Three Clusters of Concerns

My teaching experience as a whole

1. Self-Concern

From my working experience, I realized pupils are easier to manage when they’re given task which they are familiar with. When introducing a brand new area/topic, it would be disordered as the pupils get very excited and enthusiastic with the lesson.

For classroom control, if the pupils misbehave, I will assign “jobs” to them taking away their privileges on using the computer. I prefer giving them “jobs” such as appointing them as “the duster” (wiping the black/whiteboard) or “class police” (checking on the classmates who are talking or walking around and the next who misbehave will take over the “class police” job and he/she will go back to his/her table and do their work) instead of punishing them (example, standing behind the door) because by giving them a “job”, they will at least have something to do and not interrupt others.

Discipline is very important in my classroom. It’s fine if the pupils can’t complete their works but I cannot accept pupils who disrespect or misbehave in the class. Normally for the first day of school or their first lessons with me, I will make my rules clear to them and I even printed it out and stick it on the wall as reminders.

I try my best not to compare between the classes and respect them as individuals but sometimes I can’t help it, saying things like “If they can finish it, why can’t you?” I know it’s bad, so, ya, I’m in the middle of quitting this bad “habit”.



2. Task Concerns

Before the lessons begin, I will turn on the PC for the pupils first because I don’t want them to waste any time waiting for the PC to boot as I only have 30minutes with them, unless I want to check whether they can turn on the PC independently without instructions for the Primary 1. In doing so, I can also check whether the PC is working or not and if its not, I will place a note saying “ROSAK” on the monitor.

There’s 20 PCs in my lab but not all of them are working so for bigger classes that exceeds 40 pupils, I will break them into 2 groups assigning different tasks so that they can take turns. But the work has to be simple and short, finishing within 10 minutes else the other batch will not have the chance. If its just 1 or 2 PCs short, I will let the student use the PC on the teacher’s desk or even let them use the Macbook.

I will display pupil’s work on the wall if their work is very good in order to keep motivated. And also, similar exercises will not be given twice as the pupil’s will find it boring and stay out of focus.

Printing out pupil’s work is very hectic because the computers in the lab are not “networked” with a printer. Hence every time when I wish to print out pupil’s work, I have to go to their individual PCs and save it into my pen drive. It’s easier for me now as some PCs have built-in wifi connection so I can just email their work to my inbox. As for those really old computers, I still have to do it the “traditional” way.


My Expectation - For different classes I have different expectation. For those classes who are brighter, of course I expect them not only be able to achieve the lesson objectives, but also behave better. Even without computers at home to practice, I expect them all to be able to work with computers independently at home. The good thing was, most of them time they are able to complete their work on time or even faster than the time given. If they can finish the work before the lesson ends, I will let them surf or play computer games as a reward or motivate those who are still doing to finish their work on time.


3. Impact - Learning Concerns

I try my best to cater to every pupil’s needs but since I’m the only teacher in the classroom, it is sometimes hard for me to split myself up to entertain everyone.

One of my rules in the lab is that, if anyone has question, they have to raise their hands up and only talk when I acknowledge them. This is because I don’t them to have the habit of shouting “TEACHER!” and disturbs others whenever they have doubt. Therefore I will only entertain pupils who raise their hands with their mouths close.

For those pupils who are above average and able to finish their work before the rest, I will ask them to help me to walk around the lab and see if he/she can help his/her classmates as my “little helper”.

If my lesson seemed a bit tough or too easy, I will re-edit it on the spot so that they can carry it out in their pace.