Reflection based on class observation and Parents information

Reflection based on Term 1 Observation.

Based on my term 1 observation, my learners can only cognitively
engage for about 3-5 minutes with the support of teacher aides
and the use of their preferred items. My learners tend to be distracted,
show no interests and do not engage when activities are longer
than 5 minutes. When they begin to show no signs of interest I still try
to continue teaching. However, they soon become disengaged.

What’s next? 

When this pandemic is over and my learners return back to school. I will use the information collected from their parents (questionnaires-about child’s interest, strengths and favourite toys) to create some fun and interactive activities based on the data collected. For the first few weeks of coming back from lockdown, both staff and learners will rebuild our relationship again by participating in some play and fun activities. I will observe this closely and set a timer to see how long my learners can engage in these fun and interactive activities.
Parents Responses to the questionnaire.

Being able to visualise the child at their homes was very encouraging.
Reading through the parents' responses was interesting and impressive.
Information that I gathered from the parents is critical for my knowledge
just as I thought I knew my learners well enough, receiving my survey
responses gave me a new perspective more homely based on my
learners' interests. This has widened a window of amazing things and
activities my students do with their parents. The survey responses from the
parents also showcased the approaches they take during a meltdown as
well as how long their attention lasts with certain activities. Through these
questionnaires, I gained more than knowledge about my students, I also
built a stronger relationship with their parents. Strengthening our
relationship with my students’ parents made me aware of the type of
support the child and family need from me. The most important thing
after collecting this data is what change I need to do to make learning
more fun and engaging, for my learners to be able to increase
engagement in their learning.

My learners ' attention span at home? 

From the survey that was sent home, I was able to see that my
learners' attention varies from different activities. Interestingly,
there are some activities that they can attend to for 20 minutes and
some students can engage up to 2 hours. 

How long can students engage?

The average attention span for a two-year-old is 3-6 minutes.
For three and four-year-olds, it’s around 8-10 minutes (Zeiger, 2004)

References

Zeiger, S. (2004). How to engage young learners.
Retrieved from https://www.helpteaching.com/blog/
how-to-engage-young-learners-toddler-and-preschool.html

Observation on my Learners Attention span.

Term 1 Observation on learners attention and engagement.

In my observation during term one, some of my students were not interested in most curriculum learning such as Reading, Writing and Maths. They need to be supported by teacher aides and also need their prefered items as motivation. During an activity, using their preferred items was useful to help them attend. However, the overuse of preferred items often fade and tend to not be powerful anymore.
Do I know how long my learners can engage?

Based on my observation I created this Data to give an idea of how long my learners are able to cognitively engage.

Reading

Writing

Maths

Questionnaires for Parents.

Here are the questions that have been sent to the parents.

                                          

Getting to know your child is really important to me. In term one I have observed that most of my students have short attention spans and are not very motivated to participate in our classroom learning. Please take some time to fill out this survey to help me find a better way to support your child.

Name of child:

Questions- Does your child like reading? Does he indicate to you that he wants to read? Do you read to your child at home? What is your child's favourite book? How long can he hold his attention and attend to the book?  (Just estimate e.g. 2 mins, 5 mins.

What is your child's favourite food? Is your child allergic to any type of food?

What is your child's favourite toy? Does he indicate he wants to play? How long does he play with a toy before he gets bored? Or wanting to play with any other toys? If you interfere or stop him from playing, what is his reaction? What do you do if your child refuses to stop playing?

Does your child like to watch movies or screen type activities? What are these activities or movies? How long does he stay to watch his programme?

What activity does your child like to do at home if you prompt?

How does your child spend free time?

What are the places your child likes to go?

Does your child like to go to school?  What is his reaction when you tell him to get ready to go to school? What do you do if your child refuses to go to school?

Thank you very much for your time and support.

My Approach to Disengaged Students

What is happening with my learners?

This year I have a group of 6 boys between the ages of 5yrs to 8yrs old who need special support in every area of their learning. All my learners have a short attention span to engage, participate and to interact in academic learning activities. At the beginning of the year, I have observed that when a student is stopped from their preferred play activity and prompted to engage in another academic learning activity, these students begin to whinge, get upset and show no interest in the new activity presented. On some occasions, they sit on their chairs however they do not engage in the activity. Throughout the day, the majority of time is lost trying to grasp their attention to engage, leaving us less time to learn.



Question asked.
What can I do differently to motivate my learners to engage?

New Approach!!
Based on the nature of my students, I’ve decided to focus on their strengths and interests to support their learning. By doing this, I am going to focus on providing opportunities for my students to play and interact. This will hopefully enable them to develop and increase their ability to engage and participate.

How will this work?
Well... to give me some ideas about my students' hobbies, favourite toys, games, screen programmes and of course what they enjoy to do in their free time. I will send a questionnaire to their parents to assist me with this. The information gathered will hopefully help me to create some activities to motivate my students to participate and engage.