I feel it is important to take into account the personalities of the children, as learning may be inhibited if one child is particularly domineering or intimidating. It is also necessary to look at the subject being taught and be flexible in the grouping of children. I personally feel that for subjects such as Literacy and Numeracy, where there is pressure for academic success the children should be split into ability groups. I feel by working in ability groups, the children are still able to support each other and there is still a hint of Vygotsky’s ZPD theory being practised, as there is still a range of abilities within an ability group and the more able of one particular ability group, can support the others in the group. It is important to remember that no one child is the same as another, even if they are classified as being of similar ability.
If we go and show bad attitude and show that we are negative to certain people around them. Then we could make children to be the same way, which is not a good example to them as young children don’t know the differences between right and wrong. As a teaching assistant it is my duty and responsibility to respect the children with there needs and accept them for who they are. The way I can do this is if I think about my own beliefs and opinions so I can learn not to judge others on the basis of their race, gender or religion etc. In my line
Firstly, overt observation is when the researcher would make all the pupils aware that they are being studied and makes sure they give their permission before the observation takes place. This makes their research ethical, however observer effect can occur which is where the truants may behave differently because they are being observed, giving unreliable results. The other type of participant observation is covert studies. This means the truants wouldn’t know they were being watched, so they are more likely to behave like they normally would, giving valid results, however this raises ethical concerns such as the right to withdraw and deception. A strength of participant observation when investigating truancy from school is results are usually valid compared with getting the students to fill out a questionnaire about truanting when there is no real way of telling if they are giving accurate answers.
With homeschooling, the parents are the ones teaching their children, so they know their progress, strengths and weaknesses. Bittner explains that there are numerous problems with testing and that teachers actually have a problem with it. There is such a frantic need to teach children everything that will be on a standardized test that learning is almost disregarded. If any material isn’t on the main test then it is not taught. The author point out that critical thinking is not on a test so it is overlooked by routine memorization.
So it is very important that the trainer chooses his words carefully in order to be clear about the learner’s achievements, progress or areas of improvement (Gravells, 2013). Constructive feedback should be more descriptive instead of evaluative. Feedback, to be constructive, cannot be limited to an evaluative sentence like “Congratulation, you’ve passed”. Although the learner might be glad he has passed, it will not give them any information about what the learner has done correctly, how they have achieved the goals and objectives and what areas can they improve. Using descriptive feedback instead of evaluative it will give an opportunity for the learner to realise what he needs to adjust or improve to achieve the desired outcome (Gravells, 2013).
Also it is important to be realistic with Learners and accept that at times, mistakes can be made, and that the important matter is that this is accepted, managed and that all parties are able to move on to a more positive footing. Assessment Our responsibilities are: • To be fair and consistent • To assess promptly, within the agreed timescales • To be honest • To be innovative and give a balanced view Boundaries with assessment Boundaries with assessment are that not all Learners will fit into the boxes we need to adhere to, set by differing Examining bodies. It is also fair to state that assessment is only an individual’s perception of a performance and when one Learner meets the standard for one Assessor, they may not do so for another Assessor. Evaluation Our responsibilities are: • To evaluate honestly • To seek constructive feedback • To speak and gain guidance from peers If helpful • To consider exam results and tutorial feedback and incorporate into evaluation • To consider external assessment and Ofsted and incorporate feedback into evaluation and amendment of future
It is fair to say that one cannot gain a complete understanding of a student’s capabilities from the results of only one test (Brookhart, 2009). This is where multiple measures comes in and allows teachers to make assumptions and conclusions based on more than one test result, hence achieving a more valid and reliable conclusion on students abilities. Through multiple measures Brookhart argues that we are also able to achieve decision validity (Brookhart, 2009). This allows teachers to determine if a student is displaying difficulties in all aspects of study or in one particular area. It is not fair to conclude that because a student exhibits difficulties with one area of learning that he or she will exhibit the same difficulty in other areas, in fact a student who displays difficult writing or reading may in fact excel in other academic areas such as mathematics.
Teachers have clear objectives to which they can tailor their lessons, and administrators have clearer means of monitoring progress in schools (Wright, 2012). During an interview with a parent of two school age children attending different schools had this to say concerning the act… NCLB is a positive approach to education because scientific studies show that children who have been held back often display a lack of confidence, social skills and often have issues with problem solving (Johnson, 2012), By getting immediate help when and where needed we can through this process avert that outcome and cause our children to be more confident and productive succeeding and achieving equally amongst their peers (Johnson,
Help Improve Own and Team Practice in Schools Explain in detail how you would you would take note of children and young people's responses to your own practice: Take and note about you've interacted with children, how they've responded to you and if you can improve or better what happened in a similar situation in the future. It is always important to remember that children are not clones, some respond well to humour, some do not. Even sarcasm meant in the most light hearted manner to some children could be mistaken in some cases as a form of passive aggressiveness, therefore it is best avoided on a one to one basis. It is also important to remember that the people you are assisting are developing in life, some are more advanced than others and some are more sensitive than others. Children may laugh at bit of harmless humour delivered on a friendly manner if being spoken to as a group and it can also be helpful to speed their attention spans which will be on a varied level in every single class sometimes even on each end of the spectrum.
But at the same time it’s really not fair to compare their performance with your English speaking students. So there is a must need for standard based instruction that pertains to the needs of just ELLs. If we try to hold them to the standards of native English speaking students this could actually hurt their self esteem since they probably would never reach the same goals on the same level. Also it could lead to an ELL being missed diagnosed with a learning disability (LD). This is why there have been some efforts to develop English Language Development (ELD) standards.