This week's class was a continuation of last class on Caribbean Weather Systems. This session was fully content driven with an interesting twist. Brochures, videos, standard cloud type charts, calypso, synoptic charts were among the resources used in this one class session. The first brochure was based on flooding. It gave details on everything we needed to know about flooding. Since we live on an island that is prone to flooding, it was quite helpful be reminded and sensitize ourselves of this reality.
After reviewing the information on the brochure, we were then instructed to use our observation skills to critically assess the way in which thunderstorms develop just by looking at a time lapse video. The questions that our lecturer gave us helped to guide our observations so my classmates and I knew exactly what to pay attention to while we viewed the video. It was quite interesting to note that by looking at one video, we can drawn so many conclusions about the topic. After discussing with my team members, I realized that we all had similar and dissimilar observations. Therefore, as we engaged in collaboration, we learned a lot more than we would have if we did it on our own. Additionally, after viewing the video several times we were able to discover more about thunderstorm development. Engaging in such engaging activities in this class has helped me to understand and value the importance of collaboration in the classroom and I intend on using similar strategies in the classes that I will be teaching.
It was time to move on to Northers/Cold fronts. My classmates and I were instructed to work individually on the exercise to determine the conditions before the passing of a front and after the passing of a front in Yucatan Mexico and in Belize. Although it took us a while to complete the exercise, I was assured that I answered the questions to the best of my ability. In my to do list, I know that I will definitely need to include, "memorize the symbols that are used to determine weather conditions" because during the exercise I often looked at the handouts that our lecturer gave us. I think that by now I should have been able to interpret the symbols without the aid of a weather symbol chart. Thus, it is important for me to review all the aspects of weather and climate. Additionally, I also have to do more extensive research on tornadoes and ITCZ so that I will have a greater understanding of the in which theses systems work.
In the final segment of this week's class, we review a brochure on disaster preparedness. As we followed along with out lecturer on the items needed in the even of a disaster, I asked myself, "How prepared am I in the event of a natural disaster?" "How prepared are my family members?" I then realized that in the event of a natural disaster, my family and I will not be fully prepared. I instantly had a flashback to the time when Tropical Storm Bret passed over Trinidad and Tobago. During that time my family and I were not fully prepared. However, now that I have the information at hand, it is up to me to sensitize my family and friends about the items needed in case of a disaster. It is crucial that we be fully prepared because we never know if we may end up in a similar position like our Caribbean neighbours in Dominica and Saint Martin. In future, I can definitely reassure myself that I will be prepared in the event of a natural disaster because I will use the information given to me and accept the challenge of making my own disaster preparedness kit.
In essence this was a very informative class and I realized that I need to continue doing research in order to memorize and deepen my understanding of geographic phenomenon. Additionally, I must ensure that I am fully prepared in the event of a natural disaster.
Friday, 10 November 2017
Thursday, 9 November 2017
Week 10: Presentations again
At the beginning of this week's class, my classmates and I were given the opportunity to share our three week practicum experiences firstly with our team members, and then with our classmates. I must say, this debrief exercise was quite enlightening. I actually had an epiphany after hearing some of my classmates speak about the challenges they encountered during the three week period.
One of my classmates indicated that at the last minute she was challenged to teach a lesson that she was unprepared for on one of the days during this term's practicum. Despite the challenge she encountered at that moment, she indicated that she delivered the lesson successfully. She was able to assess the situation and quickly think of a solution to her problem. As she shared her experience, I actually began to think of the things that I would have done if I was in a similar situation.
As a relatively inexperienced teacher, I must say if I was in her position at that point in time, I would have been panicking and I would have felt so flustered that I would not have taught the lesson. I'm not sure if many people may share similar views but I am one of those individuals who cannot function efficiently if I do not feel as prepared as I should be in certain situations. Especially when it comes to teaching a lesson or doing an oral presentation. The fact that she was able to pool together the appropriate and available resources at the very last minute even though she did not initially planned to teach the lesson, is commendable.
Based on the experience she shared with the entire class, I realized that in the event of any challenge we might encounter during our teaching career, we must have the ability to respond to a particular situation with practical solutions that will work in the classroom using the available resources. She made a smart move by working with the resources she had and drawing from her previous knowledge of the topic. Thankfully she was knowledgeable in the content and this I think was an important factor that aided in the successful delivery of the lesson.
Therefore, with that being said, every chance I get, I must think of ways to refresh my memory in certain content areas where I may be lacking. So in the event that I am challenged to teach a certain topic, I will be prepared because I will have the content knowledge and I will make use of the available resources. I also have to constantly remind myself to keep up with current events to related information to students using real life examples which will also aid in the successful delivery of any lesson.
Another experience that was shared by my other classmate, really got me thinking. She indicated that the class she was assigned to consisted of students who had low literacy rates. Therefore, it was difficult for the students to grasp certain concepts. This for me sounds quite terrifying, knowing that some students may not have the ability to read or understand a concept. However, the ticket out of a situation like that, is using the appropriate strategies and techniques in a lesson that will allow students to understand the content. Her experience made me realize that as prospective teachers we must cater for all types of learners with learning disabilities. Therefore, I have to put in the extra effort to find different strategies and techniques that will appeal to the different types of learners I may meet throughout my career as a teacher.
After sharing our experiences, it was time to present our working models as part of our course assignment. I must say that the presentations from all my classmates were excellent. The working models that they produced were so well constructed. It gave me inspiration to construct the different model's that can be a useful and interactive teaching resources for their students. My team members and I also produced a working model which was selected from the module Caribbean Weather Systems, particularly hurricanes. Although my team members and I put effort into the construction of the model, there was room for improvement.
At the end of the presentations our lecturer instructed us to walk around to each group's model and allocate a mark to the different criterion on the rubric. This exercise made feel like an examiner, critically assessing the working model produced by my classmates in order to allocate a fair and deserving mark. I think it was good practice for my classmates and I to carefully inspect the work produced by each person, since we will soon be doing the same with out students.
After we were finished with that part, we did a quick overview of hurricanes which is one of the Weather Systems that affect the Caribbean region. The brochure that was produced by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management, had sufficient information about hurricanes. The information helped to remind me of the main points that I need to know about hurricanes, and to re-emphasize that hurricanes are a serious threat to the people living in the Caribbean region. I think that brochures are a great way to summarize critical information on any topic. If I were to give an assessment for students, I may instruct them to create a brochure that will summarize the main points of a unit topic.
Overall, at the end of this week's class I was able to learn from my classmates practicum experience, get inspiration on ideas of working models that can be constructed as a teaching resource, practice allocating marks to students work, and refresh my memory about key elements about hurricanes.
One of my classmates indicated that at the last minute she was challenged to teach a lesson that she was unprepared for on one of the days during this term's practicum. Despite the challenge she encountered at that moment, she indicated that she delivered the lesson successfully. She was able to assess the situation and quickly think of a solution to her problem. As she shared her experience, I actually began to think of the things that I would have done if I was in a similar situation.
As a relatively inexperienced teacher, I must say if I was in her position at that point in time, I would have been panicking and I would have felt so flustered that I would not have taught the lesson. I'm not sure if many people may share similar views but I am one of those individuals who cannot function efficiently if I do not feel as prepared as I should be in certain situations. Especially when it comes to teaching a lesson or doing an oral presentation. The fact that she was able to pool together the appropriate and available resources at the very last minute even though she did not initially planned to teach the lesson, is commendable.
Based on the experience she shared with the entire class, I realized that in the event of any challenge we might encounter during our teaching career, we must have the ability to respond to a particular situation with practical solutions that will work in the classroom using the available resources. She made a smart move by working with the resources she had and drawing from her previous knowledge of the topic. Thankfully she was knowledgeable in the content and this I think was an important factor that aided in the successful delivery of the lesson.
Therefore, with that being said, every chance I get, I must think of ways to refresh my memory in certain content areas where I may be lacking. So in the event that I am challenged to teach a certain topic, I will be prepared because I will have the content knowledge and I will make use of the available resources. I also have to constantly remind myself to keep up with current events to related information to students using real life examples which will also aid in the successful delivery of any lesson.
Another experience that was shared by my other classmate, really got me thinking. She indicated that the class she was assigned to consisted of students who had low literacy rates. Therefore, it was difficult for the students to grasp certain concepts. This for me sounds quite terrifying, knowing that some students may not have the ability to read or understand a concept. However, the ticket out of a situation like that, is using the appropriate strategies and techniques in a lesson that will allow students to understand the content. Her experience made me realize that as prospective teachers we must cater for all types of learners with learning disabilities. Therefore, I have to put in the extra effort to find different strategies and techniques that will appeal to the different types of learners I may meet throughout my career as a teacher.
After sharing our experiences, it was time to present our working models as part of our course assignment. I must say that the presentations from all my classmates were excellent. The working models that they produced were so well constructed. It gave me inspiration to construct the different model's that can be a useful and interactive teaching resources for their students. My team members and I also produced a working model which was selected from the module Caribbean Weather Systems, particularly hurricanes. Although my team members and I put effort into the construction of the model, there was room for improvement.
At the end of the presentations our lecturer instructed us to walk around to each group's model and allocate a mark to the different criterion on the rubric. This exercise made feel like an examiner, critically assessing the working model produced by my classmates in order to allocate a fair and deserving mark. I think it was good practice for my classmates and I to carefully inspect the work produced by each person, since we will soon be doing the same with out students.
After we were finished with that part, we did a quick overview of hurricanes which is one of the Weather Systems that affect the Caribbean region. The brochure that was produced by the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management, had sufficient information about hurricanes. The information helped to remind me of the main points that I need to know about hurricanes, and to re-emphasize that hurricanes are a serious threat to the people living in the Caribbean region. I think that brochures are a great way to summarize critical information on any topic. If I were to give an assessment for students, I may instruct them to create a brochure that will summarize the main points of a unit topic.
Overall, at the end of this week's class I was able to learn from my classmates practicum experience, get inspiration on ideas of working models that can be constructed as a teaching resource, practice allocating marks to students work, and refresh my memory about key elements about hurricanes.
Sunday, 5 November 2017
Week 9: So divine
This was the last week of our practicum field teaching experience until the grand finale next term.
On some days the lessons that I needed to teach didn't go exactly as planned. Aside from more whole-school interruptions, I had to deal with time constraints and technical difficulties. However, I did manage to deliver the lessons to the best of my ability. During the past three weeks, by teaching the topic Human Resources, I was reminded that I must continue to develop key skills in decision making, creative thinking, classroom management, time management and so on, in order to be a productive and beneficial Human Resource.
In some of the lessons I taught this week, I ensured that there were group activities and it worked out well. Therefore, I will continue to involve the students because they were really engaged in the lesson and excited about the activities they were given. Based on the observations I made, I was able to tell which groups were stronger and which ones were weaker. In the next practicum field teaching when I have more time with the students I will be able to assign them to groups where they could build on each others strengths and weaknesses. That is, I will not have all the stronger students in one group and all the weaker ones in another but rather have mixed groups.
Conversely, I instructed the students to do an individual research project and some of them really worked hard on it. I allowed the students to present their projects to their classmates and instructed them to indicate what they have learnt from their research about the topic. The students showed great interest when their peers presented their projects because this was something new to them and I think it was very effective. The pictures below are a few of the students work.
As the principal of the school indicated, in order to keep up with the time lost, we as future educators must be proactive. I think I am slowly becoming more proactive because on one of the days during this week, the teachers had a staff meeting which meant that the students did not have a teacher in their class. Like I did last week, knowing that the students did not have a teacher, I decided to take the opportunity to teach the lesson that I was supposed to but didn't get the chance due to a whole-school interruption.
I tried really hard to keep up with preparing and adjusting lesson plans, preparing resources, and keeping up with assignments for my other courses. Consequently, by Wednesday I felt both mentally and physically drained. The two key things that I need to work on to avoid these feelings are ensuring that I am fully prepared to teach a lesson and living a more healthy lifestyle in order to keep up with the daily pressures. I realized that like any other job, the teaching profession requires a lot of time, energy and effort. Things were so bad that I started to seek inspiration online. Viewing countless YouTube videos about inspiring the students of the 21st century has helped me. I needed some sort of external motivation to continue. This is when I began to question myself. Do I really think I am capable of keeping up with the demands of the teaching profession? YES! The answer is yes.
Teaching is a profession I have always wanted to venture into but I never expected it to be so tiring. However, if I keep the right attitude and right mindset I will be an efficient and effective teacher. In addition to that, I will take the advice from all of my practicum advisers and make the necessary adjustments to accomplish my duties as a prospective teacher which will in turn help me when I actually become a teacher.
Moreover, although the students gave positive feedback about the lessons that I taught during this three week period, I still feel as though I could have done so much more to assist the students in understanding the content better. Additionally, I could have been more prepared during this practicum and used different teaching strategies and techniques in each lesson. As one of my practicum advisers said, "its all about balance". I still haven't mastered the art of multi-tasking but with time I will gradually get better at it.
Therefore, I will not give up and I'd like to think of myself as being very persistent. I did learn that preparation is definitely a key component and having appropriate teaching strategies and techniques as well as effective resources, will make the teaching/learning experience worthwhile. At the end of it all, I don't simply want to settle and be a mediocre teacher. I want to be that teacher who inspire my students during the teaching/learning process. So, with that being said, as long as I continue to work on my shortcomings, I think I will be ready and fully prepared for the next practicum field teaching experience and for my lifelong career as a teacher.
On some days the lessons that I needed to teach didn't go exactly as planned. Aside from more whole-school interruptions, I had to deal with time constraints and technical difficulties. However, I did manage to deliver the lessons to the best of my ability. During the past three weeks, by teaching the topic Human Resources, I was reminded that I must continue to develop key skills in decision making, creative thinking, classroom management, time management and so on, in order to be a productive and beneficial Human Resource.
In some of the lessons I taught this week, I ensured that there were group activities and it worked out well. Therefore, I will continue to involve the students because they were really engaged in the lesson and excited about the activities they were given. Based on the observations I made, I was able to tell which groups were stronger and which ones were weaker. In the next practicum field teaching when I have more time with the students I will be able to assign them to groups where they could build on each others strengths and weaknesses. That is, I will not have all the stronger students in one group and all the weaker ones in another but rather have mixed groups.
Conversely, I instructed the students to do an individual research project and some of them really worked hard on it. I allowed the students to present their projects to their classmates and instructed them to indicate what they have learnt from their research about the topic. The students showed great interest when their peers presented their projects because this was something new to them and I think it was very effective. The pictures below are a few of the students work.
As the principal of the school indicated, in order to keep up with the time lost, we as future educators must be proactive. I think I am slowly becoming more proactive because on one of the days during this week, the teachers had a staff meeting which meant that the students did not have a teacher in their class. Like I did last week, knowing that the students did not have a teacher, I decided to take the opportunity to teach the lesson that I was supposed to but didn't get the chance due to a whole-school interruption.
I tried really hard to keep up with preparing and adjusting lesson plans, preparing resources, and keeping up with assignments for my other courses. Consequently, by Wednesday I felt both mentally and physically drained. The two key things that I need to work on to avoid these feelings are ensuring that I am fully prepared to teach a lesson and living a more healthy lifestyle in order to keep up with the daily pressures. I realized that like any other job, the teaching profession requires a lot of time, energy and effort. Things were so bad that I started to seek inspiration online. Viewing countless YouTube videos about inspiring the students of the 21st century has helped me. I needed some sort of external motivation to continue. This is when I began to question myself. Do I really think I am capable of keeping up with the demands of the teaching profession? YES! The answer is yes.
Teaching is a profession I have always wanted to venture into but I never expected it to be so tiring. However, if I keep the right attitude and right mindset I will be an efficient and effective teacher. In addition to that, I will take the advice from all of my practicum advisers and make the necessary adjustments to accomplish my duties as a prospective teacher which will in turn help me when I actually become a teacher.
Moreover, although the students gave positive feedback about the lessons that I taught during this three week period, I still feel as though I could have done so much more to assist the students in understanding the content better. Additionally, I could have been more prepared during this practicum and used different teaching strategies and techniques in each lesson. As one of my practicum advisers said, "its all about balance". I still haven't mastered the art of multi-tasking but with time I will gradually get better at it.
Therefore, I will not give up and I'd like to think of myself as being very persistent. I did learn that preparation is definitely a key component and having appropriate teaching strategies and techniques as well as effective resources, will make the teaching/learning experience worthwhile. At the end of it all, I don't simply want to settle and be a mediocre teacher. I want to be that teacher who inspire my students during the teaching/learning process. So, with that being said, as long as I continue to work on my shortcomings, I think I will be ready and fully prepared for the next practicum field teaching experience and for my lifelong career as a teacher.
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| Proud and confident prospective teachers. |
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