Section+C

=My ability to communicate effectively with my students has continued to develop. =

My ability to communicate effectively with my students has continued to develop because I am always striving to create an atmosphere of cooperation, common pursuit and integrity in my classes. I treat my students with respect, and expect to be treated with respect. I use techniques, in my questioning that show that I value my student’s ideas [[|NSWIT Observation 4.3.2]]. I respond to their comments in a way that builds their confidence. I shall describe an interaction that has happened in a few different classes.

In responding to a question, students will often preface their response by “This is just a guess, but...” When I hear this, I will often stop the student and say; “You are not ‘guessing’. You have thought about the question and you have taken your knowledge into account in order to offer this response. You have done exactly what scientists do. Don’t sell yourself short by calling it a guess.” I pause and then say to the student “Now, tell us what you are thinking.” This has always resulted in the student reacting in a more purposeful way. Other students also stop using the phrase and start responding in a more considered manner.

As mentioned previously I like to use self paced units and now flipping my class. I find that these pedagogical models help students acquire factual information in a way that is meaningful for them. They then tend to recognise that they can control the level of their success. They know what they need to do to understand and learn something. This control builds the students self confidence and their appreciation of the knowledge. With this confidence they are more likely to express themselves in class discussions [[|NSWIT Observation 4.3.3]].

I have also developed my own technology skills to try to keep up with technologies that my students use. In doing this I incorporate these technologies in planning activities so that the students will come to the activity with a level of technical expertise and then use this in order to extend their knowledge.

This has been particularly successful with student’s using MonkeyJam to make animations [[|Animating Science]], taking part in the [|60 Second Video Task] where one of our year 8 teams won a prize in the state competition. I have used the educational social networking site [|Edmodo] to enable my students communicate with students in California who were studying a similar topic as we were taking part in the 20/20 Challenge.

I try to set activities that appeal to my students interests e.g. “[|Is it really getting warmer?]” webquest, “[|Tectonic Activity]” using Google Earth to find areas of tectonic activity.

I often use novels and films to stimulate discussion of relevant issues and offer [|holiday reading lists]. These lists suggest novels or films that raise ethical issues or that ask the students to state where the science ends and the fiction begins. These are usually popular books or films that they would come across anyway, but I encourage students to analyse them from a scientific point of view.

In flipping my classroom I have found that the use of different technologies has given my students greater confidence and they are more able to express themselves clearly because they really understand their work. [[|My Experience of the Flipped Classroom]]. I now send [|Outlook invitations] to students to inform them about what will be covered in class and what they need to do to prepare. My students know that I am there to help and guide them. I want them to feel as passionately about their study of Science and Biology as I do and I believe that my students sense that. My students know that I am willing and happy to help them and they respond positively to this.