Assessment 1: Reflective Journal (5 Entries)

Name: Mahra Mohammed Ahamed Alhebsi

ID:2023204

Secondary Professional Practice Placement (SPPP) Information Session

EDUSPPP-1

AY 2023/24 Trimester 1

Date:8.11.2023
Teacher’s beliefs and values about teaching and learning:

 I want my teaching to be creative and inspired. I will modify a technique so that

students can easily catch the information. For instance, explaining a math lesson by using

the Brainstorming method before explaining it. Students can share their background on

this topic. Another technique is to "Go online " in this way students can have a chance to

search and take ideas about the topic. In these methods, the lesson will be ingrained in

their memory.

 Teachers teach best when they are preparing and organizing the lesson. Children learn

best when the teachers use multiple techniques and attract children while they are

teaching.

 To start on my journey as an educator, I want to advantage of any opportunity to learn

and gain experience.

 If you visit my class when I teach, I hope you will see inspirational techniques of

education.

 Learning involves falling off the horse and climbing back on; in this method, children

will remember the bain of failing and will keep trying to not feel it again.
 Becoming a professional:

 Describe your developing relationship with your Mentor Teacher.

My mentor teacher is Sana Alhebsi with working experience of 9 years. In the

first meeting, she briefly explained the learning strategies and her teaching
techniques. Two times a week, when I visited her lesson, we had pre-meeting and
post-meeting. She always provided me with her experience and advice for my future
career. Our relationship develops.

She had a responsibility toward preparing me to the future carrier. She is

supportive mentor that is providing a lot of effort and time to develop my skills and

knowledge to be an effective teacher in the future.

 How is being in the classroom now different from when you were attending
school?

Before, I attended a classroom as a student, so my tasks were different and my

attention were for the assessments, quiz, test how to manage between those. However
now, I visit a lesson to observe, make notes, to be a teacher. As a inters I am now in
learn to teach way. Also, I make connection on what I had studies in ECAE and share
it with the students in the school. There are a lot of theories and principle that I was
not observed when I was studying in school.

 What ways do we display professionalism in the classroom, in the school, and in

the community?

According to, Derrick (2020) “Professionalism is a quality that every educator and
school employee should possess”. There are several ways to display professionalism:
1. Be Present: is the important quality to be a professional teacher
2. Be Prepared: the key is the lesson plan
3. Be Part of the Team: follow the guides of the school avoid problems
 4. Be Positive
5. proactive
6. Be Patient

Connecting learner needs with learning processes

 How actively engaged in their learning did students seem?

Students were more engaged in activities between groups, or peer. They were

excited when they were in challenge and the activities have reinforcement. I

observed that students are engaged and interact well with the rest of the group

 How clearly do students seem to understand the learning objectives of their

lessons in classes you have observed?

1. when the teacher was pre-planning the lesson plan, including warp-up activities
and worksheets, activities.

2. when the teacher was Teacher Self-Management and Classroom Management.

3. when teachers use Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational oObjectiveto modify the

learning objective and apply the Differentiation method.

4. when teachers applied the teacher theories, teacher authority bases, and theories
of teacher influence.

 Do students seem to have a clear sense of what a good piece of work looks like
or what doing an activity or learning a skill looks like or feels like?

In my point of view, during the lesson I observed excellent students were highly
having a clear sense of what a good piece of work looks like, but a majority of
students where focusing in somethings else.

 What kinds of resources and tasks does your mentor teacher tend to use? What,
if anything, would you change, and why?

She used a whiteboard, smart board, worksheets, warp-up actives, excellent speaker,
reward card, and little teacher.
 if I were a teacher, I would try to upgrade the stage of critical thinking, and creative
analysis, through the activities worksheets, the way of explaining the lesson, and the
way of designing the lesson plan.

 Do these resources and tasks appear to motivate students’ interest and

engagement?

Yes, some of the activities students were more engaging, students were asking the
teacher at the beginning of the lesson if there was an activity today. Those activities
and tasks encourage and motivate students to deepen their learning. According to”
Students learn through their participation in the attainment of knowledge by
gathering information and processing it by solving problems and articulating what
they have discovered” (n,d).

 Do learners actively “work,” rather than watching while their teacher “works”
during lessons you have observed?

They were working in only 2 groups were just watch

 Do teachers you have observed so far tend to give students time to reflect on the
what and how of their learning? Would you do things differently?

Yes, teachers were giving students time to reflect on the what and how of their
learning.

Mentor Teacher’s expertise:

 Describe different kinds of interactions your School-based Mentor tends to

develop with students in her/his class – give examples of questioning techniques
etc.

Enhancing positive peer interaction: She divided the classroom into peers or groups.

Some students will benefit more when collaborating with their partner. The teacher

always gives positive feedback for positively interacting with their peers. My teacher

mentor switches up groups at least once a week based on quiz performance.

 How does your school-based mentor usually explain curriculum concepts?

 some concept teacher explains it by displaying a short video. While, usually teacher

explains the math concept through diagrams, group work activities, discussion

making, and solving equations on the board.

 How does your school-based mentor usually move from one phase of a lesson to
another?
Transition strategies to move from one phase of a lesson to another help the teacher

move smoothly between activities to stay focused and engaged with each task. Each

instructor uses different methods to approach all objectives of the lesson, meet the

high academic level of teaching, and allotment a fixed time for each activity. There

are several techniques that my school-based mentor applied in the classroom.

1.Get student attention when transferring from one point to another. For instance, she

changed her voice tone and said “Ladies be attentive “

2.Signal the start of the transition

3.Instruct each activity

 How does your School-based mentor tend to support learning during group
work? What, if anything, would you change, and why?

At the beginning of the activity, she explains the activity .while, the students are on

task teacher moves around to check how are the students engaged. Moreover,

teachers have positive reinforcement for group activities as shown in the figure

below.it is called a “reward card” When the group wins the activity teacher laces the

number. if all of the ball numbers are lace the group can choose their gifts but, the

gifts have to line up with school rules. such as, students can order food from the

talabet app.
 if I were the teacher, I would encourage another group as well. In other words, I will

allotmen rewed for each group. In this way, all students will have equal

opportunities.

 How does your school-based mentor usually manage classroom behaviour

during lessons?
Positive and negative reinforcement, for example: students who well behave get the
award, while the misbehaving students get punished.

 How does your School-based mentor promote learning independence? What, if

anything, would you do differently?
My School-based mentor uses these strategies to promote learning independence: 1.

Encourage students to ask open-ended questions.

2. Taking the time to reflect.

3. On-going project work.

if I were a teacher, I would negotiate activity choices together with the students. In

this way, students will have the opportunity to choose the activity to work

independently
 How does the School-based Mentor Teacher organize the learning environment
to support everyone’s learning? What if anything would you change, and why?

1. A lesson plan is the major tool that could organize the learning environment.

2. Theories of Learning in Classroom Management Plan.

3. Teacher Authority Bases.

 Do you think the way your school-based mentor arranges the classroom
maximizes teaching and learning? What, if anything, would you change, and
why? yes

 How much control does your School-based Mentor have with different classes?

The School-based Mentor arranged the classroom, but in the grade 8 section 3, the

teacher faced some difficulty. The students were very hyperactive.

 How teacher-centered and/or student-centered is your School-based mentor?

What, if anything, would you change, and why?
Teacher-centered: full control lies in the hand of the teacher

In my opinion, if I were a teacher, I would apply the student-centered in some

activities.
Assessment strategies to support learner progression:

 What sorts of formative assessment strategies have you observed?

Formative assessment is ungraded assessment that show student feedback guide by

instruction. Through the classes I attended, I found a number of formative assessment

strategies, including:

1. Self-assessment,

2. Raised hands; She ask open ending question in class and wait, and then observed carefully

to see who raises their hands. This may give feedback who understands the material, and who

does not.

3.Quizzes; Mentor teacher give student to types of quizzes one is graded while the other is for

testing the understanding of students. The mentor uses the data gathered from the quizzes to

guide the instruction or give feedback to students

4. think-pair-share; she uses the quizzes app create multiple choice question to check for

understanding. Peers solve the question and then think-pair-share to discuss with others

 What sorts of summative assessment strategies have you observed?

Summative assessment is a way to evaluate student learning, academic achievement

usually at the end of a period of project, unit, course, semester, program, or academic year.It

is include in a student’s grade .This usually refers to making a judgment about the

effectiveness of a program or training course at its end. Through the classes I attended, I

found a number of formative assessment strategies, including:

1. Exam at the end of the units

2. Oral presentation

3. Quizzes

4. The final project

 How have you helped your School-based Mentor with assessing learners?

I have done a number of tasks with my school-based mentor in assessing learners. For
example

1. I helped teacher graded assignments, recorded attendance, prepared equipment,

correcting students’ books.
2. Also, sometimes I helped her preparing materials needed for lesson such as; the
activities and worksheets
3. I supported students in small groups through actives in class.
4. I was dealing with some students how have delay in understanding. I was assessing
them in some lesson.
5. Sometimes, I organized revision of the lesson in reserve class.

 How have learners experienced assessment?

Actually, at the begging, when I was attending the class learner was not familiarize with me.

Three weeks later students start to recognize me. Sometimes, they were asking for help in

math problem, share with me their fun story, ask me to attend other class with them.

 What are the three or four most important things you have learned about teaching
during PPP1?

1. I learned a new knowledge and skill through teach learn to teach. I linked between theory
and practice in educational settings.

2. Effective teaching practices through all observations of experienced teachers and student
interactions in class.

3.I learned how reflect on evidence collected during classroom observations and interviews
with teachers.

4. I learned the professional teacher in the school community.

Reference:

MiddleWeb. (2022, April 20). Striving to achieve 6 principles of teacher

professionalism. https://www.middleweb.com/46957/striving-to-achieve-the-6-ps-of-
professionalism/

Meador, Derrick. (2020, August 28). The Importance of Maintaining Professionalism

in Schools. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-importance-of-maintaining-
professionalism-in-schools-3194680

Explore brown university. Interactive Classroom Activities | Sheridan Center | Brown

University. (n.d.).
https://www.brown.edu/sheridan/teaching-learning-resources/teaching-resources/
classroom-practices/active-learning/interactive