Goal Three

I’ve found learning and working out techniques to manage behaviour will be key for the smooth running of my future classroom. Having a disrupted year, a very long term and a class of 54 meant that I wasn’t always successful at getting the class to quieten down, but I did improve as time went on and my confidence grew. As we got closer to the end of term the children were tired and in need of a break, and this did show in how they responded (both to me and the teachers).

I spoke about it with the two teachers and they told me that they had set expectations at the beginning of the year, and made the class stick to them by letting them know when a behaviour was not acceptable, for example, calling the class back if they were too noisy when going out to line up for sports or transitioning to another lesson. This made me feel better, and I did call them back sometimes. I also became more confident about letting children know if their behaviour was inappropriate and started to move children if they were distracting others by talking with friends etc. I also used positive reinforcement as a technique, for example, “X is sitting beautifully and is ready to learn”, “Lots of people are still chatting but I can see that Y is ready and sitting quietly – you can go to morning break now”.

When I go into my next placement, I have a more extensive repertoire of techniques to use, and I intend to start using them from day one. Looking back, coming into the class pre-lockdown, I didn’t have a plan for how to quieten the whole class and it probably showed to the class. Some of the children did try to test me at times, especially when I came back post-lockdown, but I did get stricter about them showing respect as time went on. I need to practice my ‘teacher voice’ as I am a naturally quiet person (although I can clap relatively loudly).

Using a variety of resources is important when planning lessons, as they can provide interest or generate a scene-change. Prior to lockdown, the class had some devices but these were generally shared and used for programmes such as Reading Eggs and Mathletics.

During lockdown, with the move to remote learning, the class started to use Google Classroom, within a week of my practicum starting, all the children had a device allocated to them (either a chrome book or an iPad, some children brought their own device from home). In my previous role I worked with Law Firms who were changing practice management systems, so I understand what a steep learning curve it is to learn and start using a new system and the children were doing a fantastic job. They were provided with a weekly timetable which had a number of tasks that had to be completed by particular times (there were check-ins during the week), but to a certain extent they could decide the order of tasks they had to complete.

This gave me the opportunity to develop Google Slides presentations for some lessons which were then allocated to the children. This meant that they could go back and look at something such as a video or instructions if they needed to. I think that this possibly gave me a greater scope to use different resources, as they wouldn’t just see something once. We did have a power cut on the second to last day and subsequently no internet, which meant that the children weren’t able to use the resources in their Google Slides presentation (information about each Matariki Star) so I had to quickly put some information on the board for the class to use. This made me think about how reliant we can be on technology in a modern classroom and that it is probably a good idea to have a couple of lessons up my sleeve that don’t require technology and can be pulled out in case there is an issue with technology.

We didn’t have time to do the last part of my Matariki lesson, but the children do have instructions on how to weave a Matariki star, so they will be able to do this when they have some time if they would like to.

I’ve realised how important it is to have a strong opening and close for each lesson, so that I can define what is going to be covered and have a distinct ending point. Timing of the lessons is important, and I think as I gain more experience, I will have a better idea of how much I can cover in each lesson, so I won’t end up splitting lessons as much (due to too much content).

I’m really excited about developing my own class culture. The Learning-focused culture standard “Develop a culture that is focused on learning, and is characterised by respect, inclusion, empathy, collaboration and safety.” (Education Council New Zealand | Matatū Aotearoa, 2017) sounds like exactly what I would like my classroom to be. When you come into a classroom you have to figure out what the culture is and then fit into that. I’m not sure if it will be possible, but for my next practicum I’m planning to ask my AT if I can meet prior to starting so I get an idea of the class culture, routines and behaviour expectations before I start.