Reflective Journal: Teaching Diverse Students in Year 7-11 Classes

This reflective journal details a teaching experience in a co-educational school with a high percentage of students from non-English speaking backgrounds. The author, tasked with providing quality education to diverse learners, documents their observations and interactions with students in Years 7 through 11 over a period of ten days. The journal entries describe classroom observations in subjects like English, Mathematics, HSIE, Geography, and Science, highlighting student engagement, learning styles, and the use of various teaching strategies. The author reflects on their role in supporting students with diverse needs, providing assistance with classwork, projects, and goal-setting activities. The reflection emphasizes the enthusiasm and skill of the students, and the author's overall positive experience in fostering a supportive and effective learning environment. The journal also touches upon different pedagogical approaches and techniques used to cater to the students' varying levels of understanding and learning abilities.

REFLECTION

REFLECTION
I have been placed in a co-educational school in which 56 per cent of students were
coming from non-English background. My role is to provide quality education and learning to
diverse students in an efficient manner so that their skills and competencies can be nurture. I am
now reflecting on the time schedule according to which I must provide education to students
studying in year 7 to year 11.
My day begins at 8:00 am and my shift finishes at 3:00 pm. On my first day of
commencement I had observed Year 7 English Lesson. The students were notorious but skilled
enough with adequate comprehending and learning skills. The English teacher was instructing
students to read the paragraph one by one and she was summarising it for them so that it could
become easy for them to understand.
I had to observe them for 45 minutes. After that I have been moved to another section of
year 7 in order to know what kind of students were there in other sections. After my observation
I came to a conclusion that Year 7 students were Gifted and extremely talented. After that I
assisted Year 11 students in their Mathematics Class work. I had supported students consistently
while recognising and responding to their individual needs. Year 11 students were helpful and
possessed good reasoning and aptitude skills. However, in certain areas I had to give extra efforts
but they soon began to capture the picture efficiently afterwards.
On day 2, I have provided my assistance to respective computer teacher and help students
of Year 7 with their project which was egg drop challenge. This was fun and entertaining for me
as well as students and we learnt a lot in collaboration. Teacher found my help useful and
appreciated me afterwards.
After lunch break, I provided my assistance in HSIE lesson of year 7. Afterwards I have
provided my assistance in Geography assignment. On the third day, I assisted Year 8 students
during their Maths classwork. I have jotted problem on the board which the students have to do
within specific time frame. Students who completed their problems had to explain it to the whole
class so that both their learning and understanding skills can be developed in effective and
efficient manner. After that I moved in Year 7 and assisted students in their English reading and
comprehension. Students who have difficulty in reading, I have provided them support and help.
After that I moved in Year 10 in order to observe science lesson provided to students by
respective teacher.
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On fourth day, I helped Year 7 student with their Mathematics class work by utilising
different pedagogy teaching techniques through which I was able to teach them timetables. I
observed Year 9 Mathematics lesson and Year 8 Geography lesson, which helped me enough
knowledge about behaviour and understanding ability of students studying in Year, 7, 8 and 9.
On fifth day, I worked on Goals Achievement with Year 7 students. During this I have discussed
with students about their future plans, goals and ambitions. This was a very creative activity and
all students’ participants thoroughly.
On sixth day, I observed Year 8 Maths lesson, provided help and extra assistance to Year
7 student who were struggling with Mathematics and for this different pedagogy was used to
teach student-having difficulty in understanding a topic in Mathematics.
On 7th day, I provided assistance and supported Year 8 in their English class work by
helping students to break down an essay question so they understand what they needed to do
before starting it. After that, I worked on goal achievements with Year 7 students by making one
on one communication regarding their future goals. I got different and creative replies from the
students.
On 8th day I repeated the same activity with Year 7 students which are to work on goal
achievement. This time I have asked them the way through which they could accomplish their
dreams and future goals. I conducted the entire activity day for them.
On 9th day, I provided my assistance to year 7 students in their reading and
comprehension of English language. I further helped them in their science class work regarding
their project, calculating density, mass and volume. I provided my assistance to them in their
history assignment also.
On 10th day I helped Year 7 and 8 students in their English classwork where I have
provided them support in poems and comprehension. I helped Year 8 student in their
Mathematics classwork where I provided them support in algebra and number systems.
From the overall experience I gained, I can say that teaching these students was fantastic
and mesmerising. They were all enthusiastic and skilful who acquired knowledge by putting
efforts.
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