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. :)
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
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.
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