as a roller coaster ride is perhaps understating it a little bit. It's kinda like being thrown on the Cylon over and over again, and each time you get thrown on it, you have some sort of amnesia and you forget just how scary the experience is. Yeah.
But one thing I really have to say is, this TP pushed me so far out of my comfort zone I'm not quite sure what my comfort zone really is anymore. To be honest, I was quite sure I am ill-suited for this job - I'm not quite adaptable, I don't like change, and I'm not the most confident speaker (haha so many understatements here) - and that is just to name a few of my "flaws". Unfortunately, I also signed on the dotted line and I guess I knew I just had to learn.
And learn I did.
After my first (informal) lesson observation, my CT asked me if I was lit-trained. Imagine how horrified I was to be asked that, after 4 years of "lit-training" - something I'm insanely proud of. She said that my content mastery wasn't so good and I really have to brush up on that. Of course I was rather offended, at first. Then I thought about it and realized that she is right: I've never been the most eloquent speaker (I'm passable in writing, but speaking? Blah.) and if I can't express myself well in a classroom, of course I'm going to look like an incompetent teacher, right? So one of the first things I learnt is to pre-empt the things I need to define in class and prepare long lists of definitions so that, in the event I have to explain a concept or a word, I don't have to rely on my incoherence but can proudly show the class a definition on the slide - and then explain (as clearly as I could) what it means contextually.
I was also told from the start that I pitch my lessons too low for my high-ability students, so I took it up a notch too many and ended up confusing my students a lot more than I meant to. Fortunately for me, I don't have much problems (I think) building rapport with my students so, although the first few classes were rather frustrating for everyone, the students haven't actually given up on me yet, and I think we're getting quite comfortable with one another now!
Have I also mentioned that my timetable is constantly changing because I'm randomly called upon to relief classes I don't know? That requires a lot of adaptability (which I'm starting to acquire) both in terms of familiarizing myself with the content as well as the various ways to interact with very different student profiles.
Well, as much as I still cannot say that I have a passion for teaching (hopefully I will develop this along the way, soon), I have my good days, and good days remind me that there is truly a purpose in teaching children, not just a subject. And bad days, well, bad days remind me that I need to pick myself up and try harder.
As for challenges that I foresee, I'm really rather unsure what is going to happen after practicum. Next week (now that my formal observations are over!), I will be planning to observe some GP lessons (outside our practicum scope) to get a feel of how GP is like. After this practicum experience, I will probably have to decide which section of the school I want to teach in and I guess the challenges in the JH and the SH would be rather different.
In the JH, I think the biggest challenge is probably to convince students that Language Arts is a subject worth doing, even if its practical benefits are not the most obvious at first glance. A lot of students are rather demoralized by the subject because they see it as difficult and not applicable to real life (a kid just asked me on Monday why they have to read between the lines because isn't it better if we just believe in what people say and not be so skeptical) - the good thing is these kids still try because they know a proper education is important, but honestly I don't think that's enough (idealistic, I know).
Over in the SH though, I might never even get to teach lit, but from what I can see, the biggest challenge is likely to be getting (some) students to see that literature is as valid a subject as econs, or math, or physics, and not something to take if and when they can't find anything else to take, or that it's something that is easy to score because it doesn't require studying, or something like that.
To describe my TP experience so far as a roller coaster ride is perhaps understating it a little bit. It's kinda like being thrown on the Cylon over and over again, and each time you get thrown on it, you have some sort of amnesia and you forget just how scary the experience is. Yeah.
But one thing I really have to say is, this TP pushed me so far out of my comfort zone I'm not quite sure what my comfort zone really is anymore. To be honest, I was quite sure I am ill-suited for this job - I'm not quite adaptable, I don't like change, and I'm not the most confident speaker (haha so many understatements here) - and that is just to name a few of my "flaws". Unfortunately, I also signed on the dotted line and I guess I knew I just had to learn.
And learn I did.
After my first (informal) lesson observation, my CT asked me if I was lit-trained. Imagine how horrified I was to be asked that, after 4 years of "lit-training" - something I'm insanely proud of. She said that my content mastery wasn't so good and I really have to brush up on that. Of course I was rather offended, at first. Then I thought about it and realized that she is right: I've never been the most eloquent speaker (I'm passable in writing, but speaking? Blah.) and if I can't express myself well in a classroom, of course I'm going to look like an incompetent teacher, right? So one of the first things I learnt is to pre-empt the things I need to define in class and prepare long lists of definitions so that, in the event I have to explain a concept or a word, I don't have to rely on my incoherence but can proudly show the class a definition on the slide - and then explain (as clearly as I could) what it means contextually.
I was also told from the start that I pitch my lessons too low for my high-ability students, so I took it up a notch too many and ended up confusing my students a lot more than I meant to. Fortunately for me, I don't have much problems (I think) building rapport with my students so, although the first few classes were rather frustrating for everyone, the students haven't actually given up on me yet, and I think we're getting quite comfortable with one another now!
Have I also mentioned that my timetable is constantly changing because I'm randomly called upon to relief classes I don't know? That requires a lot of adaptability (which I'm starting to acquire) both in terms of familiarizing myself with the content as well as the various ways to interact with very different student profiles.
Well, as much as I still cannot say that I have a passion for teaching (hopefully I will develop this along the way, soon), I have my good days, and good days remind me that there is truly a purpose in teaching children, not just a subject. And bad days, well, bad days remind me that I need to pick myself up and try harder.
As for challenges that I foresee, I'm really rather unsure what is going to happen after practicum. Next week (now that my formal observations are over!), I will be planning to observe some GP lessons (outside our practicum scope) to get a feel of how GP is like. After this practicum experience, I will probably have to decide which section of the school I want to teach in and I guess the challenges in the JH and the SH would be rather different.
In the JH, I think the biggest challenge is probably to convince students that Language Arts is a subject worth doing, even if its practical benefits are not the most obvious at first glance. A lot of students are rather demoralized by the subject because they see it as difficult and not applicable to real life (a kid just asked me on Monday why they have to read between the lines because isn't it better if we just believe in what people say and not be so skeptical) - the good thing is these kids still try because they know a proper education is important, but honestly I don't think that's enough (idealistic, I know).
Over in the SH though, I might never even get to teach lit, but from what I can see, the biggest challenge is likely to be getting (some) students to see that literature is as valid a subject as econs, or math, or physics, and not something to take if and when they can't find anything else to take, or that it's something that is easy to score because it doesn't require studying, or something like that.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
B) Reflect on your teaching practicum so far: What have you learned from your experience during TP? What kinds of challenges do you foresee as you develop as a Literature teacher in your specific school context?
At this halfway point of practicum, I can quite honestly say that it's been an interesting learning experience with many ups and downs. While I have certainly been properly inducted into the life of a teacher in Singapore and comfortably settled into it by the warm, encouraging staff at ACS (Barker) - it has also shown me many aspects of teaching that I have chosen not to acknowledge.
Firstly, my experiences so far have certainly solidified my passion for teaching. Perhaps I have been lucky at this school with its fantastic support system. However, I have found myself caring for the students even more than I thought I would. After these few weeks of seeing these boys almost every day, I have come to know them and care for their welfare very much. Despite this short time, I have been able to get a sense of their personalities and interests and I have volunteered remedial sessions for those who feel they need extra help. I am not a religious person but in this case, I do appreciate the concept of "saving souls" one at a time! I have been assigned to classes at the lower end of the level and especially in the case of Literature, I found that many of them are really struggling with the subject - both in terms of comprehending texts and writing. As such, I had to keep my lessons at a much more simplified level than I would like to. Nonetheless, some of the boys have been very keen on doing well in Lit and I have gotten more satisfaction from helping them than I imagined.
In terms of the challenges, I foresee many ahead. Firstly, after teaching some difficult classes of boys, I have come to realize that many of them are not interested in the subject and at Sec 2 level, realize that they can just drop the subject. As a result, they have treated Lit lessons like a second recess period. They are not invested in doing well in Lit and in some cases, simply refuse to do well just so they can drop it. The boys in general find the high emotions in Lit quite difficult to understand and have difficulty relating to the themes and characters. (I'm currently teaching The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas). This is quite a difficult attitude problem to deal with as these boys really have no reason to do well and treat the subject like a burden (and even a joke in some cases). I'm sure that I will encounter this problem at every level in any school I teach in and will certainly have to address this.
Pedagogically speaking, I have felt that the best way to fix the aforementioned attitude problem would be to make my lessons creative in order to engage the students. I also feel that the assessment methods in schools these days have changed so little since my time and still consists mostly of tests, exams and homework that will put any student off, not just those who already dislike the subject. With this sort of system continuing to persist in schools and rigid SOWs to adhere to, it's almost impossible to even think about being creative in class. Sometimes, I find myself morphing into a boring teacher, going through the motions and drumming the need for them to score well in exams to the boys and I really don't want to be like that.
This issue is quite a big one for me and has caused me many frantic, hand-wringing moments of distress. However, this is a challenge I will have to face and I guess you all will do too... Now I just have to figure out how to deal with it.
At this halfway point of practicum, I can quite honestly say that it's been an interesting learning experience with many ups and downs. While I have certainly been properly inducted into the life of a teacher in Singapore and comfortably settled into it by the warm, encouraging staff at ACS (Barker) - it has also shown me many aspects of teaching that I have chosen not to acknowledge.
Firstly, my experiences so far have certainly solidified my passion for teaching. Perhaps I have been lucky at this school with its fantastic support system. However, I have found myself caring for the students even more than I thought I would. After these few weeks of seeing these boys almost every day, I have come to know them and care for their welfare very much. Despite this short time, I have been able to get a sense of their personalities and interests and I have volunteered remedial sessions for those who feel they need extra help. I am not a religious person but in this case, I do appreciate the concept of "saving souls" one at a time! I have been assigned to classes at the lower end of the level and especially in the case of Literature, I found that many of them are really struggling with the subject - both in terms of comprehending texts and writing. As such, I had to keep my lessons at a much more simplified level than I would like to. Nonetheless, some of the boys have been very keen on doing well in Lit and I have gotten more satisfaction from helping them than I imagined.
In terms of the challenges, I foresee many ahead. Firstly, after teaching some difficult classes of boys, I have come to realize that many of them are not interested in the subject and at Sec 2 level, realize that they can just drop the subject. As a result, they have treated Lit lessons like a second recess period. They are not invested in doing well in Lit and in some cases, simply refuse to do well just so they can drop it. The boys in general find the high emotions in Lit quite difficult to understand and have difficulty relating to the themes and characters. (I'm currently teaching The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas). This is quite a difficult attitude problem to deal with as these boys really have no reason to do well and treat the subject like a burden (and even a joke in some cases). I'm sure that I will encounter this problem at every level in any school I teach in and will certainly have to address this.
Pedagogically speaking, I have felt that the best way to fix the aforementioned attitude problem would be to make my lessons creative in order to engage the students. I also feel that the assessment methods in schools these days have changed so little since my time and still consists mostly of tests, exams and homework that will put any student off, not just those who already dislike the subject. With this sort of system continuing to persist in schools and rigid SOWs to adhere to, it's almost impossible to even think about being creative in class. Sometimes, I find myself morphing into a boring teacher, going through the motions and drumming the need for them to score well in exams to the boys and I really don't want to be like that.
This issue is quite a big one for me and has caused me many frantic, hand-wringing moments of distress. However, this is a challenge I will have to face and I guess you all will do too... Now I just have to figure out how to deal with it.
Friday, April 5, 2013
TP Reflection
b. Reflect on your teaching practicum so far: What have you learned from your experience during TP? What kinds of challenges do you foresee as you develop as a Literature teacher in your specific school context?
As I proposed, set and am still in the midst of marking the first Common Assessment for my Sec1 Express classes (it was a plot overview of the novel to force them to a. read the book; and b. have a handy reference guide for revision. The poor grammar across the board suggests that no one has discovered Sparknotes yet.), and I haven't noticed anything which might be addressed under option C, I'll respond to the question above.
This is probably not the sort of reflection Dr Loh was intending to elicit in the given question, but to begin with an aside, I have learnt that using a microphone doesn't necessarily diminish your power in the classroom. For the longest time I resisted using a microphone because I had always thought that teachers who had to resort to using microphones in class were weak-lunged individuals who should look for other jobs. Cruel but a reasonably common attitude among those of us who were students a decade ago, at least by an informal poll I conducted in whispers. Fortunately, my students appear accustomed to having their teachers plug microphones into the classroom sound system. This probably has something to do with the fact that the school to which I have been posted is right by a park/ road and there is on-going construction a stone's throw away. Somehow using a microphone works particularly well with my NA (English) class, because when I yell at them, the excitability factor in the room increases further, whereas speaking calmly and firmly (with plenty of artificial amplification) seems to lull them into a near-stupor, or at least doesn't result in an all-out power struggle. I should perhaps look into hypnosis at some point, but am currently too busy grading the aforementioned CA.
As for more Lit-specific thoughts: I had a lot of trouble with apparently being "too high-level" initially, and still struggle with that, mainly because I'm not particularly good at reading their facial expressions and so have to rely almost entirely on verbal cues to judge their understanding, when I don't use the KWL method to end classes. Obviously this means the introverts in all my classes might be absolutely lost and I would no idea, which is why I set insane amounts of written work, and will probably be voodoo-ed to death any day now, if the marking itself does not kill me. The being "too high-level" I personally do not see as a problem, since my CT is no longer exasperatedly telling me off about it. Perhaps this is because in every lesson I reassure them that even if the material/ skills seem difficult, we'll keep returning to them and building on them until everyone is at a reasonable level of competence -- and I do do this, of course. Whether or not reasonable competence across the board is actually achievable (for my classes) remains to be seen, but this is what I have learnt: how one frames what one wants to do makes all the difference. It helps if one also simultaneously does a lot of in-class (figurative) head-patting and making of sympathetic noises.
I'm uncertain about foreseeable challenges mainly because the department doesn't really share resources, so I'm uncertain of what the school standards and expectations are like -- I have no idea what previous batches did or were capable of. We all do our own resources, which suits me very well, because I like the flexibility of coming up with my own material (although I am aware of grumbling among other [non-lit]teachers who would rather not come up with their own). My CT has let me plan the unit for my classes (I have no idea what she does with hers, but I do know she has to give them whatever CA I set, for standardisation purposes), and that pleases me very much, particularly because I don't have to "teach to the exam", there being no SA for Sec1 Lit this semester.
My problems with my classes are mainly late/non-submissions of work and the class size. It's quite difficult to engage 40 restless beings, whereas they seem a lot more interested and pick up analytical skills a lot faster when they see me in small groups. The school, as I said in an earlier post, neither ignores nor pays Literature as a subject particular attention, so I suppose as long as the flexibility remains, it should not be too overwhelmingly impossible to just paddle on for the next 2 years. With the help of my trusty microphone and the threat of demerit points for non-submissions/ defiance looming over their heads, my lit classes are mainly bearable, except when they forget themselves, as one student did after class yesterday (he poked the top of my arm to get my attention while I was talking to another student; I swung around, glowered at him, and said, "_____, did you just poke me?" He will, of course, never do that again).
The children are odd, but mostly harmless. So far.
As I proposed, set and am still in the midst of marking the first Common Assessment for my Sec1 Express classes (it was a plot overview of the novel to force them to a. read the book; and b. have a handy reference guide for revision. The poor grammar across the board suggests that no one has discovered Sparknotes yet.), and I haven't noticed anything which might be addressed under option C, I'll respond to the question above.
This is probably not the sort of reflection Dr Loh was intending to elicit in the given question, but to begin with an aside, I have learnt that using a microphone doesn't necessarily diminish your power in the classroom. For the longest time I resisted using a microphone because I had always thought that teachers who had to resort to using microphones in class were weak-lunged individuals who should look for other jobs. Cruel but a reasonably common attitude among those of us who were students a decade ago, at least by an informal poll I conducted in whispers. Fortunately, my students appear accustomed to having their teachers plug microphones into the classroom sound system. This probably has something to do with the fact that the school to which I have been posted is right by a park/ road and there is on-going construction a stone's throw away. Somehow using a microphone works particularly well with my NA (English) class, because when I yell at them, the excitability factor in the room increases further, whereas speaking calmly and firmly (with plenty of artificial amplification) seems to lull them into a near-stupor, or at least doesn't result in an all-out power struggle. I should perhaps look into hypnosis at some point, but am currently too busy grading the aforementioned CA.
As for more Lit-specific thoughts: I had a lot of trouble with apparently being "too high-level" initially, and still struggle with that, mainly because I'm not particularly good at reading their facial expressions and so have to rely almost entirely on verbal cues to judge their understanding, when I don't use the KWL method to end classes. Obviously this means the introverts in all my classes might be absolutely lost and I would no idea, which is why I set insane amounts of written work, and will probably be voodoo-ed to death any day now, if the marking itself does not kill me. The being "too high-level" I personally do not see as a problem, since my CT is no longer exasperatedly telling me off about it. Perhaps this is because in every lesson I reassure them that even if the material/ skills seem difficult, we'll keep returning to them and building on them until everyone is at a reasonable level of competence -- and I do do this, of course. Whether or not reasonable competence across the board is actually achievable (for my classes) remains to be seen, but this is what I have learnt: how one frames what one wants to do makes all the difference. It helps if one also simultaneously does a lot of in-class (figurative) head-patting and making of sympathetic noises.
I'm uncertain about foreseeable challenges mainly because the department doesn't really share resources, so I'm uncertain of what the school standards and expectations are like -- I have no idea what previous batches did or were capable of. We all do our own resources, which suits me very well, because I like the flexibility of coming up with my own material (although I am aware of grumbling among other [non-lit]teachers who would rather not come up with their own). My CT has let me plan the unit for my classes (I have no idea what she does with hers, but I do know she has to give them whatever CA I set, for standardisation purposes), and that pleases me very much, particularly because I don't have to "teach to the exam", there being no SA for Sec1 Lit this semester.
My problems with my classes are mainly late/non-submissions of work and the class size. It's quite difficult to engage 40 restless beings, whereas they seem a lot more interested and pick up analytical skills a lot faster when they see me in small groups. The school, as I said in an earlier post, neither ignores nor pays Literature as a subject particular attention, so I suppose as long as the flexibility remains, it should not be too overwhelmingly impossible to just paddle on for the next 2 years. With the help of my trusty microphone and the threat of demerit points for non-submissions/ defiance looming over their heads, my lit classes are mainly bearable, except when they forget themselves, as one student did after class yesterday (he poked the top of my arm to get my attention while I was talking to another student; I swung around, glowered at him, and said, "_____, did you just poke me?" He will, of course, never do that again).
The children are odd, but mostly harmless. So far.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
a. Focus on a specific assessment task in your school. Describe the assessment and discuss its effectiveness.
The secondary three students were asked to produce a "passion portfolio" last term (abbreviated to "PIP" -- not sure where the "I" is from -- the ego, the assertion of self-hood, interjected into the otherwise documentary term, "Passion-I-Portfolio"? I do not know.)
They were to pick one "passion" of theirs and present it in a "portfolio", which for the most part resulted in A4 papers held together by some simple binding or file. Notable exceptions included one student's professionally bound folio laser printed on what must have been at least 100gsm glossy paper, with appropriate and well arranged pictures, and including two plays he had written, which he attached as proof of his passion, "drama". The rest were rather more budget-styled. His portfolio was passed around in the meeting to synchronise our marking standards. We all wanted to give him 20/15.
They are to be marked for three aspects: language, content, and presentation.
I am still in the process of marking these portfolios for my class, and here are some thoughts:
Yes, some students would give slipshod work, or pick something convenient to write about (some simply chose a curriculum subject and called it their "passion", and the writing did not seem to support the claim). But a good number really identified a passion and wrote about it to the best of their abilities. I like that, even with those whose English sentences were ungrammatical and awkwardly formed, I could sense their enthusiasm and read their rationalisation of their interests. I felt I could better understand some students, especially the quieter ones, and it put more than a face to a name; it gave a character to the face. It also gave me a sense of their workload outside of the classroom, and a way to judge how valid their reasons/excuses are for submitting late work. One student wrote about his passion for travelling, and set out to prove that it was not a mere interest in sightseeing, but a way to encounter the self and broaden one's horizons. Yes yes, everybody says that, but the Facebook albums remain the same, I thought to myself cynically, in more or less those words, or equivalent. His writing, however, proved me wrong. It was very heartfelt, deeply reflective, and the material was well selected to showcase a variety of learning. I would quote a passage if I could, but I suspect there might be some ethical bind akin to, though not commensurate with, the confessional seal, so I had better not.
On the other hand, I feel uncomfortable marking a work of passion. I had to mark for grammatical errors, and already felt guilty intruding into the textual space of their outpouring. Then my CT rightly pointed out that I need to tick every now and then to indicate that I did indeed read their work -- the better written ones had much fewer mistakes, and there would be pages without any marking. So more intrusion. Tick, good that you like helping others. Tick, good that you like heavy-metal-punk-rock-groovy-angry bands. Tick, good that you like to swim. Tick, good that you like to speak. Tick, I approve of your passions -- that makes me feel uncomfortable, even though I agree with my CT's reason. On one hand this is an avenue to know students better, to encourage them to vocalise and record their passions; on the other hand it is also an English assignment, therefore marked like any other piece of writing. These are, of course, not mutually exclusive goals, but I mention it simply to register the occasional or momentary dissonance, felt when one "thinks too much" about it.
An alternative could be to have them present their passion in class, but that would work against those who are shy or who simply do not perform well in public speaking -- and would thus give me less material and occasion to understand their passions more deeply. Also, that would take away a lot of lesson time, a scarce commodity in education. I would choose the written form over the oral presentation form for students, if given the choice.
Thus concludes my final formal blog post, which I hope has sufficiently addressed the question. Now I must return to staring intently at the blank spaces in my lesson plan, of which there are many. If it is in the gaps and ellipses of a text that we discern its meaning, then there is a lot of latent meaning in my lesson plan that I must now excavate.
The secondary three students were asked to produce a "passion portfolio" last term (abbreviated to "PIP" -- not sure where the "I" is from -- the ego, the assertion of self-hood, interjected into the otherwise documentary term, "Passion-I-Portfolio"? I do not know.)
They were to pick one "passion" of theirs and present it in a "portfolio", which for the most part resulted in A4 papers held together by some simple binding or file. Notable exceptions included one student's professionally bound folio laser printed on what must have been at least 100gsm glossy paper, with appropriate and well arranged pictures, and including two plays he had written, which he attached as proof of his passion, "drama". The rest were rather more budget-styled. His portfolio was passed around in the meeting to synchronise our marking standards. We all wanted to give him 20/15.
They are to be marked for three aspects: language, content, and presentation.
I am still in the process of marking these portfolios for my class, and here are some thoughts:
Yes, some students would give slipshod work, or pick something convenient to write about (some simply chose a curriculum subject and called it their "passion", and the writing did not seem to support the claim). But a good number really identified a passion and wrote about it to the best of their abilities. I like that, even with those whose English sentences were ungrammatical and awkwardly formed, I could sense their enthusiasm and read their rationalisation of their interests. I felt I could better understand some students, especially the quieter ones, and it put more than a face to a name; it gave a character to the face. It also gave me a sense of their workload outside of the classroom, and a way to judge how valid their reasons/excuses are for submitting late work. One student wrote about his passion for travelling, and set out to prove that it was not a mere interest in sightseeing, but a way to encounter the self and broaden one's horizons. Yes yes, everybody says that, but the Facebook albums remain the same, I thought to myself cynically, in more or less those words, or equivalent. His writing, however, proved me wrong. It was very heartfelt, deeply reflective, and the material was well selected to showcase a variety of learning. I would quote a passage if I could, but I suspect there might be some ethical bind akin to, though not commensurate with, the confessional seal, so I had better not.
On the other hand, I feel uncomfortable marking a work of passion. I had to mark for grammatical errors, and already felt guilty intruding into the textual space of their outpouring. Then my CT rightly pointed out that I need to tick every now and then to indicate that I did indeed read their work -- the better written ones had much fewer mistakes, and there would be pages without any marking. So more intrusion. Tick, good that you like helping others. Tick, good that you like heavy-metal-punk-rock-groovy-angry bands. Tick, good that you like to swim. Tick, good that you like to speak. Tick, I approve of your passions -- that makes me feel uncomfortable, even though I agree with my CT's reason. On one hand this is an avenue to know students better, to encourage them to vocalise and record their passions; on the other hand it is also an English assignment, therefore marked like any other piece of writing. These are, of course, not mutually exclusive goals, but I mention it simply to register the occasional or momentary dissonance, felt when one "thinks too much" about it.
An alternative could be to have them present their passion in class, but that would work against those who are shy or who simply do not perform well in public speaking -- and would thus give me less material and occasion to understand their passions more deeply. Also, that would take away a lot of lesson time, a scarce commodity in education. I would choose the written form over the oral presentation form for students, if given the choice.
Thus concludes my final formal blog post, which I hope has sufficiently addressed the question. Now I must return to staring intently at the blank spaces in my lesson plan, of which there are many. If it is in the gaps and ellipses of a text that we discern its meaning, then there is a lot of latent meaning in my lesson plan that I must now excavate.
The Pitfalls of Dramatising Prematurely
a. Focus on a specific assessment task in your school. Describe the assessment and discuss its effectiveness
I have only secondary one classes - three Express and one NA and we when I took over, we were towards the end of Animal Farm. Their creative assessment was to dramatise a scene from the book, and we were looking out for characterisation and entertainment value.
Initially, I thought this would be fun to watch but given that the students only had 70 minutes each week and dramatisation required them to come up with a script, act and have props/costumes, it really wasn't that feasible. When I took over, we had only 140 minutes to prepare them. When I read the scripts they submitted, it was really awful with the "narrator" handling most of the lines. It was a Herculean task to try to get students to understand that they don't have to include every single line from the text and they had to sift out what was crucial to the text and what wasn't. This was high level for the Express kids and with the NA kids, it was a lot worse with them often not knowing where to start.
When they finally performed, some kids from the Express stream came up with good performances where their performances showed a creative use of space and props, for eg using the slit of their chairs to act as the door opening to the barn where the animals spied on the humans and animals drinking together in the final scene. However, I often got the sense that these were accidental revelations rather than something intended by them. For the NA kids, on the day of the performance, none of them were prepared and some groups didn't even have their scripts with them. In the end, they just stood in front of the class and read from their books.
At the end of the day, I wasn't sure if dramatisation was such a good way to assess their understanding of the book. First of all, it involved group work and I had groups that refused to cooperate and in the NA class, an ADHD boy simply refused to work with anyone! Secondly, students within the group who were chosen to write the scripts were based on how legible their handwriting was rather than a synergy of the group. Lastly, given that this was the first time they were doing literature, I thought it was a big step to have to come up with a script from a novel, act AND portray characterisation. I think it was too much, too soon.
If I could do it differently, I would perhaps just use a tableaux for the Express students, and for the NA students, I would adopt the Glogster project my group and I thought of in QCR521.
I have only secondary one classes - three Express and one NA and we when I took over, we were towards the end of Animal Farm. Their creative assessment was to dramatise a scene from the book, and we were looking out for characterisation and entertainment value.
Initially, I thought this would be fun to watch but given that the students only had 70 minutes each week and dramatisation required them to come up with a script, act and have props/costumes, it really wasn't that feasible. When I took over, we had only 140 minutes to prepare them. When I read the scripts they submitted, it was really awful with the "narrator" handling most of the lines. It was a Herculean task to try to get students to understand that they don't have to include every single line from the text and they had to sift out what was crucial to the text and what wasn't. This was high level for the Express kids and with the NA kids, it was a lot worse with them often not knowing where to start.
When they finally performed, some kids from the Express stream came up with good performances where their performances showed a creative use of space and props, for eg using the slit of their chairs to act as the door opening to the barn where the animals spied on the humans and animals drinking together in the final scene. However, I often got the sense that these were accidental revelations rather than something intended by them. For the NA kids, on the day of the performance, none of them were prepared and some groups didn't even have their scripts with them. In the end, they just stood in front of the class and read from their books.
At the end of the day, I wasn't sure if dramatisation was such a good way to assess their understanding of the book. First of all, it involved group work and I had groups that refused to cooperate and in the NA class, an ADHD boy simply refused to work with anyone! Secondly, students within the group who were chosen to write the scripts were based on how legible their handwriting was rather than a synergy of the group. Lastly, given that this was the first time they were doing literature, I thought it was a big step to have to come up with a script from a novel, act AND portray characterisation. I think it was too much, too soon.
If I could do it differently, I would perhaps just use a tableaux for the Express students, and for the NA students, I would adopt the Glogster project my group and I thought of in QCR521.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Seriously, it's like a dream come true ...
Reflect on your teaching practicum so far: What have you learned from your experience during TP? What kinds of challenges do you foresee as you develop as a Literature teacher in your specific school context?
Seriously, I cannot thank the Ministry of Education (MOE) enough for sending me to Pasir Ris Crest Secondary for my Teaching Practice. Everything since day one has been like the moment when Lucy first entered into the world of Narnia through the wardrobe, amazed at every sight and sound. Everyday, I literally run from home to school, excited to face the challenges of the day, because I know that my Cooperating Teachers (CTs) and HODs will be there to render support and encourage me when I need it. Teaching Practice has really been such an enriching experience for me, allowing me opportunities to really explore new pedagogical techniques, like Directed Viewing-Thinking Activity (DVTA), and sharpen rudimentary techniques, like groupwork and lecturing.
In my school, I was assigned two Literature classes, one Secondary Three Express class and one Secondary Three Normal (Academic) class. The Express class I was assigned are very vocal, however the answers that they provide lack the reflection required. The Normal class reflects a lot, having witnessed the extensive notes that they jot down into their notebooks, however when discussions are held, they clam up.
I will now briefly describe the journey I took with each specific class. With the Express class, the period before the March Holidays was a challenging one. In the first few classes, I used DVTA to teach the class. However, I realized that the students were distracted by the video instead of connecting the video with the text. It was then I realized that my questions were pitched too high and were not accessible by the students. After intense discussions with my CT, it was then I continued using by DVTA, but I had to contextualize the video to the set text (we were doing Anita Desai's FASTING, FEASTING) and rephrasing the questions using simpler words and adding page numbers to the questions as well. After which, the students were able to engage in the prediction activities of the DVTA as well as using ideas developed through the video and applying them to the set text.
With this class, I also used a lot of Socratic dialogues, encouraging them to give the points rather than using teacher talk. Having blank slides with a question on the top, students were encouraged to give their answers after giving them a short period of reflection. Even though not all the points are relevant, at least the answers given helped to further discussions in the class, as fellow classmates corrected the wrong points that have been made. Hence, within a matter of two weeks, I was able to find my way with this class. Besides DVTA, I also used group discussions and DRTA (Directed Reading-Thinking Activity) to encourage ideas in the class.
However, things were not as smooth with the Normal class. In the period before the March Holidays, it was really very tough. Apparently, their teacher has always been spoon-feeding them with information through lectures. Hence, I realized that methods such as Socratic dialogue and DVTA/DRTA do not work with them. In fact, there were times that I had to stop the class and asked them what did they really want. In other words, I did plenty of student feedback forms and self-reflection with this class. Even the weeks immediately after the holidays, I found myself dragging my feet to this class, because I have exhausted the things I can do with this class. My CT constantly encouraged me, even offering to go through my lesson plans in detail.
After a very challenging lesson (in fact, it was two days ago), I just went back to what the students told me about their teacher's style of teaching. I thought over and over how it was possible to encourage student participation even if lecture needs to be used. Hence I decided to go with a lecture style, but my lecture slides had to be filled up by answers from the students. And the only way to elicit answers from students was through group work, where students will do close reading of the text and prepare answers in the format of PEEL (Point-Evidence-Elaboration-Link). So the next day, when I used this method, student particpation increased and I found that I could carry on with the lesson smoothly. It was at this moment that I realized that a good Literature teacher is not one who has a wonderful bag of tricks (with revolutionary teaching techniques like Socratic method and DVTA), but one who actually connect students with the text through whatever method necessary, be it old-fashioned or revolutionary.
Apart from teaching, I was also given the opportunity of marking/benchmarking Literature test papers, setting set-text questions for a Literature test, conducting a Lesson Training session on Visual Literacy, preparing a sample lesson on reading political cartoons that will be used across an entire level and cross-disciplinary projects as well. Everything has been a blast.
As much as I am excited in going to Meridian Junior College, I cannot say that I will not miss Pasir Ris Crest Secondary.
Seriously, I cannot thank the Ministry of Education (MOE) enough for sending me to Pasir Ris Crest Secondary for my Teaching Practice. Everything since day one has been like the moment when Lucy first entered into the world of Narnia through the wardrobe, amazed at every sight and sound. Everyday, I literally run from home to school, excited to face the challenges of the day, because I know that my Cooperating Teachers (CTs) and HODs will be there to render support and encourage me when I need it. Teaching Practice has really been such an enriching experience for me, allowing me opportunities to really explore new pedagogical techniques, like Directed Viewing-Thinking Activity (DVTA), and sharpen rudimentary techniques, like groupwork and lecturing.
In my school, I was assigned two Literature classes, one Secondary Three Express class and one Secondary Three Normal (Academic) class. The Express class I was assigned are very vocal, however the answers that they provide lack the reflection required. The Normal class reflects a lot, having witnessed the extensive notes that they jot down into their notebooks, however when discussions are held, they clam up.
I will now briefly describe the journey I took with each specific class. With the Express class, the period before the March Holidays was a challenging one. In the first few classes, I used DVTA to teach the class. However, I realized that the students were distracted by the video instead of connecting the video with the text. It was then I realized that my questions were pitched too high and were not accessible by the students. After intense discussions with my CT, it was then I continued using by DVTA, but I had to contextualize the video to the set text (we were doing Anita Desai's FASTING, FEASTING) and rephrasing the questions using simpler words and adding page numbers to the questions as well. After which, the students were able to engage in the prediction activities of the DVTA as well as using ideas developed through the video and applying them to the set text.
With this class, I also used a lot of Socratic dialogues, encouraging them to give the points rather than using teacher talk. Having blank slides with a question on the top, students were encouraged to give their answers after giving them a short period of reflection. Even though not all the points are relevant, at least the answers given helped to further discussions in the class, as fellow classmates corrected the wrong points that have been made. Hence, within a matter of two weeks, I was able to find my way with this class. Besides DVTA, I also used group discussions and DRTA (Directed Reading-Thinking Activity) to encourage ideas in the class.
However, things were not as smooth with the Normal class. In the period before the March Holidays, it was really very tough. Apparently, their teacher has always been spoon-feeding them with information through lectures. Hence, I realized that methods such as Socratic dialogue and DVTA/DRTA do not work with them. In fact, there were times that I had to stop the class and asked them what did they really want. In other words, I did plenty of student feedback forms and self-reflection with this class. Even the weeks immediately after the holidays, I found myself dragging my feet to this class, because I have exhausted the things I can do with this class. My CT constantly encouraged me, even offering to go through my lesson plans in detail.
After a very challenging lesson (in fact, it was two days ago), I just went back to what the students told me about their teacher's style of teaching. I thought over and over how it was possible to encourage student participation even if lecture needs to be used. Hence I decided to go with a lecture style, but my lecture slides had to be filled up by answers from the students. And the only way to elicit answers from students was through group work, where students will do close reading of the text and prepare answers in the format of PEEL (Point-Evidence-Elaboration-Link). So the next day, when I used this method, student particpation increased and I found that I could carry on with the lesson smoothly. It was at this moment that I realized that a good Literature teacher is not one who has a wonderful bag of tricks (with revolutionary teaching techniques like Socratic method and DVTA), but one who actually connect students with the text through whatever method necessary, be it old-fashioned or revolutionary.
Apart from teaching, I was also given the opportunity of marking/benchmarking Literature test papers, setting set-text questions for a Literature test, conducting a Lesson Training session on Visual Literacy, preparing a sample lesson on reading political cartoons that will be used across an entire level and cross-disciplinary projects as well. Everything has been a blast.
As much as I am excited in going to Meridian Junior College, I cannot say that I will not miss Pasir Ris Crest Secondary.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Coping, Adapting and hopefully Surviving
b. Reflect on your teaching practicum so far: What have you learned from your experience during TP? What kinds of challenges do you foresee as you develop as a Literature teacher in your specific school context?
My Practicum thus far has seen several rather drastic changes and shifts. At the start of the practicum, I was assigned to a CT who was teaching Secondary 3 Literature Romeo and Juliet. She was tasked to teach 57 students altogether in 3 different groups. I was supposed to take up her teaching load and for the first two weeks I did so. It was interesting and I felt that I was really building rapport with the students.
After the March break however, my timetable was rescheduled and I was informed that I now had to teacher 3 Secondary 1 literature classes and I would only be seeing ONE group of Secondary 3 students for literature. This was quite upsetting especially since I had adjusted and prepared myself to teach the following group.
But it was the additional preparation of more lesson plans, this time on Animal Farm, and the lack of rapport and familiarity with that class that was the most discomforting.
I have since learned that, that is the norm for my school and I should get used to it. Nonetheless it is quite challenging as it appears that I will have to get used to a constantly shifting and changing environment. That is I suppose an aspect of the particular school environment that I find myself in that I must learn to adapt and try as best to cope with as I can.
Getting back to more pedagogical concerns, one thing that I have noticed about the students is the lack of literary skills and strategies to cope with essay writing. While the school vision is quite weighty, at times I feel that the basic skills of literary writing are lacking in the students.
My challenge then will be to focus on building and developing students' core skills: writing, close reading and textual analysis and inference to allow for better response and critical thinking about the ideas and questions driving each literary text.
The texts will always change, hopefully by concentrating and focusing on fundamental skills, it will aid students in better preparing to tackle and take on the exams as well as the various literary texts that will come their way in the future.
My Practicum thus far has seen several rather drastic changes and shifts. At the start of the practicum, I was assigned to a CT who was teaching Secondary 3 Literature Romeo and Juliet. She was tasked to teach 57 students altogether in 3 different groups. I was supposed to take up her teaching load and for the first two weeks I did so. It was interesting and I felt that I was really building rapport with the students.
After the March break however, my timetable was rescheduled and I was informed that I now had to teacher 3 Secondary 1 literature classes and I would only be seeing ONE group of Secondary 3 students for literature. This was quite upsetting especially since I had adjusted and prepared myself to teach the following group.
But it was the additional preparation of more lesson plans, this time on Animal Farm, and the lack of rapport and familiarity with that class that was the most discomforting.
I have since learned that, that is the norm for my school and I should get used to it. Nonetheless it is quite challenging as it appears that I will have to get used to a constantly shifting and changing environment. That is I suppose an aspect of the particular school environment that I find myself in that I must learn to adapt and try as best to cope with as I can.
Getting back to more pedagogical concerns, one thing that I have noticed about the students is the lack of literary skills and strategies to cope with essay writing. While the school vision is quite weighty, at times I feel that the basic skills of literary writing are lacking in the students.
My challenge then will be to focus on building and developing students' core skills: writing, close reading and textual analysis and inference to allow for better response and critical thinking about the ideas and questions driving each literary text.
The texts will always change, hopefully by concentrating and focusing on fundamental skills, it will aid students in better preparing to tackle and take on the exams as well as the various literary texts that will come their way in the future.
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