Notes on Resilience

What can we do to make our students more resilient?
-Brofenbrenner's Ecosystems help us understand it as how inner ecosystems are able to react to outer layers (school, family, peers, as well as the wider community, media, society and culture).
-Problem solving skills, autonomy, social competence and sense of purpose and failure (Morrison, 1997) are the key characteristics of a resilient child.

I believe students in our school are fortunate to have great support overall - in school, at home and in the community. Hearing about many of the problems local students face made me reflect on just how fortunate our students are.

Does their sheltered upbringing make them less resilient? Two students in my class cried yesterday, one from a snide remark from another student, the other from an overblown teacher reaction, yet both were able to recover quickly and seemed to have forgotten any more by the end of the day.

Our students don't face the same challenges many HK students face (exams, parental pressure, societal pressure), but does it make them more resilient? With over 500,000 families in HK living below the poverty line, perhaps the challenges my students face pale in comparison. Are they spoilt?

Using technology for group work: Making a How to... video

The shooting session on the field could have been better organized. Putting such a eight Y3girls together (especially some strong headed ones) and expecting them to cooperate in shooting a video was too much for them to handle. I tried to salvage by stepping in to be director, but the whole vibe was pretty rotten towards the end.

- If two groups work together, make sure there is someone in charge to direct.

- Confine them to a limited area, not run all over the field.

- Make it clear to them what they want to capture.

- Impose consequences that a group was simply messing around, and praise groups who managed to shoot useful footage.

For video editing:

- Should have made sure all the ICT was setup beforehand, instead of wasting half of the lesson connecting to the server.

- Using the iPhone as a recorder was a great idea for groups which didn't have a computer.

- The biggest problem was how to record their voiceover over the noise. Taking the laptop outside was one solution.

On the whole though, the project will be successful once it's finished. Too bad it just takes so much time with Y4s.

Civilization project / End of teaching Prac

Despite the huge amount of preparation - formatting 17 handouts (4 civilizations, 4-5 topics per group) really paid off. Students were focused throughout all 3 sessions, and I think they were really proud of their finished work. The poster design also allowed gave early finishers something to work at.

Having a quick recap/short presentation was a great idea - 1 fact per student. Also, giving them 3 minutes to prepare what they would say was very helpful. However, I forgot to give awards out for their poster... I should have taken notes on which group worked cooperatively etc.

Praising groups who were doing the right thing really seemed to work well in motivating other groups.

If it is clear that what you've planned isn't working

Stop and regroup. Pens down. On the carpet. All focus on you.

• Assess the problem - students may not tell you right away they don't understand. Have them chat with their neighbour about what they don't understand.

1. If you feel it is possible to salvage the lesson:

• Start from square one, assume they know nothing.
• Teacher model the task if necessary.

2. If the task you have planned seems far too difficult (or easy) even with teacher modelling, abandon ship.

• Switch to Plan B - something which requires no prep. A good idea is to ask students to write something related to the topic/instructional goals. e.g. write me down 3 facts and 3 opinions about ________.
• Have students discuss / check each other's work. This will be a useful gauge on their current level.
• Link that lesson's work to the next class - revisit the topic at the appropriate level or use that writing as a new starting point.

Classroom management tips

• Remind them of the rules at the start of the lesson.
• Give praise to students who are behaving / doing well.
• The fish analogy - rein the net in if your control is slipping. Never try to raise your voice above theirs. Make them wait and issue threats/warnings if necessary - and praise the good ones.
• Before students set off on a group / independent task, set a time limit. Have something ready for them to do if they finish early.
• Have fillers up your sleeve in case of technical mishaps or you need time to setup. E.g. Talk to your neighbour about 3 things your know / learned last lesson about, demand that they be ready to share it after the time is up.

Train wreak: World cup reading comp

When a class is going well, you know.

Students are engaged in their work, they are on-task, they are responsive to your questions...

The Y3 board game design class worked extremely well - it worked great for a number of reasons:

• students found it meaningful, they could play the game they made!
• it was approximately the right level for the class - challenging for some, but gave enough room for creativity in the high ability ones.
• it was well scaffolded

...and things were as smooth as clockwork.

But Y4 today was another story. I had the vague sense last night that it wouldn't be a great lesson, but at least not the complete train wreak which it turned out to be.

Obviously, things in the classroom can fall apart when:

• Students don't understand or find it too difficult
• Students are bored or think it is too easy
• Students are not interested in a topic
• You cannot manage a classroom
• Technology fails and students are just waiting with nothing to do

...and I think I had all these issues today.

The problems started right away from the third minute. A Powerpoint wouldn't load. I was trying to hold the discussion together whilst praying that the PPT would start. As it dragged on, some of the boys got bored and started poking each other and tattertailing. I tried to ignore them and prayed that the PPT would load - big mistake, it didn't and things got out of hand. I had to shout. Luckily, my class teacher intervened and took the troubling students outside.

Threatening to take away lunchtime etc only stems the tide... and increases the bad atmosphere. In retrospect, I should have stopped the lesson right there, admitted my faults for not being prepared instead of trying to carry on, and ditched the Powerpoint.

Without activating background information, the rest of the class never improved. The reading task was pitched at a level too high anyway, and with only a quarter of the students showing vague interest, I should have ditched the whole exercise instead of trying to ram it down their throats.

In the end, the problem lay with poor planning - choosing a poor topic, didn't generate student interest, and the inexperience of being able to salvage the lesson on the spot.

Learning to live and learn together. I get it.

Ways to control a shared reading discussions

Being able to balance student participation and teacher talk is a fine art of communication during reading discussions. How do you prevent students from all shouting all at once, and yet you want them to give their opinions?

-If asking for an answer to a question, explain beforehand that they need to explain WHY or HOW they found the answer. This will stop students from shouting out answers without thinking. (Thanks to the class teacher for suggesting this).

-If a discussion gets out of hand, say "We are too noisy" - get all the students to settle down before continuing the discussion. Stay in control.

-Avoid rhetorical or extremely easy questioning. Students become unsure if you are asking for an answer or not.

-Instead of saying "Who agrees with _____", say "If you agree with ______, raise your hand."

-If a student doesn't give the answer you are looking for.

Paperclips idea - To encourage even participation, give each student a set number of paperclips. To encourage fair participation, each student MUST use up their paperclips by the end of the class. If they've run out of paperclips, they cannot answer more questions.

Other suggestions?