Education Reflection papers

Reflection Students Can Improve by Studying their Learning Processes Before I started my studentteaching at the UBHS, I listed down some of my observations with the Grade 8 students like their
strengths and weaknesses. This is why I formulated my goals and objectives that I need to achieve
in order to address these concerns when I will be teaching them. Most of the students are actively
participating but there are times that they are too active to handle. When they get bored during the
discussion, they start talking creating nuisance and distraction on the teachers part. On the

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other hand, most of them also are expressive into sharing their feelings and experiences to the
class. When I ask them what they felt unto a certain experience, they can describe this in details. But
when I tell them to write it as an essay or in few paragraphs, they are unable to do so. Moreover, I
also observed that students keep making the same error during Science classes especially in the
problem-solving activities.
The worst part is that they dont really mind if they fail maybe, because most of them are doing it. I
can foresee that this is becoming a habit and when they are promoted to the next level, it would be
the same problem all over again unless they decide to change this cycle. Its a good thing that I read
this article when I was preparing my orientation with the class before I would be their teacher. At the
very first day that I entered the room as their teacher, I introduced my rules on behavior, attitude and
classroom management. Along with attitude, I told them that in my class, Science is not only about
intellect but it also includes perseverance, determination and other virtues they should keep in mind.
I shared to them what I read in this article, that they should know their learning processes in order to
improve not only their grades but also their learning strategies. According to the principles of
learning, Learning is an active process which is activated by the learner himself. On the other hand,
Learning is a painful process but it is non-sense if you got hurt and learned nothing. So, get up, face
your mistakes and make it right this time.
These are my words to them which got their attention and until now, they keep on reflecting on them
and finding out what this means to them. Every time I got the chance, it may annoy them but I keep
on reminding them these principles. Whenever they got low scores during quizzes, I ask them, so
what should you do about it? I pause and say, That right, find out where you went wrong and next
time dont make the same error again. In that way, you will make-up for the lost points while gaining

up confidence for your achievement. Dont give up with just few failures; instead use these failures to
motivate you to learn a lot more.
Sometimes, I think Im not teaching Science anymore or Im teaching Science less. My objectives in
my lesson are to define terms, derive formulas, demonstrate the concept, etc. but it seems at the
end of the lesson, I wasnt able to achieve them cause I discussed more on how to improve their
study habits, attitude, behavior. After teaching with them in almost three weeks, I noticed that with
the self-regulated assessment, most had improved with this experimental method. I think its a slow,
long process like the evolution but with patience, perseverance and other necessary characteristics,
I will be able to achieve this goal. I hope that during my stay with them, I will be able to help the
students not only to survive but also to excel. Source: Glenn, D.The Education Digest.September
2010. p.13-20 Reflection 3
Using

Humor

in

the

Classroom

Its a trend for the students to have a misconception and pre-conviction that Science is a stone-cold,
serious and boring subject. This is why few are interested to listen during Science classes and which
is also why it makes our job as Science teachers a lot more difficult. According to this article and the
principles of teaching, using humor is effective for the students to like the teacher. At first, I dont
really care if the students like me or not just as long as they listen to me. But at the students age
and level of maturity, its a pre-requisite for them to like me so they will listen to me. So, I started
adding the enough sense of humor during my Science classes. And, it works, at least most of the
time. Just like what the article says, the benefits of humor is that it can help capture and retain
students attention, reduce stress and anxiety, increase student motivation and participation, promote
a sense of acceptance in class that allows students to think in creative and divergent ways and
others. Humor has really helped me a lot into refraining my students sleep during my classes.
However, I have to admit that sometimes I go too far and make inappropriate jokes. Just like
everything, there is a need of balance. Too much of anything is not good so just like what this article
say, there should only be small doses of humor just enough to maintain the students attention which
is also appropriate for their age and status. There are also times that students can hardly connect at
the essence of my jokes. I think its because my jokes are sometimes outdated or too complicated
for them to deduct. So, I associate my jokes with the current trends along with my lesson. I also use
the terms they use with their peers like boom-panes, ice-bucket challenge and other trendy words
at the moment. In choosing an instructional materials and preparing activies, I see to it that it is fun,
funny and explorative but at the same time informative and educational.
For example, when I had my lesson on Work as defined in Physics, I made them perform a roleplaying activity. In order for the students to be attentive, I asked them to re-enact the work done by a
ballot vendor, bote-landok buyer and seller, a beauty queen and a secretary. I chose those
attention-seekers in the class to do the activity and I was impressed how they were able to give a

very energetic performance. I enjoyed it personally and so does the audiences which are the other
students. In this way, the students laughed and learned a lot in relation to our topic. Just like what
the article says, there are positive and negative effects of humor. When used properly, it enhances
learning in many ways but when it is misused, it can hurt the students as well as the teachers
feelings. Therefore, in using humor, proceed with caution and use it wisely. Source: Ivy, L. The
Education Digest. October 2013. p.54-57
Reflection
Creativity:

1
A

Cure

for

the

Common

Curriculum

Students love it when I compare them to the process of metamorphosis. I tell them that they are just
caterpillars for now and soon, they will become beautiful and colorful butterflies. In order to achieve
metamorphosis in the world of Education, Creativity is not only a miscellaneous but rather a need in
the students learning process. However, in this day and age, few students realize the importance of
enhancing their own innate creative being. In the classes that I taught, I observed that there are
hesitations which hinder them into letting out their creative self. They are afraid to make mistakes or
try then fail. They think they are doomed if they fail once or twice. This is why I always assure them
that in my class, there are no wrong answers but instead there are trials, lots of trials in order to
arrive at the correct answer. Whenever they answer and their answer does not directly address my
question, I ask them supplemental questions until we arrive at the main point. In this way, they hone
their convergent and divergent thinking ability which are requirements of Creativity. In the traditional
curriculum, students are trained to follow patterns and do things by the textbook. Yes, this is
essential for the students should be oriented of the basics and disciplines.
However, they must also learn how to do things their own way, create new things and innovate from
what they know, from what they learned. This is why in my Science class, I require my students to
create and design things. Just like when we had the lesson on the law of motions, I required my
students to make a paper-balloon car which is functional, durable and presentable. When they
submitted their outputs, I can see that they have the potentials and that they can do more. So I
appreciated their effort and recognized their ingenuity and innovativeness. I also gave
recommendations for them to improve. On the contrary, its hard to measure the creativity presented
in their product. So I learned that in process and product-assessment activities, there should really
be a reliable and valid rubric to be prepared so that the students will have a guide into creating
things. According to the article, Creative tasks are, by nature, ambiguous with no clear right or
wrong answers.
Such tasks require taking intellectual risks, trying, evaluating and discarding ideas, and making
connections. In reality, there are lot of difficulties in infusing creativity in my lesson and curriculum
as a teacher. Im realizing it now that creativity is not taught in few settings but rather it is honed and
developed through time. Its a holistic process which involves all the learning areas and dimensions.

It is not only the brain (cognitive domain) involved in this process but also the heart (affective
domain) and body (psychomotor domain) as well. However, I am still hoping that with more
experience and practice, Ill be able achieve this creative goal of mine. Source: Berret, D.The
Education Digest.October 2013. p.13-20
Reflection
Classroom

4
Control

In the traditional classroom setting, teachers can literally spank those students who are
misbehaving. It seemed effective back then like the friars in the Spanish period but it only instilled
fear and forced obedience among the students. With the principles of teaching-learning and also
with my personal experience, I strongly oppose this as a method of controlling the class. This is
neither effective nor complement the students learning process. During my teachings at the UB-High
School, first on my list of difficulties is how to manage the class. Most of the Grade 8 students are
highly active in making noises rather than in participating during the discussion of the lesson and
other activities. What really annoys me is that they are unaware that they are distracting me even if
their chatter is louder than my voice. They think theyre innocent of such fault. After reading this
article, I started to draw my plans in implementing classroom management strategies. Its a good
thing that at the first day of my teaching with them, I oriented them of my expectations into behaving
into class.
Every now and then, I keep reminding them of the house rules that we established following Ivan
Pavlovs conditioning technique. Just like what the article suggested, I pause for a while whenever
most of the students are noisy and I make a strong direct gaze at the offenders until they get the
message to stop their noise. If it doesnt work, I sit instead and let their classmates call the attention
of those misbehaving. I also try the numbers game. I tell the class that I would give them at least two
minutes to settle down before we can proceed. If it is break time, I tell them that I would not dismiss
them until they are all well-behaved or I dismiss the behaved ones on time but I let the offenders
stay in the classroom a little bit longer so I can have a talk with them. As much as possible, I refrain
from embarrassing the students who are misbehaving. So I tell the class to stop teasing the student
whom I called his/her attention. There are times that I go near the students who are being noisy
instead of calling out their names. I would stare at them while I would still be discussing the lesson to
avoid interruptions. I thought my grooming would be irrelevant with the lesson discussion but
students are actually bothered if I didnt groom neatly and properly.
There are times that instead of asking something related to the topic, they would ask if I wore my
uniform properly comparing me to the other student-teachers. They also care about my hair and
make-up, shoes, nail polish and accessories. They made me conscious then of what Im supposed
to wear because I realized that I will earn their respect somehow by dressing professionally. Not all
students are misbehaving so I also give praises and encouragement to those who are behaving

properly so that they can be the role-models of the class. I give credits to them so they will continue
their good behavior and not be discouraged if all the attention goes to the noisy ones. There are
really difficulties when it comes to managing the class especially that we are student-teachers and
most students dont abide with us because of this. We still have to earn their respect through time
and exposure. We have established routines, disciplinary measures and other strategies to manage
the class. Therefore, patience and endurance are the key values needed. Source: Andrew Ilagan.
The Educator. March-April 2013
Reflection

Hands-On

Science

To many students, Science might be a unicorn or a leprechaun at the end of the rainbow. They do
not appreciate the reality of the lessons being discussed in Science. In the traditional lesson proper
of the Science subjects, students are asked to read and memorize definitions and terms with just
theoretical explanations. Sometimes, its like telling a fairy tale like the unicorn and leprechaun that I
mentioned. With the new K-12 curriculum today, students are made to explore in order to deepen
their understanding with the concepts. How? Through having experiential learning activities such as
laboratory activities and varied approaches and instructional materials in teaching Science, students
are able to transfer or convert the theoretical knowledge into a concrete experience. And with my
teaching experience and the principles of teaching-learning backing me up, these are more effective
methods for the teaching-learning process. According to the article, resourcefulness is one of the
most important qualities of a science teacher. Conducting laboratory activities and presenting real
objects for the lesson could be a challenge especially if the resources are scarce at the teachers
location. This is why as a Science teacher, I should be able to substitute, improvise and customize
as suggested in this article.
At the UB- High School, the Science Departments projector is not functional. So instead of
presenting video clips and animations which I find very helpful, I demonstrate or I let the students
demonstrate the concept with the real objects to explore. I also give the students varied activities like
role-playing, designing, composing jingles/songs and other group-works so they will actively
participate with the lesson proper instead of me just talking in front. However, in conducting these
activities, the class should be oriented of the rules and guidelines which must be observed before,
during and after each activity. Organization is essential so the task will be carried out in accordance
to the objectives to be accomplished. Instructions should also be given clearly and carefully.
Curiosity among the students should also be developed. In my classes, I always encourage my
students to be asking questions if they didnt understand the lesson and they shouldnt hesitate into
asking questions especially if its a what if?. As a Science teacher, I also promote creativity and
innovation. At their young minds, I believe they can create and design peculiar things which can be
productive. I gave my students a task on designing a balloon car and some of them surprised me. It

is fulfilling on my part as a teacher that they submitted more than what I expected them to. For those
who were not able to excel, I encourage them to do better next time and dont give up trying. In
general, many say that Science is a difficult subject but I say, sometimes it depends on the teacher.
No task is that hard to a person who is dedicated to her work. Source: Reyett Paunan. The Educator.
March-April 2013