Hannah Nicole Taylor
Interpersonal
Feedback
Hannah shows empathy for the children and differentiates to meet individual needs.
- Debbie Smit (Mentor Year 1)
By organizing a science day for all Year 1 students of the ITEps course Hannah not only proved her organizational competencies, but also her interpersonal competencies. She showed her skills by making a good planning, by recruiting, instructing and motivating a group of students to help her during the preparation and execution of the activities and by cooperating with the staff of ITEps.
- Ton Gelmers (ITEps Principal)
Although the teacher and students were the same age, the teacher still gave the students responsibility and the ability to to the reaction themselves with some guidance from the teacher.
- Anonymous Student (Science Day Survey)
Hannah has an excellent rapport with the students. She has learned what each student needs to learn
best. Her ability to reflect on lessons and interactions with children is strong.
- Caroline Starnes (Year 2 Mentor)
Hannah not only shows mutual tolerance, but fosters a community of curiosity, celebration and enthusiasm for learning about the values, norms, interests, and backgrounds of others.
- Jason Wilson & Martin Van Hooijdonk (Year 3 Mentors)
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Hannah appeared relaxed, calm and focused during her lesson
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She clearly has a very easy-going relationship with the children, yet has their full respect and trust
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Great sense of humour, appropriate to the age of the children
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[Learners] Related really well to Hannah and accepted her natural authority in the classroom
- Natalie Shaw (Year 3 Visiting Lecturer Observation Form)
Year 4
Experience & Self-Assessment
Unfortunately, when we moved to online learning most of the prime opportunities to develop this competency in a face-to-face context were lost, but many new ones also appeared. One of which was the opportunity to develop my online teaching skills. Normally, I am not the first to suggest a video or phone call. I prefer to communicate over a distance through email or text. However, through this experience I was not only able to work through this almost-fear of calls, but I was actually requesting them by the end. Since the only option to reach some students was to utilize the video-chatting technology, it became a necessary skill to develop.
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Luckily, before my teaching experience began, I had thoroughly planned an extensive gamified unit to teach. This unit was able to be continued when moved to online learning. This made it possible for me to continue to implement aspects of autonomy in students' learning, even from a distance. Had this not been the case, it is likely I would have had to give more teacher-driven instructions to ensure all students were on the same page. Thankfully, the unit I designed was flexible and robust enough that it could continue to encourage student autonomy, choice and independence.
Evidence of Development
Video Chats and 1-to-1 Sessions
Initially, our plan was to create weekly videos and a supporting learning plan to guide the students in online learning. After a week or two of doing this, we realized it was not enough. So, we decided to offer 4 group Q&A sessions per week using the video calling platform, Google Meet. To begin, we divided the class among the three teachers so we could reach out to the students individually for a check-in. Each of us had a video call with a student for 30 minutes to answer any questions from them or the parents and just to check on their well-being in the strange circumstances.
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The first group sessions started the following week and continued until the end of the unit. The three of us attended the first meeting, then we divided the sessions in shifts for the following weeks. I normally attended the two morning sessions on Monday and Wednesday, as I had the answers to most of the unit-related questions. Using a white-board like program on my computer, I could share my screen and explain things visually as well as verbally for students who had difficulty with English.
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In the beginning, I was quite nervous to host the sessions, but by the end it was no problem and I preferred to explain something over video chat than email or a comment on Google Classroom. Sometimes, it actually felt like we were in class again with everyone talking or staying engaged. Other times, it felt like I was talking to a wall because no students had questions or anything to say. Still, these sessions were not only academically beneficial to students. I also believe they were quite beneficially socially and emotionally considering students were isolated away from friends for a long period of time. Once I recognized this, I made an effort to allow for sharing time at the end of a session. Just to allow students some time to catch up with their friends in a supervised environment.
Autonomy: Space Explorers
This year, my desire to encourage student autonomy, independence and choice was demonstrated in the gamified IPC unit that I designed and implemented. On top of the fully integrated, cross-curricular design, I created the unit based on several game-elements. One of the main elements was Choice, in regard to the students' journey of development. Although there was one main goal for everyone in the game, (reach the highest level) there were multiple routes to success. This allowed students to take their journey in the game, and therefore their learning, into their own hands.
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We also encouraged independence, problem solving, and critical thinking by creating opportunities for students to make decisions on their own. For example, before the unit began, I ensured there were ample materials and resources around the room to help students know what, how, and when to do things in the game. As expected, there were many questions about how to do this or where to find that. Instead of immediately answering their questions, I would redirect them to use their resources and find the answer for themselves. In addition to promoting natural autonomy, this encouraged development in the students' researching, problem solving, and critical thinking skills. Since I had created a supplementary website for the unit, we were able to continue to provide these opportunities even when we switched to online learning.
Reflection & Future Development
At the beginning of the teaching practice, I expected we would be able to complete the implementation of the gamified unit in a physical classroom. Still, with the thorough planning of the unit and the help of technology we were able to continue to provide opportunities for the students to learn in an environment that encourages autonomy.
I have also been able to overcome my dread of video calls. In the future, I hope to be able to apply these newly developed skills in various situations to further develop my interpersonal competency.