Professional Knowledge
1. Know students and how they learn
Knowing each individual student is vital to be a successful teacher. During the first week of school my mentor teacher and I had the students create their own profiles displaying what makes them happy, what makes them angry, things they love and things that make them sad. This was a good way to discover their interests, strengths and weaknesses. It also allowed them to be as creative as they like. We used these profiles for a classroom display and as a reminder of their individuality.
To further our knowledge of specific learning styles preferred by the students they completed a Visual Auditory and kinesthetic questionnaire. Students completed the questionnaire and also worked through the scoring process themselves. The scores indicated which learning style they learn best in. The results showed that the majority of the class were visual learners followed by kinesthetic learners. I have used this knowledge in planning my lessons to cater to these learning styles. In all explanations I try to use the IWB to give the students a visual as well as auditory instructions.
Like most classes, teachers will have to cater for challenging students. On my placement there are a number of students in my class that have a very short attention span and different learning difficulties. One child has been diagnosed with dyslexia and performance anxiety. Knowing this information I have to plan my lessons in a way that caters for all the different learning abilities. Together with my mentor teacher we have found that these students need to be placed towards the front of the classroom. This allows there to be less distractions between themselves and the teacher and whiteboard. In relation to my personal teaching philosophy flexibility is vital when planning and teaching for a variety of abilities.
To further our knowledge of specific learning styles preferred by the students they completed a Visual Auditory and kinesthetic questionnaire. Students completed the questionnaire and also worked through the scoring process themselves. The scores indicated which learning style they learn best in. The results showed that the majority of the class were visual learners followed by kinesthetic learners. I have used this knowledge in planning my lessons to cater to these learning styles. In all explanations I try to use the IWB to give the students a visual as well as auditory instructions.
Like most classes, teachers will have to cater for challenging students. On my placement there are a number of students in my class that have a very short attention span and different learning difficulties. One child has been diagnosed with dyslexia and performance anxiety. Knowing this information I have to plan my lessons in a way that caters for all the different learning abilities. Together with my mentor teacher we have found that these students need to be placed towards the front of the classroom. This allows there to be less distractions between themselves and the teacher and whiteboard. In relation to my personal teaching philosophy flexibility is vital when planning and teaching for a variety of abilities.
2. Know the content and how to teach it
It was a lesson on the skeletal structure of the human body that required me to do some study myself to know the content. While I had some brief prior knowledge on the different bones in the body I wanted to make sure I was certain about the information. I therefore researched the purposes of the bones and the proper pronunciation. This gave me greater confidence when teaching in front of the class.
This lesson in particular I knew the only way the students would retain the information was to present it visually and have it apply to it to themselves. To achieve this I firstly showed a powerpoint showing a visual picture of the bones, I then got them to move and touch the particular bone we were discussing. I incorporated a game of ‘Simon Says’ to retain their attention and interest.
To further their learning, I team taught with the other year 3 teacher and we had the students trace around their bodies and label the body parts they know and the ones they just learnt. The students got great enjoyment out of this task and really suited the kinesthetic learners.
This lesson in particular I knew the only way the students would retain the information was to present it visually and have it apply to it to themselves. To achieve this I firstly showed a powerpoint showing a visual picture of the bones, I then got them to move and touch the particular bone we were discussing. I incorporated a game of ‘Simon Says’ to retain their attention and interest.
To further their learning, I team taught with the other year 3 teacher and we had the students trace around their bodies and label the body parts they know and the ones they just learnt. The students got great enjoyment out of this task and really suited the kinesthetic learners.