Week 4: Am I really ready for more?

I thought I would have been both mentally, physically and emotionally ready to take on this week's class but I was somewhat wrong.

For the past three weeks I have been battling the flu-like symptoms while trying to keep up with my course assignments and day to day classes. Unfortunately, this has affected the way I operated in the classroom mentally, physically, and emotionally. I really tried my best to pay attention and take away the key elements from my classes which can assist me in enhancing my practicum field experience.

At the beginning of the class, my classmates and I were required to define key terms related to atmospheric systems and processes which we have come across thus far. In this simple exercise, I was able to define most of the terms that we were required to define. However, although I was familiar with all of the terms, it was difficult to remember the definitions for some of them. Out of eighteen terms I awarded myself eleven marks for the definitions I provided. Upon reflecting on this memory exercise, I have realized that as an upcoming geography teacher I must be able to remember the terms and its definitions.

How can I be a great knowledgeable teacher if I cannot remember key terms and definitions?

Thus, through this recap exercise, I have learnt that I must have a clear understanding of the content I intend to teach my students and I must also be knowledgeable and able to remember key terms and its definitions.

This make me question the importance of having a clear understanding and being knowledgeable in the subjects I intend to teach in the future. The answer to that is simple. By having a clear understanding of the content and being able to remember the terms and definitions, will allow me to correct any misconceptions a student may have about certain terms and definitions, and answer questions posed without having any doubts. Its about conveying accurate and factual information about the subject matter to my students.

After the introductory exercise, we moved right into learning about planetary winds. This topic has always been quite challenging to understand because of the complexity of the way in which the air circulates across the globe. However, with the aid of an outline of the globe and the assistance of our instructor to guide us through the process of understanding the way in which air circulates across the globe, I was able to have a clearer understanding of the topic. The videos were also helpful in understanding the Coriolis Effect. Therefore, in this segment of the classroom proceedings, I have learnt that videos and diagrams can definitely assist in understanding the content better, especially for complex topics like the global circulation of air in the atmosphere. In light of that, I still think that I need to do further reading and note taking with regard to the topic in order to remember its contents.

Here comes the disappointing part of this week's class.

As an activity, each individual was required to create a body movement/s as a way in remembering the rules of air movement in the northern and southern hemispheres. The same movement I had in mind, was the same movement one of my classmate's had already demonstrated. This immediately side tracked me and I was unable to think of another movement to show one of the the rules related to air movement. This activity made me wonder whether or not I am a kinesthetic learner.  I felt so embarrassed and disappointed because I was unable to create a movement and I believe I was capable of thinking of something. Nevertheless, while most of my classmates had already created theirs and sat in their seats, I along with a few others were unable to complete the activity. This did not mean that we got away. Our instructor still insisted that we create a movement/s to demonstrate by the next class. However, we were not restricted by just creating a movement in relation to the rules of air circulation. Instead, we were instructed to demonstrate a movement/s based on any topic from the course outline. What a relief?! because I truly felt like I was under pressure during the activity in class.

By reflecting on this activity, I am now beginning to wonder how will I deal with such a situation. What will I do if my students are unable to complete an activity that I instruct them to do? Perhaps I can use my instructor's strategy and give an alternative way in completing the same activity. After all, not all students are the same. This means that I have much research to do, in an attempt to figure out alternative ways that I can enhance my students learning experience when they are unable to complete certain activities.

The final segment of this week's class was based on conducting research and presenting the information obtained from the research. It was easy to source information because of the availability of computers with internet access and with the help of my team member, the information was sourced and refined within the allotted time frame of fifteen minutes. I enjoy doing research and presenting information to my classmates. This activity has allowed me to manage my time, work together with my team member in order to complete the task on time, and allowed me to enhance my presentation skills. Although some of the information sourced may not have been quite accurate, positive feedback was given by our instructor. This gave me a little confidence and I felt much better than I did earlier in the class.

It is definitely an activity I would love to implement during my field teaching. However, the most challenging part of these type of exercises is lack of available computers, no internet access as well as time constraints. As much as I would love to have my students explore with technology during class time, realistically, in some secondary schools, these are some of the challenges faced. Thus, as an alternative, I may divide my students into groups, distribute information handouts with different areas of a topic, allow them to highlight key elements from the information handout, and then have them present it to their classmates. I did try that strategy when i thought the topic natural hazards and natural disasters, and it worked pretty well. Another alternative is to divide students into groups and give them a different topic to research, then instruct them to find research outside of class hours as homework, then allow them to present their information on a particular day. In that way the students will surely engage in the use of technology at some point in time.

Ultimately, I have learnt quite a lot in this week's class. Among the key things, it is important for me as a prospective teacher to remember key terms and definitions related to the subjects that i will be qualified to teach and there are alternative ways in allowing students to complete tasks assigned to them in order to enhance their learning experience.

There is still much more to be learnt thus in week five i'm going to strive.