Exhausted and trying to remove the label...

I realised that being dysfuncitonal, naughty etc. really indeed is exhausting. Coupled with the fact that my day started at 0930. By the time geog class started at 1630, I was too tired to be a nuisance in class during the micro-simulated teaching by SW. Tried as I might to be a 'model' student and being attentive in class, I was constantly being egged on and pestered by both BananaSaviour and WesWee to adopt the role of a 'problematic' student, I guess it's tough even if I want to remove the label of being the de facto problematic student in class.

I shall first highlight the recap done by Kenneth as he made many good points for us to reflect upon.

1. Be 'politically-correct' and ensure that the main ethnic groups are represented whenever a presentation that involves them occurs. Do not just present one or two of the main ethnic groups and neglect the other, it might lead to dissatisfaction amongst students in certain schools and lead to a potentially problematic situation.

2. Establish facts before you take remedial actions. An example we talked about was if we encounter students sleeping during class. Establish the facts first by asking the student their reason for sleeping in class. There could be many valid reasons as to why they were unable to stay awake during lunch such as taking medications that led to them being drowsy or maybe the students were helping their parents with work etc. Do not punish them outright but first try to talk to them and ask them whether if they are alright. Show your concern first rather than take punitive actions.

3. Confiscation of student's belongings. Any punitive policy needs to be consistently applied. No favouritism must be practiced. Additionally, confiscated goods might be lost due to student or teacher's negligence. More importantly, things can be lost due to student sabotage if the class is out to get you. In essence, be wary of such a tactic.

4. Behaviouralism, Cognitivism and Constructivism. I hate these three words though I know that they probably are important. I don't know why but I have a strong aversion to theories, probably stemming from my Development of Geographic Thought days back at NUS Geog Hons.... I am sure somehow, I'll comprehend it fully someday. As of now, I need to learn more about it myself though I learnt some aspects about it today.

5. Debate on keywords in Geography. Don't want to flog a dead horse since it has been discussed already but essentially, if you want the specific word to be learnt by the student, then make sure you structure the phrases/questions properly so that the student has to use that term which you want them to learn.

Precision (being razor sharp) and Conciseness (economy with words). These are the two words of the day. Additionally, always remember that the best laid plans can still go awry and you must know how to react once your train derails. Good point.

On to the micro-simulated teaching which was conducted by SW today, SW did an excellent job teaching us (Sec 1 Normal Academic) the topic on Vulcanicity.

Firstly, SW did something which I have practiced myself during my School Experience, and that is, insisting that all students clear their desks of everything that were unrelated to Geography prior to the commencement of the lesson. This is a highly important and beneficial measure that should be done as it removes the various distractions on the students' tables and helps to keep the students on task and pay attention.

SW also gave out instructions prior to distributing the worksheets, that ensured that students are not unduly distracted by the worksheets on the table. What I thought made really good sense when she assigned one of the students SJ, to distribute the worksheet. I thought that was really smart since SW could get back to the teaching proper asap rather than walking around distributing the worksheets herself. The colour-coded worksheets, one pink one white was also a good idea, it allowed students to differentiate between the two worksheets and thus we are able to switch between either worksheets just by SW's simple instruction of referring to the appropriately-coloured worksheet rather than having the students read the different worksheets and choose the appropriate one. That saves time and is more direct.

Her classroom management was also very good, although I was wondering whether a Normal Academic class will be this quiet most of the time (I don't know because I've never been exposed to one). SW was consistent with her warnings and subsequent follow-up action when the warnings were unheeded. However, I noticed that SW, although aware that students were throwing paper at each other initially, did not do anything or mention anything to the class. Either she genuinely did not see it or she might have internally given her students a chance first before reprimanding.

When Superlambanana taunted YZ and resulted in YZ 'crying' (was really a good act), SW acted swiftly by reprimanding Superlambanana immediately and going up to console YZ. Additionally, SW managed to nip the problem in the bud by restricting BananaSaviour's movement around the room, stopping her in her tracks and directing her back to the seat. I thought that was done rather swiftly!

A couple of things SW can improve upon though:

I felt that when BananaSaviour attacked me and threw a piece of paper at me, SW could have handled the situation better by not focusing on me as much as she should on BananaSaviour since she was the instigator and I, the innocent party.

Additionally, SW might have been too focused on the 'problematic' students and neglected the fact that K*ren had changed her seat and moved to another group while KF yawned rather loudly. Also, the students right at the front such as R and M were sleeping and clearly disinterested but SW did not see that. SW should try to distribute her 'gaze' in an equitable manner and notice that those students at the front were 'problematic' though in a different way.

Kenneth had already commented on the excellent job of scaffolding so I shall not comment on that. All in all it was really an impressive teaching. Did you have any prior experience in teaching? How long?

The bar has now been raised.