A Glance at a Multiple-Grade Class


It is a big classroom, physically speaking, with a small group of students divided in two rows facing two different blackboards. This is a multiple grade class consisting of four 4th-graders, five 5th-graders and five 7th-graders in their last year of primary education. This is an English lesson split up in two main topics taking advantage of the two boards. One, for fourth and fifth grades with different levels of difficulty and the other for 7th grade. As a warming up, the teacher starts with a gaming activity engaging the two groups in a competition. While the younger ones seem very enthusiastic, the older group looked reluctant to participate. After this first stage of the lesson, the teacher gives the 7th graders some handouts to revise the vocabulary about countries and nationalities.  Now, she focuses on the younger ones that look a bit impatient and seem more eager to work.  The teacher begins with an expository mode presenting the topic, family members. She starts introducing the topic with pictures and asking questions. There are some interruptions from the 7th graders since they already know the topic, so the teacher gives them some extra tasks to do. The time is limited to accomplish both lessons at the same time and it is quite a constraint in this type of multiple grade classes. During the lesson the teacher struggles with the time and students' demands and doubts as she walks all around the room. The bell rings and it is time to have breakfast, some of the students leave the classroom while others stay insisting on finishing their work and having it corrected.  As the teacher also has breakfast at school, she invites the remaining students to go together with her promising them to continue next class.

Comentarios

Publicar un comentario

Entradas populares de este blog

A Methodological Approach on Knowledge-Transforming Writing

Imagen
Outline of the article: Rakovic, M., Marzouk, Z., Chang, D., Winne P. (2019, March). Towards   knowledge-transforming in writing argumentative essays multiple sources: A methodological  approach. Companion Proceedings 9th International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge  (LAK19), pp. 1-7. ResearchGate . Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333680138 .  Purpose: To give an insight on a methodological approach on how knowledge telling             distinguishes from knowledge transforming in academic writing. Thesis statement: Examining different instruction design models, a computing system is             acknowledged to foster knowledge transformation writing. Audience: L2 academic writing experts, ESL teachers, ESL trainee teachers.       I. Introduction.                A. Stru...
Leer más

Getting Acquainted with the Classroom

Imagen
    Dolk, M & Den Hertog, J. (2008) Narratives in teacher education , Interactive Learning Environments , 16:3, 215-229, DOI: 10.1080/10494820802113970  In this article, Dolk and Den Hertog first reflect on the constraints prospective teachers find in connecting theory and practice. Thus, they consider it is essential to gain experience in real contexts and take reflection as an upmost condition for learning. In this account, they reveal how teacher trainees develop narratives of pragmatic classroom experiences in primary teacher education using a digital environment, i.e. observing and analysing footage evidence recorded in the classroom (Maths lessons). The authors give evidence on the student teachers’ motivation and the different perspectives they acquire all along the process by means of perceiving every occurrence during the classes, which influences on the trainees’ impressions and on the way they report on every event of each recording. This approach has bee...
Leer más

An In-Depth Look to Rethink and Change our Teaching Practice

Imagen
    Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching: A Guide for Practitioners by Anne Burns (2010) is a practical resource compiling an analysis of the different steps for conducting Action Research (AR). Teachers who are unfamiliar with research projects may find tips and pieces of advice in this study to be implemented into their research work when meeting challenging classroom situations in their teaching contexts. This book is targeted at practitioners covering many issues related to AR, however, some expert readers might find a few weak points concerning language and organization of the contents. This critique aims to analyse the instances in which the author has provided readers with both valuable and redundant information. As regards organization, this easy-to-read book is divided into five chapters, each one explores the broad phases in an AR project cycle, engaging teachers to think and reflect upon their practices. The first chapter clearly defines the action r...
Leer más