Teaching Appraisal Nine
- Nicole Watts
- Jul 3, 2017
- 2 min read
This morning my HOD, Ella Parker, observed me teaching my Year 9 class - 9A. This class, in particular, are the class that I struggle with the most when it comes to behaviour management. There are a lot of challenging students within this class and the day-to-day classroom environment is dependent on the attitudes of a handful of students. The students are struggle with are not necessarily low in ability, there are a few that are at the top end of my class. Myself and the other core class teachers are still figuring out what is causing each of these students to act out in the way that they do. One student, Ngakau, has been my biggest challenge. He is one of, if not, the top of our maths class. He is VERY capable. However, it seems his behaviour at school and at home is almost an act of attention seeking. I have been working hard on giving him more responsibility and challenges in the classroom so that he does not have to think of ways to distract others. Turning him into a peer-teacher has worked out really well as it gives in to his attention-seeking nature. While he gets to teach others he is the centre of attention. When I first implemented this tactic he gained a sense of arrogance about himself but I persevered and he has settled down a lot! Ngakau is a very passionate learner and teacher. He won't stop until his "students" understand the concept and he won't stop until he understands a concept. He loves challenging himself and loves when he accomplishes something not many others can. He also makes it his mission to catch me out in my own mathematical skills - which I don't have a problem with.....we all make mistakes. For me, as long as he is keeping himself humble I am happy to cater to these needs as the room is a lot more enjoyable when he is not trying to be the class clown and it was great to read the Ella had picked up on this too.
Additionally, Ella questioned what learning comes from my warm ups. On this particular day I had decided to complete an oral warm up as it helps the students settle (they must be quiet to hear the questions). After marking the warm up we didn't really go over wrong answers and correcting them. I would say about 50% of the time I specifically address wrong answers i.e. go over the strategies/working to get the correct answer. This is definitely something I need to work on! Even though the warm up is meant to be a quick activity to get the brain moving it is still important that students are answering the questions correctly. Whether it be directed related to the current unit outcomes or just basic general maths skills.
Comentários