Tuesday, 30 September 2014

PHILOSOPHY





My classroom will be a caring, safe, and equitable environment where each child can blossom and grow. I will allow children to become responsible members of our classroom. My personal goal for my future classroom is to challenge students and watch them grow to their full potential. I want to take students at different levels and see them develop together for the betterment of each individual. Every classroom presents a unique community of learners that varies not only in abilities, but also in learning styles. My role as a teacher is to give children the tools with which to cultivate their own gardens of knowledge. To accomplish this goal, I will teach to the needs of each child so that all learners can feel capable and successful. I will present curriculum that involves the interests of the children and makes learning relevant to life. I will incorporate themes, integrated units, projects, group work, individual work, and hands-on learning in order to make children active learners. Finally, I will tie learning into the world community to help children become caring and active members of society.

In my classroom, I want students to have freedom that allows for expression and creativity.
Students should be able to experiment with likes and dislikes and to realize their strengths and weaknesses. After this base is developed, the curriculum can be moulded to tie in each student’s learning style. I believe each and every child has the potential to bring something unique and special to the world. I will help children to develop their potential by believing in them as capable individuals. I will assist children in discovering who they are, so they can express their own opinions and nurture their own ideas. I have a vision of a world where people learn to respect, accept, and embrace the differences between us, as the core of what makes life so fascinating.

I want to teach students in a way that has some straightforward instruction, but also gives
students room to grow and expand on their own. At the beginning of the year, it is understandable for the teacher to lead class discussions, but towards the end of the year, students will pose their own questions and try to answer them independently. I feel it is beneficial for students to sometimes work for the answer rather than being told because it stretches their knowledge and teaches them how to find information in a variety of ways. I also feel a key to success is for the class to work on projects to help others. As an educator, it is important not only to help the students that you are teaching, but also give them direction to help others. Teaching is a lifelong learning process of learning about new philosophies and new strategies, learning from the parents and community, learning from colleagues, and especially learning from the children. Children have taught me to open my mind and my heart to the joys, the innocence, and the diversity of ideas in the world. Because of this, I will never forget how to smile with the new, cherish the old, and laugh with the children.


MOST CHALLENGING WORK

Unit: 3
Assignment: 4

This was by far the most challenging for me.

I am a very passionate person and for me to see students struggle breaks my heart and with no assistance from an educator makes learning and understanding impossible. For some educators the passion has died off. They seem to forget the purpose of being an educator. Their goal is to lecture the class and get paid for it. But there needs to be passion, love, support, understanding when teaching. The teacher must want to see her students succeed and progress. Students should not be forgotten and neglected in a class just because he/she struggles in certain subjects. Its not fair for students to battle these matters on their own. A teachers job is to teach, and the teacher that I shadowed for this assignment failed to do so. After I finished this assignment I have set a goal for myself and that is to be the best educator that I can possibly be.

I have included the collage and story that made part of my assignment.

 

Collage and its story

In the little town of Tongaat rests a beautiful school. Lush trees surround this school; a school that some will assume learning takes place. Behind this lovely exterior is a place where eager learners go to learn but are only subjected to difficulties and struggles.
As I walk around this school I see learners enjoying socializing, the bell rings and I’m off to an 8th grade math class. I enter the class and I see agitated, disappointed faces. The learners seem to dislike the subject as much as they dislike the educator, but who could blame them, I think to myself. I see learners struggle to keep up with the lesson. And with no guidance from the educator it only makes them more confused.
The educator turns a blind eye on learners that are slow paced in learning and can’t keep up. So students battle to follow the lesson whereas others lose hope and interest. Learners help each other when they can. It’s great to see students sticking together and making an effort to help others. 
Bless the students of Fairbreeze Secondary School who battle through daily struggles. I hope one day I’ll be able to give students the guidance and support that *Mary unfortunately couldn’t give hers.




UNIT 4 - THE TEACHER AS A RESOURCEFUL INNOVATOR


As one of my assignment in this unit, I was asked to make up my very own brochure. This was indeed by far my favourite assignment.

As an individual, I am a very creative person. I love kids and educating them. I enjoy making education and learning fun. This assignment included all my favourite things and all that I love doing and I thoroughly enjoyed it. it was an assignment that gave me the opportunity of expressing myself and showcasing my fun ideas and what type of activities and subjects I think is important to offer at a school. I see a school being a place where there's fun, entertainment and a place where there is learning and growth. I want schools to be a place where children actually WANT to go and are ecstatic and enthusiastic about learning new things. I believe that it is our jobs as educators to make a school all that and more.

I have inserted my brochure on this page. I had a blast making it.


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UNIT 3 - THE TEACHER AS A KNOWLEDGE WORKER

I know now that I will be a better educator after completing this unit. I have learnt numerous methods of teaching a lesson and how these methods can be made interesting and have an effective impact on learners. I am hopeful now that I have the capability of being the teacher that all students look up to and learn from. The discussion forum gave me an opportunity to share teaching methods that I think are effective and also I was able to widen my knowledge about various other methods. This knowledge will help myself and fellow future educators to apply these methods so that teaching and learning becomes fun and interesting.

I have included on this page some of my contributions on the discussion forum.

Different types of teaching methods

Lecture – try to vary the pitch and tone of your voice. It doesn’t matter how interesting the topic is, the animation of your voice will keep the interest of the students. In order to engage students it is vital to maintain eye contact with all the students. Use physical gestures to emphasize points. Break away from the front of the class and move around in order to maintain contact with the students. Be conversational in tone and use humour since students are more motivated when they are having fun. Questions can be used and can stimulate interaction throughout the lecture. Involving students helps maintain their attention which is vital when information is complex and lectures are long.

Debate – the teacher should pick out an interesting topic relating to the school curriculum and make the debate about fun and learning. It’s the teacher’s duty to make the learners understand that they shouldn’t be focused on winning the debate only but it is also about seeing different topics in different ways.  The teacher should ensure that learners hear each other viewpoints and learn from each other. The teacher should also intervene when the debate goes off topic or gets personal. It is vital for the educator to manage the debate and set rules so the learners know which boundaries not to cross. The teacher can make it fun by adding incentives for whoever makes the most effort and most points. 

Class Discussion – when you ask a discussion question, call on a student by letting them catch a ball. Make sure to set the rules clear and stop if they are broken. Divide the class into groups and allow them to have their own discussion and come up with their own answers and solutions. This will give them the chance to interact with each other and learn how to be part of a team. Keep the questioning longer by engaging other students. When the first student answers a question, ask another student if he/she agrees or disagrees with that answer.  Another way to make a class discussion effective is to re-arrange the classroom so that the students are able to hear each other clearly.
 
How each method can be applied to make the lesson interesting and effective.
 
Discussions of any sort are supposed to help us develop a better perspective on issues by bringing out diverse viewpoints. Whenever we exchange differing views on an issue, we get a clearer picture of the problem and are able to understand it. The understanding makes us better equipped to deal with the problem. This is precisely the main purpose of a discussion. I believe that there is a difference between group discussion and class discussion.
Discussions in the classroom can lead to greater student understanding but this does not automatically happen. Discussions can be fruitful when the teacher is clear on the reasons for conducting discussions, adopts approaches for making the discussions productive, and is comfortable with the various roles the teacher must play in discussions.
Reasons for using discussions
1.      It helps students explore a diversity of perspectives.
2.      It increases students' awareness of and tolerance for ambiguity and complexity.
3.      It helps students recognize and investigate their assumptions.
4.      It encourages attentive, respectful listening.
5.      It develops new appreciation for continuing differences.
6.      It increases intellectual agility.
7.      It helps students become connected to a topic.
8.      It shows respect for students' voices and experiences.
9.      It develops the capacity for the clear communication of ideas and meaning.
10.    It develops habits of collaborative learning.
11.    It increases breadth and makes students more empathetic.
12.    Group Discussion is a modern method of assessing students personality, Leadership skills, people handling skills, Team work
 




UNIT 2 - THE TEACHER AS A COMMUNITY MEMBER

In this unit I chose the topic " barriers to learning and development in South African context " to base my assignment on. It truly was an eye opener for me to read about how bad our education system is in parts of our country and how students struggle on a daily basis. I have included parts of my essay on this page as well as ways that I think I as a future educator can help improve the education system for future learners.
 


The main purpose to any education system is to provide quality education for learners so that they will be able to reach their full potential and be able to meaningfully contribute to and participate in that society throughout their lives (Education White Paper 6, 2001). There are two distinct categories of learners in our country. That is, those learners who form the majority with “ordinary needs” and a small minority of learners with “special needs” which is barriers to learning who require support in order to engage in some form of learning process.

Barriers to learning are not caused by a single factor but it has multifaceted factors. In South Africa, effective access to education is prevented as a result of these barriers, which reflects a deficient system and not a deficient learner. As South Africans, learners have a right to be educated in an inclusive classroom as is acknowledged in the constitution of our country.

Barriers can be located within the learner, within the center of learning, within the education system and within the broader social, economic and political context. These barriers manifest themselves in different ways and only become obvious when learning breakdown occurs, when learners ‘drop out’ of the system or when the excluded become visible. Sometimes it is possible to identify permanent barriers in the learner or the system which can be addressed through enabling mechanisms and processes. However, barriers may also arise during the learning process and are seen as transitory in nature. These may require different interventions or strategies to prevent them from causing learning breakdown or excluding learners from the system.

Education is essential to the success of the individual and communities. Public schools are charged with the responsibility of preparing students for college/university; while college/university are expected to prepare students for the work force. An inclusive approach to teaching; learning and assessment is foreseen in the ‘The Revised National Curriculum Statement’, as part of this result we as teachers need to address barriers that learners may experience. As teachers we will only succeed in doing this if we are aware of social; emotional; physical as well as other barriers our students may experience. The success or failure of individual students depends on their ability to learn, it’s also important to remember that barriers don’t necessarily exist all the time(or from the get go), but can occur suddenly due to change in circumstances; emotional trauma as well as a variety of other factors.

In the South African context this approach is problematic. Facilitators and teachers need to recognize the wide range of barriers experienced by learners. They need to understand that poverty, lack of experience of formal education, the concept that everyone learns in the same way, learning in a language other than one’s home language needs to be addressed by the way in which they teach, plan activities and assess learners. The facilitator needs to ensure that all learners participate fully in the learning programme.

 I as a teacher can encourage and motivate teachers and adults to accommodate learners who are experiencing barriers to learning by encouraging teachers to promote positive attitude of both teachers and learners towards one another supporting one another and stand as a united as a school and colleagues. As well as equal input in school activities all teachers should enjoy participating in school activities it would make learners feel more comfortable to join and also participate in school activities. Teachers should accept one another and their differences, respect one another In addition, avoid judgment and criticism towards each other.

 



UNIT 1 - THE TEACHER AS A PROFESSIONAL

 For me this unit was very enlightening. I was able to share my visions and thoughts of what I think a good quality teacher is. I became more aware and knowledgeable after reading and discussing the different roles and responsibilities of a teacher.
 
Here are some of my view points that I have shared on the discussion forum with my fellow future educators.


Characteristics of a quality teacher
·        Masters of their own subject – they are experts in what they teach and they spend time growing and gaining more knowledge in their field.

·        Prepared and organized – they get to class early and are ever so ready to teach. They have their classroom organized in a way that minimizes distractions.

·        Good presentation – they present their lesson clearly and in a structured way.

·        Set high expectations – they expect and believe that their learners will and are able to achieve in their classroom.

·        Don’t give up – they don’t ever give up their under achievers. They motivate and encourage them to do better.

·        Communicate with parents – they reach out to parents via telephone or written report if they are concerned about a student.

·        Form relationships – they have a good understanding of and with their students. They are warm, caring and enthusiastic and also willing to help their learners after school hours.

How an effective teacher is identified
·        He/she is a leader and is able to inspire, motivate, and encourage students. Being a leader, the teacher is respectful and kind to the learners.

·        Plays a role of a coach or guide, who is able to help students improve on their skills. An effective teacher also enables their students to own their own success and learn from their own mistakes.

·        Uses different strategies and techniques of teaching. Uses various teaching methods, texts and materials to make the lessons exciting and interesting.

·        Isn’t afraid to change these strategies and techniques when better ones are found.

·        And effective teacher is honest with themselves and with their students. And is able to correct themselves without feeling embarrassed.

·         They are willing to learn from their students and isn’t ashamed to admit that.

·        Supports and never gives up on a student. Supports and empowers them.




 
 
 

Monday, 29 September 2014

BEING A PROFESSIONAL TEACHER - INTRODUCTION

This portfolio was created so that my fellow bloggers as well as my assessor would be able to experience and enjoy my journey through this very fun and informative module.

My name is Jerusha Naidoo and I am a 2nd year Bed intermediate and senior phase student. My portfolio consists of my various discussions with fellow students, my eye opening experience at a school in which I attended and observed the teaching and learning. Overall this portfolio includes my understanding of what is being a professional teacher.

I hope you enjoy my journey and experiences as much as I have.

Have a great day my fellow bloggers.