1. What is learning?

 

  Learning is accruing knowledge and skill that could be used to solve problems. It happens through a variety of process, self-guided through inquiry or could be done in partnership with others. the aim of learning is to gain new knowledge and skill. 

 

2. What is our role as teachers in the learning process for K-12 learners? 

 

  A teacher's role is to guide the students to accruing knowledge and skills. A teacher should create an enriching learning environment that encourages curiosity and inquiry. Teachers should allow and make students feel safe to fail and learn from failing. A teacher should teach more than just ABC’s and 123’s. A teacher should provide the students with all the complete foundations they will need for a healthy and happy adult life, everything from ABCs and 123s to good learning habits to problem-solving skills.

 

3. How does a learning community contribute to the learning process?

 

  Learning community takes into account all the different aspects that contribute to learning. It includes:

• Learner-centered- this puts the students at the forefront. It takes into account what the students are interested in, their background and the type of learners they are.

• Assessment-centered- Assessment is an important part of education. Assessment should be both for learning and of learning. Diagnostic assessment of learning helps teachers identify students interests and prior knowledge. This helps to plan an effective lesson and address any misconceptions. Assessment of learning is done continuously to inform the student and the teachers of the strength and weakness of knowledge and skills. 

• Knowledge centered- identifies the importance of sharing knowledge to students.

 

  All of the three aspects play its part in creating a learning community. all three aspects are equally as important and need to work together to make learning effective. 

 

4. Why must learning environments be student-centred?

 

  Students-centered learning environment puts the students first. It is the understanding that students come to the learning process with some existing knowledge, believes, skills etc. As a teacher we need to understand the preconceptions for the following reasons:

• many cases the students' preconception are accurate if so the teacher should plan to build on that knowledge. Teaching the students the things they already know can make some students frustrated or bored. These can lead to other issues, disruptive behaviors etc. Also, the teacher can use the students understanding to encourage peer teaching. Which can help the students consolidate their understanding and sharing with each other can give students a different point of view.

• Some cases the preconception can partly or completely incorrect. And the teacher needs to understand it to correct it. For example in the video  where the student even after being taught the day and night system, the student still couldn’t give the correct understanding. When she was asked to explain we can see that she had a hybrid of understanding based on her incorrect prior knowledge and the knowledge taught in class.

 

  Teachers need to understand the knowledge, skills and understanding students come to class with to accurately plan lessons to most benefit the students.

 

  The teacher should also put students likes and dislikes first as they are more likely to learn if their interest is invest in it. Teachers should also take into account the students cultural environment and learning should make connections to their environment. 

 

  Having a students-centred environment will put lesson plans centered around the student. It takes into account their skills and understandings, their likes and dislikes and their environment around them. It will help the student make connections to what he/she is learning and therefore will be better able to learn.

 

5. Why must learning environments be assessment-centred?

 

 

    Assessments are a big part of learning however disliked. I personally believe assessment has been inaccurately used for too long. Many use assessments to compare with others (that just makes me cry. Not every child is the same. Some assessments suit some so they excel whereas others struggle.) In some countries, assessment is used to rank the schools and determine funding (The USA gives the school that ranks high more money and the lowest funding to the school that rank low. That’s just screams out messed up!) For far too long assessment has been seen as long exams in cold halls. No wonder assessments are disliked.

For the student, the only purpose of assessment should be to self-assess. To find their own strength and weakness. For the teachers, it should also be self-assessment. The teacher should evaluate the students learning and find points of weakness to improve.

 

    Assessment is an integral part of learning, it needs to be done often and continuously. It needs to take different forms to be supporting to all different kinds of learners. The feedback from the assessment should not be used to compare and contrast but to help provide plans for subsequent steps.

 

6. Describe one particular learning environment from your K – 12 experiences and describe the degree to which the setting or situation was student- knowledge- assessment- or community centered. How did this setting influence your learning? Why? How might others in that particular setting respond to this question? Why?

 

   My primary education was done in Kuwait where all students sat in rows and columns and the teachers came to class, stood at the front, talked and wrote on the board. After a lecture style explanation we were left to do individual work in textbooks and once we were done we took our book to the teacher's desk at the front. She would glance over the work and tick or cross with her red pen. All ticks meant we move on and crosses mean we go back and figure out the mistake. Most of my learning at that stage was done at home. My parents had to sit down with us every evening and explain the work to us. (this was a privet school where my parents invested thousands of dollars for educating us). This was very much knowledge centered system. It works for some subjects that required facts being taught but failed in teaching a lot of other subjects that required understanding. It also only catered to one style of learners and all others struggled. Like myself who need her mom and dad to do the job the teachers should have done. Kuwait education system was really more of a teacher-centered learning environment.

 

   Then I moved to the UK and I was just amazed at the school there. We sat in circles, groups, pairs, many activities encouraged us to talk, to ask questions. Many classes teachers table was at the back and the teacher never sat in it, they walked around, made eye connection, explained. It was very much student-centered. They created an environment that was safe to fail and ask questions. They carried a variety of activities that focused on understanding the knowledge. They tailored the lesson plan to what we liked and gave use some freedom to learn through exploring our interests.  Like one of my 7-grade English assignment was to describe our Utopia. It taught us descriptive writing while we explored our passions. There was also a blend of assessment but the assessment was very rarely announced prior and very rarely written exams. Our report cards never had percentages or marks from past exams rather a level for performance and a level for effort. And when we had a parent teacher meeting the teachers focused on the effort level more than the performance.  

 

7. How do you define classroom management? From where did you base your definition?

 

   Class managements are strategies that teachers employ to create a learning environment that is most benifetual for the students. Theses can vary according to the students, grade, teacher. Through out my education career I have seen it all, for strict ‘speak when spoken to’ to ‘stand outside for two minutes’, detention, more homework. 

 

  During my experience as a teacher I felt the most worried about classroom management. I aimed to create a fun learner-centered learning environment but there were come cases that I felt like I “bad of tricks.” This is where BEd at OUIT is opening my eyes. Garrett’s (2013) paper about classroom management puts disciplining issues as the last step. The first step is to create an environment to prevent declining issues in the first place. Thank you OUIT (money well spent)

 

8. What is the role of classroom management in teaching and learning?

 

  Teaching and learning are two sides of a coin. They both feed each other. The class should be managed to create a learning environment that aids in teaching well, so the learning can happen.

 

 

9. What positions on ‘classroom management’ resonate with you? Why? What are the challenges and opportunities associated with the various positions?