Reflections of Practicum

Practicum Week One

Weekly Reflection (24 Feb - 28 Feb)

The first week in school had been a good start for me despite having very few lessons to observe due to the fact that the school is having Common Tests for this and the following week. I still did manage to observe at least 5 lessons conducted by different teachers whom I have learnt plenty from. The teachers have different ways of managing the classrooms and I realized that it is of utmost importance for beginning teachers like us to try out various ways before we know which method works best for us.

I had a chance to conduct lessons for the Secondary Two Normal Academic class and the Secondary Two Express class, although it was only a relief duty but I have gained valuable experience interacting with the students. I realized that the Express class’s students were very well-behaved and were very on-task. However, the Normal Academic students require more help and motivation from me as they could not understand much of the content of the text given to them. And because of some problems with the projector, it made things difficult for them to follow through the lesson as I told them the answers verbally. I manage to write some of the answers down on the board, but due to time constraint, I decided to make copies of the answers for them and intend to give it to them next Monday.

Therefore, it is very important for me to be well-prepared for class, even in terms of the anticipation for something to go wrong technologically. Thus, it would be good for me to print out hard copies of what I want to do, and bring a Visualizer to class, just in case my laptop fails on me.  

Practicum Week Two

Weekly Reflection (3 Mar - 7 Mar)

I taught my first content-heavy lesson on Monday to the 3E2 Chinese class. The class was cooperative, however I think that I might have gone too fast as I realized that not everyone in the class could understand the content of the chapter. I would need to pace myself better to ensure that the class could follow what is being taught.

This week was also my second time observing the Drama CCA, I really like the passion and exuberance the students display. I feel that this is exactly how a CCA should be: that students do not drag themselves to attend something which is compulsory but instead, should be looking forward to be participating in activities which they like and learn something from.

In addition, I had a Chinese class with Secondary Three Normal Academic students. Although most of them were very cooperative but I did not plan the lesson very well as I did not have enough time to thoroughly go through all the activities which I have planned. As the students still have to attend CCAs after class, they appeared to be pretty restless. However, they could not finish the assigned tasks promptly as they could not write many words and had to spend a lot time checking on their dictionaries. In the end, I ended the lesson on time, but failed to go through the assignment which I have assigned. In addition, I realized that the assignment I designed for them might not be very suitable for their standard. Nonetheless, it was a valuable learning point for me as it allowed me to understand my students better and I believe that it would be a great help to my lesson planning in the future.

Practicum Week Three

Weekly Reflection (10 Mar - 14 Mar)

I had my first informal observation on Monday with 3E2, and my CT, Ms. Liew has given me a lot of support and advice. The students were cooperative and the lesson went on smoothly except for the technological errors which occurred. I realized that the charger of my laptop is faulty and I was really worried as the laptop could not ‘survive’ for more than 15 minutes if without the charger. Luckily, my charger worked miraculously after several tries and the students were just about to settle down. In addition, the sound system in the classroom was not functioning very well and the students spent some time to help me fix it. I was fortunate that both incidents were resolved promptly without much disruption to the lesson. I would have to be prepared for the worst scenario if such things happen again and attempt to resolve them immediately.

This week is the sabbatical week for the entire Zhenghua Secondary School. Although there's no classroom teaching for the whole week, the teachers had been organizing the events for the entire week and they had really put in a lot of effort for the students to have a good break, recharge and get ready for the coming challenges.

I was very fortunate to be able to be involved in the activities. On Tuesday,  it was the Urban Challenge day, the entire school had a run at Japanese and Chinese garden. The Secondary Two students went to Malacca on Wednesday and Thursday.

On Thursday,  I was allocated to go to Forest Adventure with the 4N students and I was very lucky to be able to join in the activities! The challenging and physically demanding activities really pushed our minds to the limits and were a test to our courage. I was glad to have gone through the entire course with the students and I felt that such activities are great avenues for teachers to foster positive relationship with students.

On Friday, it was the sandcastle building day! It was really a fun event! It was held at East Coast Park and there are professional sandcastle builders who coached us in building solid aandcastles. It was really about teamwork and cooperation and I hope that the students have learnt something while having fun.

All in all, I believe that the different activities held for the students have benefited them in a way or another, and that the memories created would be their precious shared memories.

Practicum Week Four

Weekly Reflection (24 Mar - 28 Mar)

On Monday I had a formal observation for a lesson with the Secondary Three Express students with my CT and NIE Supervisor. The lesson went on smoothly and both my CT and NIES have given me valuable feedback on the lesson. The content of the lesson could be better delivered if I had restructure the paragraphs of the text which I was teaching and that if I had made the lesson content more interesting by varying the lesson activities. The students were very cooperative and interacted with me very well. I hope that by fostering a good relationship with the students, they would be more interested in the subject and seek further improvement.

This week has been rather hectic as I have taken over all the lessons. Majority of the students were cooperative and seemed interested, however, there were a few students who seemed to be disengaged from the class and appeared to be uninterested. Despite my encouragement to get them participate in class, they still seemed reluctant to participate in group work. Therefore I have to think about the different approaches which I can adopt to involve the students in the classroomclassroom activities.

I was very grateful to the fact that my CTs gave me a lot of freedom in deciding the lessons' content. On Tuesday, I did a revision class for the Secondary Three Express class students through a simple quiz which required them to hold up different colour cards corresponding to the correct answers as responses to the questioquestions flashed on the Powerpoint slides. Seeing the students enjoy the game as they revise made me feel that all the hardwork was worth it. In addition, I realized that I really needed to brush up on my questioning skills in order to probe and guide the students into deriving at the answers for themselves. I have to bear in mind that students have to be prompted to think and teachers should not be the ones who simply spoon-feed the students with answers. In order to do so, it is crucial for me to encourage the students who are more reserved to speak more and give students more opportunities to think about various issues and give them longer time to think.

On Friday and Saturday, I brought some students out to a learning journey at the Chinatown Heritage Centre and a Chinese Riddle Workshop at Jurong Junior College respectively. For the learning journey at Chinatown, the students had the opportunity to know more about the struggles of our ancestors and the early immigrants. Although they complained that it was not interesting, I believe they have still gained an insight to our history and heritage. I have enjoyed my interactions with the students as I got to know more about their lives and interests. The students who went to the workshop were Secondary Two Higher Mother Tongue students. Together, we explored the world of Chinese riddles. They were very overwhelmed by the content and felt inferior when other students managed to derive the answers before they do. However, I told them that it all comes with practice, and that regardles of whether they win or lose, it is still a great exposure for them, and the fact that they feel overwhelmed means that they have gained new knowledge.

Finally, I hope to conduct more meaningful lessons which could evoke the learning interests in my students and optimize the teaching time I could have with them.

Practicum Week Five

Weekly Reflection (31 Mar - 4 Apr)

This had been a great learning week for me! Out of the lessons which I have conducted this week, I could feel the negative effects of me being too lenient with them happening. And this propelled me to revise and think deeper into the classroom management measures which I should have adopted.

I could not stand noise in class, so I would always pause when I hear noises and give the students who are talking warning glances. However in my recent lessons with the Normal Academic students, they did not stop talking as I glance at then and even carried on talking. Thus, I had to mete out punishments such as making them stand up in class or standing beside the windows outside of the classroom. I talked to one of the trouble makers after class and he seemed to be apologetic. As for the Secondary Three students, I would have to talk to them as class to understand more about their needs and the expectations I have of then. Since these instances happened on Wednesday and Thursday, I could only review the effectiveness next week.

In addition, my time management is quite poor, especially when conducting group work. I failed to gauge the timing and did not set a strict time limit for students to adhere to, and thus, the class activities dragged on. Therefore I am starting to use electronic timer for all activities that I ask the students to do with a limited time. This would also ensure that the students would have a sense of urgency and be more on task.

All in all, I hope that next week would be a better week and that I would be able to manage the class better with a stricter approach.

Practicum Week Six

Weekly Reflection (7 Apr – 11 Apr)

On Monday I second (and last) observation with my NIE Supervisor. The lesson did not meet its objectives very well as the main activity of the lesson – group work was not completed properly. My NIES and Cooperating Teachers have given me valuable feedback as to how I can better manage the activity, for example, I should be more flexible when managing the time allocated for group activities, and to just pick up the main problems as points of discussion for the class.

Although observations do make me feel nervous, I feel that I learn the most out of them as I would get to know more about my weaknesses and strengths and better improve on them to provide students with better learning experiences. In addition, I really appreciate the fact that my CTs give me a lot of freedom in deciding the lessons’ content. It allows me to properly plan my lessons and create my own lesson materials. Most importantly, I was able to try out different teaching methods and approaches during lessons to find out which suits me better.

I also had my second focused conversation with my School Coordinating Mentor and my CT, Ms. Liew. Through the focused conversation, I shared with them what I have learnt and what problems I have faced so far. They gave me suggestions as to how I can tackle the issues on students not handing in homework, and not taking me seriously. I really felt that I have to work on putting on a straight face and be stricter with the students. Although it is not my personality to be like that, I would change myself for the students if it would improve their attitudes towards learning. There is still a long way to go but I am glad that I have met wonderful mentors who are very helpful and provide me with valuable guidance.

All in all, it would take a while before I would be able to find a teaching style which is effective and suitable for me. In the meantime, I will keep trying to improve myself.

Practicum Week Seven

Weekly Reflection (14 Apr – 18 Apr)

I had two formal observations this week with the Secondary Two Normal Academic students. Honestly, I was really nervous about them because the class could be a little difficult to handle. Surprising, they have cooperated very well, but I think it could be due to my CT, Ms. Liew, being around. Nonetheless, I would try my best to ensure that they would be under control even if Ms. Liew is not around.

On Monday, I asked six students to act out a skit based on the text that they are supposed to study on while the rest of the class filled in the blanks in the script which I have provided. To my relief, the students were cooperative and they seemed to have enjoyed themselves while learning about the text. I felt really encouraged by the class and my CT that I hope that I could think of similar activities for the Secondary Two students to be engaged in learning while having fun.

Since the first day of practicum, we (the teachers on practicum) have been assigned at least two relief periods every day. It is understandable as many teachers in Zhenghua Secondary are on course. It was during these relief periods that I realized that I can be stricter with the class when I speak in English, so I never really had any classroom management issue when doing relief duties.

However, I realized that sometimes I am too strict with the class that I have meted out punishments on impulse that I may have gone overboard. Although I have rectified my mistake, I felt that I really stay calm and always bear in mind the importance of being professional. As teachers, it is important for us to behave responsibly and make wise decisions. Therefore, I am thankful that I have learnt important lessons within my course of practicum and they will definitely shape me into a better teacher.

Practicum Week Eight

Weekly Reflection (21 Apr – 25 Apr)

This week had been a roller coaster ride for me. I have encountered some problems while managing the classroom, but at the same time, I felt that I have gained a stronger rapport with my students.

Two girls in the Secondary Three Express class had not been submitting assignments on time and I always had to remind them to hand in their assignments to me. Despite the repeated reminders, they failed to turn up when I asked them to see me after school, neither did they complete their work. I approached the girls in class one day and one of them gave me an excuse which I have heard from her countless times. I reproached her and she was rather defiant and talked back to me. I was taken aback and scolded her for being insolent. However, I failed to resolve the problem because at the end of the day, she was unhappy with me and I failed to receive the piece of assignment from her. I felt really dejected and my CT stepped in to help me with it. Thus, I was very thankful to her.

However, the lessons in my Normal Academic classes went on very smoothly. Most of the students handed in their work on time, and showed great interest during lessons. Therefore, I was really pleased and felt very encouraged. I hope to be able to have made a difference and increase their interest in the Chinese language a little bit more.

This had been also been a very busy week for me as I tried to finish all my marking as soon as possible so that the students would be able to receive their assignments back in time to revise for the examinations. I also had the opportunity to prepare revision materials for the students. I hope that the materials would be a great help for them as they prepare for exams.

Finally, it had been a pretty tough week for me, but it was also a great learning week as I learnt to control my anger better, and be more careful when dealing with problematic students.

Practicum Week Nine

Weekly Reflection (28 Apr – 2 May)

It had been a pretty hectic week for me as I struggled to finish marking all the assignments for all the three classes as their Mid Year Examinations will commence next week. Furthermore, I had also been busy preparing revision materials for the different classes.

Firstly, for all my three classes, I have conducted spelling tests for the students to ensure that they are familiarised with the new words learnt in this semester and went through the workbook's revision questions with them to make sure that they are able to comprehend the meanings behind the words and are able to use the words learnt appropriately.

However, I found myself struggling for time as I had too much content to cover and could not manage to cover all the revision materials in time with my Secondary Three Express class. It really means that I should plan my lessons better and plan for revision way ahead of time so as to ensure that the students are given sufficient time to 'digest' what has been taught in the semester.

Secondly, as I returned the assignments to the students, I reminded them of the common mistakes made and hope that they would not repeat the same mistakes. For the students who did not produce quality work or did not hand in their work, they were made to stay back after school on Wednesday to complete their assignments or re-do their assignments. Fortunately, most of them did it dutifully and were able to submit their assignments to me. I was thus able to give them feedback on their assignments on Friday, just in time for them to look through over the weekend.

To the few students who still failed to submit their assignments to me on time despite repeated reminders, I felt pretty disappointed and I should think hard about the strategies to adopt to get them to be responsible for their own learning, and be motivated to attain knowledge.

All these incidents make me reflect and help me to shape better motivational strategies to stimulate and enhance students' learning.