I can still remember how horrible I was at teaching my most favourite subject in the world right at the beginning. My lessons were too long winded and the students can’t seem to match up to my expectations.
A year later after, my expectations got lower but I concentrated and research on how best I could my lessons work. Hence, I think the word “strategy” here is very important.
For this CPD session, it got me thinking on what I did right and what I did wrong. I like encouraging group work in my lessons but that strategy can be compromised quite often due to the student’s learning behaviour. In this area, understanding the student’s personality and learning behaviour is so vital to our teaching strategies.
I have always find the 6 thinking hats in the PYP learning styles very interesting. However, I can’t seem to find time to do that. As a subject specialist, those kind of strategies may be time consuming at times. With as little as two separate periods a week, in total 80 mins and in addition to that, we have holidays/school events, some of these ‘good strategies’ may not be very efficient. In the end, finding the right time is important.
One of the things I wish to improve on is conducting differentiation more efficient and appropriately. I still feel time is a factor in this area but we all try our best. Separating problematic students can also be quite a task for the teacher and so far, I have learn a couple of ways to handle. I just hope the methods I’m using now doesn’t get too old but I guess constantly renewing ideas and finding new methods is always the key to keep the kids on their feet.
