WEEK TWO

Description
The event that is being examined is when I decided to terminate a
whole class discussion as students werent focussing or engaged.
Students had been sitting on the floor for a long time and I decided to
move past modelling and allow students to complete the work
themselves. I did decide to do a quick game of heads and shoulders
to have a little brain break however, the students attention span didnt
last very long after. Students did try their best to concentration but
became very distracted around their peers and from random things in
the classroom.

Interpretation
This event is critical to me as students were disengaged and were not
taking in what they then had to go do for themselves. Therefore I made
the decision to allow students to think for themselves and if they had
any trouble they would just need to ask for help. Research has
indicated that the more time the teacher devotes to students
completing their learning hands-on, the more students are inclined to
take advantage of their learning environment (Sloane, 1998). Sloane
(1998) also argues that planning is essential for student engagement by
choosing activities that are appropriate for their grade level and
student interests (p.77). From this research, it can be argued that I
havent developed a profile or deep relationship with every student to
be able to plan efficiently on all student interests. Rather, have been
planning with my supervising teacher and her knowledge and
relationships of the students. Harlow, Burkholder & Morrow (2006) have
similarities in keeping students engaged with Sloane with encouraging
hands-on learning. Harlow, Burkholder & Morrow (2006) have found
that students develop more understanding of material when they are
actively involved (p33-34). The realisation within the modelling stage
of the lesson that something needed to change was a good concept
to adjust as it showed through student learning that they understood
what was expected of them by demonstrating their learning through
their own work.

Outcome
From this situation I have learnt to break things up within the lesson. This
allows students to have little breaks and be in an active learning
environment where they can put their learning to work. By breaking
things up allow students to focus on one thing at a time, just as the
teacher is instead of showing everything they need to do it and then
they need to go back a remember what is expected of them. A goal
that I can set for the future and in future lessons within this placement is
to break the students learning up. By breaking up the learning, students
have a better chance of retaining one thing at a time rather than
whole.