Week Five Reflection - Overcoming Hurdles Through Critical Reflection

This week I have seen myself grow a substantial amount as a teacher. I hit a wall on Wednesday and realised I had completely fallen out of my ways. After seeking feedback, taking a step back, and shifting my thinking, I was able to readjust my practice and take a huge leap forwards in my development.

One major learning curve this week was the necessity to keep lessons clear, simple, and straight to the point, especially in students’ weaker curriculum areas. One goal I had for myself this week was to use roles and group discussions more frequently due to my philosophy of collaborative learning. I planned to use this in every curriculum area, with a focus on using it for group assessment purposes and working alongside their peers. However, it became clear that I was so focused on this that every other aspect of my teaching dropped and my students just became confused; it made it too complex and meant they had too much to focus on. For example in writing, I planned for students to identify their own goal, know how to work towards it, and assess each other in groups on whether they had achieved their goal. At the same time they were required to create a whole piece of persuasive writing. This was clearly way too much. The focus needs to be on the actual writing, not on the group roles and responsibilities. This needs to be an attachment on the side or at the end if intended to be used successfully. After revisiting my planning and taking a step back, I realised that I needed to simplify my instructions and explanations. They needed to be clear, simple, and concise. I spent too much time talking at the beginning of lessons; less talk more doing is what this class needs. I moved away from the roles focus and went back to independent writing. We continued to create individual goals for ourselves, but this became a self-assessment tool on the side rather than a group focus. I modified my practice and planning to be simple, clear, and purposeful, rather than trying to focus on multiple things at once.

Another learning aspect this week was the importance of balance. Introductions began dragging out too long (due to me talking too much) and there was too much emphasis on ‘turn to the person next to you/in groups discuss...’ I still truly believe discussions are crucial in learning; however I was relying on these too much. They were becoming less engaging and interrupting the flow of lessons due to continually needing to regain attention. I adapted each plan to include more variety rather than always discussing in groups. The time for these was also shortened so it did not detract from the overall lesson. In the second half of the week the lessons flowed a lot more smoothly, my explanations were clear and concise, students knew the expectations, and it heavily reflected in their achievement. For example, instead of discussing the task in a group to check understanding, I began asking individual students to repeat to the class what the task is. This made it clear if they did understand the instructions and if they were listening. I will continue to ensure there is balance in each lesson and that my instructions and explanations are clear and concise, followed by checking understanding individually rather than group discussions.

These ongoing critical reflections supported my professional development hugely this week. The second half of this week I really improved in gaining students focus right from the beginning of each lesson, having clear purposeful learning intentions, and concluding each lesson with reflections against the learning focus. Warm up’s that connected to the learning focus (such as word boggle, using the thinking hats in groups to discuss known fairytales, and group challenges) was hugely beneficial to engagement levels and focusing their thinking. Every student knew the focus for each lesson and could retell what they were expected to achieve. Plus my time management was successful in that every lesson had a quick reflective session to conclude whereby students either self or peer assessed themselves against the learning intention. They did this by writing a statement in their book, which I then used as formative assessment to check their understandings. Overall, I believe I have figured out the best way to structure, manage, and teach this group of students. Clearly it will continue to be adapted, but I believe I have finally found my feet and am developing towards being an effective teacher.

For the next few weeks it is clear I need to focus on displaying equity in the classroom. I have begun to realise that catering for the wide range of abilities within this class is hugely challenging; this needs to become my professional learning focus for the next three weeks. It is clear that all group teaching is focused towards the lower groups, and the higher groups are expected to work independently in all curriculum areas. This means they are not getting the extra push and support they need to reach their true potential as they are being left to do it themselves. The reason for this however, is that the lower groups need a huge amount of scaffolding to improve. I have a strong belief in equity; learning needs to be fair. Everybody should receive the same amount of support in relation to what they need, however this should not result in people being held back or left behind. I aim to find a way to support the lower groups in becoming more independent, which will allow time to work thoroughly with the higher groups and push them further in their learning. For example, in reading on Friday it became clear that using a graphic organiser provided this support and resulted in the lower groups being able to work independently in regards to reading comprehension. Using these strategies will allow teacher time for those higher students. Another area this needs development in is writing; lower groups need so much writing support whereas independent learners are able to write these alone. All of my time gets taken by those who need specific scaffolding. I aim to use mini activities such as the ‘thinker’s keys’ to be used as an extra task that students can do independently regardless of their abilities. This will hopefully mean every student will be on task, ensuring I can have one on one conferences with those higher students to ensure they receive equitable support. Consolidating group rotations and having a variety of independent task available will hopefully support my development towards catering for a wide range of learning needs and abilities.

Overall this week has been a huge stepping stone. I reached a hurdle but I overcame it; the learning I have gained from this has been hugely beneficial to my development. I now know what strategies suit this class, reflect my personality and philosophy, and am able to keep a consistent flow throughout lessons that enhances achievement and engagement levels. I will continue to improve and modify these strategies based on new observations, and work towards maintaining equity within my approach. I have three weeks left in this class; I am driven and focused to support these students even more and develop further as a professional teacher.