Instruction and assessment are important parts of any lesson, and the educator has to utilize different techniques to make sure that learners can achieve their academic goals. Students are engaged if the teacher is positive and supportive, so the provision of feedback should always be detailed and engaging (OfficialTPSD, 2016). It is possible to praise or provide feedback to a particular student, or the teacher can assess the work of a group of learners, which is also motivating (whitney king, 2016). Grouping is an important technique that helps in achieving several learning goals, and it can be conducted in diverse ways.
Grouping students should be guided by specific objectives the teacher sets for each learner. It is essential to make sure that all the students remain engaged during all activities (MR A, 2016; Cindy Venckus, 2013). An example of this goal can be Nancy Fetzer’s lessons. The teacher manages to engage the students effectively, and they work in small groups and participate in class discussions and activities (Nancy Fetzer, 2018c). It is clear that the choice of students based on their places in the class is an effective technique since students who are friends or interact properly are seated together.
Hence, this kind of grouping is effective due to the engagement of children who are eager to share with each other and interact positively. The educator utilizes effective body language to give instructions and engage students (Nancy Fetzer, 2018a; Nancy Fetzer, 2018b). She also uses random grouping as she simply picks the name of a student, which is also an effective strategy. Students understand that they all have equal chances to be chosen. At that, the ones who have been chosen may feel relaxed if they understand that their name is not in the jar. Another technique that can be used when grouping or implementing assessment involves the learners’ choice (Amplify, 2018). The teacher chooses a student who works on the whiteboard and asks his peers to come and complete assignments. Learners make decisions regarding the ones whose knowledge can be assessed.
The educator can focus on various skills when assessing students’ progress, which has an impact on the strategies that can be utilized. The teacher can assess reading skills by listening to the student directly, or when circulating the class paying attention to all learners. Clearly, it is necessary to employ all of the available techniques in different situations to obtain as many details regarding the students’ progress as possible.
Reflection
The videos provide helpful insights into the ways students can be engaged in different types of work and interaction. Assessment and grouping have been quite a challenging task for me due to my eagerness to get as much information as possible. I learned a lot about these elements of teaching and could observe the exact strategies used in class. For example, I was surprised to acknowledge that educators take notes quite often. Taking notes can be helpful, especially when the teacher needs to evaluate students’ skills and provide detailed data on the matter (rcataldi, 2014; Nicole Downer, 2018). I will use this simple but effective way of noting important details to focus on when preparing classes, assessing students, or reflecting on my own performance.
One of the major takeaways for me is a range of methods of providing instructions. Being engaging, using body language, paraphrasing, and asking learners to repeat instructions can be instrumental in understanding whether the learners know what is expected from them. I intend to use all of the grouping strategies I observed in my practice. I will also continue my research concerning this component. I will also group students based on their skills and level of engagement. Random grouping will be my second most utilized technique as it is easy to implement, and it is informative. The overall effectiveness of each lesson can be assessed, and particular learners’ progress can be identified.
Videos
References
Amplify. (2018). Amplify CKLA skills: Grade 1 lesson [Video file]. Web.
Cindy Venckus. (2013). Early education enrichment one hour class observation [Video file]. Web.
Massachusetts DESE. (2015). 2nd Grade Reading [Video file]. Web.
MR A. (2016). Literacy lesson first grade [Video file]. Web.
Nancy Fetzer. (2018a). First grade personal narrative writing [Video file]. Web.
Nancy Fetzer. (2018b). Grades 2-3 before, during, and after reading comprehension [Video file]. Web.
Nancy Fetzer. (2018c). Grade 2 narrative writing lesson [Video file]. Web.
Nancy Fetzer. (2018d). Opinion writing lesson second grade [Video file]. Web.
Nicole Downer. (2018). Guided reading lesson 2nd grade [Video file]. Web.
OfficialTPSD. (2016). TPSD first grade, phonics first, lesson 13c level 2 [Video file]. Web.
Rcataldi. (2014). Guided reading in a 3rd grade classroom [Video file]. Web.
The Lettered Classroom. (2019). Five reading activities to increase engagement and rigor | The Lettered classroom [Video file]. Web.
whitney king. (2016). Miss King’s second grade literacy lesson [Video file]. Web.
WritingCity. (2012). Common core writing kindergarten lesson [Video file]. Web.