Learners in the middle phase are so different to any other learners. They are forming their identity and dealing with physical, emotional, intellectual and social changes (as outlined in my previous blog Middle Phase Reform).
To aid them through this phase, teachers are at the forefront. They should be fun and friendly. Understanding, but firm and consistent. Willing to listen to their students and plan their learning around their thoughts and interests. And finally, build relationships and provide feedback. These are the building blocks for a great middle phase teacher.
Middle phase teachers not only teach middle phase learners, but guide them in the right direction. This means that they must always be looking for warning signs like behaviour problems, declining grades, weight loss, inappropriate social interaction and frequent absenteeism.
They should provide a supportive learning environment, encourage positive body images, be flexible and give students some one on one time, where a relationship can be formed and issues can be addressed. Middle phase teachers should also be prepared to use other school resources (eg. school nurse, learning support, counselling, guest speakers) to help guide their students through a difficult time.
Being a middle phase teacher is all about knowing your students and providing adjustments where needed. Middle phase teachers need to keep in mind that they are not just teaching them a particular subject, but life skills also.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Breaking Down the SOSE Essential Learnings
The Essential Learnings contain a lot of educational jargon. It is imperative that before teachers start to work with them that they understand each required element fully. So before I start planning lessons and units I need to thoroughly break down the Year 9 SOSE Essential Learnings.
Learning and Assessment Focus - Summarising into simple statements
Learning and Assessment Focus - Summarising into simple statements
- Investigate and inquire local, national and global issues and ideas
- Make connections between people and places
- Inquire, create and communicate in social and environmental contexts
- Individually and collaboratively respond creatively to issues
- Reflect on learning to evaluate different values and perspectives
Knowledge and Understanding - Specific knowledge that will need to be taught
Time, continuity and change
Social, political, economic and cultural changes and continuities are connected to particular events, ideas and contributions, and can be interpreted from different perspectives.
- Countries have been shaped over time by events such as war, political change and immigration
- Many important ideas (eg. democracy, citizen rights and decision making) were developed from ancient times and from other countries
Place and Space
Environments are defined by spatial patterns, human and physical interactions, and sustainable practices can balance human activity and environmental processes.
- Understand relationships between human activities and environment
- Human activities include cultural, economic and political activities
- The importance of sustainable practice
Ways of Working - Linking to Bloom's Taxonomy
- Identify (Remember)
- Investigate (Remember/Understand)
- Research (Understand)
- Apply (Apply)
- Analyse (Analyse)
- Evaluate (Evaluate)
- Decide (Evaluate)
- Reflect (Evaluate)
- Conclude (Evaluate)
- Respond (Create)
For remember and understand processes activities such as creating timelines, diagrams and models are useful.
Getting students to solve problems, make a map or write a diary entry enhance apply processes.
For analyse processes, creating a graph or flow chart, or having a debate can help to develop this level.
To help develop evaluate processes, students could make decisions that are justified and based on criteria, propose changes to a law or hold a board meeting on a controversial topic that must be voted on.
And finally, for create processes, students could design a new form of power, create a new monetary system or predict the outcome of a hypothetical event.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Middle Phase Reform
As many teachers, students and parents are aware, the middle phase of schooling is very different. Students are going through many physical, emotional, intellectual and environmental changes and all of this can be a little overwhelming and possibly earning them a reputation of 'horror' students.
But it really isn't their fault. Many studies have shown that to counteract 'naughty' or disruptive students and students who are falling behind lies in the fact that teachers need to accomodate for students' needs (Knipe 2007). Students in this phase lose enthusiasm for learning (well they do have more important things on their mind), have slower progress, and have astounding rates of low self esteem. Basically, they are stressed out and scared!!
So, what do we do about it?
There have already been many policies regarding middle phase reform but I have rarely seen them implemented effectively in schools. So I'll break it down. Kids want fun. They want to see why its useful - its real life context. They don't want to sit there and listen. They want to get up and move around and give it a go. They want relationships and time to talk. They want support and flexiblity. All of these ideas have been backed by years of research but many teachers are still failing to incorporate them into their Year 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 classrooms (Knipe 2007, White & Wyn 2008).
Changing how we teach students in the middle phase of learning is not hard. It doesn't mean changing everything, it just means we have to incorporate engaging and meaningful pedagogy, focus more on relationships for behaviour management and understand that these kids are confused and just want some support.
References:
Knipe, S. (2007). Middle Years Schooling. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia.
White, R., & Wyn, J. (2008). Youth and Society. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
But it really isn't their fault. Many studies have shown that to counteract 'naughty' or disruptive students and students who are falling behind lies in the fact that teachers need to accomodate for students' needs (Knipe 2007). Students in this phase lose enthusiasm for learning (well they do have more important things on their mind), have slower progress, and have astounding rates of low self esteem. Basically, they are stressed out and scared!!
So, what do we do about it?
There have already been many policies regarding middle phase reform but I have rarely seen them implemented effectively in schools. So I'll break it down. Kids want fun. They want to see why its useful - its real life context. They don't want to sit there and listen. They want to get up and move around and give it a go. They want relationships and time to talk. They want support and flexiblity. All of these ideas have been backed by years of research but many teachers are still failing to incorporate them into their Year 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 classrooms (Knipe 2007, White & Wyn 2008).
Changing how we teach students in the middle phase of learning is not hard. It doesn't mean changing everything, it just means we have to incorporate engaging and meaningful pedagogy, focus more on relationships for behaviour management and understand that these kids are confused and just want some support.
References:
Knipe, S. (2007). Middle Years Schooling. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Education Australia.
White, R., & Wyn, J. (2008). Youth and Society. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.
Belief Statement
What is teaching?
For me, teaching is scaffolding learning in a way that allows students to meet the specified learning outcomes. It is guiding them towards a specific goal.
What is learning?
Learning is understanding and being able to use the knowledge that has been intended.
What are pedagogically effective ways as a learning manager to facilitate the best learning possible in your KLA?
I believe that the best way to facilitate learning is through providing meaningful, significant and engaging tasks. This should be aided through a variety of mediums such as group work, use of technolgy, creative tasks, relating to real life and inquiry tasks.
For me, teaching is scaffolding learning in a way that allows students to meet the specified learning outcomes. It is guiding them towards a specific goal.
What is learning?
Learning is understanding and being able to use the knowledge that has been intended.
What are pedagogically effective ways as a learning manager to facilitate the best learning possible in your KLA?
I believe that the best way to facilitate learning is through providing meaningful, significant and engaging tasks. This should be aided through a variety of mediums such as group work, use of technolgy, creative tasks, relating to real life and inquiry tasks.
Teaching and Learning
A significant learning experience for me were my senior years in high school - Year 11 and 12. I was at a new school, in a bigger town and having come from a school with only twelve students in my grade, I found it quite a distressing experience.
Although I fitted in well, I was having trouble getting used to the lack of one on one teaching and gradually fell behind in the subjects I was less interested in or just plain didn't understand (Maths and Economics). This was a new experience for me, as I had always had straight A's and just expected that this would continue.
Over time, I got used to the style of teaching and the sheer size of the class. However, the two subjects I had originally had trouble with both ended up with very different outcomes by the time I finished Year 12.
I excelled in Economics thanks to my teacher giving me more explanations and meaningful tasks. He explained significance, drew diagrams, watched movies, made us discuss concepts until we could talk about them in our sleep, related to real life, gave us BIG questions. He never just gave us the answer - we had to work it out ourselves. Every lesson or task was a challenge that helped us understand that little bit more. He scaffolded us until we could do it by ourselves. He always put so much effort into each class and had a great relationship with every student. Even to this day I remember almost everything he taught me and he is the reason why I wanted to become a teacher.
On the other hand, my marks continued to drop in Maths. I couldn't connect with the teacher, I didn't understand the relevance of what I was learning and I had to work so hard just to try and look like I was keeping up. I didn't understand even the basic concepts and ended up just doing the problems that I could do over and over again. I was lucky my friends were in the same class and they all came to my aid so that I would just pass each exam. On the end of every exam the teacher would write 'You're obviously not doing your homework'. I felt defeated, but my marks would always just get me over the line.
When I think back, I can't believe how much a teacher and subject matter can influence learning. It makes me realise that teachers need to notice what their students need. One on one is so valuable, as are meaningful, significant and engaging tasks.
Although I fitted in well, I was having trouble getting used to the lack of one on one teaching and gradually fell behind in the subjects I was less interested in or just plain didn't understand (Maths and Economics). This was a new experience for me, as I had always had straight A's and just expected that this would continue.
Over time, I got used to the style of teaching and the sheer size of the class. However, the two subjects I had originally had trouble with both ended up with very different outcomes by the time I finished Year 12.
I excelled in Economics thanks to my teacher giving me more explanations and meaningful tasks. He explained significance, drew diagrams, watched movies, made us discuss concepts until we could talk about them in our sleep, related to real life, gave us BIG questions. He never just gave us the answer - we had to work it out ourselves. Every lesson or task was a challenge that helped us understand that little bit more. He scaffolded us until we could do it by ourselves. He always put so much effort into each class and had a great relationship with every student. Even to this day I remember almost everything he taught me and he is the reason why I wanted to become a teacher.
On the other hand, my marks continued to drop in Maths. I couldn't connect with the teacher, I didn't understand the relevance of what I was learning and I had to work so hard just to try and look like I was keeping up. I didn't understand even the basic concepts and ended up just doing the problems that I could do over and over again. I was lucky my friends were in the same class and they all came to my aid so that I would just pass each exam. On the end of every exam the teacher would write 'You're obviously not doing your homework'. I felt defeated, but my marks would always just get me over the line.
When I think back, I can't believe how much a teacher and subject matter can influence learning. It makes me realise that teachers need to notice what their students need. One on one is so valuable, as are meaningful, significant and engaging tasks.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)