Amy is a new graduate in education who has seemed to lose the hope and enthusiasm in her career due to the lack of communication and support from fellow team members of Park Hill Public School. This blog aims to not only provide Amy, but the general teaching community, with the support and advice regarding teaching practices and resources, the theory on learning and the roles and responsibilities expected of the profession.
"The NSW Quality Teaching model provides a framework to focus attention on, and provide consistent messages about, pedagogy in public schools. The model can be applied across all Key Learning Areas from Kindergarten to Year 12" (DET, 2006)
Providing students with opportunities to work in groups in the
classroom can be successful in producing a wide range of educational outcomes
including; improved achievement, and positive interpersonal relationships with
other students. These outcomes however, are only achievable when teachers set
up conditions that motivate students to prepare and engage in ‘give-and-take
discussions’ (Michaelsen 1998). Simply allocating students groups does not mean
students will be engaged with one another, thus it is crucial that you
thoughtfully plan group work and the types of groups you will be using (BHE 2012).
When implementing group work in the classroom your chief role is to plan,
manage and monitor the learning environment ‘so that students can collaborate
and engage productively in learning’ (Killen 2009 p222).
When forming groups in your classroom you have three choices.
You can;
1) allow your students to form their own groups
2) form groups by random
3) place individuals learners in groups for a specific reason
If you choose to take the third approach, the basic choices
are to make the groups heterogeneous
or homogeneous (Killen 2009).
Heterogeneous
The first
type is heterogeneous grouping. Heterogeneous
means to group students of different ability levels together. This definition
can also be extended to include grouping together students of different ages
and races (BHE 2012).
Homogenous
The second
type is homogenous grouping and simply means grouping students who are
similar together.
Setting Up Group
Work
¨Start
by introduce group work gradually to your class. This can be achieved by
progressing from pair work to
larger groups; short periods of time to longer periods of time; teacher
formulated groups to student formulated groups (Killen 2009). As this will
allow students to gradually assume greater responsibility.
¨The nature of certain tasks you set
will ultimately determine the type of grouping strategy that you implement in
the classroom. While numeracy groups may be suited best to ability groups, the group
for a problem-solving task for example, may be based on student interests
(Marsh 2004).
¨When implementing group work in the
classroom be sure to make it clear what the purpose of the task you have set
is, as well as the steps required to be complete within the time frame provided.
As well as making it clear what you expect of the final product and how you
plan to assess it (Killen, 2009).
See De Bono’s six thinking hats (De
Bono 1992) for a way of assigning specific roles to students in group work
tasks.
Take a look at the following links
to find more detailed information on cooperative grouping strategies:
For
further tips and tricks for managing your classroom effectively see the
behaviour management plan available on this blog, or alternatively visit the
following links and watch these fantastic videos on Youtube:
Part One: ‘Creating an Effective Learning Environment’
The Bell Curve in Education is used to evaluate the students that
are going well in their studies and students that require improvement in some
areas. The bell curve gets its name after the teacher or statistician graphs some
test scores, which results in the shape of the graph resembling a bell. Normal
distribution is a common term used in the statistics and education world that
refers the perfect shape of the curve, with no slant. The higher the middle
arch gets, the more students have gained average scores.
The following students are entirely fictional and solely aim to
provide student teachers and educators the support in how to confront student
dynamics in your class and what strategies may be useful to implement. As I
always say though, all students are different and what strategies that may work
on one student may be a complete failure towards another so tread carefully!
Katie, the enthusiastic helper
Katie, is an enthusiastic member of the learning environment who
willingly volunteers to help in particular tasks in order to be able to control
the management of the students and the classroom. The other teachers have even
told you that she can almost run the classroom if you have to step out.
Although this originally seems a strong, positive addition to your class, it
will be important to ensure other students get turns being the class helper to
fairly share the responsibility. Some of the students are already complaining
that Katie is overly controlling during group work. She eagerly wants to
control her group, the activities and the teacher as well.
schoolofrock.wikia.com 1
Strategies:
Make a class volunteer weekly timetable, which will randomly
allocate class chores to the students in pairs and will be changed on a weekly
basis. Chores may include: taking the roll back to the office, handing out work
books, turning off electrical appliances on dismissal of classroom
During group work, explain the whole class that it is important that
each person in the group chooses a role, for example: chair person, gophers and
scribe. It is also important that these roles change so students all get a turn
at each role.
Katie is such an enthusiastic learner and should be utilised when
you think the time is right. For example, as the other teachers have suggested,
if you need to step out of the room, Katie may be the perfect helper to step
in. However, it is important that you instruct Katie to be nice and not
authoritative towards her peers.
Whenever you feel that Katie is stepping on your toes, explain to
her calmly that you are grateful her helping attitude but it is your turn to be
the leader at that moment.
Reward other students in your class that are showing initiative and
leaderships skills with class peers. This will show Katie that she is not the
only student with such skills.
Sally, the addictive reader
Sally supposedly does not do anything else but read. She also rarely
talks and you almost have to MAKE her get out of her seat when it is time to go
somewhere else. Her mother insists that she is gifted.
flutteringbutterflies.com
Strategies:
It is great that Sally loves to read, but she needs to learn that
there is a time and a place for such activity as she needs to be involved in
other learning experiences. Take Sally’s book away and place it on you table
and tell her that she will get it back either when it is break time or when she
has finished her work. This will encourage her to participate in the learning
environment.
The reason she rarely talks is probably because she is always
reading. Once her book has been taken away, program lots of lessons around
group to provide Sally and the other students to interact.
Organise a weekly or daily Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) session
that will reward students, especially Sally, to read.
The count down warning is an effective classroom management
technique to encourage students to follow instructions. Students never want you
to get to one because they know this is always followed by a disciplinary
consequence.
Dale, the bewildered boy
Dale started attending PHPS a year ago. DoCS removed him from his
mother and he is now living with his maternal grandparents. He is 18 months
behind in his outcomes.
Strategies:
sumupfilm.blogspot.com
I
have posted links on information about who DoCS are and their roles so it might
be a good idea to read this first.
Although Dale is 10-11 yo, he may still be
experiencing some separation anxiety being apart from his mother so you must
ensure that he is included in a sensitive learning environment. This my involve
creating a R&R space in the classroom where Dale might want to spend some
time on his own.
When handing out homework, hand out one
sheet that the whole class gets, but then another sheet that involves content
each student needs improvement in or can further challenge them. Providing Dale
with this extra homework will support his academic growth and development.
Research tutoring in the local area that may
help Dale to climb back up the outcomes ladder. This private, out of school
time tuition, will provide Dale with the opportunity to work at his own pace
and not be embarrassed by working through year 3 work.
Sam, the unique learner
Sam
has been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. His parents have also recently
separated and he has not been dealing with his new domestic arrangement very
well. Apparently it was an acrimonious separation and there was a court order
in place and Sam’s mother has full custody.
aspergers911.com
Strategies:
First,
you must ask yourself: Do I know what Asperger’s Syndrome is? If you require
further information, look through our other posts on our blog or make an
appointment with the school councilor to talk about your student and Aspergers.
Because Aspergers is a condition that can
mildly or severly effect a personal social development and peer interactions,
it may be difficult for Sam to communicate how he is feeling. Make up some cue
cards that have a facial expression on each card and the emotion it is showing
undernealth. If Sam if feeling a certain way, he can hold up a particular card
to show you.
Weekly visits to the school councilor may
also be needed as a regular checkup on his emotional well being and to
determine whether or not it is effecting his school work.
Celebrations such as father’s day will have
to be carefully implemented during this time as you will have to be extremely
sensitive for Sam. To remain inclusive, encourage Sam and other students in
similar position to choose another male significant other such as a grandparent
or an uncle or a sports coach.
Sam may not be able to concentrate on tasks
for lengthened periods of time due to stress or lack of sleep. Provide Sam with
tasks that involve short bursts of cognition or provide Sam with lots of breaks
in between.
Prisca, the traveller
Prisca
only has limited English. She was one of several new children from the one
family who were starting at the school on Monday. The family had fled from
Sudan and had been waiting for many years to enter Australia via a refugee camp
in Kenya. In class, she is very withdrawn and very quiet following Sally around
the classroom. Prisca was good with numeracy but struggled with her English and
her written work.
salem-news.com
Strategies:
Prisca
will require an English as a Second Language (ESL) Support Teacher in your
classroom to help her with school work.
Prisca’s family probably speaks limited
English also so you may need to apply for an interpreter to meet with Prisca’s
family and talk about her class progress.
To help Prisca working at her own pace,
encourage her to draw pictures with her writing, almost like a comic strip so
she can show the process in her writing. Over time, she will be able to
gradually take out the pictures and just write.
Provide Prisca with praise on her
achievements in Numeracy. Simple as that, to boost her self confidence.
Prisca is probably very withdrawn because
she is unsure about the new country she is now in, where people do not speak
her language. Implement learning experiences where we translate Australian songs and words around the classroom into her home
tongue. This may make Prisca feel more at home.
The National Accelerated Literacy Program (NALP) aims to remove the
educational divide faced by students who are struggling in the areas of English
and Literacy. Between the years 1998 and 2003, Dr. Brian Gray and Ms Wendy
Cowey of the University of Canberra, ran a pilot program across 30 schools in
five states and territories to examine the effectiveness of the NALP. The
partners noticed significant improvements in the literacy of Indigenous
students. The NALP was then established in 2004 to take the teaching methods
from the program in attempts to meet the needs of other Indigenous students in
the Northern Territory. The program was originally designed to tackle low
literacy levels in remote communities around Australia, particularly Indigenous
communities in the Northern Territory. However, with the adoption of Vygotsky’s
scaffolding theory of teaching and learning, the NALP has now been delivered in
other parts of Australia with successful results.
The teaching methodology of the NALP requires educators to take on an
alternative way of teaching literacy that may place teachers out of their
comfort zone. However, NALP is believed to create a supportive and structured
learning environment that will help even the students with the most emergent
needs to learn in a positive way.
In the same way as you
would when planning a lesson, decide on your learning objectives. Keep them few
and simple. You'll have at most 10 minutes to fill, and you'll have to spend
some time giving out information. What you choose is less important than the
ways in which you help your pupils build a positive group identity, and in
making the values and purposes of the school their own. Assemblies, are
important in supporting the social, moral and spiritual growth of your pupils.
Use music to set the
mood, turning it off is a clear signal to even the largest groups that you're
about to begin. Don't be afraid to use new technologies - a laptop and a
portable projector can produce images that everyone in a large hall can see,
and can let you share content from any medium.
Think About:
Assembly rooms are bigger than classrooms. Will everyone be able to hear
you? What about lines of sight - will everyone be able to see you? If you have
visual aids, are they big enough to be visible from a distance?
Eye contact is especially
important when you're working with large groups, so pick three or four pupils
in different parts of the room, and make eye contact with each of them in turn.
You'll look engaged with the audience. Aim
to involve your audience. If the core of your item is a story, begin by
asking questions to help pupils focus on its subject, and remember that stories
are better told than read.
Master the bones of
the story then improvise around that structure. What you say will sound more
personal and convincing. Remember to speak more slowly than usual, too. Give
your words time to sink in.
Make pupils work. If one of your learning objectives is to get them to examine
and to change their views on an issue, begin by taking a vote to establish what
they think before your presentation, and take another after it.
Use your tutor group
or class to research and deliver their own presentation, perhaps as a short
play or interview. It's a good use of tutorial time, and will involve the
performers in real learning. Relate the
subject of your assembly to pupils' own experience - take news items as
your starting point, or situations from soap opera (or, even better, from The
Simpsons). Help them take what they know and encourage them to think about it,
and reflect on their own experience
Finally, remember
that pupils will be going off to lessons after you've finished with them, so
don't over-excite them. Your colleagues won't thank you if they have to spend
too much of the lesson to calm them down. End your assembly with a couple of
minutes for reflection.
Ideas for Assembly Items
Assembly tips
• Keep it simple.
There is plenty of time for all-singing, all-dancing extravaganzas once you
have found your feet.
• Encourage children
to brainstorm when you are planning your class assembly. Even young children
will come up with exciting and fresh ideas.
• Child-generated
props, masks and costumes add to the fun.
• Involve parents.
Does your school usually invite parents to class assemblies? It may be a nice
idea to record the assembly on video. The children will love to watch
themselves performing, and working parents will appreciate the opportunity to
see the assembly, although some schools and local authorities have policies
that would preclude this.
• Ensure that every
child has a part to play. No one must feel left out.
• Don't get too
stressed about it. Assemblies should not interfere with classroom time.
Assemblies are
unfortunately rife with opportunities for enterprising individuals to create
havoc. Make sure your class understands that you expect them to file in and out
calmly, and praise those who do, as well as children who have been particularly
co-operative. Position your children carefully. Separate any noisy cliques and
friendship groups. Position any who can be disruptive at the end of the line
and sit within calming distance. A touch on the shoulder and a stern look are
often enough to quieten a child. If not, you are close enough to remove
offenders quietly.
Taken from TES Editorial, 2012 Advice to help you handle your first assemblyTSL Education Ltd. Cited 20.10.2012. URL: http://newteachers.tes.co.uk/news/advice-help-you-handle-your-first-assembly/45539
