My name is Kimberly Byng. I have been teaching in Trinidad and Tobago (Port of Spain area) at the secondary level for approximately fourteen years. I teach English, Literature and literacy. I really enjoy teaching and teaching how to learn as well as learning myself. I am currently pursuing the Masters in Education, with concentration in curriculum at the University of the West Indies.
1. Describe your teaching style.
My teaching style is ever evolving – I try to be reflective (during and after a lesson), student- centered and accommodating. So if a student asks a question that demonstrates misunderstanding, I immediately question and assess what I may have said or done for the student to miss the learning I intended.
I then re-explain, give a different example/ analogy. If this does not happen during the class, it may happen sometime afterwards, including just before bedtime and I make a mental note to address it at the next class.
I tend to focus on student activities rather than teacher objectives and notes (I really embrace progressivism). Lastly, accommodating because a lesson normally develops with the mood of the class. I try to be accommodating of students’ pace, abilities, learning styles, etc.
2. Are there any methods that you use when making your lesson plans? If so, which ones?
Yes, although I favour progressive philosophy, formulating my lesson around objectives tends to keep me organized and focused. I ask myself what exactly I want my students to learn, to do, to achieve and how I am going to get them there. The lesson surrounds these focal points.
Although there are set objectives, I allow students to digress, question, talk and always find a way to bring us all back to the planned lesson. (Well… most times at least). In developing lesson plans, I always pay attention to my context – it makes absolutely no sense developing a lesson plan that looks and sounds great to use with a class that cannot relate to it. I try to adjust the lessons to students’ contexts.
3. How do you go about preparing your lesson plans, what do you include?
I start my lesson plans with a topic and a rationale for that topic. For example, I want to teach how to comprehend a text, using the KWL (Know, Want, Learn) strategy. Ummmmm…. why? What is the rationale for that? Well, students are often led to read a text in order to complete set questions in comprehension exercises but are hardly ever shown how to use pre-knowledge and devise a set purpose for reading. Teaching them to use a strategy to engage in meta cognition assists in actually comprehending and enjoying what they read.
The KWL strategy is a useful tool that students can use to aid in comprehending a text by activating pre-knowledge and identifying a purpose for reading. I also include in my lesson plans, objectives, what students should already know, materials/ resources, procedure, student activities, evaluation activities, closure and a contingency plan.
4. What are the essentials in a lesson plan according to you?
A crucial essential in a lesson plan is an outline of objectives and student activities. Your objectives put the lesson into perspective. This is the “what.” What do I want to achieve? Then there is the “how.” This is achieved through student activities. Perhaps, this is most essential for me. Students must be involved in their learning.
I think education has gone past chalk/ white-board and student notes. Having done extensive research and practice in Self- Regulated learning among students, I think that getting students involved in class activities helps them to become self- regulated learners. They understand more, remember more and enjoy learning more.
Of course students’ activities are aligned to your objectives, but how do you know if your objectives have been achieved? I usually do some form of assessment. It could be an oral question/ answer game, a group presentation, a worksheet or even a journal entry exercise. As such, evaluation is another essential that I use but I’m very careful here since many teachers and students see evaluation as a test when it does not have to be.
5. What do you do if a lesson doesn’t go according to the way you planned it?
Because I’m always reflecting during classes, if a lesson does not go according to plan, I immediately switch to the contingency. Although a contingency may be documented on the lesson plan, often, I take the flow of the class and the mishaps to determine what contingency is actually necessary.
As teachers, we never know what could go wrong and sometimes just cannot plan for it. I think that’s where experience and foresight comes in. That is why reflecting is so crucial to the planning and teaching process.
Other than that you would just freeze and complain about how “bad the kids of today are.” Instead of this method, it may be more prudent to ask as an educator, “What have I done to make this lesson fail like it has? What can I do to remedy it?”
