ICT in Substitution class

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

6th reflection on the use of ICT in teaching and learning

               Kuenzang Dema

                       DEIIIB,06160385

               Use of ICT in Teaching and Learning

Ordinal Numbers, Class I

IT has always helped me teach better in the class. It has added creativity and motivation in my teaching and learning process. As teachers, IT can be integrated in our daily lessons in lot many ways. This time I used ICT in my substitution classes too.

On 28th October, I had the opportunity to substitute Ms. Asha Devi Rai’s class as she was on leave. I was pre informed about her leave so I thought why not try ICT lesson in her class and see the impact. It was a Math lesson on ordinal numbers. I downloaded a series of brightly coloured pictures on ordinal numbers. As always our children are fascinated with attractive colours. They are much interested in electronic gadgets. The students of 21st century learners catch faster if taught through these gadgets. So I took my laptop in the class. Instead of using chart paper, I displayed the pictures from my laptop. I let children look at it and say the ordinal numbers for the pictures. I also had worksheets downloaded in advance and made copies ready for the class. That helped me save time since I was to substitute for just one period.

It was a fun lesson for them. New teacher with different teaching method motivated to learn more. Children were interested to look at the laptop again and again. Some even shouted “cartoon movies, Madam”.  Classroom management was not a problem for me. 

I ended the lesson with the singing of a nursery rhyme. I played from my laptop and let them sing along. They had fun.

Students were as happy and satisfied as I was when I left their class. They wanted me to visit their class again which I took it as positive impact of ICT. 

After having taught the ordinal numbers, which was already introduce in their previous class by their subject teacher. So it wasn’t a tough topic for them. I provided them with a worksheet. I helped them read the instruction and understand what they were to do. Students then completed the worksheet individually. I found out that about 90% of the class could complete it on time and the rest few were asked to show me during the break time. All students could say ordinal numbers correctly.

IT is a great resource if used meaningfully. I hope to integrate more of IT in my future lessons too.

 

These are some of the worksheets I used for teaching the ordinal numbers.

Children singing a rhyme

Class III
Subject: Mathematics
Topic: Probability
Date: 15th October, 2019

Introduction of NAPE system in Bhutan replaced traditional way of teaching Mathematics by 21^st century pedagogy. This encouraged learning by doing. Implementation of new mathematics curriculum further enhanced the desired learning outcomes of teaching and learning. It gave our children opportunities to think both analytically and critically. Yet this very subject has been quiet unpopular amongst our learners today and the reasons being many. One of the most significant reasons I evaluate could be due to the lack of experience in teaching the subject in a fun and enjoyable way.

I wondered how I should introduce the topic- Probability in captivating manner. I browsed Internet and came across some very good lesson plans to introduce the topic. I replicated the lesson in our context and taught. It was fantastic! I also downloaded a video to supplement my teaching on the topic- probability. I found some very appropriate worksheets too. It saved a lot of my time and my lesson was a very effective one. I used the worksheet as a game to add spices to my lesson. After teaching the probability languages with examples, each team was given a worksheet with 15 Multiple-choice questions. I set the time limit so to finish my lesson on time. After finishing, we checked the answers and the team who scored the highest won. Teaching using games is one of the best strategies. I saw that children really had fun. It was learning through fun.

It made me feel grateful to ICT for making my workload lighter. Any kind of mathematical problems can be taught through games especially in the lower classes whose attention span is very short. It teaches them values like team spirit, taking turns, respecting each other’s views, cooperation, etc. 

I could not show them the video clip I downloaded for I ran out of time. I promised to show them in the next class. Children took more time in completing the activities especially the first activity where they were asked to write one probability statement for each probability word. I learned that I need to keep track of my timing in future.