ESSAY Instructions
Critically evaluate your lesson sequence in the light of having taught the lessons.
What aspects do you believe were particularly strong in your planning, and why?
To what extent were your aims and objectives achieved?
What aspects of your planning were you dissatisfied with, and why?
What changes would you make to your lesson sequence in order to address these issues?
Random Notes
the feedback stage is the most important aspect of this script and that teachers need to approach it with the aim of stretching the pupil cognitively and linguistically by following-up and avoiding a simple immediate evaluation.
Away from whole-class teaching, small groups and individual sessions are both often advocated for ELLs, because it is perceived that they allow for greater pupil participation and involvement. Working in small groups can better offer pupils the opportunties of peer teaching, jigsaw learning, group investigation and project work with an emphasis on cooperation in learning, which is important for ELLs’ socio- cultural development (Slavin 1986). Small groups or individual teaching can also offer the chance for one-to-one exchanges with a teacher which is useful because of the potential for negotiation for meaning (Chaudron 1988, in Mohan, Leung and Davison 2001).
Personalising learning and teaching means taking a highly structured and responsive approach to each child’s and young person’s learning, in order that all are able to progress, achieve and participate. It means strengthening the link between learning and teaching by engaging pupils [. . .] as partners in learning [. . .] attention is paid to learners’ knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes. Learning is connected to what they already know (including from outside the classroom).
Bloom’s Taxonomy:
At the heart of Bloom’s taxonomy framework is the ability to create achievable learning goals that teachers and students understand, and build a definitive plan to meet them. Instructors are encouraged to view learning objectives in behavioral terms, such that they can see what students are capable of as a direct result of the instruction they have received at each level, without the need for class-wide generalizations.
At the end of the learning process, the goal with Bloom’s taxonomy is that a student has honed a new skill, level of knowledge, and/or developed a different attitude towards the subject.
Critical Reflection Essay
Title:
Planning Junior School Chinese as a Second Language Lessons for Lower Level Foreign Students
Introduction
Initially I had a plan to write this reflection on Mathematics planning whereby I was given the task of planning for a Year 3 group at an International School in Beijing. But then, I was later set the task of working with students who have been falling behind in their Mandarin Chinese course. The group is made up of five international students of different nationalities. They were in Year 3 (British National Curriculum) and were assigned to receive Chinese language support taught by interns from a language university in Beijing. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their teaching was interrupted and I began working with the students. I found the students to have lost interest in the Chinese language, they were essentially demotivated to improve their language skills. This was due to many reasons such as instability due to a rotation of teachers throughout the year; lack of support from parents, low intrinsic motivation, and some learning support needs. Therefore, the aim of working with the students over the subsequent two terms, was to raise the morale of the group, create extrinsic motivation for learning, and assist them to get to the end of the school year feeling more enthused about the Chinese language and in turn improve their focus and willingness to participate and learn. This reflection explores the overall lesson plan, its layout, aims and objectives, differentiation techniques, outcomes, and implications for future sequences of similar intentions. The lesson plans assessed are over a two-week period due to many school events or holidays affecting the instructions.
Chapter 1. Design & Layout / Lesson Plan Overview
The greatest thing that could have happened to education is technology and the overwhelming amounts of resources we have available at our fingertips. Though I had acquired the class for teaching Chinese as a second language, I had also the benefit of working with an intern who had returned after being away due to COVID-19. I created the template for the lesson plan and made it available for editing by both of us on Microsoft Sharepoint (a collaborative online team software). Via this mode we were both able to edit and update the lesson plan when necessary without the need of meeting or talking on the phone. Teacher “S” shown in the appendix one and two was responsible for creating the Wednesday character lessons. The lesson plan was created with two teachers in mind and the understanding that this plan, (a first of its kind being done for the Chinese language department of the school) would be accessed by managers, supervisors, and other future trainees.
For obvious reasons the subject, teachers’ names, dates, and year group are clearly written at the top of the form for the reader to see (Besvinick, 1960). The aims, objectives are laid out with special notes for those students who may require added support. This is particularly helpful should another qualified teacher be required to substitute the lesson due to my absence; they would be able to recognise and understand the ideal learning outcomes for the lesson as well as any special provisions needed to support students with additional needs. The lessons are presented using a grid and planned weekly. On the left the days of the week with subheadings (discussed subsequently) and the features of each sequence: LQ, Starter, Main, Activity, Plenary, and Reflection.
Previously, there was no systemised curriculum used by the school for Chinese as a Second Language Learners (CSL). The main aim of working with this group of students is to improve their morale and attitudes towards the Chinese language. Therefore, I planned to have the students follow a weekly timetable which would add variety to their language learning, in turn giving them something interesting to look forward to daily. Mondays and Tuesdays were the designated ‘Input’ days. These days would focus solely on the vocabulary and/or grammar objectives of the week. Character recognition is also a concern for the students and their teachers which often caused anxiety among the children. This led to the implementation of ‘Character Recognition’ Wednesdays whereby the students would focus on the formation, cultural significance, and/or historical phases of Chinese characters of said week. Thursdays were a shorter lesson 40 mins long instead of the usual 50 mins which includes 10 minutes of transition to and from their home room or other lessons. Games have been proven to be a great extrinsic motivator for students in the classroom, thus Thursdays are the dedicated games days which used ESL inspired or other games translated to Mandarin. Finally, Fridays are the ‘Tech Days’ where the students get to work independently or in groups to work on activities using their electronic devices such as iPads or Laptops. All planning and instruction was done using a child centered approach, meaning that all activities were planned with the students, their abilities and needs in mind.
Chapter 2. Critical Evaluation Teaching Approach, Differentiation, Assessments
Achieving the first stated objective: morale, intrinsic motivation,
Aims: Develop and maintain positive attitudes towards Chinese language learning. Encourage a positive working environment through the strengthening of relationships with peers and teachers.
Activities content: Holistic approach: Games online and offline, Culture, History reading, writing,
Positive attitudes: Activities, differentiation, questioning
Collaborative planning
Assessments: feedback through marking online and book, verbal.
Behaviour/Relationship:
Gave the students control over their learning, discussed their whys in learning the language, talked about what they wanted to gain from it, discussed expectations – mine and theirs,
Expectations at the beginning of the lesson for behaviour.
Seating – disruptive student with a vacant seat next to him for support teacher. Layout of classroom,
Achieved- yes, how do you know? How would others view this achievement? How did you make gains visible
Size; feedback; peer feedback and support; skills soft
Strengths
Building Student Morale
Classroom Management
As mentioned before, upon being assigned this class it was soon established that student morale was a crucial hinderance to learning of the group. This was evident through low levels of participation, classroom management difficulties, dwindling student teacher rapport, and low quality of work produced. With this information to consider, I had less than half an academic year’s worth of time to work with the students, so raising their morale was the main focus which would prepare them for the new academic year.
Classroom management was my first area to tackle. I believed that the students needed to know that someone cares about their feelings and is working with them – thus creating a partnership for learning. Therefore, in one of our earlier lessons we had a discussion about the Chinese language, their learning, their reasons for learning the language and their expectations in the classroom (these discussions took place monthly). In turn, I spoke about what I intended to focus their teaching on and laid out the expectations for the behaviour in the classroom. In line with the preventative approach to classroom management model the students were empowered to create their own classroom rules. I asked them about their opinions in regards to acceptable classroom behaviour and consequences should the rules be broken. In line with the school’s policy, the students agreed that getting house points is a positive incentive for good behaviour as they would be adding value to their designated teams. It was then my job to create a system that was valuable to the students, attainable and not easy but challenging enough to keep them motivated. The agreement involved all students having five stars at the beginning of the week. Each star represented one of the school’s values (respect, responsibility, etc.) and each point of a star (five per star) represented a teaching day of the week. Should one of the students break a classroom rule, they would lose one of the ‘points’ from their stars related to the value broken. The student would then have to work hard to regain the point of their star by the end of the week to ensure they would be awarded a house point. This had positive implications overall on the classroom behaviour of the students due to the fact that the school had already established a healthy value point system which I was able to incorporate in the classroom. Students were reminded daily at the beginning and end of the lessons of their stars and we would speak about expectations moving forward. Eventually, students became guardians of the classroom rules and they would notify the classroom teachers of any inappropriate conduct by their peers. While this system arguably encouraged healthy competition amongst students, some students did get embarrassed or upset when they lost stars or did not have enough to gain house points. The students however, would be supportively corrected, thus leading to them being motivated to try better the following week. The students respected the rules because they were involved in their creation and the rewards emplace. This system became part of most informal planning and feedback for the students.
Lesson Content
The subject for the lesson sequences presented is time. The students were to learn and understand how to tell the time using Mandarin.
In line with the child centered approach, students’ interests and needs were at the forefront of all decisions made. Based on discussions with their primary teacher, they were unable to keep abreast with the classroom content due to its pace and level of complexity. When considering the levels of the students overall, they were of an upper beginner level with limited vocabulary both in Chinese character recognition, writing, listening and speaking. HSK level? They needed a well-rounded approach to their instruction which incorporated all of the above facets while maintaining the overall goal of raising their morale. I would always try to include a starter in my lesson before we began. This could last five to ten minutes and is a mode to give the students an opportunity to relax before the main lesson begins. These were especially important in helping me achieve my aims of engaging the students. The activities would be different each day, but relevant to the topic of the week. On Tech Days the starter would be using an ICT medium (See Appendix 2.0 Friday Starter). Some activities would be used either as a mode of revision of a previously learned topic or as a way to function as a clue for whatever the topic will be that day.
Questioning is another way used to not only assess students’ understanding, but to keep them engaged in the lesson. The ways in which questions have been used in the classroom have been extensively analysed (Cameron, Moon and Bygate 1996). Questions to which the teacher knows the answer, known as display questions, are an integral part of many classrooms, as Mehan (1979) pointed out, and a number of writers feel that it is not wise to view such questions as negatively as the profession now does (Cazden and Beck 2003; Lyster 2007). Questions that require a limited response are, in reality, an excellent way of developing a ‘common knowledge’ in the classroom (Cazden and Beck 2003). Lyster (2007) posits that teachers should provide scaffolding by asking a mixture of display and referential questions (those questions to which there is more than one acceptable answer). 650 C. Wardman – COPIED quote needs rewriting.
Learning questions (marked ‘LQ’ in the appendices) were a useful tool for introducing the lesson’s topic. The LQ would function as a means for helping the student to think about the topic at hand. Think about what they know or do not know. They would be given an opportunity to think about the LQ or discuss with their peers. The LQ would be presented on the PowerPoint slide which most lessons are presented. This would not be written in Chinese as the students’ level was not high enough for them to understand and it would be time consuming trying to learn and translate. Questions may sometimes be closed e.g. “Do you remember how to tell the time?” They may also be open-ended – “What’s your daily schedule?” (See Appendix 1.0- 2.1 for examples). Both styles are useful and can be expounded upon based on the answers given by the students.
Differentiation
Flexible Paced Learning
Since COVID-19 began, the need for flexible learning in education became not only helpful, but imperative. We saw the shift from traditional classroom learning to online, giving students more responsibility for their own learning. Flexible learning offers children choice from a variety of factors (Huang et al., 2020). In keeping with my aim of creating a child-centred environment, though my lessons were planned with completion times in mind (note times written in each block per activity), I made sure to be flexible in the lesson. Tasks could be extended or shortened based on student interest. However, with me being flexible with the times, this allowed students to take responsibility for their own learning (Lewis & Spencer, 1986; Goode, 2007). While this can benefit the students in terms of their engagement and active learning, this can sometimes cause changes to be made to the lesson planning and shifting or reorganization of lessons is always a possibility (appendice 1.1 Reflection).
Collaborative Learning
Group work played a big role in the classroom and though the ‘group’ was small (five students) I would often split the children into pairs for activities on games day or tech day when more independent work was required (starter activity in appendix 2.1). Working in a small group, it was quite easy to split the students up based on ability, but the students also had the opportunity to work with everyone in the room more frequently. This encouraged relationship building and the students were not only becoming responsible for their own learning but their classmates’ also. They became more invested in the lessons when working in teams and Chinese language became less intimidating to the students because they did not feel alone in their struggles. They helped each other.
Quizlet’s programme would allow teachers to control the groups and choose who the children would work with to complete the activity. I would give them time to work individually also.
Other Notes
Differentiation
Flexible-pace learning: tasks are completed in a set amount of time, which normally accommodates the slower-paced learners.
Collaborative learning: groupwork (Forming mixed-ability groups)
Progressive tasks: separate work or exercises to different students based on their abilities.
Digital resources: using interactive tools and digital applications
Verbal support: teacher-pupil interaction, and an ability in the educator to engage students in both simple and complex dialogue according to their learning needs.
Chapter 3. Conclusion
Conclusion
Overview of Lesson Sequence
Context:
Junior School Year 3 class of 5 students. Two with Learning Support needs. Foreign Nationals in an International School in Beijing, China.
Subject: Chinese as a Second Language
Teaching Approaches:, Differentiation, Group work.
Assessment Strategies:
Appendices
Appendix 1.0 Week one of lesson plans, Dates 3rd – 7th May 2021
Appendix 1.0 Week one of lesson plans, Dates 3rd – 7th May 2021
Appendix 1.1 Week one of lesson plans.
Appendix 1.1 Week one of lesson plans.
Appendix 2.0 Week two of lesson plans.
Appendix 2.0 Week two of lesson plans.
Appendix 2.1 Week two of lesson plans.
Appendix 2.1 Week two of lesson plans.
Bibliography
Besvinick, S. L. (1960) ‘An Effective Daily Lesson Plan’, Clearing house (Menasha, Wis.), 34(7), pp. 431–433.
Huang, Ronghuai & Tlili, Ahmed & Yang, Junfeng & Chang, Ting-Wen & Wang, Huanhuan & Zhuang, Rongxia & Liu, Dejian. (2020). Handbook on Facilitating Flexible Learning During Educational Disruption: The Chinese Experience in Maintaining Undisrupted Learning in COVID-19 Outbreak.
Estella Williams Chizhik & Alexander Williams Chizhik (2018) Using Activity Theory to Examine How Teachers’ Lesson Plans Meet Students’ Learning Needs, The Teacher Educator, 53:1, 67-85, DOI: 10.1080/08878730.2017.1296913
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