Year 6 and 6O's Lesson Objectives

6O writting down the Learning Intention
for an English language activity

Having a lesson objective(s) is crucial when it comes to teaching and educating students as this gives both teacher and students to know what is expected of them to learn, understand and achieve this outcome as they gain knowledge for a particular requisite under a certain amount of time. The type of lesson objective determined will greatly affect the students and the teachers as well. Having to determine the type of lesson objective gives the teachers the type of students they, the school and/or the society wants. Ms. Ting and the teachers of Year 6 would always have the Lesson Intention (LO/ Objectives) written out on the board and in the students' exercise books so that they will be aware and stear clear from their doubts on what they had learnt. This is also to ensure the students will be able to create a link between the previous topic and the ones they will be introduced. This can enable the studenst to gain a better understanding in conjunction of learning a new topic or a subject as a whole. Ms. Ting also noted that it will also be easier for the teachers to plan for their next Learning Intention.

Ms. Ting and her colleagues would hold a weekly milepost meeting every Wednesday in the Primary Office. Unlike Nexus, the milepost meeting was held amongst teachers who teach the same year group. Nexus has Primary teachers of all years to gather weekly for a discussion.

Year 6's Learning Objectives would be determined by the meeting, the speed of the execution will be determined by the class. All Year 6 teachers would be present to discuss about their next Learning Intention (Learning Outcome/ Objectives) in preparation for next week, such as subjects they are teaching which include: English, Mathematics, PSHE (morals), Science and even IPC. They would also plan for the next IPC topic once all teachers believe their students have achieved the Learning Intention. There will be a time limit for them to accomplish the objective (LI). It would take around two weeks, the shortest (for normal to high proficiency class) to four weeks, the longest (challenging to low proficiency class). Classes that finishes within two weeks will get some additional work, materials or activities while waiting for other classes for catch up. Ms. Ting and the teachers will try hard to achieve the Learning Objectives within the time frame. and of course, extensions will be granted in occasion as there are classes that may be slightly slower in pace and requires more time to master the topic.

IPC theme worksheet

Based on the meeting we attended, each teacher would take turns in preparing the materials, for instance, Ms. Ting would be in charge of preparing the spelling materials for the whole Year 6 class while other teachers would take on other tasks. And this occurs in every term. From this feature, it was indeed a contrast to Nexus where the teachers would do collaborative teaching where they would take turns teaching different students or classes in different periods based on the subjects. It was indeed an interesting change from our last observation. According to the teachers, they will also take turns in handling challenging students in their class annually then to a manageable one in the next.

As the meeting occurs weekly, there are no last-minute preparations. The teachers would be given a two to three days for prepping before submitting their materials and resources into a Google Drive where every teacher gets access to them. They also have an online "reports" where they will keep track of what they had done yearly, so that they get to recycle the materials and resources should they get the opportunity. The teaching methods will of course, vary from teacher to teacher so long as the Learning Intentions are met.

Ms. Ting's class was somewhat of a normal or intermediate level, thus it didn't take much time and effort to speed up the process and activities in attempt to achieving the Learning Intention.

Based on the meeting that we had experienced, I felt relief that the teachers would be very open about their progress in teaching their class. Some would even seek advice from another more experienced teachers for assistance in dealing with the students who may had problems with paying attention or those who are considerably "unmanageable". All in all, they were very laid back and seemed to have their classes under "control". Whether it is a normal cultural phenomena in international schools or not; for the least they gain a very good understanding between teachers and students as well. From there we could tell that they had considerations for their students such as their interests, based on the way they handle the students. Also in class, the students were very interested in learning the topics. From this, we can deduce that they, the teachers actually do take in considerations of the students' learning progress.

Unfortunately, we didn't manage to steal a scene in duration of the milepost meeting as it was somewhat short. We were at the stage where the teachers were still in the middle of the same topic, thus there were no major changes. From the teachers' interaction, it is eveident that they were very close. Though like Nexus, sharing has been a staple value that everyone practises. It was really relieving to see teachers being able to assist one another as they share the same passion and goal together. In contrast to local government schools, it is rare to hear teachers willingly share their resources to other teachers. Perhaps it was due to competition or shame that refrains the teachers to vent out or discuss their challenges and their findings with other teachers. As much as Asian cultures prefer keeping their face intact or dignity in Western culture, this mentality can be toxic and self-destructive. From my experience in experiencing teachers of both local and international. The main difference is the mindset of the said two cultures. Asian cultures are collectivistic whereas Westerners are individualistic. Ironically, collectivistic or traditional local teaching and learning strategies are more individualistic as the activities are all done alone, individualistic or international method of education are more slanted towards groupwork and collaboration.

Collectivist or traditional teaching strategies tend to focus more on individual work where you work alone, suffer alone as like I mentioned before, competitiveness is always in their minds, or at least through my experience. This type of mentality seems to focus more on the outcome rather than the process. Why I think so is that collectivists tend to focus more on the group or goal thus ignoring their personal problems. And this will also contribute to the way they interact with others, especially among the teachers (local, traditional). They, the traditional teachers strive to be better than others to become more successful whereas international school teachers prefer working on the experience where the quality and condition of the progress will act on a direct contribution to the outcome.

From this, I personally hope that I, as well as the local national teachers will take note of this generational flaw and make amends to improve the quality of education, even if it is between the teachers, there will be significant improvements, your confidence and passion for teaching will be evident knowing that there are those who are on the same boat as you do.

In terms of planning a lesson, I had never take this part of the process seriously, as I initially believed that "going with the flow" works best with students, thus my theory of learning is more slanted towards constructivism. Where the students get to ask any question while I answer them as much as possible. Having them to decide the lesson flow was the way of what I see teaching as the best method. However, after witnessing two schools' meeting, I now believe that perhaps lesson planning is still significant. From this, the purpose of having a lesson plan is for the teachers "better to be safe than sorry" as we are better off having our class being "preventative rather than simply reactive". Having a Learning Outcome also gives a better sense of direction in making a lesson. Yes, I do believe that having a learning outcome is crucial which is very aligned to my initial thoughts.

All in all, from this meeting I find more importance in emphasizing the usage of a lesson plan. From Ms. Ting's way of handling a lesson, this goes to show that through years of preparation and practice, it gives you more experience and wisdom when it comes to facing situations that may be similar or different so that the flow of the lesson will not be compromised.