Action
During the term, I endeavoured to provide a myriad of engaging, hands-on experiences for during mathematics lessons. I began with an explicit mat session, which often involved modelling and the use of ICT, whole body movement such as having children order themselves or having children put themselves into groups of a number that I called out. I would also use this time to diagnose student’s current level of understanding and ability through questioning and sometimes providing materials for children to have a practice of a concept before they transition to small groups. I would note down children who required extension or additional support and this would dictate how I grouped children for the activities as well as inform my future planning. I also introduced the WALT and WILF for the lesson during this period.
Following the whole class lesson, I transitioned children to either work in specific groups, which I would differentiate, or have them work in pairs within those groups, sometimes having a higher ability student with a lower ability student, to enable peer scaffolding. Alternatively, I would provide several activities, resources and provocations and allow children to move around the room engaging with activities at their own pace and choice. This type of structure is advocated by Reys et al (2012), who recommend short, hands-on activities with choice and opportunity for movement. Often during free-flow activities I would give children a recording sheet to keep them on-task and provide evidence. I also went around with a rating scale to assess children to ensure the activities were effective and again, inform my planning. These free-flow activities often resulted in a high degree of mathematical language and problem solving as the tasks were more open-ended. Additionally, Reys et al (2012) encourage informal exploration, choice and experimentation with concrete materials. Consequently, I ensured I provided activities that encouraged children to actively engage with and explore mathematical concepts while conversing with others about what they were doing.
For example, when teaching 2D and 3D shapes I provided a variety of activities including building 3D shapes with playdough and magnets as well as beading with 3D shaped beads and creating towers with 3D shaped blocks, creating 2D shape artworks, 2D shapes with pop sticks and pictures with pattern blocks, memory games and sorting mats. Children were able to move around but had to record one of their creations with a recording sheet of which shapes they used and how many. I differentiated this activity through sitting with a table where I worked with children to have them describe and sort a variety of 3D shapes. For children who required extension, I introduced more advanced shapes such as the different prisms and had higher expectations for those children when reasoning to decide what shape they were looking at, that is describing the faces, edges and corners. I also had task cards to challenge higher achievers where they used the pattern blocks to make a shape using several other shapes. I also invited families to bring shapes from home to share with the class so we described and sorted them. This provided continual revision for children which is essential in the learning process, particularly in the early years as young children require lots of repetition (Kearns, 2009).
Reflective Commentary
Understanding how students learn forms the basis of everything we do in the classroom. It is important to consider a range of learning theories and consider how these shape the way we organise and implement learning experiences in the classroom to cater for the diversity in our classrooms (Groundwater-Smith et al, 2011, p.70). Designing learning experiences that sustain the joy in the learning process and facilitate children's curiosity is important in promoting learning dispositions for life-long learning, which is discussed in the EYLF (COAG, 2009). This is something I always aim to do in my teaching, by incorporating children's interests and ensuring children are happy and enthusiastic about learning. Additionally, I always endeavour to get to know children and put their social and emotional wellbeing at the forefront of my mind.
My teaching philosophy aligns with a constructivist view to learning although I also value and incorporate many elements from other views including cognitive theories. Constructivism is founded on the works of Lev Vygotsky who emphasises the role of language and active engagement in the learning process (Duchesne et al, 2013). Vygotsky believed that thinking is originally external to the individual and that language becomes a tool for thinking and thus promotes the internalisation of learning (Groundwater-Smith et al, 2011). He also coined the term ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ which highlights the role of peer scaffolding and the teacher as a facilitator (Duchesne et al, 2013). Additionally, the sociocultural aspect of constructivism emphasises the pivotal role of shared interaction and language in learning (Groundwater-Smith et al, 2011). Consequently, my lessons were not aimed to establish a quiet classroom, but instead one of rich conversation about the topic as children engage with the resources and interact with each other, developing the subject-specific language and consequently their understandings. Contemporary research continues to support Vygotsky’s views on learning (Duchesne et al, 2013) and his ideas are continually built on and developed. This approach is supported by the EYLF which believes children actively construct their own understandings and contribute to others’ learning. Children’s sense of agency and capacity to make decisions, initiate and lead learning is emphasised throughout the document. Additionally, the importance of communication and play-based learning is the focus of the EYLF maintain that teachers should be responsive to children’s ideas and play (COAG, 2009). As a result, I tried to incorporate children's interests wherever possible into the curriculum and apply a playful approach to learning.
Situation
The pre-primary classroom I was placed in has a very rigorous program and high academic expectations which limited the amount of play children engaged in. There was a high range of ability in the pre-primary classroom, particularly with mathematics where some children were working into the hundreds and other working in the teen numbers. This required me to differentiate significantly during mathematics lessons. There are many factors I must consider with such young children including their inability to sit and be still for prolonged periods of time, the need for play and active engagement with concrete objects. Additionally, when I commenced my practicum, mathematics lessons were structured as a whole class lesson and followed by 2 activities where students were placed into four groups and swapped over to the other activity after approximately 15 minutes.
Action plan
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I plan to do the free online professional learning webinar by ASCD titled “Students with Disabilities: What Do I Do?” located at http://www.ascd.org/professional-development/webinars/students-with-disabilities-webinar.aspx
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I will attend a Teach Meet WA seminar on student-led learning. See more information at https://www.facebook.com/events/699732733537741/?acontext=%7B%22source%22%3A4%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D&source=4&action_history=null
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I will arrange to volunteer in schools this term with more diverse student backgrounds, particularly children with special needs, or who have English as an additional language as well as children who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, to observe how this impacts the teaching and learning process and the strategies teachers use to support these students.
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Contact Aboriginal Elders or Aboriginal Education Officers to find out more about how to teach children about Aboriginal People and incorporating in more authentic and ongoing ways and the implications for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
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I have applied to the remote teaching pool which if I acquire a job will open my eyes to the cultural and historical differences and how this affects children’s learning and engagement, as well as how I cater for this diversity.
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I will undertake the free online professional learning webinar titled “Integrating Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom” located at: http://www.ascd.org/professional-development/webinars/integrating-multiple-intelligences-in-the-classroom.aspx
References
Council of Australian Governments [COAG]. (2009). BELONGING, BEING & BECOMING: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Canberra: Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workforce.
Duchesne, S., McMaugh, A., Bocher, S. & Krause, K. (2013). Educational psychology: for learning and teaching. (4th ed). South Melbourne, Australia: Cengage Learning Australia.
Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R. & Le Cornu, R. (2011). Teaching Challenges and Dilemmas. (4th ed). Melbourne, Australia: Cengage Learning Australia.
Kearns, K. (2009). Birth to Big School (2nd ed). Australia: Pearson Australia.
Reys et al (2012), R., Lindquist, M., Lambdin, D., Smith, N., Rogers, A., Falle, J., Frid, S & Bennett, S. (2012). Helping Children Learn Mathematics. (1st ed). Australia: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.
"The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice"
I used the same free-flowing approach to teach measurement. Groundwater-Smith et al (2011) notes how young children are motivated to explore and learn new things and emphasise the importance of assisting students to sustain the joy in the learning process. Consequently, I always endeavoured to incorporate children’s interests into learning activities. For example, the children were interested in dinosaurs so to gain their interest in measurement I began by creating dinosaur footprints all over the classroom using baby powder while the children were out at recess. I had a giant footprint the same dimensions as a Tyrannosaurus rex footprint and we sat around it to discuss the size and what kind of dinosaur we think it was. We then went outside and used our bodies to show how long a Tyrannosaurus rex would be and compared it to different objects. Afterwards, I read a book about dinosaurs which contained great measurement vocabulary in it and I had children raise their hand when they heard a measurement word. This led to free-flowing measurement experiences including rolling a ball from a ramp and measuring the distance, creating and measuring our playdough creations, building and measuring towers. Children also took great joy in measuring the dinosaur footprints. Again, I had a recording sheet where children drew and wrote what they measured and how many pop sticks or blocks high it was. Over the week we explored different types of measurement including weight and capacity, where I let children explore with playdough, scales, toy dinosaurs and animals as well as exploring properties of objects like metal and light plastic to balance the scales. Some of the children loved pretend cooking in the sandpit so I provided materials for them to ‘cook’ with scented lemon and rosemary from our garden, which we used to explore capacity through water play on the veranda outside. The free-flowing structure and open-ended activities provided more opportunities for uninterrupted playful engagement for children to explore, think and problem solve (Kearns, 2009).
* See standard 2 and 3 for further examples of differentiation in English and Mathematics.
Outcome
I noticed a significantly higher level of engagement by the children compared to the first 2 weeks where I followed the usual structure of 2 rotations in mathematics. I also felt more relaxed and less focused on the time which enabled me to spend quality time discussing concepts with children and scaffolding their learning. I found rotations difficult to manage and less able to differentiate as I was forced to switch them over when some children were beginning to make progress and needed more time, whereas other children were more than ready to switch over and became disruptive or disengaged. I felt my new structure decreased behavioural issues and enabled me to differentiate more effectively resulting in increased learning.