ASSIGNMENT WEEK 4 REFLECTIONS ON MY LEARNING AND TEACHING

Foundations of Teaching for Learning 1: Introduction John Macbeth Commonwealth Education Trust 27.02.2014

Background story I am working in an international preschool in the German language program. My students have different nationalities, come from different classes and their age is between three and six years. They are old enough to use the bathroom alone and young enough to adapt to other languages and friends in a heartbeat. The preschool time is a very important and critical time and gives children a possibility to develop and improve substantially skills that play a vital role in their social and academic success later in life. However when I enter the room in the morning, the smiling faces often full of expectations give me an opportunity to challenge and proof myself on a daily basis. Every working day is different in terms of the weather, the thoughts and moods of the children depending on the situation in class or at home. It is normal that children absorb learning contents differently. Some students learn faster and can adapt to a changing environment easier than others. This means for me that I have to find that little secret that makes them smile, have fun at school and let them learn in an enjoyable way.

Engagement of students The magical word for me to achieve the learning goals is an active but fun engagement into the learning contents with hands-on activities and visible project results for the children. Numerous literatures argue about the connection between the brain and the learning processes. There is evidence that the brain is developing into certain structures based on the way people think. Studies show if students think negatively about things, they build a tendency of negative thinking about most things in their environment and other way round. (Townsend, 2007) Reading this makes clear for me what many literature point out; if a student meets a teacher, there will be an immediate connection of memories triggering in the brain of the student of past

experiences with that teacher, either positive or negative. But there is also a stimulus that triggers imaginations of what might happen in the future. If we as teachers are able to guide our students with fun towards new knowledge, they will enjoy the whole learning process and identify teachers and the learnt information with a positive and motivating memory. (Townsend, 2007)

Fun

Engagement

Positive Learning Outcomes

Figure 1: Fun and engagement provide a positive learning environment

Small warm-up exercises, songs or rhymes together in a morning circle are a good possibility to set the room in a comfortable environment for the students and make them feel trusted and understood. Positive energy in the classroom is a good way to bond with the students and make them feel comfortable and welcome, loved and ready to learn. There are different compartments in our brain that store either love or fear memories as Clinch (2001) argues. We are able to access these cabinets with those memories either positive or negative at will. By creating and asking rights questions we can enable the memories for positive images and thinking and create positive feelings for our students.

Engagement vs. Entertainment There might be a misconception of engagement. Entertaining students does not mean to engage them. Whereas entertainment is a passive act, short living and exists for enjoyment, it does not really require relevance or the creativity of the students themselves. Enjoyment means an

escape from the real world and its problems and uses the creativity from others. Engagement on the other hand is an active process, which is leading toward learning and can produce longterm results. Students are asked to use their own creativity and eventually solve own problems that occur around them. (Delafosse, 2011) Engaging students is one of the key strengths and must be at the heart of what teachers do in their classroom. (MacBeath, 2014)

Figure 2: Simple illustration of Engagement versus Entertainment

Questioning as a tool to engage students A great tool to create a good learning impulse for students is to use questions with a positive background or image of school. By asking right and effective questions one can promote learning, foster higher order thinking, develop imagination, creative thinking and pitch a challenge (Black, Harrison). Teacher have to act as inquirers themselves who encourage asking and create a greater impact for students to constantly ask questions about the environment surrounding them and understand the wider world beyond the classroom. (MacBeath, 2014) This means one has to implement questions into the daily routine to enhance students thinking. What are the things you can see?, How will the story end?, What is going to happen? I always try to give my children as much time they need to think about new concepts and to speak about their thoughts and ideas. The Course helped me to do regularly small students

assessments for learning and to figure out their key strengths and needs to implement them into the weekly schedule.

Conclusion Learning has to be meaningful, colorful and enjoyable. The teacher plays an important role in that and is responsible to wrap the knowledge and learning contents into a nice cover which is certainly related to the excising curricula but also in a way designed that students like to come to school, enjoy studying with the teacher and eventually become global-self regulated learners. (Otero, Chamber, Sparks, 2000) With active engagement e.g. Think, pair, share (Lymann, 1981) working in peer groups, students get a feeling that their opinion and ideas are important and worth to share. Even by giving wrong answers students get a sense for a discussion process and through positive encouragement by the teacher they will realize that wrong answers together with right ones are only one part of the whole learning adventure.

REFERENCES: Black, P., Harrison, C., (2001) Foundation Strand materials and Assessment, National Secondary Strategy for School Improvement Questioning Unit [Online]. Available from: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CC MQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nsead.org%2Fdownloads%2FEffective_Questioning09 _(2).doc&ei=tWAJU_jtJKW1iQfn1IGAAQ&usg=AFQjCNFEEQGYNaYdJDsFKapIAMJ0jh U9fg&bvm=bv.61725948,d.aGc, (Accessed: 15 February 2014) Clinch, R., (2001) Secret Kids Business, Melbourne, Hawker-Brownlow, In Engaging Students in the Global Classroom: Teachers leading the learning, Paper presentation at International Council on Education for Teaching Conference, San Diego California (Townsend, T., 2007) Delafoss, S., (2011) Teaching in the 21st century, [Online]. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=075aWDdZUlM, (Accessed: 18 February 2014) Lymann, F.T., (1981) The Responsible Classroom Discussion: The Inclusion of All Students. In A. Anderson (Ed.), Mainstreaming Digest (pp.109-113). College Park: University of Maryland Press. MacBeath, J., (2014) Being a teacher, Foundations of Teaching for Learning 1: Introduction, Week 1, Lecture 2, Commonwealth Education Trust [Online]. MacBeath, J., (2014) How good is my Classroom, Foundations of Teaching for Learning 1: Introduction, Week 3, Lecture 2, Commonwealth Education Trust [Online]. Townsend, T., (2007) Engaging Students in the Global Classroom: Teachers leading the learning, Paper presentation at International Council on Education for Teaching Conference, San Diego California Otero, Chamber & Sparks, (2000) In T. Townsend, 2007, Engaging Students in the Global Classroom: Teachers leading the learning, Paper presentation at International Council on Education for Teaching Conference, San Diego California