Classroom Management at Maristas

Classroom Management has always been the area that delivers me the most trouble. While I have had control over the class during my previous three practicums, I always felt like the presence of the teacher greatly helped due to the respect between the class and the CT in addition to the respect formed between me and the class. Here at Maristas, since I spend the majority of my practicum observing the classes and the interaction between the students and my CTs, I have payed particular attention to classroom management in order to learn more techniques. Respect between the students and the teachers is extremely evident in Maristas, though it does differ from US schools since it is more of a personal relationship where the students call the teachers by their first name. I have redeemed my name within the classroom rather than remaining Ms. McGovern- or in reality, Señorita McGovern.

The students normally sit and settle down once the teacher enters the classroom, since the teachers move classes instead of the students. As the teachers conduct their classes, they general manage the students by glancing around and looking directly at any student causing a distraction to signal for them to stop, and it works. In other instances, I have hear the teacher use a form of 'shh' to briefly indicate they want silence, and the class helps out by shushing the students. The cooperation is incredible and makes a difference, but I am not accustomed to such simple techniques.

The various classrooms and teachers that I have been in at Maristas have used the same techniques. The 1 ESO students, in which I consistently observe English and occasionally sit in on math, are more active when I enter the classroom but settle down once Miguel joins me, as they know the day's lesson is going to begin. Throughout the various lessons that I have observed, students respond to questions when called on and readily participate. The community that I have observed at Maristas is very close-knit and I thoroughly enjoy being a part of it and being given the opportunity this semester. It has broadened my perspective on how schools function and gave me the chance to experience general learning in another language and learn more about Spanish in addition to many aspects of teaching.

The Beginning Experience in Singapore: A Reflection on the Education System and Culture in Singapore

Hi. My name is Lily Liang and I studied in Singapore with Maggie Li. I have completed my 4 months exchange program and am now reflecting on my practicum experience there. We both attended the National Institute of Education in Singapore, and thus, we took courses with some of the thousands of teachers-to-be. The students at NIE were either new student teachers or veteran teachers who had came back to further their education.

Maggie and I had been placed at the Pioneer Primary School. The education system in Singapore is definitely worth mentioning in this first post, because it is very different compared to the education system in the United States. Primary school is from first grade to sixth grade. Secondary school is from seventh grade to tenth grade. Junior college is from eleventh to twelfth grade. Similar to the States, students will enter University at 18. (However, usually, male citizens would tend to choose to complete their mandatory military service before entering University.) One controversial difference between the education system in the States and Singapore is the streaming process in Singapore. Streaming is the act of separating students based on their academic ability. Official streaming starts at the end of P6 (sixth grade) after they have taken their PSLE (the national exam), where they are separated into four streams: Special, Express, Normal Academic, and Normal Technical. 10% of students stream into Special, 20% into Express, 60% into Normal Academic, and 10% into Normal Technical. Normal Technical students are usually streamed into vocational schools, where most would not attend universities, but instead start an early career. Singaporeans believe that streaming has positive aspects in that it gives all students the opportunity to become someone. Streaming has lowered the rates of students dropping out of school. It gave students motivation and belief that they can contribute back to society. Teachers work hard teaching to the academic ability level of the students.

One Singaporean (Hokkien dialect) word I learned is Kiasu. Kiasu literally means “fear of losing”. This is quite reflective of the culture in Singapore. Singaporeans are always competitive. I have talked to many Singaporean students and they feel that they are always pressured by Kiasu. Parents always want their children to be in the top level. They would push their children to study. Teachers whom I have talked to stated that children are more likely to commit suicide due to stress. An average day of a Singaporean student’s life consists of classes from 7 A.M to 4 P.M. They would then go home and eat dinner. After dinner, they would usually have tutoring sessions, where parents would hire a tutor, usually a student from NIE, for extra lessons. Their days repeat from Monday to Saturday. Parents want their children to be part of the Special Stream. Students have the ability to move to higher stream after the first year of streaming.

Students have to excel in every subject. English, Math, Social Science, Natural Science. In order for students to excel in every subject, teachers also have to be excelling in the subjects they teach. This is thus the reason why teachers specialize in subjects. Teachers usually specialize in two subjects. I have always been asked which subjects I am specialized in, however, I always explain to them that it is different in the States where teachers learn all the subjects. When a teacher specializes in one or two subjects, they would know more about that subject, and thus students would know more. This is similar to the high school concept in the States. Teachers would move around in the school, going to different classrooms to teach. Students will stay in their homeroom to learn all the subjects. Even though they stay in the own classroom, the classroom is quite bare. It is not filled with as many colors as the American elementary classrooms. The classrooms also do not have many learning resources visible. There are 40 individual blue desks that are split into 3 columns that all face the front. The classrooms are filled with a minimum of 40 students. Some students may leave to take the same subject that is more suitable for their level. There is a teacher’s desk in front that holds the computer and the visualizer, a machine that has the technology similar to a projector. There is a very lengthy white board in front, with two bulletin boards right next to it. There are small cabinets to hold some dictionaries and the students’ journals. The classroom is quite plain and gives the feeling of strict and disciplined learning, very similar to the culture in Singapore.

Typical Day at Maristas

A typical day at Maristas begins at 9 am. The students usually arrive in the classroom before the teachers and myself, and are expected to begin their morning work of handwriting. This surprised me at first, because at all my previous placements the teacher always arrived before school started to prepare for the day. After ten or fifteen minutes of handwriting, the students usually move on to math where they have been focusing on story problems involving addition, subtraction and multiplication. First the students solve three problems individually, and then the class reviews and corrects them together on the chalkboard. After math, the students usually move on to reading where they take turns reading aloud from their current chapter book. This is usually when I do my morning routine with the students to help them practice their English and/or read them a story in English. Having been in their desks for two hours, the students then go to gym class which is followed by recess. After recess they have two more hours of class however I leave to attend my own afternoon classes.

Throughout the past weeks, what I have been struck by routinely is the advanced level at which these 7 year olds work at. It is especially interesting when I compare them to the first graders I worked with in a Boston Public school last semester. As I said, the students at Maristas are working on story problems in math that have to do with addition, subtraction and multiplication. The majority of my students from last semester, while one or two could do simple multiplication, were working with mastering subtraction. The students at Maristas also seem advanced in reading; currently they are reading their third novel since I started teaching there. My students from last semester read leveled texts that were no longer than 10-15 pages and with little text. While there is certainly a range of achievement, the class as whole is able to comprehend what they are reading and strategies to solving math problems. When I asked my CT about the students’ advanced level, she commented on how students at Maristas (a private, Catholic school) are more advanced than other schools and how at other schools she has taught at she had to move at a slower pace and, for example, would still be working with students on learning to read. This sounded more similar to the level at which I worked with students last semester, leading me to think the discrepancy has mostly to do with the individual schools and economic backgrounds, and not that all Spanish 7 year olds are more advanced.

Working at Maristas the most challenging aspect has been discipline. Although discipline is something I have always worked on throughout my pre-pracs it has been a particular challenge to discipline in Spanish. Going through elementary school in the U.S. exposed me to the language of discipline in the classroom; I was surprised when I realized that discipline doesn’t translate as easily as I expected. Disciplining in Spanish involves a whole set of vocabulary that I wasn’t familiar with, in addition to cultural factors which involve how students are managed. It has taken awhile to get used to but I am finding it much easier now to manage the classroom. At the advice of another teacher who had a similar experience with teaching in English, I found that sometimes not saying anything at all is more affective. Today the teacher stepped out of the room for a few minutes and left the students doing work “silently”. I watched as a particularly chatting boy started playing with his friends. After a few seconds he noticed me watching him, and with only the raising of my eyebrows he blushed, embarrassed to be caught off task, and went back to work silently.

Teaching in a Different Language

Teaching abroad and teaching in America, I have found many similarities and differences. The biggest difference for me, since I am teaching in Spain, has been language. While in Colegio Maristas 90% of the instruction I observe is given in Spanish. The other small percentage is given in English during English class. However even during English class, Spanish is used frequently either to explain the English directions or for classroom management. The use of Spanish in the classroom was completely foreign to me having taught in Massachusetts, where Question 2 has ruled that the majority of instruction must be in English. I have therefore spent lots of time observing how various subjects, such as Math and Language, are taught in Spanish.

Another difference I found at Maristas compared to my previous pre-practicums, is the relationships between teachers. At my previous sites, every classroom was pretty independent. While teachers had shared planning time, that seemed to be the extent of their collaboration. At Maristas, the classrooms seem very dependent and connected. Other teachers walk into my CT’s classroom frequently to ask her a question, advice or even to just say hi. The three teachers of segundo de primero (equivalent of first grade) collaborate extensively, so that the students all learn the same material across content areas. The teachers also have “Apoyo” which translates to support. During Apoyo, teachers whose students are in a special like gym class, help other teachers by tutoring a student who needs extra support. The student’s teacher tells the Apoyo teacher what to work on and there is always communication between the two. To me, Apoyo exemplifies the collaborative relationship the teachers have at Maristas, something very different than what I have seen in my pre-pracs in Massachusetts.

One similarity I was surprised to find between Maristas and my previous experiences was an integrated classroom. At Maristas, there are students with special needs integrated into the classroom. I have seen this at a previous site, at the Angier School in Newton. Talking to my CT about it, she explained that the teachers at the school feel it is important to integrate students with special needs into the classroom so that they are socialized with typically developing peers, and so that their peers understand that there are people with special needs. Just like at the Angier School, students with special needs at Maristas are fully integrated into the classroom. Additionally, the students are developed a personalized or modified curriculum based on their needs. Although Maristas has integrated classrooms, my CT told me that as in the US, not all schools have the same policy. Some schools, like the BPS schools I have worked in, have separate classrooms for students with special needs.

Another similarity I found was a lack of Social Studies instruction. At my previous three pre-pracs I have seen limited to no Social Studies instruction. I have noticed the same phenomenon at Maristas. During my time at Maristas I have only seen Social Studies instruction twice and for a short period of time. I have noticed a map of the world in the classroom with certain countries highlighted; however I have not seen the students use it or my CT reference to it. Additionally, there is no time allotted for Social Studies on the class schedule. The schedule includes Language, Math, Gym, Science, Religion, Music, and English but not Social Studies. Although I have not asked my CT about it, I am interested to know why there is such a lack of Social Studies education.

English in Spain

While I benefit from being in Spanish classes in order to maintain my use of the language and observe interactions in the language, it is a change from Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language, as it is instead the native language. The students focus a lot on morphology and syntax, both which I can't quite remember learning quite in depth in middle/high school. Each session that I spend at Maristas, the students begin the class with either vocabulary or syntax in their Language and Literature classes. It is interesting to observe the variety of structures between the different levels since I am in 3ESO classes and 1 Bachillerato, and the sentence structures are more complex in the higher level classes (1 Bachillerato). I try to follow along with the students as I observe how they break down the components of the sentence both on the board and on the paper. One interesting difference that I have noted is that the students use two pens- both for their work and for exams. The structures of exams have specifically interested me, since the students are given several sentences and they are to copy them down and break them down with another color, rather than each receive an exam as I am accustomed to seeing in the US. They are also graded very rigorously, since obvious errors result in zero credit for the sentence though each sentence is only worth 2 points to begin with (out of 20, but grades are on a scale of 0-10 with a 5 as a passing score). Though I am not knowledgeable enough of the material to grade them myself, I have glanced over the exams before they were passed back in order to understand the content of the exam and how they were graded.

Though it has been a change to see Spanish being spoken as the native language, another change has been Teaching English as a foreign language. The 11 year olds are energetic and look to me to properly pronounce words and read aloud segments from their book in order to give them an "authentic experience," which allows for me to contribute more to the classroom environment. I have been able to learn language teaching strategies that I can apply to my Spanish classroom, such as a Picture Dictation. Miguel put me in charge of drawing a picture then describing to the students, in English, what was present in my picture so they would draw what I had on my paper. This activity is a good listening comprehension activity, since the students need to listen and focus on the vocabulary in order to replicate what I had. I drew a simple beach scene with clouds and birds in the sky, the ocean below with waves and swimmers, and people on the beach and a volleyball net. As simple as my image appeared to be, I realized the immense amount of detail that I needed to use to describe my picture to the class, such as "There are 4 birds in the sky- 1 on the left, 1 between the first and the second cloud, and 2 on the right." This exercise allowed for the students to use different vocabulary in addition to implementing directional vocab as I described the location- what a task! Overall, the students did well with the task and I will keep this exercise in mind as a useful strategy. The only surprise I got with many of the pictures were animals in the water- which as it turns out, the students thought of Whales when I said Waves...so we had a beach with 5 whales in the ocean. It was a good opportunity for me to figure out how to correct the students, though the cooperating teacher guided the correction, and the students wound up using their native language to ask me if I mentioned "ballenas" (whales). Though I believe in using the target language for instruction, opportunities such as these show me the students' reliance on their native language for clarifications and I see this as appropriate in order to aid in the students' comprehension. This classroom environment has allowed for me to expose the students to the target language more and I serve as a model for them with pronunciation and vocabulary so they can build on their knowledge of the English language. It allows for me to interact with the students as well as compare the strategies to those that I use when teaching a foreign language, only with relation to Spanish rather than English though I use this classroom as a model.