Actual Teaching Phase 2: The Teaching Practice

January 14, 2019 - The start of the actual teaching practice. This is the time where I am going to face my pupils, the learners, guiding them to new learning and discoveries.

PROCEDURES OF TEACHING

The time allotted for the subject is 50 minutes which should be divided equally or balanced and should meet the demands of the curriculum given by the school. I divided the time based on the curriculum, the things I observed and also from the advice of my cooperating teachers and the other English teachers. The topic that is given to me is the whole Unit 7: Animals at The Zoo for Prathom 3 and Unit 7: Sports and Games for Prathom 4. I am only assigned to Prathom 3 but I taught Prathom 4 for a week because my cooperating teacher went on a seminar Chiang Mai.

The sample procedure I used below is for the first topic in Unit 7: Animals at The Zoo ( Prathom 3). Detailed lesson plan is the format that I used, below is only the summary of the discussion flow.

• 10 minutes for Preliminary Activities - 5 minutes for them to relax and prepare for the subject and 5 minutes for the daily greetings and basic classroom organizing such as asking them to pick up the pieces of paper and organizing their tables).

• 3 to 5 minutes for their daily dose of sing and dance motivation - The use of basic English songs with dance moves are used. In my class, I let them sing and dance to an animal song then followed by their requested song and dance for kids.

• 5 minutes for activities and game - In this part, the game being played must be related to the topic that will be discussed. What I did is I tested their knowledge about the names of the animals by using a simple question and answer game where they will be divided in two teams in which they need to guess the name of the animal picture I am holding and write its name on the board. Proper spelling of the names is not yet required.

• 15 minutes of discussion - This is where I thoroughly discussed the topic and let them ask questions related to the topic. I also let them read the words flashed on the screen, teaching them how it should be pronounced. This is also where I teach them the correct spelling of the words. Teaching the learners should be done calmly and at ease so that they can enjoy it more without too much pressure.

• 5 minutes for asking them if they understand the lesson and reviewing the topic discussed. - I do this by asking them questions that they will answer. I also let them ask me questions if there is a part on the lesson that they are still confused.

• 10 minutes answering exercises in the workbook ( maximum of 2 exercises only) - I let them answer their workbooks and tell them to ask for my help if they need it.

• 5 minutes for relaxing time - five minutes before the class ends, I let them keep their books and just relax their minds so that they can be prepared to the lesson of the next teacher. Afterwards, we will say the goodbye phrases ( in English).

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TIME MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZING ACTIVITIES

What I presented above is how I organize my time in the classroom. I always make sure that I meet those time so that everything will be organized. In organizing the classroom activities that I conduct every teaching session, I do it in a way that it will not be chaotic or will not make the learners uncomfortable.

As an example, during the first game activity we played, I grouped them according to their seat columns. On the next game, I grouped them according to numbers. I let them count from one to four then after that I call the learners who picked the same number, let them stand up and stay in one of the corners of the classroom.

For individual games, I choose the pupil or pupils by numbers and letters. For example, I'll ask a pupil a number and then she gave me the number 4, what I will do is to count from the pupils in the left from 1 to 4, then the 4th pupil will be the one who will play the game or answer the question.

When it comes to managing my time as SEA Student Teacher, I simply list everything that I need to accomplish on my notebook and cross them out if I am finished with the task. Preparing the instructional materials is the last thing that I do since it takes up almost a large percentage of my time. For the activities and games that I conduct in the class, I looked for them on the web or sometimes I just modify the activity in a way that it will suite the needs of the learners.

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PROBLEM SOLVING

In my experiences of teaching, I already told myself to be prepared when conflicts in the class happen. The thing that I always remember is that I should never lose my patience. Whenever the learners are noisy, what I do is I will stop speaking and then I'll raise my hands then silently count from one to ten, little by little the noise will be minimized until there's no one speaking. After that I ask them what to do when someone is speaking in front, and what they will do is act as if they are silencing someone and zipping their mouths. Luckily, I find it really effective in all of the class that I handled.

How about when two of the pupils quarrel in class? As a professional teacher, one of the things to avoid, in my opinion is to scold the child in front of the class, we may not know but it really affects them and how they will behave in class. The best thing to do is call the two pupils, go out of the classroom with them and settle the problem calmly. I do it all the time because scolding the learner will do nothing good at them, it will just trigger them more to disobey you. I also let them say their sorry to each other to settle the problem and remind each side to not do unnecessary things that can hurt that pupil or any person. I also told them that if they want to be respected by their classmates, they should learn to respect them too in return despite the differences that they have. What if the whole class did something wrong? This is where I talk to them inside the classroom, still in a calm manner. I always make them understand the wrong doings they committed and tell them the bad effect of it.

I also make it to the point where sometimes, what happens in the class should only stay in the class.

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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

This is considered as one of the things that should always be in place. Proper classroom management gives a more conducive place for the learning of the learners. Me as a teacher standing in front of forty to fifty pupils or students is really difficult to do, why? It is simply because it's difficult to manage a group of kids or students with different behaviors. As teachers, what we need to is make that class move as one and as organized as possible.

On the first day that I meet the learners that I am going to teach, I always let them know the classroom rules and ask them if there is any problems to it. Since I teach elementary level in my SEAMEO internship, I just made it simple to them and it goes this way.

Once I entered the class, I gave them two minutes to settle down and relax for a bit which is followed by the daily greetings. After that I let them get their books and other materials needed for the subject while counting from one to fifteen. It will be followed by the motivational sing and dance. Every time another teacher enters the room, I told my pupils to greet them to show respect.

When someone is noisy, while I am in the middle of the discussion, I approach the pupils slowly stop walking until I reached his or her position then I'll stay their while talking about the discussion. If the whole class is noisy, I will stop speaking and then I'll raise my hands then silently count from one to ten, little by little the noise will be minimized until there's no one speaking. After that I ask them what to do when someone is speaking in front, and what they will do is act as if they are silencing someone and zipping their mouths.

For group and individual activities, I managed or group them according to their seating arrangement, sometimes through using numbers and letters. If someone wants to ask a question or needs help, he or she should simply raise his or her hands.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT and PROBLEM SOLVING are always together. I believe and observed that if a teacher is a good problem solver in the class, he or she is also an effective classroom manager which makes the environment or the atmosphere in the class more conducive for learning.