After recently reading some of my peers’ blog posts on their ePortfolio, it is clear to see that some people have been putting in a great deal of effort and really engaging with the blog. They are reflecting on topics which weren’t even set as tutor directed tasks. This shows a strong commitment to their own professional development.
From writing these blogs posts, not only are my peers able to voice their opinions and invite us to respond to create a debate, but are they transforming and developing their ability to be critical. They are simply taking a statement or current topic and giving their thoughts and opinions on it.
I fully understand that a lot of people on our course may be quite apprehensive about posting on their blog. It can be quite a daunting process for some students and some will feel a bit nervous about voicing their opinions online in fear of receiving negative comments in return. These people should not be made to feel like this!
At first, when the idea of an ePortfolio was introduced to us, I admit I was a bit unsure of it. I had never done anything like this before. The more posts I started to write, the more I felt that it was a really good way to express yourself and your feelings. The ePortfolio is like a blank canvas to start with and gradually over time as we are adding to it, we are creating a masterpiece that reflects ourselves, our personalities and our lives. My favourite part of reading peers’ posts are when I come across a personal part in it. To me, this makes the post more memorable and relatable.
I think it is really important for all of our cohort to be reading other people’s blogs often. Not only will it set the standard for blog writing but will it give people the chance to leave a comment for the author to perhaps suggest other ideas relating to the piece of writing. Like the definition states—our peers in our cohort are there to help and support us, not to put us down.
Free whatever it is that you are thinking, because in the end it may help someone else understand or encourage them to voice their opinion too.
Before we do anything here, we need to understand what feedback is to be able to give feedback to others. Simply, as Google states, it is information which is used as a origin for development and improvement. It has a very meaningful purpose to it, yet provide us with many benefits and challenges.
Below is a diagram to describe the different forms that we can receive feedback in.
Peer review has a very meaningful purpose. Through self-assessment it activates us as students, as learners of our own learning. Through peer assessment it activates students as teaching resources for one another. It puts the people/individual giving feedback at an advantage, alongside the people receiving it.
Receiving feedback helps develop key skills, such as critical thinking and reflection, communication, self-motivation and time management. It also allows us to be able to give constructive feedback to others, therefore helping them improve. If we engage with peer review, we are also engaging with assessment criteria which leads to improved application of our own work. We get a richer understanding of our own work.
On the other hand is the challenges of peer review. Reluctance of one or more to partake in the process can be a barrier to effective results. Some people, especially young children, may have a dislike to assessing or judging their friends. Others may not get on with other people taking part in the peer review process, which is an issue. In general peer review is very time consuming, therefore a lot of teachers, for example, may have 101 other things to do and simply doesn’t have the time to sit and do a thorough assessment. Finally, if people lack evaluative skills them this can cause a lot of problems.
Next, we need to understand how to give useful criticism. By understanding what ineffective feedback is, it allows us to understand what effective feedback consists of.
Below, is an interesting video I found on YouTube that brings up some points that I hadn’t thought about whilst looking into peer review.
The woman in the video has used the bird house as an example. She feels that there is so many things that the pupil could improve on from the bird house, that she suggests giving feedback to them in parts: one thing at a time. I feel that this is a really good idea. If a teacher bombards you with loads and loads or corrections to do on your work, you are going to be clueless as to where to start. However, if each correction is pointed out to you gradually, it allows you to fully focus on improving from the feedback that is given, without having to worry about all the other mistakes that you’ve made.
Another issue that was raised in this video was resubmission. I feel that this is really important to be able to hand something in a second, third, even fourth time! I know from my own school experience that if a teacher hands you back a piece of writing with all the corrections that you should do to improve your work , but they are never going to look at it again, then your initial thought is why bother doing the corrections if I don’t really have to?
I remember throughout my time in high school studying Higher English, my teacher got to the point where she would just expect another draft of my essay in each day to go into my folio. I must have handed in about eight copies of the same essay to her (I’m pretty sure she got sick of me and ended up just telling me that it was really good after the eighth copy). But, I wanted to keep receiving constant feedback from her to help me improve my work to get it to the highest standard I could possibly achieve. After all, it must have worked as I got my B in Higher English and here I am studying Education at the University of Dundee! To me, this is proof that effective feedback is definitely beneficial.
Most of all, I am delighted to see people actually taking the time to read my work on my ePortfolio and give their opinion on it. I really value what people are saying. Receiving feedback on my work was definitely a positive experience for me, even though it contained good points about it and points that I could improve on. It is a confidence booster to read the good points that people are making about my work. I sometimes write posts for my ePortfolio and wonder “am I doing this right?” but from the comments I am receiving from my peers, it most definitely implies to me that I am doing something right!
From leaving other people comments on their work, I have learned the basic things to look out for when assessing, such as spelling, grammar, and identifying whether or not they are following the learning criteria. Also, I’ve learned how to be critical. At first, I didn’t want to mention things that people should improve on because I didn’t want to feel like I was being picky or nasty. Often this can be a barrier to leaving feedback to others. Now after receiving comments from peers about how I could improve my work, I have realised it isn’t nasty or picky at all. It is actually really helpful and important.
I feel that as I go through my course at University I should be engaging with other people’s work on ePortfolio and leaving constructive criticism in the comments as this will really help both the student and I. The student will gain a deeper understanding of their work and I will develop skills which I can use in the classroom.
Pupils need feedback on their work in the classroom – it is really important. We learn and develop from receiving feedback, therefore it is crucial for children to be presented with critical comments upon which they can improve. Not only will they understand where they are going wrong and be able to prevent it happening again, but will it allow for them to become more critical by seeing good examples of criticism. They will understand what it is to give feedback, and how to do it. There are lots of resources that can be used in the classroom to get children self and peer assessing. I will show examples of strategies that can be used in the classroom to get everybody thinking about peer review in my next post.
Constructive criticism and peer review is the way forward!
Through the online unit, I have learnt so much about reflection. Reflective writing was never something I was good at throughout school. I didn’t really do any more than describe the event and talk about my thoughts and feeling at the time. I now realise that there is a lot more to reflection, and had I known this at the time my work would have significantly improved.
Reflection is an action in learning. It is an activity that provides us with proof that we have stood back from an event, been able to be critical of ourselves and our work, and even see things from someone else’s point of view. Reflection is taking things a step further than simply describing your thoughts and feelings.
Why reflect?
I’ve discovered through doing the online unit that there are many reasons why it is beneficial to reflect. Reflection gives us the chance to gain a lot more knowledge on our work, and deepen our understanding. We can consider the way in which we learn. If we reflect, and evaluate our work, we can create a plan of action for the next time: how will we deal with this if it happens again? What would I do better next time?
To me, reflection means looking back. So far in my course, I have taken notes during lectures and then reflected on them at night: looked back on my notes. If I don’t understand something, I simply research it to ensure I do know what it means for future reference. Reflection allows us to resolve uncertainty. It allows us to empower ourselves as individual people. When you reflect on something, I think you get a sense of purpose. You feel like what you have done is worth doing, because you’ve taken more from it than the simple knowledge.
The ability to be critical of yourself is crucial in life. If you have this skill you will constantly be learning and growing. You are able to consider what you have done, and know how to improve. Reflection helps to develop this important life skill, hence why it is important to constantly reflect on your work.
‘It is not sufficient simply to have an experience in order to learn. Without reflecting upon this experience it may quickly be forgotten, or its learning potential lost. It is from the feelings and thoughts emerging from this reflection that generalisations or concepts can be generated. And it is generalisations that allow new situations to be tackled effectively.’ (Gibbs 1988)
In Learning by Doing, Gibbs (1988) outlines the stages for a ‘Structured Debriefing’, which are based on Kolb’s (1984) Experiential Learning Cycle and which encourage deeper reflection. This includes:
Description
What is the stimulant for reflection? ( incident, event, theoretical idea ) What are you going to reflect on?
Feelings
What were your reactions and feelings?
Evaluation
What was good and bad about the experience? Make value judgements.
Analysis
What sense can you make of the situation? Bring in ideas from outside the experience to help you. What was really going on?
Conclusion (general)
What can be concluded, in a general sense, from these experiences and the analyses you have undertaken?
Conclusion (specific)
What can be concluded about your own specific, unique, personal situation or ways of working?
Personal action plans
What are you going to do differently in this type of situation next time? What steps are you going to take on the basis of what you have learnt?
The above evidence shows us how to successfully and fully reflect on something. If we go through each stage above and answer it according to our work or experience, we can get the most we possibly can out of reflection. From the online unit about reflection, this piece of information has been the most helpful resource to me. I feel this model explains reflection really well, and shows me exactly how to self-evaluate anything I’ve done. I feel it is very thorough and anyone who is to follow this should get a really positive outcome.
From personal experience, I already feel myself questioning everything I do. I am evaluating myself, and my work more often and I feel like it is really helping me to understand why I do what I do. Reflection is really important and I feel that it is crucial that everybody does it. It helps us to go through life with an real understanding for everything.
Reflection is definitely something I want to include in the classroom in the future. I think it is really important for young children to look at what they’ve done. If they see the things they’ve done well it will have a definite improvement on their confidence. Similarly, if they see the things they haven’t done so well in, they’ll understand what they need to do to improve. A regular time set aside for reflection would be really beneficial in the classroom. Not only does it allow for the teacher to track how pupils are doing, but do the children get to see how they’re progressing themselves. If they start this at primary school age, they are guaranteed to be able to go on through life using constructive criticism—a skill that they’ll definitely need!
In order to fully internalise your learning, you must do extra activities. Active learning is going a step further than just taking in facts and figures. It is asking yourself why this figure is important, and is this fact even true.
By coming away from a lecture and researching the information you’ve been given further, you are helping yourself understand better. This is a way of internalising information, enabling you to retain it for longer. From personal experience, I have found that researching subjects further after a class has definitely helped me to understand things better. I get a feeling of fulfilment after doing so, and feel I have been productive. So, not only does active learning internalise information, but it gives you a sense of achievement and accomplishment.
Active learning also allows you to develop the ability to think critically. Whilst you are busy researching a topic, you should be constantly questioning things in your head.
The benefits of co-operative learning
Team work and working collaboratively can be really beneficial whilst studying. When you work in a group you are expected to contribute your ideas and opinions in order to develop the discussion. Whilst you do this, you are growing more confident by voicing your opinions. Working co-operatively is a vital life skill, so by using it whilst studying it is essentially setting you up for future life experiences.
Whilst everybody is delivering their thoughts and opinions to the discussion, you should take notes on this. This way, you can go back to them, add more notes and use them for future reference. You could argue against their point, or provide evidence to back the point up.
Each individual brings something different to the table, which we can add to our general knowledge of the topic. This widens our view of the subject area.
I feel that a really important of factor of working co-operatively is the instant help that is available. Advice should be available to you if you need it. If other group members are being co-operative, they should be more than willing to help you if you’re stuck.
You have to be able to remain calm when you are teaching. If a pupil is getting frustrated about something, the teacher cannot become frustrated as well. As teachers, we are role models to our pupils and must provide a positive image for them. We do not want to teach them to be impatient and get very angry easily as this will only cause more problems for them. If that is what they see the teachers doing in the classroom, they will think it is okay to do this too.
You need to be able to understand that some children are less confident in some areas compared to others, so you need to have the patience to give them the extra help they need and not get annoyed as soon as they are stuck.
I remember whilst I was on placement not long ago, there was a pupil who was falling behind in maths, therefore I sat with her to keep encouraging her to get her work done. She was not interested at all and was very easily distracted, so it really tested my patience trying to get her to concentrate.
Fairness
Fairness for a teacher means treating the pupils equally. If you fail to do this, it could lead to suspicions of favouritism which may land you in trouble. Pupils have a right to be treated equally and you must respect that as a teacher.
Examples of times where fairness is crucial is when marking work. One answer for one person cannot be right if the same answer for another person is wrong. It is just not fair to mark people’s work differently. Another example is sorting issues between pupils that may have come up. Often, a dispute will take place in the playground at playtime or lunchtime and you have to respond fairly when trying to sort it out with the children. Often the teacher isn’t there to see it therefore cannot only give one person into trouble.
Fairness is an issue that teachers have to be aware of all day, every day. They also need to know how to address it right.
Compassion
Compassion is caring for the misfortunes of others, so for the teacher this means they have to be able to understand why some pupils do the things they do. Whether it is behaviour issues, or they are struggling with their work, you must be able to accommodate for this and be flexible enough to work round them and find a way to teach them which will help.
It is said that pupils from a poor background tend not to do as well in school as the children with a better background. When this is the case, we must understand it and help them to improve. However this is a stereotypical statement to make and is not always true. Disabilities are something else you need to be compassionate to deal with.
Kindness
Kindness for a teacher is to be friendly, approachable and nice to the children. I know from my experience in school that a teacher who was kind and friendly made a massive difference. No child wants a grumpy, horrible teacher, nor do other teachers want to work with one!
If a teacher is kind, it sets a good example of how the pupils should treat everyone in the class, including the teacher. You tend to get on with a teacher more if they are nice, therefore you’re more encouraged to listen to what they are saying and more willing to learn.
If you are kind it can go a long way. The people who you treat kindly will often return the favour and be kind to you. We need kindness to make the world go round!
Tolerance
As a teacher you must put up with a lot of things. Work load, behaviour issues and colleagues who you may not get along with are all examples of things that you may have to tolerate. You may disagree with something but you have to tolerate it because that is just what you have to do. For example, a lot of teachers have issues with the curriculum for excellence. However, they put up with it because they have no choice but to deliver it to the children. This is the way you’re told to educate them, so this is what you do.
Not only is it tolerating with things you disagree with, but you have to tolerate issues which cannot be helped e.g. disabilities. You have to be prepared to understand what pupils with disabilities are going through and perhaps change your teaching style to cater for them too.
All of the above is required in making a good teacher, along with the care for the children’s learning.
At the basis of a good teacher is good education. A teacher must be able to deliver this to their pupils on a daily basis. A bad education may mean they lose some of the opportunities and chances in life they would’ve had, if only they’d been educated better. A teacher who delivers a good education to their pupils is a teacher who makes a difference. This means that they must have certain skills and abilities to be able to do so.
Throughout the video I agreed that all of the qualities mentioned were important for an exceptional teacher to have. One of many that was mentioned was that the teacher has to be reachable. The teacher comes into contact all the time with the pupils, often their parents and occasionally members of the public, such as the police. They have to be easy to talk to, and confident enough to speak to people they don’t know. Pupils should feel like they are able to come to the teacher with any problems they may have and know that they can trust him/her.
The most important point I took from this video is that to be a teacher who makes a difference, you must be willing to put the extra work in. I really enjoy art and am passionate about it, and would be willing to start an after school arts and crafts club for the children in a school. I used to love things like that in primary school and believe that they were beneficial to my creativity. Passion and commitment are qualities that a good teacher must have.
There are still many other qualities that a teacher who makes a difference has to have thought. Being professional is not just about dressing smart!
Video 2
In this video, the teachers say that professionalism is being a role model to your pupils. As the children grow up, their teachers have an effect on them. Their attitudes, language etc. rub off on them, therefore as teachers we must be a positive role model for them to look up to.
I agree that we, as teachers, are role models and need to be a good image. To be a good role model you must be able to present things well, speak well, and act appropriately in front of the kids. As mentioned in the video, it is also important how teachers react to the way the pupils speak to them. You cannot judge the children based on anything like background or class and must respond fairly and appropriately. You need to be an effective communicator and also be willing to keep up to date with ever-changing education.
Video 3
The message I got from video three was that there is an ongoing debate to whether or not teachers are professionals or workers. The male in this video thinks teachers should be highly appreciated and paid more money, because they are professionals. On the other hand, the female has the opinion that teachers are workers. She, who is a teacher, classes herself as ‘an educational worker’. The main thing about this video is that it makes you question yourself whether a teacher is a professional or a worker.
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