Reflections on Prac

Monday 31st August:

I came into Bondi Beach Public School feeling slightly nervous but excited. I reacquainted myself with my cooperating teacher who informed me what the class had been doing. The three Year One classes had been focusing on the HSIE Unit of Celebrations, in which they were covering Father’s Day and Festival of the Winds when I would be there. I decided I would plan some of my lessons around these topics.

As Classroom Management was the focus of this practical, I was observing the class in reference to their behaviour. I noticed two children in particular who found it very difficult to focus: one who distracted others with immature behaviour and the other who could not stop herself from interrupting. For the assignment, I decided I would focus mainly on improving their behaviours, as well as implementing certain strategies to manage the entire class. I found that my CT used various methods of behaviour management, such as:- using mimicking (Simon Says, Hands on Heads, Touch Shoulders etc.)- affirmation of positive behaviours (I love the way Ella is sitting so quietly etc)- singling out negative behaviours (Whoever is being noisy, stand up and come to me)- using her face and expression to show emotions (anger, disappointment, sadness, joy)I did find some of her methods ineffective, such as raising her voice often to the children who were displaying minor misbehaviours. I noticed that she did not use tactful ignoring as one of her strategies, which I believe plays a part in the class’s inconsistent behaviour. Additionally, she did not have in place an adequate reward system, which I believe is necessary for children of a Stage One level. Stickers were used, however very infrequently and inconsistently. My CT was inconsistent with her strategies, and I believe this disrupted the class often, and subconsciously told them that they could get away with a lot of negative behaviour.

As this is a Practical, and I am only a student teacher, I cannot simply walk into her classroom and introduce radical methods of behaviour management, as it would be both rude to her and incredibly confusing to the class. They do not know me well enough yet to respect me as a qualified teacher and therefore may not listen to me as much as they listen and respect their own teacher. I know that when it comes to me having my own class, I would implement different strategies that would work best for me, and I believe the children. I now know that being consistent is a vital aspect of both managing and preventing negative behaviour.

The class itself is very lively and although sometimes they try hard to conceal and control their excitement, usually they succumb to calling out, ignoring each other, talking too loudly and accusing each other of petty violations. Simply put, they sadly do not respect each other. While I am here, I will implement the majority of my CT’s strategies, however I refuse to raise my voice at children, as it is not in my nature to do so. I will however, need to learn how to talk firmly and sternly with children. My main aspiration is to get the class to respect me and most importantly themselves and each other. As mentioned previously, there are two students in particular that disrupt the class on a regular basis, and I plan to focus mainly on developing their behaviour so that they can interact with the class in a more positive and cohesive manner. I intend to use positive reinforcement, shaping, tactful ignoring teamed with acknowledgement and affirmation of appropriate behaviours, time-out, teacher-student discussions away from the class, group alerting, encouragement, and finally employing the use of I-messages.