The student teacher introduces the issue by noting his observations to the approach he used and expresses and an emotional reaction (reporting, level 1 and responding, level 3).
Upon trying to lecture to the year 9s I discovered that the thought processes involved in note taking from lectures are very complex. Despite placing keywords on the board, the students were easily distracted and had little desire to concentrate. This frustrated me and them and made me think of better ways to utilise these skills in a developmental way, so that the students are not being 'spoon fed' their notes.
In the dot points he relates his observations to plans for future action and expands the reasoning for his actions in successive dot points (reasoning, level 1)
- To assist understanding I intend to use multimedia type presentations to cater to all types of learners,
- To achieve this goal, I will not just lecture but provide a subject/topic overview framework for their understanding, for example a flowchart on OHT or whiteboard.
- I will also map out my own thought processes in an attempt to further my own understanding of the topic and therefore aid my communication skills.
- Lead to explanations by thinking aloud so the students can see my thought processes and therefore eliminate the 'how did you come to that' type of ambiguity.
- A step by step understanding may seem babyish and non-developmental, but this is the 'training wheels' and in time the learning aids can be gradually removed.
The student teacher changes focus at this point and makes another observation regarding his practice (responding, level 3). He then describes what action he will take (reporting), and provides a limited rationale in the final dot point (relating, level 1).
- Questioning remains a difficult topic. My questions are not focused enough.
- To improve this I intend to frame the question better around the answer I want.
- Allow more time for student consideration.
- Don't use open-ended questions.
- Evaluate each answer in relation to the question, rather than be side-tracked.
- Evaluate answers from the perspective of the answer.
- With these strategies I hope to improve the answer questions openly without fear of reproach for incorrect or irrelevant responses.
In the final dot points the student teacher draws a conclusion regarding the year 9 class and the approach he took based on his new understanding of the situation (reconstructing, level 1).
- The year nine class is musically a very bright class and therefore I assumed incorrectly that they would cope with a lecturing style of content delivery.
- This assumption was incorrect to make because at the end of the day, no matter how bright (collectively or otherwise) the students are, they must be catered for in a way that they are familiar with, and any changes for their benefit developmentally must be made slowly to ensure all are included.
- Over the next week, I intend to utilise more of the multimedia facilities within the classroom to cater to the individual learning disparities.