Parents/Caregivers

The role of parents/caregivers is inextricably linked to the educative processes of their children, and the school in general. Parent involvement is critical in the facilitation of children’s development and achievement, and in preventing and remedying educational developmental problems (Becher, 1996).

Parents/caregivers often share with their children their own values on education. The parent/caregivers values will often be shown through their child and their interactions with the school. The profound effect that parents can have on their child needs to be realised by both the parents themselves and the school to ensure that effective schooling and learning is able to occur for each individual student. A strong home/school partnership is crucial as the necessary skills are developed for our students to be tomorrow’s leaders in our global community.

Parents/caregivers are also extremely important to the school in general. The reputation of a school in the community is widely dependent on parents/caregivers and how they perceive the school. Effective communication between parents and students will make for a much more inclusive and successful school.

Substantial evidence exists to show that children whose parents are involved in their schooling have significantly increased their academic achievement and cognitive development (Andrews and others, 1982). The parent-child relationship is improved when parents more frequently participate in the child’s schooling activities. The benefits for parent/caregiver involvement stretch beyond the 4 walls of a house but into the school and the schooling community. As a result is is extremely clear that parent/carers roles in school life and the educative processes of their children are of the upmost importance.

 

References:

Andrews, S. R., and others. “The Skills of Mothering: A Study of Parent-Child Development Centers.” MONOGRAPHS OF THE SOCIETY FOR RESEARCH IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 47 (Serial No. 198). 1982.

Becher, Rhoda. “Parents and Schools.” 1996. http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-924/parents.htm (Accessed 5/10/10).

Final Reflection

Below is my final reflection with a focus on the 3 goals I set myself in the Pre-Prac blog.

Goal 1. I hope to be highly competent in the subject areas that I am teaching in terms of knowledge, and also understand how my student’s best learn to ensure that effective teaching occurs. (Element 1/2)

I am not going to be so nieve to say that I was completely competent in all areas of the subject content I was teaching. Of course, there is always room for gathering new information and developing as a teacher.  I do however feel that I achieved a high level of competence in the classes I was teaching through effort and research. In some areas, specifically Geography, I do feel that perhaps more attention is needed in some areas, such as geography skills, to ensure I am teaching to the best of my ability.  I do however feel confident in the analysis of my students and discovering how they learn. Each of my classes was vastly different – from a senior geography class, to a special needs geography class and then to the top Year 8 History class – the range I had to deal with was extremely broad. I believe that it was these vast differences that  made my prac so enjoyable as no two classes were ever the same! Each class allowed me the opportunity to try different teaching methods and the 10 weeks allowed me the time to realise what teaching methods worked best with what class. I feel that my achievement in this goal is summed up in one sentence extracted from my final prac report in which my mentor teacher stated, “Sarah’s lessons display a thorough understanding of the subject content and she has the ability to adapt her teaching to the students needs.”

Goal 2: To apply the skills that I have learnt at uni and through hands on experience to run an effective classroom – maintaining safe and challenging learning environments through the use of classroom management. (Element 5)

While classroom management was certainly no ‘walk in the park’ , I do feel quite lucky with the classes I was allocated as there was no major behavioural issues within them. I do feel overall within my classes there was a safe and challenging environment established. However I do acknowledge that next time I have a class I will go in with a harder more serious stance and gradually ease off. The reason for this being that although I feel I had control over my classes, in some circumstances I saw myself as being too easy a target when the boys decided they wanted to misbehave.  In terms of classroom management this 10 week internship has been most helpful in allowing me a taste of what it is like to run an actual classroom.

Goal 3: To become an active and engaged member of the school/community environment – getting involved in as many school activities as possible and immersing myself in the schools culture. (Element 7)

To be honest, I was most nervous about this aspect of my internship. 10 weeks was a long time and I did not want to be cast aside as the ‘prac student’ for the whole 10 weeks. As a result of this I made a conscious effort to interact with the all of the staff at the college. My efforts payed off as I feel I was accepted and incorporated into the school community in all totality. I formed some great relationships with a number of the staff which really made my internship a great deal more enjoyable. This internship has really given me a real taste of what it is like to be a member of a school community as a teacher. I also involved myself in helping and organising certain school events and made an effort to attend the art, music and drama exhibitions that were organised by the school. Overall, I do believe that I can confidently say that I achieved this final goal for the internship which is reinforced by a comment made by my mentor teacher in my final report “…She has developed an excellent rapport with staff and students and involved herself in all aspects of College life.”

I am extremely happy with how my internship turned out. After experiencing these 10 weeks of prac, I really feel, with reference to the picture below, that I am heading in the ‘right’ direction!

 

Reflection 3

The third of my reflective blogs is going to examine an experience on my practicum that lasted over the period of approximately 2 weeks with my Year 11 Geography class. The start of the term with this class began rather well. We were moving through the content and the students seemed to be enjoying themselves. My management of the classroom was moving along nicely with no major hurdles encountered. It was not until we were heading towards the middle of the term that the boys began to unsettle and it became more difficult to keep them on task. Although the required work was still being completed, unsettled boys with inappropriate comments (and really annoying sound effects – such as boys mimicking cars and flies) began to circulate the room. I reprimanded this behaviour with the help of my college teacher, but there was now a vibe in the classroom that made me begin to dread teaching that class.

As a result of what was occurring I began to take quite a defensive stance with the class and seemed to be getting angry , in my opinion, more than I would certainly have liked too. I was stuck. While the class (so far) had never run out of control, I began to dread entering the class and wished I had some sort of magic time device to fast-forward the 50 minutes that the lesson ran for. This is obviously NOT a good attitude to have! I knew that if I wanted to be a great teacher I could not let this continue.

I had to do something about it, and quick.

One afternoon I went home and spent some time thinking about why the dynamics of the classroom had changed, what I was doing in the classroom and how the students were behaving. I came to the realisation that I had been entering the classroom with a zone of negativity that I believe the students could sense and were feeding off. As teachers, we are invariably role models whose behaviours are easily copied by students. What teachers like or dislike, appreciate and how they feel about their learning or studies could have a significant effect on their students (Philias Olatunde Yara, 2009).  I decided next class to enter the class in a happy and light mood and see how the students would respond – They responded well! In all honesty my change in attitude has shifted the whole dynamics of the classroom back to a more positive one. In this respect, it is clear, to atleast some extent that the learner draws from his teachers’ disposition to form his own attitude,which may likely affect his learning outcomes (Yara, 2009).

It is quite amazing how much more responsive the boys are to my positive attitude– even in terms of behaviour. My attempt to improve my teaching practice (Element 5) was, I believe, a success here. The classroom dynamics are now much more positive and have reverted back to how they were at the beginning of the term. It’s funny how sometimes all it takes is a little reflection to make a world of difference. I actually enjoy teaching this class once again and hopefully the boys find enjoyment in learning geography too.

Thanks for reading!

Sarah.

 

This blog holds reference to the following elements: 2,3,5,6.

References:

Yara, Philias (2009). Relationship between Teachers’ Attitude and Studnets’ Academic Achievement in Mathematics in Some Selected Senior Secondary Schools. European Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 11, 364-365.

 

Reflection 2

Last week at school was Marcellin Champagnat week – an opportunity for the different years to enjoy a week of team-building, educational and religious activities outside of the school setting. While Years 7 and 9 were on camp, the other year groups partook in various other activities and outings.  The boys were excited about this week as it was an opportunity for them to get out of the classroom and have some fun with their peers. I was assigned to be with Year 8 for this week, who were spending the first two days of the week in normal classes and then the last part of the week at a local park playing sports and partaking in team-building/religious activities.

I was quite happy being assigned with Year 8 as it would allow me the opportunity to communicate with the boys in my class outside of the four walls of the classroom. Watching the boys interact with each other outside of the school setting was an intriguing experience I was glad to have. I was also completely surprised by the amount of constant energy boys seem to posses – they never seem to tire! 

 

The week also allowed the boys to see me in a different setting and fun environment.  I do feel as a result of this week’s interaction I have a better understanding of the boys, and behaviour and learning back in the classroom setting have improved rather significantly (Element 2).

It was also from this week onwards that I really felt a part of the teaching staff at the school. It gave me the opportunity to interact with the staff in a different more relaxed setting and it was also a good opportunity for the staff to get to know me. In terms of staff relationships and involvement I feel this week was a very beneficial one for me (Element 7).

Not only was this week beneficial in the sense of relationships, it also allowed me the opportunity to see a number of different schooling issues occur – including bullying. Bullying is not something I have had much experience with. I was never bullied at school and had never seen it occurring on any of my previous practicums. However, in this instance some of the Year 8 boys had discovered a ‘pet name’ that one of the boy’s was called by his mother in private and were taunting him constantly about this. Eventually the boy ended up in tears and the teachers found out what was occurring. This was certainly a learning experience for me, seeing how the teachers dealt with the situation and the protocol that was to follow. It was also a reminder for me that bullying does occur and can anywhere and anytime, even in the most innocent of settings.

I also found that in the more casual setting of the week some of the boys became more curious about who I was, my age, my interests etc. In this situation I really found myself considering what was appropriate and what was not. I believe there has to be a good balance between the information you share with students – while it would certainly not be appropriate to share certain things about one’s life, little interests that the students could relate to will most likely build rapport and respect with the students. Teachers may represent a combination of parent and peer; they must be both and not purely either one. If they are entirely a peer, a teacher cannot represent the advanced level toward which the students are striving but if the teacher is very parental, it is difficult for both of teacher and student to overcome the generational differences (Michael Plaut, 2009).

I found however, that once I divulged one piece of information, they wanted to know more. Although their questions were only innocent I felt the situation may get out of hand if I didn’t put a stop to it. As a result, for the last day or so I was very reserved, kept my ‘teacher face’ on at all times and did not answer any more questions. I certainly did not want this continuing on once we were back in the classroom. While this week in class there have been a few random questions about my life, I explained that it was inappropriate to ask such questions in a way that the boys could understand. After this, the boys seem to have retired their detective hats and settled back into the classroom nicely – the appropriate barrier between teacher and student has been established once again.

Thanks for reading!

Sarah.

This blog holds reference to the following elements: 2,3,4,7.

Reference:

Plaut, Michael  S., Ph.D. Boundary Issues in Teacher-Student Relationships.2009. http://www.advocateweb.org/home.php?page_id=79 (accessed: 18/8/10)

Reflection 1

This reflective blog is going to look at one of those little ‘teaching life lessons’ that should come as an obvious, but it’s not until you are thrown into an unknown situation that you come to realise you really should have thought of it before hand! So in order to share this experience with you I will attempt to critically reflect on my experience and consider ways in which I could improve my teaching practice – which in this case shouldn’t be too hard!

It was the first day of my prac, it was period 1 and it was my first time with Year10.3, the lower ability Geography class. I had spent the Sunday planning my lessons, making sure that all aspects were covered in order to produce a successful lesson. As a result I was relatively confident i n my preparedness and was sure that I could pull this first lesson off without any major hurdles – I was wrong.

Problem 1: I was not 100% confident with the content I had to teach that lesson (Element 1). I knew what I had to know for the success of the lesson but was still a bit scratchy on the broader information of the topic.

Problem 2: A tightly structured lesson is helpful but only if what you have planned can actually be implemented in the classroom. I had organised a large bulk of the lesson referring to the class GeoActive Textbook. The students were to use the maps, images and graphs to complete worksheets and other various activities. Here lies my biggest problem – ONE student out of the TWENTY in the class actually had his textbook…

With only one textbook in the classroom this wasn’t just a matter of sharing one between two and simply cutting out one activity –  this was a matter of not being able to use the textbook AT ALL and not being able to use the bulk of my tightly structured lesson plan… AT ALL! Improvisation came into play here but when you are not 100% confident with the content you are teaching and your standing up in front of 20 Year 10 boys for the first time, it is a pretty daunting situation.  I managed to get through 40 minutes of the lesson but then had nothing else I could think of to do with the boys for the remaining 10 mintues. Feeling a bit like a failure, I actually ended up asking my college teacher to finish the last 10 minutes of the lesson for me (which he was more than happy to do). Looking back on this situation I know I was too harsh on myself and if the situation arose again I could most likely deal with it, but it was all so new and I was so nervous, so that is how it happened.

As a result of this experience I have learnt the undeniable importance of having a BACKUP PLAN for every lesson I enter into! Through the outcome of this lesson I have also come to realise the importance of constant development in rapport building, organisation and especially successfully dealing with the change processes (Lieberman, Saxl and Miles, 1998). (Element 6)

Although at the time this lesson was extremely painful for me, I am glad that it turned out the way it did. I am now a great deal more aware of the realities and unpredicibility of teaching and , once again, of having a back-up plan… something I will surely not forget in a hurry!

LESSON : ALWAYS HAVE A BACK UP PLAN !!

OH, and this is also probably a good thing to remember:

Thanks for reading,

See you next time!

Sarah.

This blog holds reference to the following elements: 3,6.

Reference:

Gehrke, Nathalie. ‘Developing Teachers’ Leadership Skills. 1991. http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9219/skills.htm (accessed 19/8/10)

Pre-Prac Blog

Welcome to my first blog!

Firstly, I have to admit that the thought of going back to Uni for 5 days in July did not particularly excite me. Especially considering that I thought we would spend most of our time in lectures that were, to blatantly put it, a waste of time. However, I was very pleased when I found that the lectures in EDFD 427 were relevant, interesting and most importantly useful! Lectures covered topics from the story of Catholic schooling in NSW, internship expectations, creating professional resumes and (my favourite) classroom management.

I feel as though what was provided to us over these 5 July days was some of the most useful and insightful information I have received throughout my degree. I have felt left in the dark about a number of things that need to happen once I have finished my degree, but this course certianly helped enlighten me. Kay Carroll’s lecture on The NSW Institute of Teachers’ Professional Standards was of particular use in regards to this. But I have to say, as I feel many others also will, the lecture given by Jan Long on Assisting Behaviour Management was THE best 1.5-2 hours I have ever spent at uni! She provided us with real and practical information on managing our classrooms. She informed us that the best way to deal with students in the classroom is to remain calm and speak with a calm voice,  to give students choices and expect compliance. She also pointed out that one or a few disruptive students can get the whole class off track and that it is important to get 70% of the class on task and deal with the others after. It seems so obvious but these are the things that we need to hear reinforced…THESE ARE SUCH GOOD THINGS TO KNOW as an unexperienced teacher !! Overall, I am glad that I attended these 5 days back at uni as I genuinly believe that they have helped me prepare and undergo my 10 week internship.

Now, onto the goals that I hope to achieve over this 10 week period. Once again, these are based on the NSW Institute of Teachers Professional Teaching Elements.

1. I hope to be highly competent in the subject areas that I am teaching in terms of knowledge, and also understand how my students best learn to ensure that effective teaching occurs. (Element 1/2)

2. To apply the skills that I have learnt at uni and through hands on experience to run an effective classroom – maintaining safe and challenging learning environments through the use of classroom management. (Element 5)

3. To become an active and engaged member of the school/community environment – getting involved in as many school activities as possible and immersing myself in the schools culture. ( Element 7)

If you have a spare few minutes I will leave you with this clip of Disney’s 1952 short film featuring Goofy, ‘Teachers Are People Too.’ (The full length episode is 6 minutes long and can be found on YouTube).

It gave me a few laughs. So enjoy!

That is it for now!

See you next time.

Sarah.