Community Building
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A community is a group of individuals with a common purpose. The members of a community feel welcome, connected and valued by others.
Learning cannot take place when students are experiencing negatives emotions (Groff, 2012, p. 4). Students spend a considerably amount of time in the classroom, therefore, it is important that teachers make an effort to build a sense of community in which their students feel comfortable and emotionally safe. Building personal relationships is a very important aspect of my teaching style. Developing a sense of community happens every day in our interactions with students, parents and other family members. I like to take the time to get to know students on a personal level because we all have something special and unique to contribute to our classroom community. One of my favourite ways to foster a feeling of belonging is by displaying students’ work in the classroom and on the hallway. This communicates a sense of pride for their efforts and achievements. Community building in my classroom also means having open communication with families. Family members are always welcome to join our classroom to observe, participate and help in their children’s growth and development. In fact, parents and caregivers are partners with whom I work together to ensure their children have a successful and rewarding school experience. Their feedback and input is extremely valuable, so as part of my teaching practice I like to send an introductory letter to families inviting them to share their comments and suggestions with me and offering some details about myself. |
Inclusive Environment
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Research into the relationship between education and disabilities continues to indicate that including children with disabilities in the regular classroom has positive results that include increased instructional time, better quality IEPs and more student engagement (Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education, n.d.).
But in a broader sense an inclusive environment also refers to teaching using a variety of strategies and techniques that are appropriate different needs and learning styles. By presenting information in many ways learning becomes accessible to all students. To achieve this I teach using not only verbal cues, but also visual information such as videos and photographs. Another aspect of creating an inclusive classroom is ensuring students know it is acceptable to make mistakes and struggle with something. In my classroom, I achieve this by celebrating the small successes and accepting failure as a stepping stone towards success and growth. It is important to emphasize the importance of hard work and perseverance. All efforts are recognized as valuable and there is an understanding that learning can happen in many ways using different strategies. I strive to remain curious about the process students have followed rather that the answer they are giving me. My philosophy is not give students the answers and solutions, but to build trust in themselves by gently guiding them through their own thinking process so we can find out the answer together. When they achieve something by themselves they feel proud and develop ownership of their own learning. For example, when students tell me they do not know how to spell a word or how to solve a math problem, my first response is “What do you think?” “What would you do first?” and then we work on it together. |
Real World Content
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When students find a connection between what they learn in school and the world around them, what they learn suddenly has more meaning and becomes more engaging. As a teacher, I strive to make connections between the classroom and students’ everyday lives. Some of the ways I like to bring the real world into my classroom include inviting guest speakers, simulating real world experiences (for example, creating a business enterprise, a mock trial or election), using primary sources or relevant current events and adapting math world problems to their everyday lives. Sharing their work with the school community or their families also provides students with an opportunity to produce work that has a purpose.
When students create something that has a purpose outside of the classroom or that has an application in the real world, then their work has real value and they are not just learning for the grade. They become engaged in their own learning and intrinsically motivated. When students learn through real-world problems, issues, and scenarios their work becomes relevant and they learn skills that are transferable to their lives outside of the classroom. |
Collaborative Learning
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As the University of Queenland (n.d) explains, a collaborative learning approach not only leads to life-long learners, who perform better academically and have a more positive school experience, but also contributes to the development of students’ critical thinking, teamwork and communication and interpersonal skills.
By learning collaboratively the emphasis shifts from the teacher to the student. This model does not substitute the teacher by any means, however. Instead, educators become facilitators, who design and guide the activities, while students become actively involved in the simultaneous process of learning and teaching one and other. The learning process becomes as important, if not more, than the learning task, because the abilities students develop through collaborative learning can be transferred to other aspects of their lives. Students learn to organize themselves, plan and distribute tasks and to evaluate their work as well as their peers’, which gives them a better understanding of the steps they need to take to achieve their goals. In this process students learn how they learn best and develop skills that are extremely not only today but also for their future (Wiliam, 2011, pg.4) In my classroom, collaborative learning can translate into things such as large group projects, particularly in the higher grades, to working with a partner in a classroom activity, helping other students or simply providing feedback to an elbow partner about the work they have just finished. All my lessons are designed to include some degree of peer learning and/or assessment. For younger students, I provide constant guidance on how to give feedback and how to work cooperatively, especially when one partner is considerably stronger than the other in a particular area. In these cases, without proper guidance, the stronger student can rush his/her partner through the activity without checking for understanding and working as a team. This can be often observed in the lower grades, as children are still developing life skills such as waiting for their partner, walking them through their mental process and listening to other ways of tackling a problem. I recently experienced this in my practicum class when two students were working through a list of word problems. One of them was clearly in the abstract stage already, while the other required more time and more concrete thinking. It is in these circumstances that students develop life skills by learning to communicate and work with others who have different skills and learning styles. |
Referent Authority
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Classroom management is a very complex aspect of teaching and in my practice it is always being adjusted and improved based on the needs and personality of each particular group of students.
Arguably, good classroom management starts with relationship building. Students are more willing to cooperate when the teacher has developed a personal relationship with them, that is, when students know that the teacher cares for them and respects them as individuals. Students work harder for teachers they like and with whom they have developed a relationship. In addition, taking the time to know students also allows me to identify their needs and implement classroom management strategies that are more effective. |
Planning and Preparation
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Detailed and careful planning of lessons and transitions also contributes to minimizing behaviour issues in the classroom. During my first practicum in a grade 7 class I thought it would be wonderful to do an experiment with the students in which they would pass around several samples of unidentified matter for them to analyze and observe. This exercise, however, has the potential to turn into utter chaos very quickly. It took me a long time to find a strategy that would prevent this from happening. When the time came, the experiment ran smoothly, all students were engaged and the classroom never slipped into chaos. I instructed the students to work with their elbow partners. They had two minutes to observe each sample and when instructed by me, they would pass it to the students behind them. Due to careful and thoughtful planning, the lesson was a complete success, but had I not taken the time think in detail about how to run the experiment from a classroom management perspective, the lesson could have been a complete failure.
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Clear Expectations
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As a teacher, it is important to invest enough time communicating and establishing clear rules and expectations for the classroom. Students must also see consistency in the adherence to these rules and know the expected consequences when unacceptable behaviour occurs. Students are more likely to cooperate with the teacher and stay on task when they have a clear understanding about the classroom expectations.
In my classroom, I strive for consistency and clarity in my instructions. I regularly remind students to raise their hands before speaking or if they have a question. Before starting a task I clearly state whether it will be individual work or partner work and I point out the acceptable noise level. I also remind them to listen to others when they are talking and I stop the conversation when others are chatting and not listening. In addition, to avoid reacting I have a plan to address inappropriate behaviour. My initial response is to ask the student to stop the unacceptable behaviour. Depending on the circumstances, I might request the student to stop one more time before giving a last warning, after which I will have a private conversation with the student to address the behaviour. In the unacceptable conduct persists, then I will address it more sternly. |
Prevent Inappropriate
Behaviour and Promote Good Behaviour |
Effective classroom management also entails observing students closely to detect potential behavioural problems immediately and prevent them from escalating. At times, making eye contact can be enough to stop the behaviour. Other times, standing next to the student who is off-task will suffice to regain the student’s attention.
In my teaching practice, I rely on a combination of classroom management strategies. I am constantly looking for opportunities to improve my methods and adapt them to each group of students. I invest a lot of time observing students closely, even when I am talking to them or moving around the classroom. Careful observation can provide useful information to teachers regarding how students feel, their needs and strengths. This information is very valuable in the implementation of classroom management methods, as it can help us anticipate behavioural issues or help us decide what strategy might work best for a particular student or classroom. I also like to encourage positive behaviour by “catching students being good”. With younger students, pointing out to the rest of the class the modelled good behaviour can be effective, but with older students simply thanking them or acknowledging them for their efforts, their focused attention and cooperation in class contributes to reinforce the expected good behaviour. |
Summative Assessment
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Grades continue to be necessary in our education system, and therefore so is summative assessment. This type of assessment provides a formal evaluation of the student’s level of learning and proficiency and it is required for the student’s formal grading. To be truly beneficial for the student, summative assessment should also be accompanied by feedback that provides guidelines for further growth and development.
When creating a summative assessment, I am careful to incorporate a variety of methods such as projects, videos, oral presentations and written work as well as tests. This allows students who have different learning styles to demonstrate their level of understanding. For example, if a student struggles with writing and I am trying to assess their understanding of the concepts of energy and matter, I might do so orally rather than through a set of written questions. |
Formative Assessment
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Although grades provide students with an idea of where they are at in the learning process, students are not defined by grades. As educators, we must not only give students a grade, but also offer them the tools to constantly grow. One of the ways we can achieve this is through formative assessment.
As Dylan Wiliam (2017) explains the meaning of “formative assessment” is controversial and can be interpreted in many ways (p. 5). This type of assessment can take place in a variety of ways: every day, every four weeks, between units, across terms, etc. In my practice I like to use this method of assessment regularly throughout the day as well as periodically after completing a unit, for example. In my classroom, I have implemented the use of small white boards to give the opportunity to all students to participate and for me to quickly assess their learning. This method allows me to get a general idea of where students are at and if they are understanding what is being discussed. Often we see the same hands come up shortly after a question is presented to the class. So during discussions, I encourage the participation of the entire class by using popsicle sticks with students' names on them. To allow more time to students who like to ponder on a question for a little longer, I ask the class to hold on to that thought for a few minutes until everybody has had a change to think. In my assessment of students throughout the day, I strive to motivate them by acknowledging risk-taking as well as any level of educational learning and growth. For example, when students respond but they do not directly answer the question asked, I might say “Your statement is correct. It is true that volume varies according to the size of an object. But what is volume exactly?” I might also acknowledge that their thinking process is correct, but they still need to work on the solution to the math question. When very shy students overcome their fears and volunteer a comment or an answer in front of the entire class, I like to thank them and acknowledge their participation. As a more formal method, for example, after completion of a unit or a project, formative assessment is the process that enables students and teachers alike to:
Through formative assessment students also learn to self-assess and reflect on their learning, their strengths and the areas they need to work on. Students develop important life skills that enable them to understand their own learning and lead them to ongoing growth. In this process, I ensure students complete their self-assessment prior to receiving teacher feedback to ensure the intention of their reflection is not to simply mirror my assessment. My role as a teacher is to guide students in their learning journey. Formative assessment is a clear example of students and teachers working together towards specific goals. When students are given a voice in their education, they develop a feeling of ownership of their learning and become more actively involved and motivated to become the best they can be. |