Reflective Practice: Gibbs Cycle

Reflection of Teaching using Gibbs Cycle (1988)

Description

This reflection is concerned with my teaching of the People in Action module to second year BA Hons Early Years students. There were 18 students present in the class, as well as myself, and my mentor for the first part, all of whom are female. The classroom environment was familiar to both myself and the students, and is the university campus of a FE college with offers Hons level courses. Before the session I had a meeting with my mentor whereas she requested copies of the power point presentations I had used from previous weeks and advised me that she would be accompanying me for the first part of the lesson today, she also advised me that she had received positive feedback from students regarding my teaching. The aim of the session was to provide students with formative feedback so as to aid them in completion of a poster presentation which critically analyses interpersonal and group dynamics in a film or piece of literature. The presentation is expected to be displayed on a single power point slide, with an audio attached lasting approximately five minutes. The learning outcomes, as stated in the lesson plan, were that by the end of the session students are able to:

1.     Recognise the strengths of their poster presentation. 

2.     Identify areas for development. 

3.     Demonstrate an understanding of what is expected in relation to the module outcomes. 

The session was well planned and began with an 'Assessment for Learning' activity, whereas students were provided with a post it note and asked to write down any anxieties and remaining questions, in relation to the subject or assessment criteria. Students then stuck there post it on a question mark at the front of the class, these were revisited at the end of the session.

Students were next divided into groups using a random numerical method, there were four groups with 4 - 5 students in each group. I explained the activity, whereas each student would take it in turn to present their poster to the group, and the other group members would provide both verbal and written feedback  in the form of 'Medals and Mission'. Students were each allocated 10 minutes and a timer was displayed so as they could monitor the time. Myself and a my mentor moved between the groups listening to presentations and offering feedback. On completion of the presentations I provided some generic feedback to the group based upon the observations of myself and my mentor. 
Once feedback had been provided, we revisited the anxieties/ questions displayed on the post it notes. I read out each post it notes in turn and the majority of students reported that their anxieties had been alleviated as a result of formative assessment; the issues which remained were discussed as a group and I answered any final questions. 

The remainder of the session was allocated to tutorials;I had a schedule which had been emailed out to students beforehand so as they were aware of their time slot. However, some replied to the email requesting an earlier time, others cancelled on the day, and others requested a tutorial despite having not put their name down for one when they were offered the previous week. In addition, the first part of the session had run over time wise, and so instead of starting at 2.30, the first tutorial started at 2.45. 

Feelings

I felt a little nervous at the start of this lesson due to my mentor being present. In her absence I guess I had become overly comfortable with my teaching and this prompt reminded me of the fact that I was a student teacher. I was torn between two ideas as to the cause of the reigns being tightened:either it was the result of a college meeting / student grievance, or it was simply the role of the mentor to keep these tabs;  which we both had neglected slightly due to workload. Either way, I thought I should have done a better job of keeping in touch so as to prevent me feeling anxious. Once the lesson got going a little I became less aware of my mentors presence and I was grateful she involved herself in the formative assessment process, I realised almost instantaneously that her expertise and experience were invaluable at this stage as she noticed things which I missed. This realisation disturbed me, how many times I had I missed things without noticing?
I continued to reflect on the lesson over the course of the evening and the more I though about it, the worse I decided it had gone. The students had seemed to get a lot of it, but I made mistakes as a teacher which plagued me - could/ should I have done better? 

Evaluation 

Considering the lesson more logically with time elapsed, I now realise that I am being unrealistic in my expectations of myself. I can now appreciate the positives: students are making good progress and being creative in their thinking, students respond to me well and I have built up a good rapport with the majority, through tutorial I was able to identify those in need of further support.

Aspects of the lesson which did not go to plan were: 

• The timer - students required differing amounts of time in presenting and consequently changed presenter as they were ready. However, it provided me with a guide so as to prompt a change in presenter if the group had not already done so. 
• The random division of students into groups did not ensure mixed abilities, although this did not present as a problem I question whether formative feedback would have been more advantageous to some individuals, had groups been more equal. 
• Tutorials were a little disorganised due to being late starting, students repeatedly changing times, and requesting a tutorial despite having not booked. 

Analysis 

I noticed that the lesson seemed a little rowdy at times and I had to ask the students to listen, however when my mentor spoke, the students instantaneously quietened and paid attention - How did she achieve that? respect maybe?! I attempted to adopt my mentors tactic and speak more softly rather than raising my voice above the level of the students, but it only lasted momentarily before I reverted back to old habits. Maybe softly softly is just not my style?

During the lesson, I felt a little silly dividing the students into groups by allocating them a number, however it was not until later that I realised why: the random allocation did not allow me to ensure groups were of mixed ability. Although I felt a little disappointed in myself for not having realised this, in my defence I do not feel I know the students well enough to have successfully differentiated. 

The post-it note activity seemed well received with students appreciating the opportunity to raise concerns. However, I realised in action (Schon, 1991) that I should have allowed the students to remain anonymous. My reasoning for asking "who's is this one?" was to allow them the opportunity to elaborate, however this could have been achieved by asking "does any one want to admit to / elaborate on this?". Students did not seem aggrieved by being asked to identify themselves and were happy to share their thoughts, however I realise this could have gone differently. 

The contribution of my mentor most definitely improved the end result, her feedback was invaluable, and although the students would not have realised what they had missed out on had she not been there, this could have potentially been reflected in their grades. 

Overall, despite the rather haphazard process, the end product was effective: the lesson was a success and I have a concrete base on which to plan for next week. 

Conclusion 
Time allowing, I could have better got to know my students abilities and put more effort in to learning their names. Learner profiles would have allowed me to be better equipt so as to differentiate and create groups of mixed ability for the purpose of formative assessment. A better understanding of not only the module outcomes, but also the intermediate level marking criteria, would also have been beneficial; this would have allowed me to provide specific feedback to  stretch and challenge students of all abilities.  Tutorials could also have been organised differently: instead of teaching and then scheduling tutorials, I could have solely scheduled tutorials over a two week period, whereas students selected their own time slots. 

Evaluation
I am due to start teaching the same module  to a different set of students in a few weeks. Next time around, I will learn from my mistakes:

• I will ensure I have access to learner profiles before commencing teaching.
• I will gain access to the marking criteria.
• I will organise tutorials so as students are allowed to select their own time slot and not attempt to 'teach' on the same day. 
• I will maintain better communication with my mentor.  

(Cycle taken from: Jasper,M. (2003). Beginning Reflective Practice – Foundations in Nursing and Health Care. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.)