Reflection 1

NSW Institute of Teachers’ Professional Teaching Elements:

3.1.2 Plan and implement coherent lessons and lesson sequences that are designed to engage students and address learning outcomes

5.1.5 Demonstrate knowledge of practical approaches to managing student behaviour and their applications in the classroom

 

After experiencing Jan Long’s favourable behaviour management lecture, I commenced my first week of prac with her tools and advice consciously on my mind. My plan was to walk into the classroom with confidence, regardless of the situation. However, my first lesson tested this plan as i walked into a class I had never met and had a history of disruptive behaviour. I found the lesson to entail of the students continually testing my authority, pushing the boundaries to see how much the new  ‘pracie’ could take. I left the lesson with no idea of how I would combat this year 10 class.

McBurney-Fry informs us that effective classroom management is reliant on planning, implementation and reflection, all of which take time (McBurney-Fry, 2005). Those who have knowledge of positive classroom management practices are on their way to a successful practicum, however, knowledge is not enough. Allocating time to preparation brought me one step closer to a disruption free classroom.  McBurney-Fry suggests a four fold process to assist in classroom management. Firstly, he advocates that by “providing interesting, challenging activities that fully engage the learner (McBurney-Fry, 2005 .p 110)”, there is little opportunity for a student to become distracted. Being neglectful of this point could allow free moments in a lesson for students to become bored or restless. The next steps are linked as they involve minimizing problems and responding to disturbances hastily (Killen, 2003). These two tools will aid in preventing further problems by limiting a chain reaction of disruptive behaviour.

I had already planned the next 6 lessons for this class, however, with this ‘four fold process’ in mind I scraped my original plans and began new lessons plans for the dreaded year 10s. They key to a productive lesson could be found in increasing the level of student engagement through an “interesting and challenging lesson(McBurney-Fry, 2005 p110).” The following lesson I developed a task that allowed the students to be out of their seats but applied a restriction on the amount of talking allowed so as to minimise off task students. I found this activity to be successful as the students were engrossed in the activity for the duration of the lesson. As well as developing an interesting lesson, I found that I could motivate the class by introducing a competitive factor into the activity with an extrinsic reward of a merit certificate(McLennan & Peel, 2008). This level of contention attracted the class and resulted in on task behaviour.

 

 

Killen, R (2003) Effective teaching Strategies: Lessons from research and practice (3rd ed). Australia: Social Science Press

McBurney-Fry, G. (2005). Improving your practicum: A guide to better teaching practice. Thomson: Social Science Press: Victoria

McLennan, B & Peel, K (2008) Motivational pedagogy : locking in the learning. Australian Educational Leader; v.30 n.1 p.22-27; 2008