For this reflection, I have chosen to offer my thoughts on a combination of two quotes from the “Bumpy moments” article. First is the quote explaining, “For every problematic situation presented in teaching, there are several ways it may be handled depending on the teacher, the facts, and complexity of the situation.” The second quote says, “Teachers face a continual stream of questions that need immediate responses, decisions that affect the well-being of their students, value judgments that may conflict with others’ points of view and complex problems that need elegant solutions.” As I observed in my class this past Thursday, there were a few incidents that related to these quotes.

Being a very curious group of students, my class asks Ms. Toews a lot of questions throughout the day. So it was no surprise when a bunch of hands shot up when the topic of an earthquake drill came up (there was going to be an earthquake drill that day). The students asked questions related to earthquakes and the conduct around earthquake drills. One question really stood out to me, a student asked “is it possible that while we are protecting ourselves under the desk, the floor may spilt and then what would we do?” I thought to myself, how would you answer such a question and I thought Ms. Toews was thinking the same as me. However, she answered the student extremely quickly, she explained how she could not answer that question right away and that we should instead pay attention to what was going on at that moment. So I could see here how an immediate response – as outlined in the quote – can be needed to bring the class back into focus. I also thought this is probably a strategy Ms. Toews and other teachers develop “over an extended time” – like the article says – after many circumstances of student questions that are impossible to answer right away. This was also interesting to see because it showed that teachers do not necessarily have to have all the answers at all times and students at this age level seem to understand that.

In terms of decision-making, there was one decision Ms. Toews made that caught my attention. The students are required to participate in daily physical activity and Ms. Toews had explained to me early in the day that they would be doing yoga that day. However, when it came to the time for daily physical activity (DPA), the students actually ended up learning a dance routine, led by one of the students. They are practicing this for a flash mob dance they will all perform at an upcoming assembly. Ms. Toews later explained to me why she changed the plan. She said the student approached her and asked if they could work on their dance routine during DPA instead of the yoga. And Ms. Toews said I made the decision to let them because any time I can allow them to take positive initiative, I do. To me, this was a decision I thought affects the students – it shows them that the teacher views them as leaders who can be trusted to lead their own activities. As a result, this one decision serves to build the students’ confidence, while allowing them time to work on skills like cooperation, responsibility and teamwork, as they had to work as a group to perfect a dance routine.

In terms of problematic situations, I observed Ms. Toews handle two conflicts that arose outside of the classroom. First, there was a physical issue on the playground and then one involving the boys scaring the girls during their run outside, around the school. Ms. Toews listened to the problem when it was presented and then waited for a good time to speak to the students individually. The article says a problematic situation like this can be handled differently depending on the teacher, the factors and situation complexity. Whereas Ms. Toews decided to handle the situation by speaking to those involved individually, another way it could have been handled was speaking to those involved in a group – taking turns speaking. Again, like the article says, maybe this would be more appropriate under different situation factors and if the situation was more or less complex. So, this example demonstrates that even small conflicts between students can be handled in various manners. Therefore, I can understand how other more complex issues would definitely have various ways of being dealt with.

Observing and reflecting on these situations in the classroom and speaking to Ms. Toews about them made me realize that teacher responses to problematic or decision-making situations can be so complex. I learned it takes time to develop a pattern of responses that you are comfortable with and work for you and I am excited to explore what works for me!