Episode 2

I. Intended Learning Outcome 

Produce instructional materials. 

II. Materials

Module, laptop or desktop, printer, and bond papers.

III. Learning Activities 

A.           Workshop on Producing Instructional Materials

Work on the following as a group (3-5 members):

1.      Inquire from your STE how and what instructional materials to produce.  

2.     Make the instructional materials based on your lesson plans for face-to face or virtual class.  

3.     Consider the guidelines in producing the instructional materials.  

4.    Be guided with the guidelines and rubrics below because it is the basis for rating your instructional materials.  

     Our group of Field Study (FS) students were given two (2) sessions wherein we will completely handle the class of our Cooperating Teacher (CT), the Grade 7 Amber students. One will be done as a whole group while the other will be performed by pairs. The lessons I had to prepare for were all about Fantasy and Reality (group) and teaching the Past Perfect Tense (pair). Two sets of Instructional Materials (IMs) were created for the delivery of the lessons that were mentioned, the creation of the materials was also based on the needs of the learners and the condition of the classroom being used. Due to the reality that the classroom has no available TV and sound system attached to the walls, our group decided to resort to the traditional use of visual aids. Thus, we made use of our creativity to make Tarpapels- visual aids made out of print that contain a printed version of an image or visual material, as well as handwritten text in manila papers.

    The creation of these materials was done with meticulous planning and careful creation. A lot of factors were considered mainly: the font size, the designs employed, and the number of visual aids to be pasted on the board. Let’s have a short discussion about why these factors were considered:

1. Font size: this factor was considered because the room caters to 38-40 students and given its cramped space, some students are placed at the far back of the classroom. We had to ensure that whatever is pasted on the board is clear and visible to the students at the back and on the sides. Also, considering that there may be some students who have difficulty with their vision, we had to write and print texts that everyone could see so that it won’t impede their motivation in participating and learning while the discussion is going on.

2. Designs: in a normal classroom setting, also given that the students are not anymore in the primary level, our group had initially not considered adding designs or visual aesthetics to our visual aids. However, given the few months that we were able to observe the classes held inside the classroom and having been able to interact with the students, we learned that a few aesthetic and artsy designs on the visual aid may help bring the students attention to the information posted on the board. So, we added a few aesthetics on our visual aids while also making sure that they were not larger than the text and were not distracting.

3. Number of visual aids: the chalkboard inside the classroom is also limited in size, so we have to wisely plan the number of visual aids we should or would be putting on the board. We had to strategically analyze what information should be placed on the board versus those that could just be orally discussed to the students. We also had to divide the parts of the lessons and activities so that there wouldn’t be a lot of visual aids placed on the board as it may be overstimulating and distracting for some students.

     The planning and creation of the IMs took time and effort from us, and we also had to be creative and resourceful in this process. Along with maintaining quality, we also had to be financially wise in purchasing the materials to be used for the IMs given the current economic status. 

     All in all, it was a wonderful experience that we had an opportunity to create and present IMs intended for actual learners (not just for reportings and dry run demos in the classroom). With this experience, we were able to point out some of our shortcomings and use the information to better our future instruction. Also, we have learned the current learning style of the 21st-century students- one realization is that sometimes the traditional way proves still effective even in modern times. A regret may be, was, we were not able to have interactive gameplay during the discussions with the use of gadgets or a TV. Although, for me and my pair, we made an effort to at least apply a small amount of technology by using an in-app rolling wheel we called “Wheel of Names” to help us identify which student to call when we would want to ask questions particularly about the lesson.

     Most of us in the group were looking forward to sharing a lot of interactive games and videos with the students but due to the condition of the classroom, we were unable to do so much of it.