Critical incident reflection

for EDFX 316 units

Critical incident date: 18th/11/2015
Week 1
Interpretation
After I had explained the task to the students and sent them back to continue individually it
soon became clear that none of them knew what they were doing and the lesson quickly
began to go pear shaped. I had given them too many instructions at the one time and hadnt
modelled the task appropriately for the level of the students. The students were supposed to
be writing yes/no questions matching to data but instead they were writing statements which
we had explored within the previous lesson. I had many students sitting there looking very
confused which lead to many going off task, talking or quickly becoming distracted. I had
many students leaving their desks and coming up to me to ask questions or to say what are
we doing? It was very overwhelming and I left at the end of the day feeling very defeated.
Outcome
After the lesson my ST and the other prep teachers had planning so I discussed the events of
the previous lesson to gain any advice.The major insights I gained from making this mistake
was just how much you have to model/break down/instruct students in the prep levels. You
need to model exactly what you want them to do. It isnt for them just to copy and gain no
learning from which I had previously thought. Younger students forget things very easily and
giving too many instructions at once isnt going to work. This lesson ended up being cut short
due to home time. After reflecting on the negatives and positives from within the lesson, part
2 was much more successful. I modelled the task to the students, we conducted a task
together and then the students attempted the task on their own. I now relate my lessons to the
Gradual Release of Responsibility theory while planning future lessons.