Teacher Celery

[teachercelery]

Honing Learners For Life

My group teaching experience was like heaven and hell. Those two days came to me like opposide sides of the spectrum, but I would not have still had it any other way.

For our first day, we taught our story, Tuko: The Tenor Wannabe. It was so bad. I am saying it's bad because I knew as a teacher that the students did not enjoy the story, nor did they get anything from our lesson proper. It was probably attributed to the way we did not code switch as teachers, and so it was as if I was one of them listening to someone teach me in Ilonggo that I could barely even speak. There was an intense lack of enthusiasm from the class, and somehow that day brought us down as a group. I'm not saying that there were no strong points in our experience, but the overall experience left us down and uninspired. It was really evident - how the students did not seem to have a worthwhile time in our class, and how they were not interested at all! They did not even recall the story when we asked the following Monday. My groupmate even made the mistake of asking if they liked the story, to which we only got one Yes, a yes that was given for the heck of it. It was a heartbreak.

And so we did not want our EDR 110 experience to end this way. Come Monday, we were excited. We were excited because we were going to do something different. Also, we did not want our heartbreak during our microteaching to end as a heartbreak. In truth, this was my favorite part of the lesson plan. It was creative and different, and it was out of routine, and it had so much potential, and we could not just waste it through bad implementation. True enough, as we were doing our lesson proper, the students were so excited and engaged! It was literally like heaven on earth. They were willing to go beyond what was expected of them. They got the subject matter without us having to force it to them. They wanted to learn. They were interested. It was heaven. We ended with them asking for our notes and also wanting to learn more without us giving homework. It was like homework was something they would enjoy.

It's really important to know your students and how to get them engaged. It's crucial in instilling a love for learning, if you as a teacher give importance to that. I realized how you can tell by the feeling if your students actually like what they're learning. If your subject matter is not enjoyable, there's always a way to make it. Space and sound does not seem enjoyable to an 8 year old who would much rather play patinetero in the streets or just lie down and do nothing. Knowing their interests - play - can really tap the student's imagination and interest, and it can make a whole lot of difference.

I think I really subscribe to philosophies that aim to make students lovers of learning, and perpetual life learners. It really should be able to encourage students to learn, rather than demotivate them because they think that learning is not of their interest, when there are a hundred ways to learn! Learning should bring out inquisitiveness on the part of the student, and the art of being able to ask the right questions, and get the answers they want. Learning something as difficult to them as English may make them feel so inferior and unworthy, but in their experience of learning through our water xylophone, I hope that we were able to make them feel otherwise.

[teachercelery]

Collaborative Learning Experience: Microteaching

Our group admittedly had some troubles preparing for microteaching. We were not able to find a common time for us to meet and prepare beforehand, unlike other groups. We were also the last to present, which gave us more pressure to perform better than the rest. And so to make up for our lack of meeting, we resolved to prepare for each other's parts respectively, and just wing it on our own. It had some repurcussions, especially the hassle brought about by untested materials and unexpected answers from more knowledgeable pretend students, but we were able to pull through. Thankfully.

Teaching in front of peers who knows the ins and outs of preparing for a lesson plan and actually implementing it was a whole different experience. There was a certain pressure, and comfort, at the same time. It was like I was being observed not just for what I am presenting in front, but also for how well we prepared for the lesson plan. However, if there's anything I learned from EDR 110, it is to learn how to listen and to welcome all forms of criticism. Nothing is ever final, and revisions are always a means to be better, and when you are better, you lose nothing.

My part for reading was the post reading, and it was something new to me because I did the during reading part for our UPIS stint. I was caught off guard by some answers, add to that how I was not in my best able condition that day. (We all have those days.) I had a difficult time adjusting, and even sometimes comprehending myself! I uttered some question that I don't know why I did not even understand myself - was I speaking in tongues? My gosh. I think I was trying to stay so true to the lesson plan - something I thought I learned already - that I forgot to go back to the essence and main goal of the words in that paper - to be able to help the students comprehend the story and think deeper into it.

As for the skills part, we kind of had a hard time because our materials were not tested prior to our microteaching. And so, the water bottles with more water turned out higher! It was also a struggle for us to explain that. It made us realize how important it is really to check what you present in front of the kids, because something like that you cannot erase from their brains. They're not stupid, and they will just ask questions, that you as a teacher should be creative enough to explain and to answer as well. You can go with them through the inquiry, but an answer has to be arrived upon, and must be something not left hanging if you really want to engage your students. They might be discouraged to learn because they might think that you don't know what you're doing, which could be a teacher's worst nightmare, and it was.

Adjustments, creativity and spontaneity are really crucial to success of actual teaching. Like I said in my previous entry, heartbreaks should fuel your future successes. I think that's really the main takeaway I'm getting, aside from learning how to listen and how it is to actually teach. It's really about that - in anything in life. Microteaching is an effective way to further enhance our well prepared for lesson plans, and is a great way to bond with peers. I wonder if they do that in actual educational institutions. I think through that, teachers become more collaborative and they get to learn from each other, the way my classmates and I did.

[teachercelery]

Wisdom from Three Hours

I went into my first apprenticeship session unprepared. Luckily, it was just an observation for us and so we watched Teacher Julie handle a class. It set the stone for what we should expect, and also what classroom management techniques we could apply.

For my second apprenticeship, I was unprepared. I had to do my apprenticeship with another group because of schedule conflict, and I was surprised at how unprepared I was. I was, however, exposed to the group dynamics of another group, in turn also their teaching styles. Luckily, they were prepared, and they still gave me work thirty minutes before apprenticeship time.

My third apprenticeship with my group was okay, although we struggled with classroom management and in getting the class engaged. From this experience we realized how it would be difficult to us, and how different this experience would be from UPIS, even if we were actually really aware of it from the start. I guess, we expected it to be a bit easier. 

The initial shocks we got from the apprenticeship were the differences from our experience in UPIS to not being able to foresee that we were going to be actual teachers aside from our demo. It also introduced to us heartbreaks that involved not seeing our kids as engaged and in learning how to adjust to classroom scenarios that required classroom management. However, in our heartbreaks we found victory. It was through our heartbreaks that we found our motivation to do well in our group teaching, and also to get to know our students. It was an opportunity to prepare ourselves for our next demo teaching, which we did not get to do for our UPIS experience.

I appreciated this chance to be exposed to them before teaching, and through this I was able to imply that I should learn to adjust and know our students. It also made me realize how teaching is a trial and error process, and that you get better through time. You will have your bad days, but these bad days will fuel your good ones.

[teachercelery]

Reminiscing and Questioning

Katipunan is my second home. Most of my life, I spent along this road because of my education. I have always been aware that Katipunan is more than the establishments we see on its facade.

The field observation and community visit is nothing foreign to me, for I have been exposed to these things since I was in third grade. Miriam, being socio-civic, have social action activities integrated into our curriculum. These social action activities cater to the nearby communities such as Pansol, Kaingin, Daang Tubo, and Marytown, which was actually named after the Maryknoll sisters. Moreover, I used to do volunteer work in high school for the Landas ng Karunungan Organization based in the Della Stradda Parish by Pansol. We used to teach high school students remedial classes and in turn offer them scholarships for their performance for our classes during the summer.

Coming into iClip, I became very reminiscent of my prior experiences. I was made aware of the changes that happened in Katipunan right before my very eyes. It happened so fast that I barely noticed. I did not even know of iClip before, but I could see its impact. I do remember that there were more street children in Katipunan before, and somehow like a fast forward clip the evolution of Katipunan played in my brain. How did I barely even notice the transitions in this avenue? From it having almost no establishments at all to it being one of the most commercial districts in the north. There's even a mall being built now!

Going back to the transitions in Katipunan, I hear Teacher Julie again telling us of the history of iClip. It's amazing how these kids were tapped into a program that later evolved into a literacy program. I thought that Landas ng Karunungan (LNK) was the only organization that bloomed in Katipunan, but it's nice to know that there have been other people who were concerned and tapped into the needs of the community for it to evolve to what it is now, more than just the buildings. I got excited.

As we walked into the communities, I got reminiscent once again of the times we visited their communities. I was even happy to know that our tour guide was a scholar of LNK. I remembered the time I was walking along Roces Ave. in UP and a student goes up to me and greets me. He was also a student of UP like me, and he used to be my student. What a proud moment that was for a tutor like me. And so, I had a good feeling about iClip, and how organizations like this can make a difference.

I remembered how I got up every summer early because I knew that it took a greater deal for my students to go to Della Stradda than the struggle it took me to just wake up early. It is important to know your students, and one aspect of their lives a teacher should be aware about is their socioeconomic backgrounds. It is easy to just get mad at your students for underperforming and taking your teaching efforts for granted, but understanding them takes a lot of weight from your plate, and at the same time you become more effective by adjusting your teaching styles to their needs. The students' socioeconomic background sheds light on a student's travel time, nutrition or health status, educational background, and developmental story. Knowing about your student's travel time will make you understand why she's always late or why at times she dozes off in class. Your student's nutrition or health also sheds light as to her capability to process whatever it is she is telling you. Her educational background will help you gauge the difficulty and level by which you should teach - with a call to make it very developmentally appropriate.

But then again, it made me question things. As a teacher, knowing this can only make you do so much. And as a human being, there is only so much you can give. You cannot give and give until nothing is left of you. How does a teacher address this? Up to what point can a teacher give, given her limits? How does a teacher deal with a student she learns to love and care for, in terms of really wanting to help that child, but end up broken hearted because she just goes to class and finds that she might never see the child again?

These are just thoughts that entered my mind, that admittedly, I still think about now.

[teachercelery]

One can know so much about something and still not know how to do it. It is why people say, "welcome to the real world!" when students finish college. Theory and application may differ by a lot. The world is much more complex than we think.

So it goes with our first demo teaching experience. We have learned in class the LINKS framework and various classroom management skills. We have intensively put our time and effort in creating our lesson plan and in making our materials for two one hour and fifteen minute periods of English for a fourth grade class. We have rehearsed and put into paper everything possible the students may recite, and what we can respond to it. Yet, nothing can ever really prepare us for the real experience.

Students behave as they wish, and it really is hard to capture their attention. They also respond the funniest and cutest things, but also the most unexpected that you may get taken aback. Classroom management techniques may work for another group of students, but it does not necessarily work for all. Learning how to teach effectively involves constant practice, and proactivity in the part of the teacher in learning how to deal with her students. It is not just something you get from teaching once, twice, or by reading all the books there are about teaching. It's about really being there in the open, practicing what you learned in the four walls of the classroom.

After our preliminary observation, we got scared of the kids. They were rowdy, and they did not listen to the teacher. Somehow, I realized that maybe it is harder to talk to kids than to adults. It is harder to grab hold of and keep their attention. After our first day though, they started going near us, and held conversation. I realize that they are human beings - really cute and innocent ones too! - and that one may learn how to relate to them more.

An important take away I gained from the experience is that it is okay to deviate from your lesson plan. It will take skill however, to be able to do this. It is more important to acknowledge what your students say, even if it is not what you ahd planned. The teacher must always go back to the core of the lesson and to the main reason why teachers exist - it is to be able to create a fruitful learning experience for the child - and if that means deviating from the lesson plan to further expound on a topic, or to acknowledge what the students took an effort to say out loud in the class, then so be it. It will take skill, however, to deal with this randomness.

A teacher should always be able to improvise, to adapt, to be on her toes for that one hour and fifteen minute period. Things may not go as planned, but it is always good to plan! It is always better, however, to accept that deviating from the plan may be inevitable, if the outcome is better achieved through which.

[teachercelery]

The demo teaching performed by Teacher Cathy got me reminiscent on my favorite subject of my grade school life - Reading! But more aware of the various components of the LINKS framework, I was able to appreciate why and how certain worksheets and activities had to be done instead of just reading the story then discussing. Moreover, I was able to reflect on the level of comprehension and understanding of a grade six student.

For the introduction of the story, the teacher tackled suicide - and I had to remind myself that we are dealing with grade six students now instead of kindergarten kids. Especially with the recent cases of suicide just last month, it was a good and gentle reminder and guidance for student to be able to talk about these things without being scared, and with it being integrated in the lesson. It got me curious as to the levels of emotional intelligence of students, and got me to write it down as one of the things I will research on should I find time. I think, however, that it may vary from student to student, but what issues are appropriate to discuss at certain ages and levels? I’m pretty sure there are researches available on that.

The silent reading part was new to me, given that we first observed kindergarten kids who had to be read to out loud. I had to remind myself again that this is now a lesson planned out for grade six students. The story was nice, good enough for short reading, and relatable enough for students to be able to share and relate to, with something to bring home. I wonder if there is a story bank out there somewhere, and where I can find it. I think to myself, reading, especially thinking it, is not restricted to books after all, and can be found in various sources. It will be up to the teacher to be creative in this pursuit. If lucky enough, the school might have readily available resources too.

Having an activity sheet to answer as we read helped in my comprehension of the story, and it gave me flashbacks of the numerous worksheets I had to answer back in my grade school and high school days. It only occured to me now that it is for comprehension purposes, no matter how obvious it may seem, and that I realized how helpful these activities are in developing a student’s ability to comprehend what he or she is reading.

The grammar part was really fun because I learned what a participle is for the first time. Having said that the lesson proper usually extends to two periods, I realize how there is never enough time for the reading part nor the grammar part, but the teacher has to make way without compromising the understanding of students. However, students are much smarter than we think they are and I think personally if I were in that class I would have enjoyed that lesson. I think the best reading lessons are those that we can relate to our models of the world, and at the same time those that are able to bring in new ideas and lessons that I can take home with me. I think this challenge will be harder as students mature, because it is hard to gauge their personal experiences, emotional maturity and capacity to understand as it differs from student to student and will not be as evident as to, when, say, taught to kindergarten students.

Mostly, my take home in the demo teaching of Teacher Cathy is the importance of knowing your students to be able to prepare an effective lesson plan for them. This is mostly due to the differences between this lesson proper from that of the kindergarten’s. Another important take home for me is to keep up with the challenge of making my students love reading, relate to the lesson, and make sure that they are able to bring home a lesson or two outside of the classroom (without forgetting their participles due to this shared experience).

[teachercelery]

From Teacher to Student: My Fresh Take on Classroom Observations

I used to see the classroom as merely a place to learn, a place to listen, a place to interact with the classmates, and suddenly I see it as a stage - a place where everything has been well rehearsed and thought of, a place where things do not just happen, a place where clear and sound objectives must be met. Suddenly, I started to see the classroom from the point of view of the teacher.

My first observation for this semester is for a reading class in UPIS of K-Jasmin under Teacher Sab. I have observed classes before for my other classes, and the things I always used to take note of are how the children are - their disposition, their faces, their reactions to the teacher, their cute anecdotes, among many others. What amazed me for this observation was how I suddenly started observing more of what the teacher is doing - her lesson plan, her objectives, her materials, her overall classroom management, her motives, her time of preparation! The whole experience made me daydream about how I would be handling my own classroom in the future, and came along with it were ideas that I got a little too excited to implement - at least in my brain and imagination.

Classroom Management

I surprised myself by noticing the classroom management skills and classroom routines set up by the teacher. The afternoon started with a flag ceremony with a leader who already knew she was the leader from the start of the session. She led the memorized prayer, the Panatang Makabayan and the Panunumpa sa Watawat (which was new to me) and conducted the Philippine National Anthem, led , and the UP Naming Mahal (which the kids knew better than most of us).

After this, the Kiddie Report took place, wherein the students were to ask set questions to their classmates and write the answer on the bulletin board after. The questions asked were “What day it was today?” and “What was the weather today?” to which the students would reply through a song and dance. Another question asked how many boys and girls respectively were there, wherein the boys or girls would stand and everyone would count the ones standing up. It was really cute how the kids knew who wasn’t around. I really like this activity because I, as a kid, would have really enjoyed this! Playing teacher or any grown up roles for that matter are always a novelty for kids. Moreover, I think it helps in boosting a child’s confidence, oral language, counting skills, psychomotor skills, among many others! It was a great warm up activity.

After this, the teacher gave a chance to a student to invent a clap for the day, and the creativity of the students was amazing. For a time I thought all claps were set and there weren’t any more claps to invent, but the students always find a way to make their’s original! The student Sabien made a power ranger clap, somehow like a cheerleader from my perspective, but it was a good clap to which all his classmates did with so much energy.

Even in Kindergarten, setting the schedule was important. Although time constraints are not presented to them anymore, the kids were made aware of the activities that they were to do for that afternoon.

As for classroom management, I observed how the teacher dealed with student’s comments. They were not to be dismissed and always a good addition to the discussion. However, the teacher was aware of when and how to correct and call out those who may be misbehaving, true to the protocols of the school, without embarrassing the child.

It’s funny though, how the students also call the teacher out when she disobeys rules, like this student who noticed that teacher was not wearing her ID.

Lesson Proper

The text for this lesson was Frog in the Middle by Susana Gretz, where the three friends duck, bunny and frog planned a surprise for frog, and tried to find a game which frog could join that they called Frog in the Middle.

The teacher started out by telling a story about her friend Jose, who joined a race and ran so fast. There were two of them near the finish line, but the other one ran faster, so he won. Jose was almost the winner. Teacher Sab unlocked the word almost for the kids, wherein she asked them to repeat the word, and after she explained what it means. After, she unlocked the word jealous by saying that he got jealous because he wanted so badly to be the winner. She successfully incorporated these two words into their languages, by constantly repeating them and then later on asked them to answer something on the board about what jealous and almost meant. Throughout the course of the lesson, specifically in the activities, she goes back to the use of these two words, inserting moral lessons especially for the word jealous.

The teacher continues her story by saying that Jose got a present for winning the race. She brought out a big box, and the students all got excited. There was a ball inside, and the teacher said that after winning the race they even played a game, which got the students even more excited to know about what the game was. The teacher called the game “Jose in the Middle,” and she made volunteer students play it in front.

After this, the teacher tried to unlike motivations and motives by asking about friends. She asked questions like who can be your friends, what you can say about them, and what they do together. She then introduces the story about friends, and proceeds by reviewing the rules when reading a story out loud.

After reading the story, the children had to do activities by their columns. It aimed to refine their response to the story. There were five activities all in all, with the output written on big cartolinas.

The first activity was called Animal Friends. The cartolina had pop up cards with a puzzle of the picture of the animal in front. When you open the card, you fill up the animal’s name, address and characteristics. The student asked teacher what a characteristic was, and for all the animals they answered with their respective color and cute. For the address, they made up an address with numbers, but the teacher expected to have an answer along the lines of land or pond.

The second activity was an activity for sequencing of events that led to the birthday surprise. Another activity dealt with how frog felt about things like not being able to join the games, and about feeling jealous. The fourth activity made the students make a thank you message from frog for duck and rabbit. For the last group, they were asked to define what a super friend was, and how they could all be super friends. All these engagement and enrichment activities contributed to the student’s understanding of the story, promoted interaction and sharing, and included all levels of thinking. I love how carefully thought of and planned the activities were, and how the children were made to work in groups as early on.

The teacher then transitioned into introducing describing words through sentences taken out of the story’s context. She differentiated between describing words and naming words, by saying that describing words tell us about naming words. She further expounds on describing words by mentioning the kinds of descpritions describing words use. Later on, they were seperated into groups based on their ability to decode with different guided and independent activities.

My Thoughts

I really love how synthesized the whole program was, and how one activity led to another. I really loved the activities, the material, the lesson proper, and everything! Getting to observe before learning about the Four Pronged Approach made me appreciate this approach even more, validating my conclusion that one activity was carefully thought of to lead to the next!

I particularly appreciated the materials prepared by the teacher, and the effort she must have put in in preparing everything for every step of the way. I also love how she was able to maintain discipline in the classroom, and know how to discipline her students without extinguishing their love for learning.

Frog In The Middle was a great choice of book to learn about friends and describing words. I love how the book was introduced through a mini story and even a live enactment of the game. I love how the students were engaged in the story-telling, and how it was used all throughout the lesson proper.

More importantly, I am grateful to have been able to look at a classroom through the teacher’s point of view, and with the newfound knowledge of the four pronged approach. I found a new way to appreciate reading and the teaching of it. In my grade school, the teaching of reading and English had to be in different periods. I was able to see how it was possible to integrate both.

It was really refreshing to be exposed to a group of children again, to see the world through their eyes. Student or teacher, I will always look and observe them with wonder, hoping that in seeing the sense of wonder in their eyes, I get to look at the world the way they do again. And with this thought, I end with a collection of cute anecdotes I was able to gather through my first observation of the semester.

Cute Anecdotes

Student: How many boys are there? Students: in song Where are the boys? Here we are? How are you today? Very well thank you Student: Gabriel! Gabriel is not here!

Teacher Sab: Okay, so our schedule for today is… Student: Teacher, WHERE IS YOUR ID?! Student: Are we learning about BALLS?!

Teacher Sab: So Jose was ALMOST the winner, so he was the… Student: Second place! Student: Who was the THIRD?!

Teacher: Who can be your friends? Student: Jollibee!

Teacher: What do friends do together? Student: Play! Student: Hug!

Teacher: Today, we’re going to read Frog In The Middle by Susana Gretz. It was made in 1993. How old is the book? Student: Gasps It’s older than us!!!!

Animal Friends Activity

Student: Rabbit’s address is 10 20 30 40 50.. Student: That’s a telephone number!!

Teacher: finds a picture of Pope Francis What is Pope Francis doing here? Student: Thank you Pope Francis! Student: We love you Pope Francis! Student: Pope Francis! Pope Francis!