I had this idea brewing for a while as I want to cut down my instructional time in class. Most of the time, I do give my instructions through Powerpoint slides, using the visualiser or do a live demo. My latest attempt is through recording my instructions and demo and showing them the video so I do not have to repeat myself so many times. The children can watch the video while I prepare materials at the back of the classroom. I do get the occasional questions such as these even when instructions were written on the whiteboard:
- Ms H. where do I hand this in?
- Ms H. Where are the markers/ coloured pencils/ scissors?
From Term 2, I have started these with some of my classes where I will choose a few children to be my little trainee teachers. My selection criteria starts from the time I picked them up from their class. You need to be explicit about what you are looking out for. For example, I will observe how quietly and quickly they move and how they stay in line while we walk to the art room. After my instructional time ends, anyone with questions related to the task should first seek help from any one of the trainee teachers. If that trainee teacher doesn't know the answer then he or she should go to another trainee teacher and so on. If all trainee teachers doesn't know the answer then they can come to me. When that happens, the problem must be me...
