Assigned Entries

 

Day 1

We have to come up with our own definition of learning and share it with our table mates. 

Definition of learning: Learning is the way we gain knowledge and skills by doing, thinking and experiencing.

Lubna: learning is a lifelong process which nurtures people and increases their performance.

Ioana: the process of acquiring new information and skills.

Group: learning is a lifelong process of gaining new information by doing, thinking and experiencing. 

Day 3

 Effective teaching case studies 

Mrs Friendly 

Mrs Friendly is welcoming, it shows her relationships with her students as she greets them every morning. She seems to be organised, however there is no indication of the goals of the lesson and how those goals will be achieved. "Kids like the science program because it provides a change of pace from frequent seat work", this indicates that she usually sticks to one lesson style i.e. lecture style. Does not deviate from this often, which could make students bored and would test students abilities. Mrs Friendly also gives no instructions to the kids, just hands them the work and when choosing partners - students may pick friends, which usually means lots of chatting and not necessarily lots of work being done. The students and parents focus on her personality and ways as a person and not a teacher - highlighting her lack in ability to make the classroom exciting, students are not "unhappy" but are they learning even though they are not 'unhappy'. No one comments on her teaching. She does not challenge the kids academically. She does not give them harder tasks to extend their learning abilities or does not differentiate to meet different students needs, everyone gets the same work and has the same time to complete the work. Mrs Friendly is very community based, likes to do things for other people and she mostly recognised for her generosity rather than her teaching, even with the principle. She uses the same teaching method, lecture style and does not differentiate to meet different students needs, everyone gets the same work and has the same time to complete the work.

- Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

1) Mrs Friendly sticks to one lesson plan: to improve, she should include more activities and try different styles of teaching. She should also include student feedback, asking students questions to assess on the spot if learning or understanding is taking place and should also include visual aids. 

2) Tailoring the lessons according to student needs, more differentiation - who needs to be challenged more vs who needs more help academically. 

3) Provide clear instructions and setting goals for activities. With clear learning outcomes and giving feedback to students at different times and stages of lessons. 

Some ways to measure these could be student engagement in lessons by asking questions during the lesson, test their understanding of concepts in real contexts and feedback from parents.