Week Six Reflection - Management For Learning

This week was a short learning week. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning were all out of the classroom; we only had full days on Thursday and Friday. Regardless of this, my professional development has continued to grow at a rapid pace.

Last week I identified a new goal; to focus on equity and provide fair scaffolding to each individual student based on their learning needs and abilities. This was very successful in mathematics. Group rotations were enhanced hugely this week, whereby every group had three set tasks. They all knew exactly what they had to do when they finished a task, which meant management of their learning was a lot more effective and efficient. These rotations heavily supported equitable learning. I gave time to every group at least once during the week, and was able to use this to extend their learning appropriately based on their needs. Some groups used materials and focused on grasping the basic fraction concepts, whilst other groups were extended towards adding fractions with different denominators. When I was not working with the group, they independently completed follow up workbook tasks and mathematics games that consolidated their learning. This was simplistic, yet it meant that learning was fair and equitable. I will continue to enhance this structure in this curriculum area, and find ways to do similar things in other areas. Writing is a challenge for myself; some students need intensive scaffolding to complete writing tasks making it difficult to include independent learning. I need to strive to find tasks that can be completed independently, ensuring I can have time with higher writing groups.

The most important development for myself this week was in regards to management for learning. I had my evaluative lecturer visit on Wednesday afternoon at a time when students are often unsettled and unfocused. I was nervous in the respect that I was unsure how engaged my students would be in the lesson; my lecturer knew this. During our discussion after the lesson, he emphasised that we should never try to control behaviours. All we can do is manage their behaviours for learning. He highlighted the fact that I instinctively did this without realising, through roving and subtly questioning students to refocus their attention to the task when they were getting distracted. It is crucial to be aware of these behaviours and know how to respond. When it became clear most students had lost focus, I acted on this and began to wrap up the lesson. I focused on the positive behaviours and did not detract time to dwell on what they were doing wrong. We need to optimise their learning and use their engagement level as a sign for when to bring learning to a close. We are not teachers if we try to control every student’s behaviour. We need to focus on managing them in a way that optimises learning, and this will be different in every classroom. If we are able to focus on the greater good and be able to refocus students and respond appropriately to their engagement levels, then we will be progressing towards effective management for learning. Learning in this area will never stop; we will always be finding new ways to keep students focused and optimise behaviours for learning.

It is clear that I have a strength in being aware when students are off task, and using roving and quick discussions to refocus their learning. However, it is evident that I need to improve on following through with consequences. A few students in my class have days where they are constantly disruptive; other students get really frustrated by this and it is not fair on their learning. I struggle to be decisive on the appropriate actions to take on these behaviours. I like to focus on positive behaviours, however it is clear at times that consequences do need to be given. I need to tighten the ropes and not be afraid to send students outside or keep them in for a few minutes at break time. They need to realise that I will not tolerate disruptive behaviour. I have been too lenient in this area and need to make this a goal for next week. I will give one warning, and if they continue to be disruptive I will send them outside for ‘think’ time. I will then calmly talk to them about their behaviour through questioning and get them to justify whether they were being fair and respectful towards others. I will work towards using this strategy this week when appropriate, and reflect on what happens to the flow and management of lessons.

This week it has become clear that I really need to focus on my questioning technique. I always ask open-ended questions; I thought this meant my questioning was effective. Throughout this entire practicum I have struggled to understand why my questioning technique is not working as well as it has on previous placements. I have begun to realise that it is because the questions I use are too open. I have been making the assumption that because these students are year 7/8, their understandings must be much deeper. However they still need specific scaffolding to reach conceptual understanding. I cannot just assume it will be easier for them because of their age. Questions need to follow the structure of scaffolding. They need to firstly require basic recollection and slowly guide them towards evaluative thinking. I have been jumping ahead too many steps and this is potentially why the effectiveness of my questions has dropped. It is like everything in teaching; it is completely dependent on the each individual and will be different for everybody. There is never one way that will work. Next week I will strive to develop my questions more thoroughly and follow the structure of Blooms Taxonomy to scaffold learning.

This week was a huge learning curve in terms of management for learning. I had originally thought I had achieved my behaviour management goal; I no longer think this. There will never be specific strategies that always work. Every class will be different. What we need to focus on is managing these behaviours to optimise learning without trying to control their actions. Students are responsible for their own behaviours; we need to know how to respond and how to extend their optimal learning behaviours. I am beginning to develop a sense of who I am as a teacher when I am at my best, and believe I now know my strengths and the areas I need further improvement on. Through focusing on questioning and discipline next week, I believe I will once again take another leap forwards in my professional development.