Vignette 2: Let the kids know what's coming!

January 10th, 2012.

The two teachers taking part in this discussion appear to me to be polar opposites.  Mr. Scullion appears to be the type of teacher that does only what he needs to in order to get by.  He doesn't seem to plan extensively into the future, and he doesn't seem to provide much direction or guidance to his students.  He values his time more than his duty to effectively teach his students.  The other teacher, Ms. Emerson, devotes much time and effort to providing her students with extensive course outlines.  She does this because "[her students] need to know what target they have to hit and what they need to do to be successful".  The students have an unwavering guide for their class.  What I have found to be particularly confusing in classes is when a guide line isn't given, and also when that guide line is continually changed.  I find it very hard to keep my projects in order in situations like those.

I'm going to answer these questions in two parts.  The first part: how I did these things during my practicum.  The second part: how I plan to do these things in my future career.

- How and when do I share the learning outcomes and evaluation criteria with students?

I shared the learning outcomes during my practicum at the beginning of each lesson.  I would go over the outcome from the Alberta curriculum, and I found this helped direct my lessons.  I would review it at the end of the lessons as well, and then ask the students if they had any questions.  I didn't have the opportunity to share the evaluation criteria with my students often, and what was supplied was from my mentor teacher.  The students did a project and they were supplied with the rubric that was going to be used for marking.  They were also prepared well for the test they wrote while we were there.  There was a study period, and there were online study guides for them to follow as well.

In my future job as a teacher, I will do these same things to ensure my students know the outcomes and evaluation criteria well.

- How do my students know how to succeed in my class?

During practicum, our students knew how to succeed because our mentor teacher told them.  They understood well what he expected of them, and they always seemed to perform well.

I plan to do this in the future by communicating regularly with my students.  I plan to supply rubrics and course outlines, depending on the age of my students, and I will continually check for understanding.