Inasmuch as I was the teacher, teaching the students was also a learning experience for me. I observed a lot of things through tutoring students individually and creating a lesson plan, as I will discuss below.
Individual Student Tutoring
When handling a student one on one, I learned more about them than I would have while addressing them as a class. Due to the manageable number of students, it is easy to give each the attention they deserve. Students can ask questions that they may feel too embarrassed to ask with the whole class listening to them. I am also able to identify areas where they do not understand or are misguided without their knowledge . Individual student tutoring allows me to understand each student's personality and emotions, learning pace, cognitive skills, metacognition, intrinsic motivation, and oral language, all of which contribute significantly to effective teaching .
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From my observation in tutoring the students individually, their cognitive skills vary from one student to another. While some have a high short term memory, others have a more robust long term memory. Those with higher short-term memory need more practice because they likely to understand something quickly but soon forget it. On the other hand, those with a more extended retentive memory need more time to understand a concept than practice. Once they grasp it completely, the idea will last longer in their memory. I also observed that some students have a longer attention span than others; the latter group requires more individual tutorship than the former. Students with a short attention span are more susceptible to distractions and daydreaming.
Logic and reasoning are crucial skills, especially in a mathematics class. While most students can do so, some may lag for the inadequacy of the skills. It ties to metacognition. I noted that some students could not understand their thought process, which means there is a need to cultivate their ability individually as I continue to teach them. Students with high reasoning skills excel at metacognition and can easily see the connection between two similar concepts. They are also able to apply conceptual knowledge to real-life problems.
Despite it being a math class, oral language proved to be vital. Students who excelled in the skill could form questions and explanations on where they do not understand . Unfortunately, due to poor oral language, some students could not point out exactly where they did not understand, making it hard for me to know how to help them. To fix this, I gave them options from which they chose what they did not understand. I also taught them basics in an oral language to form the same options on their own.
Given their age, most of the students did not know how to control their emotions as adults do. It was then upon me to understand their bouts of emotions and teach them how and when to manage them. Each student handled their feelings differently, according to their respective personalities. By interacting with them individually, I was able to identify their characters and how to manage each one. In doing so, I can teach each of them concerning their emotions and teach them how to control them without imposing other personality traits.
The students' level of intrinsic motivation varies due to many factors. Some students feel the school is punishment, so they do not want to learn, while other students enjoy learning and cannot seem to get enough of it. The academic outcomes levels of the two sets of students are significantly different. Students with inherent motivation can grasp difficult concepts faster than their counterparts because they enjoy the process of breaking such barriers. Most of the students with low self-motivation in academics are more talented in other activities like sports and art. They would prefer to do such activities than be in class. As the teacher, the curriculum charges me with making them understand the importance of academic studies without making them feel like I am forcing it on them. Using their areas of preference for reference also comes in handy. For example, for a student who loves football, I would phrase a mathematics question with balls to feel represented by it. That way, self-induced motivation can sprout in the student and easily be nurtured.
Interacting with students on a personal level taught me a lot about each of them and their general developmental structure. For starters, teachers can help students build their cognitive skills through patience and individual interaction while the lack of the same can block potential skills. It has also taught me that young students need to know about the existence of their emotions and how to manage them. They are more likely to embrace and understand their feelings at that age. When they learn how to manage other people's emotions, they can develop healthy social relationships with them. Adding that to oral language skills, a student will learn to express their feelings to themselves and others. It also makes it easier to manage the class when the students are mindful of theirs and others' emotions. It is also important to note that intrinsic motivation can and should not be forced by teachers or guardians on a student. Instead, they should teach the students why academic studies are essential and that it is for their good.
One on one interaction with a student allows me to observe them keenly, from how the portray their emotions to their cognitive abilities. From that observation, I can tell how to help them and what learning pace they would be comfortable with .
Lesson plan
A lesson plan outlines the goals to be attained and methods of teaching I intend to use, making it easy to teach. By using the plan, I have learnt not to make unattainable goals and to make the plan flexible. Sometimes, however intentional I was, I was unable to meet the set goals for the lesson, and I taught myself to come to peace with it because the most important thing is to give quality education to my students. It is tempting to cover a topic quickly at the expense of the students' understanding to be in harmony with the plan . I have learned to walk the thin line between taking enough time to cover a topic and following the plan to the letter.
The plan also revealed that sometimes what is possible in theory is not applicable practically. In other words, I may plan to allocate a certain time to tutoring each student individually but then realize that some need more time than others. Also, students' receptiveness varies from student to student and from time to time. Students are more receptive during morning classes than they are in the afternoon.
While planning a lesson next time, I will make it flexible enough to cover the challenges I encountered. I will also place the students' understanding as a priority rather than finishing a topic. The lesson plan is a guideline on how I should use my time in class, meaning that despite my efforts to prioritize my students, I will have to manage my time wisely. With all that in mind, I am confident I will do better next time.
Setting
The class was online. The applications available for studying are convenient because they allowed me to present my screen and scribble on board when I needed too. I was able to see the students, and each student turned off their microphone to avoid noise interference. Students who wanted to ask questions or clarifications would turn on their microphones, and the rest of us would listen. Students could also preset their workings by sharing their screens where necessary. All of the students were compliant and followed instructions. They joined the class on time, giving us enough time to sort the technicalities associated with joining an online class. Some students showed more motivation than others, but it was clear that working from home did a lot to encourage them. Individual tutorship was not as effective as it would have been, making it difficult to give special attention to students with poor cognitive abilities. Although not impossible, it was challenging to identify students struggling to understand concepts and those with poor socio-emotional skills.
I faced several challenges while teaching. The internet kept slowing down, causing the lesson to slow down. Sometimes the internet would slow down on a particular student's end, and they would miss a part of the lesson for that reason. I tried to repeat as much as I could for those affected, but the disruptions negated my efforts. It was also not possible for me to assess a student's receptiveness because I was only confined to seeing only their faces. I relied heavily on students' motivation for their focus.
Another challenge I faced is overlapping in conversing when one or two students turned on their microphones for clarifications. The lack of uniformity in terms of background also affected my teaching. It was hard to see some students due to low quality cameras or light. Some audio messages were muffled due to poor quality cameras or background noise interference. I was not able to directly assess my students' progress because we relied on our keyboards for written communication.
The greatest advantage of the class being online was that working from home gave us all a comfort that the school environment takes away from us. The students exuded a certain liveliness that can only be associated with that fact. Thanks to the respective guardians, there were few visual interruptions from their backgrounds.
To improve learning on the online platform, I would first ensure I have a strong internet connection and advice my students to do the same. We will also look for well-lit areas with minimal audio interruptions as the setting for the class. Since after the lesson, I deduced that two students did not grasp the concept, I will re-teach the concept for them to fully understand it while giving the rest the chance to expand on their understanding.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the lesson was a success and I would love to do it again, especially because I would make the necessary changes that would improve the learning experience.
