Trainee 1 (SO1, the third training practice in becoming a primary class room techer)

Shortened version of the portfolio

Personal aims

- taking a new way of approaching to the teaching
- active role of the pupil

- teacher’s role: organizer, guide, planner of the learning environment
- How can I stand uncertainty?

- How can I activate the pupils if we get stuck?

- Can we do group work?

- Can I collect enough information for assessment?

- How can I assess group working?

- How will the pupils respond to group work?

 

Teaching thinking skills

- challenging tasks to activate thinking
- trying to reflect also during the process of learning not just in the end

- trying to make learning visible with the pupils

Reflection

After implementing TA into my teaching I found the religion book’s material unjustified and too easy. It felt like there was nothing creative for the pupils to take up.

I asked the pupils to make questions in groups about the theme we had dealt during the previous religion lesson. We discussed the issue: what is a good question.

This teaching practice has made me think about our school system in general, our curriculum and my views of being a teacher.

I was challenged to reflect my ideas about teaching.

I started seeing my role as a teacher in a new way. Instead of how to teach to what do I teach.

 I often caught myself thinking what the pupils are learning right now. How can I know how the pupils learn? Why are we teaching little details, give the pupils a book, ask them to read and understand? What is the final function of understanding?

Thinking skills, problem solving, finding new information, using new information, sustaining uncertainty are very much needed in life. Why aren’t we teaching these skills to pupils?

I built up the content with the pupils all the time. I guided our conversation, fed them with ideas and saved all the outcomes of the work. I had to develop my own thinking all the time. I had to think all the time about the function. We were braking maters into smaller units to find the meaningful issues.

It was difficult to stand uncertainty. Just giving the pupils time to think in peace and quiet for a minute seemed to me a long time but it did pay off. The pupils like challenges but they need time to think about them.

We were discussing matters a lot. It didn’t matter to the pupils at all even if I said that I don’t know the answer, it made them more active.

I have been told to be critical about the school books. I haven’t known how and what to do if I don’t use the school books. How to build tasks without books or teachers’ guides? This time I didn’t use the books but only the curriculum. I learnt to use limitation in making creative tasks.

 I’m amazed at how much I could learn about teaching in one school week.