EPISODE 2 LEARNERS’ DEVELOPMENT MATRIX Development Domain High School Students Physical Gross motor skills Fine motor skills Self-help skills High School students are quite behaving than Elementary students. They can stay longer seating and just listening to the teacher. They can write clearly and draw properly. They also have the ability to help themselves independently; when the act tends to be higher that’s the tome they’ll ask for guidance. Social Interaction w/ Teachers Interaction w/ Classmates/friends Interests They interact with their teachers politely and nicely and with all due respect. The students interact with one another in a manner wherein it is casual, teenager conversation. Usually their interests revolve around chatting, playing around and with their stuffs and the students nowadays are also engaged in modern technology like playing computer and online games. Emotional Moods & temperament, expression of feelings Emotional independence Some of the students are very vocal about their emotions & feelings. They voice it out to others and to the teachers when they feel happy, sad or even angry. While there are some who are quiet reserved and isolated from the group. They are Grade 10 students already; they are more capable of handling their own personal independence unlike the lower grade level. Cognitive Communication skills In communicating skills although they are not yet fully developed, you can see the potential and you can see the efforts they exerting when discussing in front even though shyness attacks them. Thinking skills Their thinking skills are sharp, improving each day as additional knowledge inhibits their heads. Problem-solving Their Problem-Solving skills are practiced when they ask to answer a certain situational problems and board works which will surely help them to sharpen their minds. ANALYZE Level Salient Characteristics Observed Implications to the TeachingLearning Process High School High School students are much disciplined. They listen very well to the instructions given by their teacher. Therefore, teachers should be entertaining and energetic during discussions. Age of learners observed: 16-17 High School students are independent, the teacher do not have to tell them one-by-one what to do. Therefore, teachers should give proper guidance and instructions what the class should be doing. Reflect 1. While you were observing the learners, did you recall your own experiences when you were their age? What similarities or differences do you have with the learners you observed? Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to observe the learners during class discussions due to the current system. But while I was reading their answers on their papers, I realized that they are struggling more onto how they will provide an answer to the questions given the fact that some of the students might be selflearning. I remembered many moments of my high school years when I often times did not get the lessons so I have to inquire my classmates after the class or do research. I can’t imagine the struggle this generation is suffering during this pandemic where no teacher is there to help them understand the lessons. Hoping this pandemic will soon come to end so that the students now will also experience the real life of being a high school student and have fun while they’re still on their youth. 2. Think of a teacher you cannot forget for positive or negative reasons. How did she/he help or not help you with your needs (physical, emotional, social, cognitive)? How did it affect you? The teacher that truly remained on my heart is Mrs. Gina Estor─my tenth grade advisor─who is always kind, humbled, and very much like a mother to all of her students. I will never forget the times she gave my classmates money for their transportation, snacks, and even for their school projects every time she sees that they are struggling with their expenses. Aside from her beautiful character, she is also a great English teacher that can easily explain and help us understand a complex topic. To be honest, she became one of my many reasons why I pursue education because I wanted to guide, help, and teach the young ones. It may be a very ideal type of a teacher but I wanted to live in that ideal where I can lead the next generations to the right path. 3. Share your other insights here. As I finished this chapter, I learned that there are many factors to affect or contribute to the development of a child. From Physical, m\Mental, Social and Cognitive theory which involves the learner on how they’ll be able to cope up or catch up with their people around him/her in the environment. LINK THEORY TO PRACTICE 1. C 2. A 3. B SHOW YOUR LEARNING ARTIFACTS Which is your favorite theory of development? How can this guide you as a future teacher? My favorite theory of development is “Social Learning Theory” wherein children can learn from observing others. This theory is a very powerful tool in education. f children see positive consequences from an action, they are likely to do that action themselves. And if they see negative consequences, they are likely to avoid that behaviour. Unique, novel, and different situations often catch a student’s attention and can stand out to them. If students see other students paying attention, they are more likely to pay attention. So when I will become a teacher, I can utilize reward systems and punishments to help my students learn from the examples of others. Social learning theory also has a great root in encouraging self-efficacy by using constructive feedback. Students who get positive reinforcement have more confidence in themselves and their abilities—this stands out in their mind and they want to repeat this behavior. EPISODE 3 OBSERVATIONAL REPORT Tagoloan Community College via Google Meet Baluarte, Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental Date of visit: November 12, 2021 There are a total of 20 students who were able to join the meet online. All of the students are girls with age ranges from 18 to 19. During Class: Even though I only happened to observe an actual online class of the first year college students, I can see to it that they are quite comfortable with each other. When someone will talk, everybody listens and answers when the teacher throw a question. Only that half of the class were able to join the session maybe because of not having a stable internet connectivity, a good gadget that can install the Google meet application or having some personal problems. Despite of the small number that attended the meeting, the teacher was able to stay positive, active, entertaining, and kept the good atmosphere via online. With her positive characteristics, the whole three hours remained lively and loud with the students’ recitations. Outside Class: ANALYZE 1) Identify the persons who play key roles in their relationships and interactions in the classrooms. What roles do they play? Is there somebody who appears to be the leader, a mascot/joker, an attention seeker, a little teacher, a doubter/pessimist? There’s a certain student who’s fond of making a joke and loves to talk in the class. When two of his classmates were presenting their report, he cheered them both which made his other classmates cheer for the reporters. There’s also one student who serves as a class leader. She would always warn those students who forgot to turn off their microphone when someone is talking on the other line. Every time a teacher has a question, she will always raise her hand to answer. What makes the learners assume these roles? What factors affect their behavior? What influences them to assume these roles are their peers, their belief that they would be better to be this way, people’s reaction that somehow satisfy them and their teachers’ meaningful feedback. 2) Is there anyone you observe who appear left out? Are you students who appear “different”? Why do they appear different? Are they accepted or rejected by the others? How is this shown? I don’t think that there will be a student who will be left out and different. What makes them have differences is their own perspectives. But as far as I can assume, students will celebrate differences and create bond with each other. 3) How does the teacher influenced the class interaction, considering the individual differences of the students? The teacher influences the students to be supportive of each other and to respect each other’s’ differences by being mindful and careful of their words, and to be available for each other as friends who are willing to help and be their emotional support. In addition, the teacher encourages the students accept and appreciate each other’s opinion and belief about a certain matter, as well as their interest, hobbies and preferences. 4) What strategies does the teacher use to maximize the benefits of diversity in the classroom? How does the teacher leverage diversity? The teacher makes sure that she is aware of students’ individual differences through understanding their backgrounds, learning styles, hobbies and interest. The teacher establishes friendly relationship with her students and encouraging them to be open for communication while fostering respect in the classroom by letting them to talk about their cultural backgrounds. The teacher also tries to integrate celebration of cultural differences in every lesson in any way she can, for instance employing activities that allow the students learn about each other’s culture such as sharing, role playing etc. REFLECT 1. How did you feel being in that classroom? Did you feel a sense of oneness or unity among the learners and between the teacher and the learners? Despite of the students’ differences from each other, their unity regarding acceptance and appreciation of each other had made me feel comfortable. How the teacher manages diversity in the classroom is a sign that she is very effective in developing teaching strategies that promotes awareness and creating connection with diverse cultures. Evidently, the students are empathetic and open-minded about diverse backgrounds which helped them understand each other well. Students demonstrating confidence and independence in the class is also a sign that the teacher is effective in fostering cultural sensitivity in the classroom. The way they care for each other and how openly they communicate with their teacher and how they become united in collaboration activities made me feel a sense of oneness in the classroom. OBSERVATIONAL REPORT (SPED) Reference: Youtube video Date of Visit: SPED Class with intellectual disabilities The class is composed of students with intellectual disabilities. There is a student who’s not paying attention to the teacher, he was sitting at the back and talking with his seatmate. When the teacher was presenting a video, everybody became excited and started clapping their hands. They were a bit noisy. One student is very energetic as she keeps on clapping her hands and stomping her feet while she is watching the video. While some are watching the video, others were just looking at their classmates and doing their own stuff like playing with their pens. When the teacher was asking a question, one student raised her hand to answer and the rest of the class raised their hands too. When the student answered correctly the question, she was extremely happy and giggled for her small achievement. Even though there is only one student who’s participative of the class, the teacher tries to encourage others to at least share their answer or let them read. The students interact well with their teacher and classmates during the discussion. According to the teacher, her students experience difficulty in understanding new information, have slow cognitive processing time and have difficulty in comprehending abstract concepts. To respond to the learners’ needs, the teacher uses clear and simple language, uses visual aids and employ various teaching strategies. A regular class with inclusion of learners with low vision students As I observe the class, there are 5 students with low vision. 3 girls who are wearing glasses are farsighted while 1 boy have astigmatism and the other boy is near sighted. Although they have minimal problems with their vision, they are still participative of the class. In fact, 2 of them were top students of the class. There were no special treatment or biasness in the class but the teacher ensures that the needs of the students we’re provided. For example, the teacher created an effective seat plan considering the students’ needs. As much as possible, the teacher encourages the class to be confident and to be the leaders of their own. She gives everybody an opportunity to lead in every class activity and celebrate oneness in the class. ANALYZE 1) Did your observation match the information given by the teacher? Based on the teacher’s given information, the observations I had and jotted down matched what she had given, in terms of the students’ needs, performance and how she handles their needs and how she tries to develop activities that would suit the needs of her students. 2. Describe the differences in ability levels--Evidently, the class is composed of diverse students with different levels of abilities. These abilities vary in terms of their current knowledge and skills, independence level and etc. Some lower-ability students are struggling to understand the lesson while others who can independently learn by themselves are considered as higher-ability students. Having these kinds of students in the class need effective strategies to respond to their varying needs. For example, the teacher may use a differentiated instruction through structuring his/her lesson plan in various phases such as review phase, inquiry phase, comprehension phase and application phase. Other instructional strategies are peer interaction groups, collaboration activities etc. 3. Describe the methods--As I have observed, the teacher uses multiple means of presenting the topic. She utilizes various tools and materials to aid her discussion such as video, textbooks and multimedia. She also provides different ways for students to express their learning such as writing, art or presentation. In addition, she allows them to work with their peers for an effective way of learning and employs performance-based activities and authentic assessment. REFLECT 1. Recall the time when you were---During high school in Grade 7, I remember some of my classmates were still struggling how to read fluently in English language. What my teacher did was, she assigned a study buddy for each student who’s having hard time to read and let their study buddy help them. As one of the study buddies, I helped my classmate in reading a book every recess or lunch time. My teacher constantly monitors us, and the progress that my classmates are making. For me, it is very effective. She helps the low achiever students improve their weakness while letting the high achievers share their knowledge and skills through assisting their classmates. 2. What dispositions and traits---As a future teacher, I will be needing the following dispositions and traits to respond to my learners’ needs: Expectation that I will be handling a classroom with students with wider-ability levels. • Additional time and effort to meet the needs of the learners. • Continuous innovation and brainstorming of effective strategies and approaches in handling students with different levels of abilities. • Effective communication to establish good relationship with students while being a good listener for them. • Focus on collaboration along with the belief that this is more effective than letting the students learn alone. • Flexibility and Adaptability in changing and evolving environment. • Empathetic teacher who understands what her students backgrounds, needs and interest. • Lifelong learners who continuously seeks for what is best for students. OBSERVATIONAL REPORT (INDIGENOUS PEOPLE) Name of the School Observed: Flora Primary School School Address: Maruglu, Capas, Tarlac Date of Visit: Virtual Visit on September 10, 2021 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp9YGKYX-gs) Flora Primary School in Maruglu, Capas, Tarlac is a school exclusively for Aeta-Magantsi students or commonly known as Negritos. There are more or less 50 students in the school with only 3 teachers. With the travel conditions, the students contact hours with the teachers are 4 days. Each classroom has mixed of different grade level students. One classroom is composed of Grade 4 and Grade 5 students due to the lack of teachers and the facility. However, the class are very interactive as they participate in every class discussion. They are very determined to learn amidst the inadequacy learning materials such as books. One student said that they are using a Grade 4 textbooks instead of Grade 5 textbooks because the rainy season hinders the delivery of the books to their school. Teachers are also resourceful and creative with their instructional materials. Even though they find it hard to teach using chalk and board only, they still find ways on how to teach the lesson effectively. For example, one teacher shared his idea that he used pebbles from the river to teach addition or multiplication. Furthermore, they are adhering to the indigenized curriculum. One teacher shared his challenge in teaching alphabets based on the words that we commonly associate with the letter. Instead of teaching letter “A” using apple, he uses those words that are more familiar to the students. The challenge in the curriculum is also a factor that affects the progress of the students’ learning. Indigenous Peoples Education Curriculum Framework is not utilized in this school because it is not yet distributed to them. So, they resort to the Old Curriculum Framework. But the time frame in this curriculum is not applicable with the IP students’ ability level. Sometimes, one topic covers 3 days. No matter how eager and effective a teacher is, the problem with the lack of food affects the students’ performance in the school which makes it hard for teachers to achieve their objectives which is to help the IP students to learn better. ANALYZE Curriculum Design, Competences and Content 1. 2. 3. 4. Answer each question based on your observation and interview data. One particular example in how the school foster the sense of belonging to Aeta’s belief and practices is when, one of the teachers is teaching the Aeta’s traditional dance. This dance is part of the Aeta’s tradition and the teacher, as part of the school, demonstrated an example of deep understanding of what the Aetas value in their culture. Unfortunately, this certain aspect was not shown in the video. The school shows a deep appreciation of Aeta’s identity through encouraging the students to learn their traditional practices and helping them value their culture through integrating such concepts in the discussion. According to one of the teachers they are not adhering to the IPED curriculum but instead they use the old curriculum framework. This means that the skills and competencies that the learners need to develop are more generalized and do not specifically emphasize their tribe’s ancestral 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. domain and culture. Yes. Although they are using the old curriculum, still, it link new concepts and competencies to the life experience of the community. The “indiginized” strategies that the teachers employ in teaching the topics complement the Aeta’s teaching-process which makes the learning more effective. One particular example on this aspect, is the integration of cultural dance of the Aeta in classroom activities that highlights the concept of preserving and valuing one’s culture and tradition. Unfortunately, this particular aspect was not shown in the video. The assessment practices that the teachers employ consider community values and culture through ensuring that the assessments are culturally-sensitive and regards their culture specifically in the language, tools that are available in the community and the concepts that are relevant to the group’s background. As I have observed, the activities employed by the teachers contributes to the students’ development of critical thinking skills through using real-life concepts/problems that the students need to solve. What do you think? Can you still be done to promote and uphold indigenous peoples knowledge systems and practices and rights in school? Based on what I have gathered from the video of Aeta students in Tarlac, the following are my suggestions regarding the knowledge systems and practices and rights of indigenous peoples in the Flora Primary School: 1. The DepEd Division of Tarlac must ensure that the IPED curriculum is distributed in the mountain schools including those schools that are exclusively for IP students. 2. The DepEd Division of Tarlac must arrange effective strategies for teachers who are struggle travelling from their houses to the mountain schools without sacrificing the contact hours of students with their teachers. 3. The DepEd Division of Tarlac should hire more teachers to teach in indigenous people and provide them appropriate compensation. 4. The DepEd Division of Tarlac must provide modern instructional materials for the teachers to use and learners’ materials such as textbooks. 5. The curriculum for indigenous framework should emphasize valuing of culture and tradition of the indigenous peoples through integrating real-life concepts in each lesson. REFLECT Reflect based on your actual visit or videos that you watched. 1) What new things? Did you learn about indigenous peoples? Based on what I have watched, the students are more concerned with the harsh possibility that they may be fooled if they don’t study than focusing on their dreams and aspirations as learners. I also learned that, there are numerous factors that affect the students’ performance in class so teachers as well as the parents of these students should be aware of these challenges and as much as possible, find way to at least solve the problem. For instance, the lack of food which greatly affect the students. 2) What did you appreciate most from your experience in visiting the school with indigenous learners? Why? I admire the teachers in teaching in Flora Primary School in terms of their determination to teach the students no matter how difficult the situation is. I appreciate their effort to travel 5-6 hours just to teach the students, and most importantly they never give up on helping these students achieve their dreams. For them, teachers are the only heroes that will help the students claim their rights to education. 3) For indigenous learners, as a future teacher, I promised these three things: 3.1 Be open to respect indigenous peoples by being culturally-sensitive and effective communicator, who influence other people to be appreciative of indigenous people and lead in upholding their rights. 3.2 Uphold and celebrate their culture, beliefs and practices by integrating celebration of cultures activities in every lesson, and maximizing the use various teaching strategies that consider diversity and inclusion among students. 3.3 Advocate for indigenous peoples education by continuously supporting of developing and enhancing IPED curriculum, sharing meaningful suggestions to the head members of Department of Education/Commission on Higher Education regarding how we can improve the curriculum that suits well the needs of IP students. SHOW Your Learning Artifacts With the principle of individual differences in mind, what methods and strategies will you remember in the future to ensure that you will be able to meet the needs of both the high and low achievers in your class? Make a collection of strategies on how to address students’ different ability levels. Ways to address the students' different ability levels Encourage them to interact and explore in the ways that they find most enjoyable. Some kids prefer to work alone, with a partner, in a small group, or in a big group. Allow children who are sensitive to sensory experiences, such as sand, potting soil, or gak, to use tools or wear gloves when investigating sensory materials like sand, potting soil, or gak. Even when interacting with children electronically, providing options demonstrates that we respect their independence and preferences. Consider how you may alter an activity in the moment for students who need more time, additional help, or experience with physical things to comprehend the concept when you design an activity to share with the students. Consider how you'll push youngsters who are more advanced learners by scaffolding the experience. Students are generally well aware of their own and their classmates' abilities. Honor each student’s knowledge and urge them to aid youngsters who might benefit from their assistance. Share samples of student’s work in virtual sessions to congratulate them on their accomplishments, even if they are far away. You may, for example, invite the classroom dancer to show you his hallmark dance move to exemplify this openness to asking for help. LINK THEORY TO PRACTICE 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. D C B A A C D A A