Author Archives: lu

Reflection on introducing core competencies in primary classroom

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Today, the teacher used the sentence frame “I want to highlight on something that I saw during XX time” to start a conversation with the students. The teacher used it as a starting point to emphasize on some positive behaviors that happened earlier, such as inviting friends over to play at a station. The teacher invited the students to think what were some core competencies that we use when we invite our friends. The students were reminded what the three core competencies were. Is it thinking? Communication? Personal and social skills? Or were there more than one of them? Students had a discussion and came up with several great answers.

As a whole class, we agreed that inviting friends would involve all three core competencies. You would have to be brave to go ask someone. It could also be important to think about the way you say your invitation. The students made connections with organizing the writing club, which required some students to visit different classes, make a little speech, and show invitations.

The teacher reminded the students that every time when we take a chance and choose to be kind, that makes us a better friend and a better person. That would also make our school a better place.

 

This conversation was inspiring for me. I used to find it challenging to communicate core competencies with primary students, but now I have a clearer idea of how to approach that. This type of conversation really invites the students to think about and reflect on these core competencies in a critical way. Students are able to build concrete understandings from abstract concepts and make real connections with their own experience.

Osmanthus fragrans- personal identity

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The Osmanthus fragrans, which is also called the fragrant tea olives, is a native species in Asia. Its individual flowers are tiny but blooms are in clusters. The color of its flower ranges from creamy yellow, golden, to orange. My hometown is known for having the greatest variety of different species of osmanthus fragrans in China. 

I found a picture of osmanthus fragrans from Pixobay, and I used a drawing app on my laptop to represent osmanthus fragrans. However, it could barely capture its main characteristic, which is its scent. Osmanthus fragrans is usually recognized by its strong and long lasting flower fragrance.

I identify myself with the osmanthus fragrans for multiple reasons. First of all, I was born during the peak of osmanthus fragrans blooming season. The entire city had a strong scent of osmanthus fragrans, and my grandfather almost named me after the flower. Furthermore, osmanthus fragrans are easy to take care of. I consider myself independent for being away from my family and taking care of myself since a young age. Last but not least, osmanthus fragrans and its evergreen leathery leaves blend in with the environment most of the time. This makes me think of myself, who usually does not stand out in a group setting.

2018- the first school visit

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It was exciting to go back to my practicum school after the break. The students just started school this week, and they were slowly getting back to their school routines. Today I closely observed gym class with some questions and wonders in my mind. I was interested in answering the following questions:

  • What did you learn about physical and health education and/ or outdoor education from your school?
  • What did you notice about how teachers conducted Physical Health Education (PHE)?
  • How was the class organized?
  • What topics does the classroom teacher teach in PHE?
  • What did you observe about the ways in which gender plays out in the PHE spaces?
  • Do students like to work in groups or alone?

 

The first thing that I noticed was that the class was called “gym”. I used to grow up calling it “gym” instead of “PE” and never thought that would be a problem. Now, after learning more about physical and health education, I am aware that the term “gym” does not fully represent the concept of physical and health education. The word “gym” ignores the fact that physical activities should not be limited to one fixed space. Moreover, this term tends to ignore the health literacy aspect, such as healthy eating, mental health, and outdoor education etc.

Their gym time is usually grouped up with their buddy class, and each class has about 20 students. Today’s class started with some fundamental movement practices to warm up. It started with two feet hopping and switched to one foot hopping later on. The students were also asked to go clockwise and counter-clockwise.

Once the teacher gave a signal, everyone needed to stop, sit, and listen. The teachers would ask the students to listen to the instructions carefully many times during the class. Meanwhile, students were also invited to explain rules of certain games. Through these activities, the students’ listening and speaking skills in English literacy were reinforced. Moreover, the teacher asked the students to stop and check heart rate once during an activity. Science literacy was also applied here. I see evidence of multiliteracies.

All games would involve everyone in the class, and the games that were played indicate great practices of sportsmanship. Although different genders were in the same space and doing the same activity, students liked to group up with the same gender for activities. Occasionally, the teacher would ask one gender to find a partner with the opposite gender.

 

The art piece “Us”

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This painting on the school wall is really inspiring to see. It is called “Us”, and it is collectively created by one class. The description and explanation are shown in the picture below. I really liked the idea that “the color we add to our canvas, represent how in life, we add color on top of each other until eventually we are not even different colours anymore, we are just one thing: one painting, one us.” This piece of art indicates the idea of self-awareness and social-awareness very well. The students can visually see how each of their colors adds a layer to the pre-existing picture, and then their color gets mixed or covered by others. It shows me that everyone matters and each of us has some influence on others. Our experience intertwines together and creates the same history and future for all. This is truly eye-opening for me.

second week of short practicum

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There are definitely countless memorable moments in the classroom during this week. Here are something that I learned from my hands-on teaching experience:

  • Having routines and foster the habit of having routines with the students is very important. It saves much more time later on. As a teacher candidate, it will also make my teaching easier if I stick to their daily routine.  
  • No matter how inclusive you want to be in the classroom, you will not always have everyone’s attention at the same time. But this is okay as long as you have the majority and can bring the rest of them back to learning at some point. Moreover, it is important to know that even if the student is not learning with you, the student is learning something from somewhere during that time.
  • Be patient. Give students time to think, respond, and share.
  • Less me talking. Spend more time listening to the students.
  • I have to show that I am interested in what I am teaching in order to get the students interested.  

 

Now my inquiry question has been modified to “How might teachers differentiate instruction to accommodate student diversity in knowledge, ability, and learning styles in Literacy?”

One way of answering my inquiry questions is for me to talk to the teachers. My SA had provided me with some insights on the strategies that she uses. One of her strategies is to use open-ended questions. The teacher will break down big and abstract questions into smaller ones, which can guide the students through some thinking as a class. Later on, when the students go work individually, they have the choice of how much they would want to expand on. Students with limited literacy skills might use fewer words to show their thinking. Students with more advanced literacy skills will be able to focus more on the big question/ open-ended question and elaborate their answers based on the discussion that the class had earlier.

 

First week of the short practicum

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One of my memorable events of this week is how the students’ reading abilities are assessed and shared with the parents. One way of gathering information for teachers and parents to see the child’s literacy development is through video recording. Based on the running records, the Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System 2, that the teacher did earlier in the school year, the teacher will pick out two books that are around the student’s reading level. The student will have two choices to pick from. The teacher can use an iPad to film this reading exercise. The video focuses on the words that the student is reading, and the student only needs to read two or three pages. For these pages that are being recorded, the teacher usually does not provide help. This video will be uploaded to Freshgrade, and some assessments and comments will be made on the APP. The parents will be able to see the video and the comments. The parents can also comment on the posts.

Another way that the assessing can be done is through Book Creator on iPads. The students will pair up for this activity, and each of them will pick a book of their own choices and record it on the APP. The students will take a picture of the book cover and the first few pages of the book. Then, they will record themselves reading the word. After the recording is done, one speaker icon will show up the page. The students can go back to their own reading and listen to themselves. That is one good way for the students to reflect on their own reading. At the same time, the partner can help out when challenges occur. The last part of the work is to write few sentences for self-reflection. The teacher provided a template for the students (as shown) to help with their thinking and writing. For this project, some students practice the same lines several times until fluent before recording. These book readings will be uploaded to Freshgrade later for the parents to see as well.

Progress on read-aloud

I was practicing the books that I would need for read-aloud the night before so I would feel more confident. Besides from the fluency, I tried to pick up words that the students might not know, and think of ways to explain them during my practice at home. Another thing that I was trying to do was to decide on the main messages that I was hoping the students to get out of it. By doing that, it helped me to monitor the students’ conversation and find my way back when the conversation got carried away. I had been doing read-aloud for three days now, and each time it went pretty well. Students were listening attentively and participating in the discussion.

 

My wonders

How can we accommodate students with diverse knowledge backgrounds and learning abilities in the classroom? Besides from separating the class into small groups and assign them to different tasks, how can we keep everyone entertained and challenged?

Nature

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Today I noticed that the station activities were all connected to the conversations that the students had last week.

“Some rocks have dirt in them and some don’t. If they have dirt in them  then they are nature”

The students could use this bowl to crush the rocks and see what was it made of. There was the light table for students to see the rock slides. Different types of rocks were displayed so the students could study them with magnifiers.

Today the nature talk between students went even further. This was very interesting to be around with, and it showed so much thinking from the students. It was also one of the memorable moments that I would like to share:

“Rocks are not nature because they are before the big bang. The big bang threw out the rocks and created the world. Also, the big bang is not nature. ”

“What is ‘nature’ if everything is nature? Then they shouldn’t even use the word nature because it is too plain. Things that are made of nature does not mean that they are nature too. How is this plastic ruler nature? Your T-shirt is not nature. ”

One of my goals for my two-week practicum is to get comfortable with read-alouds in front of the class. Here are some strategies that I might try:

  • Get the book ahead of time and prepare it
  • Practice and practice
  • Accept the facts that it will not be perfect at first and mistakes are ok

 

Provocation and Scaffolding

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I had a conversation with my school teacher today about the idea of provocation, scaffolding, and the difference between them. With her explanations, I observed to see where I could find some evidence of provocation and scaffolding in the classroom.

From the beginning of the school year, my school teacher had natural materials out as invitations for the students to talk about and think about nature. Then, with some nature-themed picture books, she provoked the students’ thinking by asking them questions, such as “What does nature mean?”, “what does it mean to be living”, and “what is nature?”. By demonstrating an activity or thinking process, the teacher also helps the students to scaffold their learning.

Last week, one of the students came up with the realization that “oh everything is in a cycle. The life has a cycle. Seasons are in a cycle”. This idea was shared with the class, and we had more discussion around this idea. The students shared their ideas or examples of cycles and the nature. Students had a quick debate on whether a rock is nature. The teacher followed up with some more questions to guide the student’s thinking: “Does nature have to be alive?” “what is not nature? What is opposite of nature?”

There were some interesting conversations around whether a rock was nature:

One conversation between two of the students and me

One of the student “Rocks are not nature because it’s underneath the earth”

Me “is the earth nature?”

The student “Yes”

Me “if the earth is nature, and rocks are underneath the earth. Should rock also be part of the nature?”

The other student joined “ahhh (realizing something)… but lava is not nature because they do not grow”

The student “no it does! because… (I lost track of their conversation there)”

 

Conversation between one of the girls and me

“Rock is nature because it helps the nature”

“Why is that”

“Because rock helps trees to grow so they don’t fall (using hand gestures to show that rocks are stabilizing the roots)”

 

Conversation between one of the girls and me

“It depends. Some rocks are nature but some are not”

“What do you mean”

“Some rocks have dirt in them and some don’t. If they have dirt in them then they are nature”

“How do you know if they have dirt in them?”

“Some rocks you can easily smash them into small pieces, and they are basically just soil”

“Okay. are you saying that if the soil gets dried and becomes a big chunk, then it becomes a rock and that is nature?”

“Yes.”

…

“Do you think that the cement is different from the rocks that we found from the forest?”

“Yes”

“Are they both nature”

“Again, If you can smash them into smaller pieces then they are nature”

 

I found these conversations really interesting, and I really enjoyed challenging the students to think further. These conversations are worth investigating and can lead to further conversation about the landform, which is part of learning content in BC’s New Curriculum competencies.

 

Strategies for introducing lessons

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This grade 2/ 3 class that I visit has ongoing nature projects throughout the school year. They have observed buds, planted buds, visited a bog as one of their field trips etc. They have natural materials for decorations and nature picture books on the bookshelf. Today the students are reflecting on their bog field trip from yesterday and doing some drawing and writing on their Nature Book. This Nature Book is handmade, and it has cardboard as its cover. It uses recycling materials to explain to the students that we are trying to create an environmentally friendly space.

Before the students worked on this project, the teacher laid out several questions for them to think about. For example, the questions cards on the table where the students display their nature material collections. Also, the teacher wrote down a question on their agenda board in the beginning of the day to get the students start to think.

Since this is an ongoing project, the teacher does not need to spend too much time introducing this topic. Students are expecting the topic to come up. Moreover, when students are aware of the topic, they usually feel more ready or confident to participate in the class too.

New projects or plans are usually introduced in a circle with everyone gathered around. One strategy that the teacher uses to bring students’ attention is to wait until everyone is quiet and ready to listen. The teacher will wait patiently until everyone is quiet. It really helps to gather students’ attention and make sure that the teacher does not need to repeat herself.

Mini-inquiry

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My mini-inquiry question is:

What are some classroom management strategies that we can use when chaos arises?

I would prefer to encourage student-led learning and intrinsically motivated learning in the classroom. However, the challenge is to monitor and ensure that the “chaos” in the classroom is purposeful. Moreover, I would like to ensure that I could get students’ attention back after an activity. I did some research and found an eJournal about classroom management on the International Child and Youth Care Network by Gene Van Tassell. This article focuses more on how teachers can maintain control over the students, but it still provides some great insights. Tassell provides several options of classroom disciplines and management systems.

One approach is the Lee and Marlene Canter’s assertive discipline. The goal of the assertive discipline is to teach students about the consequences of their actions and foster a sense of responsibilities in the classroom. Assertive discipline involves establishing rules and directions that define the boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors in the classroom. It is necessary to notice that some assumptions in this approach are “students will misbehave”, “students must be forced to comply with rules”, “punishment will make students avoid breaking rules and positive reinforcement will encourage good behavior” (cite) etc. I do not completely agree with this approach. It is true that students need to understand that there are rules that everyone needs to follow for creating a safe and friendly environment for learning. For the class to have meaningful and organized activities, teachers need to prepare the students for the freedom and authority. Establishing these rules ahead of time and monitoring through the activity will be essential. It would be helpful to remind students of their responsibilities when the class starts to become chaotic. Constantly checking in with students to hear about their ideas is important to ensure a successful activity. Moreover, listening to the students and having conversations with them is beneficial for guiding students to a higher level of thinking.

Another similar approach is the Kay Model. In this approach, teachers need to teach students self-govern and take responsibilities for their own actions.  Teachers should not take this responsibility away from their students, instead, teachers should encourage students to take charge of their own classroom. With the basic rules that the whole class set and agreed on, teachers should give students enough trust. Students need to feel the trust first before they can trust themselves.

Another strategy for the teacher to bring back the attention is “stopping instruction, staring, sitting close to the students are all powerful intimidation techniques which should stop students from misbehaving”. I have heard about this approach before, and it definitely takes time before it becomes powerful and efficient in the classroom.

 

Tassell, G. V. (2005). Class management. International Child and Youth Care Network (CYC-Net). 74. Retrieved from http://www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-0305-classroom.html