Student Practice - CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

 Classroom Management

Observation dates: 20/01/2022, 24/01/2022

These two days I had different observation views. The first view was that the students were having classes at school while the teacher was teaching at home. The second view was that both Ss and T were at home.

When I observed classes online, I found it difficult because I could not see everyone clearly, particularly when everyone was at school. Sometimes the Internet was lagged, which made it more complex for me to observe lessons. Apart from that, when everyone was at home, some Ss kept their cameras off, and it made it hard for T to make sure the situations of Ss. 

Now I am going to elaborate on these two dissimilar situations. While Ss were at school, they had their supportive teacher, who helped the main teacher and Ss. Overall, Ss were engaged in the class. However, it was problematic for T to ensure that Ss have finished taking notes. And T had to keep asking the same questions many times. It was not easy for Ss to ask and answer questions from time to time as well because they had to move to the front of the computer so that T could hear them more clearly. However, I think it made the class more organised, and Ss had the chance to move around the classroom somehow so that they were less prone to feel tired and bored. And, I believe having classes at school is easier as for the demand of a quiet learning environment since it is usually quieter at school. Even Ss could study with each other in the same space, where they could work with each other more easily compared with having online classes individually at home as for primary school children. Nevertheless, they had the chance to talk with each other, so T used the gesture "shush" or called the student's name directly. Though T can enable breakout rooms on Zoom or MS teams, I believe it will be more helpful for older Ss due to technical aspects. It is complex for younger Ss to write and draw something with each other online on the same page without a preparatory introduction, which is always time-consuming. Also, a friendly learning environment cannot be ensured when Ss were at home, hence T should be flexible. For instance, the noise at students' homes could not be controlled because of the decoration surrounded by the house. Students had to mute and unmute themselves when necessary. Students might forget to unmute themselves when asked to answer questions or they might be asked to repeat their answers once again when their Internet was lagged, which made online classes inconvenient. When Ss were muted, they could not talk with their classmates but they might talk with their parents, etc. Or they might have lost their attention, so T had to call out their names, which is almost the only thing that T can do online. The next problem is that Ss might not gain the materials T sent in the chat so T had to send them again, which is time-taken as well, therefore it is easier for T to share the screen with Ss instead of asking students to open the file individually. But probably it is better to do both simultaneously, thus Ss could choose the one which they prefer.

In conclusion, through the online observation, I had the impression that they were more focused when they were in front of their own screens. Though it was harder for T to check their situations separately, T asked them to answer questions one by one by calling their names, which made the classes arranged well and enabled everyone to be involved. T also used some online activities such as the wordwall to make the classes more attractive. Lastly, they had 30 minutes, 15 minutes less, when it came to online classes, which I believe is beneficial for both Ss and T because the attention span of younger students may be shorter, especially when Ss sit in front of the screen and listen to T for a long time without many movements, and long screen time may do harm to their eyes.