Observation and Description of Dispositions - Essay Example

? Dispositions Observation and 1a). Group characteristics In the teaching situation observed, the group consists ofabout twenty students. The lesson they have is about reading and writing. This size of class is manageable because the teacher gets to actively interact with each and every student on a personal level. This helps the teacher observe and learn the student’s individual strengths and weaknesses and assist them to improve appropriately (Calkins, 1983). The classroom environment is comfortable. This is evident through the seating arrangement and the overall outlook of the classroom. This tends to boost the students morale and enhances their learning and development. The group seems to be comfortable with each other and this is seen through the interactions that they have. This improves their learning capability because the learners are at ease. 1b). Instructional delivery The instructional delivery used in this class situation is, the teacher has invited the students to participate in the writing process and this improves students’ interest. Once the student has developed an interest in what they are learning, it becomes easier for the teacher to get through to them. The teacher has also monitored the subject of the course that would create an exciting experience for the students. In the video, one of the students talks of how much they love mother’s day. This is a topic that would excite the children. During the learning process, another delivery method that the teacher used is to let the children share a fond experience, which is expressed with their writing. 2. Analysis, Exploration, and Reasoning 2a). Student-teacher interaction The student teacher interaction observed in this classroom situation is the one to one consultation that the teacher has with her students. The teacher seems to be attending to the students at an individual level. This improves the learning capability of the student. The students are actively participating in the teaching-learning activities. The teacher also ensures that there is participatory learning whereby each student actively participates and contributes to the lesson. The lesson is not teacher-centered. 2b). Tone of the teacher-student interaction The tone that the teacher uses is very friendly and slow, and is geared towards making the children comfortable. When the students are in a learning situation, the kind of tone the teacher uses can determine the level of understanding of the students. The teacher also uses a tone which ensures that all the students hear and understand what is being said because the tone is loud enough (Bransford, Brown & Cocking, 2000). 2c). Level of student engagement with the lesson In the observed classroom, the students are engaged in many activities. One of the activities is drawing a picture of a place of their choice then writing about that place. This kind of student engagement is essential for their learning. After the sharing sessions, the other students are given a chance to discuss the work that has just been presented. This gives the student a chance to share their ideas and correct their fellow student. The students also get to learn from each other as they exchange vocabularies. Not all classrooms have this kind of engagement. 2d). Setting expectations for academic performance How the teacher reacts to the performance of a student substantially determines how the student will continue learning. The teacher has to set expectations for academic performance for every class. In the observed situation, the teacher does so by giving the students small tasks and letting the students share the work they have done. With this sharing the students can see what the other students have done. This helps the students not to feel discriminated due to their performance and instead try to be better. This kind of academic expectation does not interfere with the student’s self-esteem while helping them at the same time. The students are also expected to listen keenly to and strictly follow the directions of the instructor. This is because the classroom is meant to provide the students with opportunities to apply, practice, create, discover and explore their skills. In the elementary stages of education, like writing, the teacher plays a significant role in ensuring the proper acquisition of this information. In this classroom situation, the teacher uses a student friendly method. 3a). Connection to other effective teaching principles Some of the most effective teaching principles, especially for elementary classes are mostly based on how the teacher interacts with the students. During a class, the teacher should note when the students’ interest is high and pause to engage the student in an activity. The activities performed during this time help the students understand better, and to expand their knowledge. Another effective teaching principle is when the teacher lets the student take charge of their own process (Bransford, Brown & Cocking, 2000). Al though the teacher will focus on the student’s objective. The process on how to achieve this is left to the student. This comes out with the observed teacher, when she lets the children write their own stories. After she gives the guidance, the process of how to achieve the objective is upon the students. This helps them learn by applying their knowledge. The teacher should avoid lecturing throughout the lesson; the students need to be active so as not to lose focus. The teacher should also lay out what the students are expected to achieve by the end of the lesson, this can be done by a vivid explanation, or by showing them an example. In the observed classroom, she shows them a drawing she’s done before she lets them do the exercise. 4. Evaluation 4a). Teaching style The teacher observed employed a number of teaching styles, these included, the use of a friendly tone, the use of appropriate examples, interacting with the students, letting the students assess each other’s work, participatory learning, question and answer method among others (Bruner, 1996). These styles seem to be effective because it is observed that the student have a positive response to the teacher. The students also seem comfortable interacting and contributing their opinions in class (Bredekamp and Copple, 1997). 4b). Positive impact of the teacher’s interest in students The teacher’s interest in the students has a positive impact because the students don’t feel left out. Since the students have different rates of understanding, when the teacher goes round checking on each student, it helps keep them all afloat and attentive, and none is left behind. The teacher’s interest in the student’s will also enable her to know the learning strengths and weaknesses of each student and address them accordingly. The teacher’s interest in the students will make them feel the need to learn because they feel that someone else is concerned about their learning. This is most likely to improve their understanding and performance. The teacher’s interest in the students is also likely to improve their participation in the classroom. 4c). How the teacher’s expectations influence student performance The students feel the drive to achieve the goals set by the teacher to improve their academic performance (Bredekamp and Copple, 1997). The teacher’s expectations also influence how the lesson is conducted so as to achieve its objectives. This is because the teacher will conduct the lesson according to how he/she expects the children to perform. The teacher’s expectations will also influence the students’ performance because the students will behave according to how the teacher expects them to behave. By doing this, their performance is likely to improve since the teacher’s expectations are usually aimed at improving the overall performance of the students. This is because the teacher expects the student’s to perform highly and their performance will therefore be influenced by the teacher’s expectations. 4d). Thinking process to complete the evaluation In this evaluation, the behavior of the teacher towards the students is the main focus of the conclusions made. Observing the students’ actions in the class and the reaction to questions asked provided clues as to the nature of interaction with the teacher. The response or effect of these interactions formed the basis of the evaluation. The teacher can also evaluate the objectives of the lesson by finding out if they were all met so as to know whether the lesson was successful or not. 5. Recommendations 5a). Alternate approaches to setting high expectations for the students Setting high expectations for students is an essential part of the learning process, and this can be done in several ways. In his observation, the teacher let the student learn from others. This would help encourage and drive them. It would also increase their chances of understanding what is being taught. An alternative method of setting high expectations would be to give incentives or rewards to the students that excel, and to the ones who also improve significantly. 5b). Justification for choice of recommendation The recommendation for an incentive system is because human beings are naturally geared towards rewards. The reward system also works well because a punishment system may cause harm to the low-performers. Rewards are known to motivate learners, thus increase the chances of better performance. Rewards are a form of positive reinforcement. Essay: Influence of teacher’s expectations on student academic performance When a teacher sets out specific goals and objectives that he/she expects from the students, this gives them a target to achieve and motivates them to work towards those achievements. It is therefore important for the teacher to elucidate to the students what is expected from them so as to give them something to work to. In what is known as the self-fulfilling prophecy, a teacher’s expectations of a student’s mental abilities will influence the student’s performance as they shall strive to attain the set standard. This hypothetical situation involves students of Grade 3 in their English lesson. The first important factor when setting expectations is ensuring a positive teacher-student relationship where lines of communication are open and the students feel free to express themselves. This is important especially when it comes to reading or creative writing as some students may feel shy about their abilities and be unresponsive. Unresponsiveness in class may be due to fear of being ridiculed or laughed at if they give the incorrect answer, and may manifest in behavior such as keeping extremely quiet in class and not participating in discussions. The teacher may assist such students to come out of their shells by creating an environment where students can give answers in class without fellow students laughing or making fun of them. Activities such as reading passages out loud while the teacher gently helps with pronunciation of difficult vocabulary may give the students the courage they need to approach classes with enthusiasm for learning. According to Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968), a teacher’s actions and language communicate their expectations to the students. This is termed creating a positive socio-emotional climate by performing actions such as smiling, nodding and being friendly. For example, by being supportive, encouraging and understanding, the teacher may influence low achievers to become better. Low-achieving students can be assisted by offering them more response time to answer questions, giving them clues and pointers to nudge them into answering questions correctly and involving them as much as possible in class work. Negative actions may include paying attention to only the high-achieving students at the expense of the others, not giving slower students a chance to participate actively or expressing frustration, anger or impatience when students give answers that are deemed wrong. Testing is also another key method of not only setting expectations but testing students to see how much of these expectations they have fulfilled. It is a way of keeping tabs on how well the students are meeting set targets. The key to effectively testing students lies in removing the horror and dread most students feel at the mention of tests. Students fear tests because they feel that they have been set up to make them fail. Remove this fear by making tests a fun and normal activity that does not condemn students to failure. This helps in overcoming the negative attitude students may have towards tests and exams. Incorporating tests into regular class work makes them seem normal to the students and gets them used to being tested (Jones and Jones, 2004). Giving students’ feedback on tests, examinations and answers in the class discussions is also important in setting up expectations. For example, positive feedback is always a good way of reinforcing students’ belief in their abilities. It is important though to note that too much positive feedback without the necessary positive criticism, though well-meaning, may backfire. Too much sympathy may be interpreted by the child as an indication that they are low performers by default. They may therefore stop trying to work hard and better themselves since they see their current level as their best. Excessive praise for an easily accomplished task such as reading a simple English passage may also indicate to the student that the teacher has a low expectation of them. Consequently, they will also stop trying too hard since the goals set seem low. The right amount of praise and criticism is a delicate balance that goes a long way in communicating a teacher’s expectation of students. Encouraging class pride is also a positive way of ensuring the class works together to achieve set goals. By conducting motivational class activities, encouraging students to share problems and solve them together, and monitoring progress not just of individual students but of the class as a whole, the students attain a sense of purpose. The seating arrangements should be equitable and comfortable, with a teacher-student distance ratio that is not too big. Students who constantly seat at the back may consider themselves ‘backbenchers’ and may not actively participate in class by virtue of being too far away from the teacher. Constant rotation of seating arrangements where everyone gets to sit close to the front may balance this out. Assigning work to students such as group work or partnered work helps them gain a sense of cooperation and gives them a break away from the routine individual assignments. Students can tackle interesting tasks such as writing a creative story or interpreting an assigned narrative together. By working together, students can learn to exploit their strengths and improve on their weak areas. The teacher must ensure that the groups consist of students of all abilities and avoid grouping together students of similar capabilities as it may indicate favoritism or selectiveness to the students. Ability grouping where children are categorized according to the perceived abilities may create a situation where students perform poorly simply because they have been put in a low-ability group (Slavin, 2006). References Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Bredekamp, S., & Copple, C. (Eds.). (1997). Developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood education (Rev. ed.). Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children. Bruner, J. S. (1996). The culture of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Calkins, L. M. (1983). Lessons from a child: On the teaching and learning of writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Jones, V., & Jones, L. (2004). Comprehensive classroom management. Boston: Pearson Education. Rosenthal, R., & Lenore, J. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc. Slavin, R. E. (2006). Educational Psychology: Theory and practice. (8th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education. Read More