Week 4

Today was my fourth day with my year 5. I was so amazed today to see that they all knew that I will come in the class today and my teacher told me that they were looking forward to have me in their class and so was I. Today while observing my class, I realised something for the very first time. My teacher was not in the class for the first half of the day due to some staff meeting and they had another casual teacher coming up in the class. Even she was an excellent teacher, but she was really louder in the class. But my cooperating teacher was much quieter than her. The difference in the noise level amazed me: with the quiet teacher, the children had to listen very carefully, and thus the class was quieter as a whole. The class teacher was back after the lunch was over. My cooperating teacher always uses a lot of group work in her class. For her reading classes she has divided students according to their abilities so that they can help each other. Students learn best when they are actively involved in the process. Researchers report that, regardless of the subject matter, students working in small groups tend to learn more of what is taught and retain it longer than when the same content is presented in other instructional formats. Students who work in collaborative groups also appear more satisfied with their classes. (Sources: Beckman, 1990; Chickering and Gamson, 1991; Collier, 1980; Cooper and Associates, 1990; Goodsell, Maher, Tinto, and Associates, 1992; Johnson and Johnson, 1989; Johnson, Johnson, and Smith, 1991; Kohn, 1986; McKeachie, Pintrich, Lin, and Smith, 1986; Slavin, 1980, 1983; Whitman, 1988, EDFD529 Effective teaching and Professional Practice).
If there is not enough physical space for group activities it is hard to expect students to achieve the desired outcomes of a lesson” (Galton and Williamson, 1992: 8).  The seating arrangement in my class is fascinating. The tables are arranged in U-shaped and the students have a lot of space on the floor to work in groups.  

She structures each task in such a way that everyone has to contribute in some way. For example, she gives a name tag to everyone in the group with his or her role written on it. They have to do the assigned tasks individually and then bring their information together. Then, while in the end of the lesson she randomly assigns number to the students in a group and then asks questions to different numbered students. In this way, everyone has to be aware of what was done in the activity. This is something very similar to what Jane taught us in her tutorials. It was another interesting day of my weekly visits. 


Reference 
Johnson, D., Johnson, R. (2001). Cooperative Learning. Retrived 25 March, 2010 from http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/cooperativelearning.htm#why


Tanti, M. (2009). Effective Teaching and Professional Practice. North Sydney: Australian Catholic University Ltd.