Retrospection Paper

When we first met with my Resource Teacher, I had a small background about her teaching as she shared what kind of teacher she is and how she handles the class. But I have gained a deeper understanding of her ways through the help of the three class recordings of her class that she has shared and the three worksheets we have to fill in. In connection to worksheet 1, it was good that she is knowledgeable in using MS TEAM since it is where they are having their synchronous and asynchronous classes. With this, there isn’t any confusion when it comes to posting tasks and during tasks because she’s good at handling all the features of the MS TEAM. She’s good at organizing everything. Despite knowing all the features, she can’t use the breakout room or do collaborative tasks since her learners are still in grade 3 and it will be difficult to handle per group. But if the class is face-to-face, she does collaborative tasks since it will be easier to watch the learners. In maintaining a learning environment that is conducive to the learning of the learners, one of her ways is constantly reminding everyone at the beginning of every session about the rules in class and the recording at the beginning. Learners, whatever their gender, will also feel that the class is fair and safe in terms of having the chance to ask, answer, and be called. Instead of putting pressure on the learners, the teacher encourages them to be confident in class which effectively makes them engage in tasks. The tone and the way the teacher talked were also big factors for the learners as it creates a welcoming atmosphere. Aside from that, the teacher provides a lot of activities that target the different domains and learning styles. If a problem in the activity arises, there isn’t any dead air that is happening as the teacher has prepared backup activities. Other than that, the use of questioning techniques guides the learners in thinking critically and learning instead spoon feeding of lessons.

For worksheet 2, the teacher leads as an example to her learners. She acts and treats the learners the way she also wants to be treated. There is respect in class and learners are polite, behave well, and are not afraid to engage in class activities. There isn’t a perfect class, but in case of misbehavior, the teacher handles it in a friendly manner. This is how learners are disciplined. Another best practice is room for growth and sharing of tasks, which means that it is not always the teacher who gives and reads the presentation. Instead, she lets the learners read the presentation and contribute. Whenever learners did something excellent, she warmly praised them. As a result, the learners are encouraged to perform well in the following activities. Aside from compliments, the teacher assigns them scores, which encourages the learners to respond. Colorful, age-appropriate, and interesting tasks are also useful since they encourage learners to focus on the presentation and listen to the lesson. Finally, the teacher was on time, and the flow of her courses is well-organized, which reduces confusion.

In addition, the teacher made sure the materials she is using in class to aid her teaching is relevant, useful, and most importantly presentable for the learners. In every slide presentation that she used in class, it is evident that she follows guidelines in making a presentation. In terms of the design and template, there is a constant flow that makes lessons organized. The fonts used are readable, big enough, and appropriate for the grades of the learners. The chosen colors also match each other and are not hurting the eyes. The pictures and videos were also connected and relevant to the lesson and they caught the attention of the learners. She also provides handouts before any synchronous lessons for the learners to study. She also guides the learners to find and understand the value of the lessons and how they will benefit them in real life and the future.

As I was able to share my input on my Resource Teacher’s best practices during our one-on-one consultation last September 23 via MS TEAM video call, she agreed with everything that I said and added that she finds herself strict with her students and the positive side to that is that she’s able to gain their focus and it makes them listen to her. But the negative side of being strict is that it lessens the fun. She also thinks that she is not so fun as a teacher compared to her other colleagues. She also admitted that sometimes she feels jealous of other teachers because they are very close to the students on a personal level. But she also said that it was her fault since she was not allowing them to be so close to her. At the end of the consultation, she advised me that when I become a teacher in the future, I should allow my learners to be close to me on a personal level, make them my friends, and create a balance in everything, not just be a teacher to them.

As a pre-service teacher, I believe that the best practices I have seen and what my resource teacher has shared with me during the consultation will help a lot, especially for the teaching demonstration that I will be doing in her class this coming October. It also gave me background knowledge on what are the best practices that I can also do, and cannot do and how will I manage the students during my demonstration. Whatever I have gained, will be a reference that I can use when I will become an intern in the next semester. When it comes to areas that need improvements, it is difficult to do a collaborative task in grade 3 learners and an online class, so instead of a collaborative task, the teacher can instead make interactive activities such as whiteboards or use Jamboard or other sites where learners can also answer together as a class just to add a little bit more fun to the class. This concern about groupings is not considered a very big problem but if such a case continues even if they will be back to face-to-face classes next month. It will surely affect the learners. They should be given collaborative activities not only to be able to share and learn from other classmates but to be able to practice how to properly address problems and work with others. Socialization is important especially when they grow up.

Learning about the best practices and the areas to improve on as a pre-service teacher. The very first step that I must take is to reflect on what I can do and what I lack at the moment. I shall upgrade the things or skills that I already have and work on the things I lack. I should be able to learn the needed things and skills. In this way, it will be easier for me to become the teacher that my learners need. I should lead as an example of good behavior and practice that my learners will follow and respect me. I will also try my best to constantly create a welcoming environment with fairness in any race, culture, or gender for all my future learners. I will also adapt, be flexible, and be open to any trends that may come in the future if they will positively benefit my teaching and the learning of the learners.

As Field Study 1 is about to end, it did not only immerse and provided me with first-hand real-life learning environment experiences that foster critical thinking, transfer potential, and favorable attitudes through observing how teachers teach and learners learn. But it also made me gain a clearer understanding of myself and my readiness to become a teacher or for the incoming internship. With this, I would like to conclude my retrospection paper with what Theodore Sturgeon has said: “You have to study your field and you have to find out how other people do it, and you have to keep working and learning and practicing and ultimately, you would be able to do it.”