Reflections
Week One
The relationships between teachers, children, and their families play a vital role in an educational setting. I believe that sound teacher-student relationships are an important component in the success of a child’s learning. I found aspects of this standard not so difficult in terms of establishing myself in the teacher role. Initially, I started to make connections with ākonga like greeting them in the morning and asking their names. There was a Powhiri session in the classroom where I got the opportunity to introduce myself to ākonga and kaiako. I talked about my culture, family, and food and others shared about themselves. I felt comfortable being a part of the Prospect family. I started to have conversations with ākonga during breaks, calling out their names and making sure that I am pronouncing them all right. The children were responding very well to me, and I felt more confident in my ability to form positive relationships. My AT liked the way I am interacting with children. She said it is important to develop connections with children at the beginning as I will be working with them for a longer period. During my first week of practicum, I played the role of observer and tried to understand the classroom routines. However, I have done a couple of activities toward achieving my goals. I observed my AT doing the morning routines of the classroom such as Nga mihi mihi o te ata, roll calls, and reading school notices. On Thursday, she invited me to do the roll call of children. I was confident in doing it because I have watched her quite a few times doing so. I even read a picture book in the library. I have learned the strategies in my microteaching, and I tried to put them in my lesson. I found that children were actively participating in the lesson. My AT appreciated these activities and gave me good feedback. I was getting more confident in the classroom. I was helping a group of children in learning areas of numeracy and literacy. As a student-teacher, I was still observing my AT how she approaches the lesson, putting different pedagogical approaches in the process of learning and teaching. I participate with children in making their visual pepeha. I did mine as well. During the activity, I had lots of communication with ākonga. They were excited to share about their whānau, culture, and background. Thus, I believe it is crucial to form positive relationships with all students and their families to ensure they feel respected and valued members of their learning community.
It is important to establish positive learning environments to ensure the well-being and inclusion of all students. This is something I am mindful of with my teaching and attitude towards students. I gather information about different aspects like children’s background, cultural language, what strategies kaiako use to support special needs students, and socio-economic conditions. I came to know about the equal opportunities for learning for all ākonga in the classroom. The special needs children are supported by trying out different strategies and what works for a particular child/ren. Activities like doing roll calls, greeting children in their own language, doing karakia, and pepeha will provide opportunities for ākonga to contribute, participate and feel included amongst all the learners in the classroom. I have also noticed that kaiako invites ākonga in classroom discussions to share thoughts on schools’ values like ako, whanaungatanga, which develop a sense of belonging. I will try to incorporate a classroom culture that shows respect and trust where all children feel comfortable sharing their ideas.
Thus, it is important to ensure all ākonga show manaakitanga towards each other by actively listening and being kind to one another.
In the second week, I was confident in teaching different learning areas of focus. I have observed my AT very closely and noted down the strategies and pedagogical practices she puts in place while delivering a lesson. Also, I have drawn on my microteaching experiences. I took the responsibility of teaching ‘Punctuation’ to the whole classroom. While I was delivering the lesson, I found that it is very important to revisit children's prior knowledge of learning. This is a key that helps ākonga to make connections between old and new knowledge. I wrote the learning intention and ākonga responses on the whiteboard to allow all the children to participate and make the lesson interesting for them. I received written feedback from my AT. She discussed with me some of the important things such as it is important to stick to one learning intention. She liked the way I used the ‘repeat’ strategy throughout the lesson. I found these little things are very important and understand to reflect on for future lessons. Next, I taught a couple of lessons on learning about sounds. This time I focussed on one learning intention. The associate teacher gave me written feedback and discussed that it was much better this time. She liked the way I am taking the feedback seriously and worked on them for improvement.
In addition, I lead the roll calls of all the ākonga. I greet them in different languages to build an inclusive environment. I have introduced myself to parents on the school’s Facebook page. Even, I am posting different daily basis activities, and students' achievements to develop positive relationships with teachers, children, and their families. I was delighted to see parents and kaiako comments on my posts. My associate teacher gave me an opportunity to share about my whānau in the classroom. I have noticed that children are comfortable discussing their ideas, kōrero about their needs, and listening to me. These experiences were working towards strengthening connections with kaiako, ākonga, and families. Further, I taught a lesson on subtraction using different strategies and pedagogical practices. My associate teacher is happy with my attitude towards taking responsibility in teaching different learning areas in the classroom. She always gives me positive feedback which I feel gives me the confidence to achieve more and become a successful kaiako in future.
Week Three
In the third week, I was more confident with my placement at Prospect school. My AT was sick, and she was away in the middle of the week. I did an observation in a new entrant classroom. I worked as a float person helping children in doing their daily activities such as cut and paste number worksheets, counting numbers 1-10, mat time, and Bingo games. I feel that it's good to observe different year-level children to understand the different learning environments. However, I decided to take over the responsibility of teaching and leading room 15 classroom. I was aware that I have built good connections with the children and know the routines of the classroom. So, my mind was confident in taking this challenge and giving it a go. I came to know that I am working with Seon (reliever). I always see my AT’s weekly planning. This gave me an idea to plan for the day and make learning happen for ākonga. I discussed the schedule of the day with Seon Hee (reliever) and we divided the teaching tasks. I asked her to do some bits of teaching and I will take lessons on different learning areas. I was confident in doing so because it will help me to grow more in my teaching journey.
I lead the morning routines such as Ngā mihi mihi o te ata, roll calls, Karakia, Pepeha. Since I have not done this before, I was a bit nervous. But then, I quickly investigated my notes which gave me a clear idea. I found that the children were very good at reciting the Karakia. I realized that I have to learn the karakia and waiata to incorporate te reo māori in my practice. I planned to put on some yoga music for children. The session was so good as ākonga was amazing in copying the steps of the instructor. Next, I investigate the Panui planning for the week. I discussed with Seon about taking Sophia’s children and I will teach the rest of the groups. This time, I need to work on my time management since I have to teach three groups of ākonga. I have also kept in mind to focus on one learning intention. The lesson went well and the children were engaged in learning word sounds. Further, I teach vocabulary for the Big book session along with reading a picture book for the library session. For writing, I thought to continue with letter writing. I have observed a couple of lessons on letter writing. Therefore, I modelled a writing piece and ask students to do their independent work. I was glad to see ākonga being active listeners in the classroom.
In addition, I did a formative assessment like ‘helping circle’ on the topic of discussion. I have observed one of AT’s lessons, so I look into my notes to implement the same teaching practice. I also did the marking of children’s work which was great learning for me. Throughout this teaching, I have found that relationships between me and ākonga have developed deeper and ākonga are more comfortable discussing their thoughts, and kōrero about their needs and strengths.
During lunch breaks, I am trying to know my colleagues and like to hear about their experiences at Prospect school. I have also begun opening up in having conversations with teachers and sharing about myself. In addition, I gather information about school profile such as local curriculum, health, and safety policies, relationships of families, whānau and community, and the Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership. I continue to post daily activities and provide room updates to kaiako and families on school Facebook. I have noticed that parents and kaiako are replying to my posts which works towards strengthening relationships.
Week Four
Towards the end of my practicum, I took the responsibility of teaching a lesson on Science. I thought of challenging myself in different learning areas of focus. I plan to do a simple experiment because it was my first time with school children. I want ākonga to develop an interest in doing these kinds of investigations in the future. In addition, I have drawn on my early childhood experiences to move ahead with the plan. I have noticed that ākonga’s engagement was very good. They were curious to investigate the different objects, asking questions related to the topic and even discussing their ideas in pairs. I wrote the learning intention and children's responses on the whiteboard to make the lesson interesting for them. My associate teacher was happy with my lesson and discussed a few important things for my improvement. Also, I am continuing to lead the morning routines in the classroom. As I am doing the Ngā mihi mihi o te ata daily, I am building my confidence as an efficient teacher in the classroom. I support ākonga in doing different Easter activities such as making Easter baskets, coloring and pasting Easter bunnies, and maths worksheets.
Further, I am teaching smaller groups of children to recognize the sounds of words. I did the Big book lesson to teach vocabulary in the classroom. I still look into the previous feedbacks from my AT to improve for future teaching. Furthermore, I continue to post activities on schools' Facebook pages to strengthen the relationships with teachers, children, and their families. My associate teacher gave me an opportunity to share about ‘Ramadan’ in the classroom. The students were asking questions, and having discussions that showed their eagerness to know about my culture. I am glad to be working alongside Sophia because she is very supportive and provides positive reinforcement to become an efficient kaiako in the future.