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My teaching experience

by Mustaqeem Haroun

Pages 2 and 3 of 10

My professional Identity
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My
Teaching philosophy

My teaching philosophy has changed tremendously over the
past three years. In the beginning of first year in my first teaching practice
I believed that learners learn best when there is a reward system in place.
This stems from the fact that in one first year module psychology from the
theorist B.F. Skinner behaviourism theory. This theory states that human
behaviour follows 'laws' and that the causes of human behaviour are something
outside of a person, something in their environment. He believed that these
environmental 'causes' of behaviour could always be observed and studied.
I believe our learners are our future. Each of our learners
has the potential to bring something unique and special to the world. Teaching
is an important and honourable occupation that demands commitment. There are
miracles, learning, healing, laughter, sharing and love every day in classrooms
all around the world. A teacher can impact on students’ lives in a positive
way; this is a huge privilege that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
My teaching philosophy has been influenced by my mentor
teachers over the years. In the first year of teaching practice, I thought that
being a teacher entailed just teaching the content to the learners, whether the learners understood the work or not because my mentor teacher at the time only cared about completing the curriculum. As I got more confident in my ability to teach, I realised that teaching is not only about teaching the content, but also more than that, it is about taking interest in your learners’ lives,
helping learners achieve their full potential. Being compassionate and making sure that the learners understand the content that is being taught.
I believe that all learners can achieve good results if the
teacher uses appropriate teaching strategies suitable to the class, therefore
it is important to take interest in your learners lives as this will indicate
to you how these learners learn. It is important for the teacher to possess
qualities that is effective for teaching for the teaching and learning
experience to be fruitful. They are being prepared, having a positive attitude, hold high expectations, being creative in the teaching process and being companionate to name a few.  To me teaching is more than a profession. Teaching is a way of life because without teachers’ society will not be able to function
correctly. Teachers spend more time with learners than their own parents, so the teacher becomes an important figure in the learners’ lives. It is important that you as the teacher makes the learners feel comfortable in the classroom. When a learner is comfortable, he/she does more than what is expected of them and in turn tried harder in the teaching and learning phase.
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Classroom management tool
There are numerous classroom management tools that I have incorporated in my teaching experience as well as being an educator at a school. I will be discussing two classroom management tools namely, classroom management rules and call and response. Every classroom should have a set of rules in place. These rules are there to prevent chaos and establish order. When I am introduced to a class the first thing, I do is establish rules. I will ask learners to give three rules of their own and I will then give seven. These 10 rules come with consequences. Each has different severity. Classroom rules are foundational for successful classroom management! As the educator of learning, I believe it is important that I not only help my students be successful but also to be successful in life! Therefore, I wanted my classroom rules to be values that could be applied in and outside of the classroom. They are rules that I model and want to follow in my life as well. These rules are simple to remember! Yet, every classroom procedure and behaviour, from how we come to the carpet, to how we take care of the listening centre, to how we handle conflict with a friend, falls under these rules. These three rules empower students to have the confidence to control their choices and to be the best that they can be. They aren’t just
classroom rules but are also rules for life. The rule posters should be posted
somewhere in the room that is easily accessible and viewed. I always hang mine
right in the front of the room. To help students remember the rules I created
gestures to go with them! We went over our rules and did the gestures every day
during our morning meeting. We also would refer to them throughout the day.
Another tool
I used that was successful was rearraching the desk and allowing challenging
learner sit next to top achievers.

Once students have learned the rules, I liked having students take leadership of reviewing the rules with the class. The second classroom management tool I use frequently is call and response. A solid classroom foundation needs rules, relationships, and it also needs routines! What I love about using call & responses as attention grabbers is that the structure and routine of the strategy stays the same all year long, but you can just easily change up the call & response phrasing that you use whenever you need to!
Theoretical underpins.

My objectives align with the theory of behaviourism. Establishing rules will ensure that learners behave in the desired way for teaching and learning to be effective. Behaviourism emphasizes how people interact with their environment.
Over time, these interactions form behaviours. The process by which this
behaviour is formed is known as conditioning. Having rules in the classroom environment will condition learners to behave in a certain way.
Showcase your classroom tool. Take pictures of the rules in your classroom.
How effective was the tool?

The tool was effective to a certain extent. Most of the learners paid attention to the rules that they wanted to instead of abiding by all 10 rules that were put in place. However, once they realised that breaking the rules has consequences they gradually started to abide by the rules. This process took 2-3 days to be successful.


 

 
Classroom managment tool