Week+7

This lecture was on ‘who are your students and how do you know?’ I thought Professor Fitzgerald gave us a great insight into the role of teachers and the difference they actually make in peoples lives. She also spoke about a child named Roni and highlighted points about him that is not known to everyone. This really showed how important it is to get to know and understand your students. Learning this information about Roni allows you to find out about his interests and strengths so you can build upon them in the classroom. Overall, I found this lecture really helpful and will certainly keep this information in mind when I start my placement in a few weeks.

I think the lecture really pointed out the importance of getting to know your students on a personal level. Having been in classrooms and on fieldwork, the kids respond to you in a much better once you know their name and something small about them. It gives them a sense of trust in you I guess. I think what Chris pointed out was vital in that once you have this information you can build upon it in the classroom and use it to encourage academic endevours. Having the trust and respect of your students goes along way to getting them to cooperate and participate in the classroom.

Agreed Bre! I have kind of implemented some of the things we were taught in the lecture during my fieldwork and it is amazing the response you get from a child when they know you genuinely care about them and have an interest in their learning. You can see this through their manner towards you in class and it even shows through in their work, especially if the work is relevant and interesting to them. this lecture built on those from the previous couple of weeks but also noted that many things happen at a childs home and in their personal life that can effect how they behave at school so we need to be mindful of this. I think building a trusting, caring but professional relationship with the students right from the start is the key to establishing a positive learning environment that will be easier to maintain throughout the year.

I don't see how teachers could be in a room with students for any period of time and not actually know their names, as has been mentioned in several lectures. Not only do you not have a good relationship with the student, you are actually making things more difficult for yourself, in terms of keeping track of student's progress, calling on students in class etc. The next steo of this is obviously knowing more about those in your class, about their personalities and interests, which are easy to find out, and also about their background and home life, which might take a little more care to investigate. Being a primary teacher and having your class spend the majority of their learning time with you in your room means that you have multiple chances to build up these relationships and work with and see the students as individuals, not just as a group. The more you know about students, whether it be learning styles, difficulties, interests, background or dislikes means that you have a far better idea of how to teach them both as a group, and individually.