Nt1310 Unit 1 Assignment

TASK 1
A critical analysis of an individual child’s observed learning behaviour during a teaching session and analysis of the implications for their further learning and their support needs (i.e. the TA’s possible role in supporting and developing further learning) (1500 words)

INTRODUCTION
This essay is about how I, as a teaching assistant (TA), develop my understanding of how my learners learn and develop. I will rename the teacher as Ms K and the students as student M throughout the context. I have been assisting Ms K in Year 2C class for 3 months. The subject of the observation is student M from Iran, whose learning I analysed during a 40 minutes English lesson. I have known the student for 3 months, and as treats me like a friend,
He is slightly overweight and one of the tallest in the class. He does not like to sit at the same place for a long time and he prefers waking around the class and dancing.

I often see him bullying his friends, pushing them break, hitting them whenever he likes and also annoying them by singing loudly in class. He is quite sensitive when someone scolds him, but he never cries. He communicates well with other students and teachers. Moreover, he enjoys Physical Education (PE) and Dance most, as he gets to be more active and he works finely in group activities. He seems to hate English and this is maybe due to the way Ms K delivers her lessons which may not be able to conducive to his kinaesthetic learning style. The majority of the students in 2C class also seem to have a kinaesthetic style. According to David Glen “Almost certainly, you were told that your instruction should match your students learning styles…Now four psychologists argue that you were told wrong. There is no strong scientific evidence to support the “matching” idea…”
I have also noticed that Ms K does not like any interruption when she is teaching even if students want to ask questions. If I were the teacher I would have given students the opportunity to ask questions, on condition that if they wish to ask a question they must first raise their hands and get permission. Ms K told me the reason she wants them to copy the questions is because she wants them to improve their writing and at the same time memorize the spelling. I feel it is a good practice but unfortunately it does not fit the learning style of student M.

CONCLUSION I HAVE MADE
I feel that as a teacher assistant (TA), it is my responsibility to make sure that every learner gains something from a lesson, since I believe that the teacher is busy and she cannot give individual attention to all 19 students.
Overall, I believe that as a TA, I will help student M to develop his skills by guiding him during learning session. I will try to divide my time equally everyday to all my learners so that no one will be left out. Albert Einstein once stated that
“…he felt it in his muscles, when he was thinking about something that later proved to be very significant. This heightened kinesthetic sense tells us that helping develop this kinesthetic sensitivity from an early age, instead of suppressing it, will help people turning out to be more creative individuals…”