Teacher's Roles

Teacher's Role

The teacher’s role in understanding students’ needs, and engaging them in their learning experiences includes:

· learning about the students and their interests, abilities and learning styles
· planning classroom environment and routines
· organizing classroom facilities and resources
· planning and organizing for instruction
· planning and organizing for assessment and evaluation
· planning for communication with students’ families· reflecting upon the effectiveness of their planning, instruction and assessment as a means of gathering information about their students’ progress and instructional needs, and the success of their practice.

Learning About the Students

One important aspect of planning and organizing for instruction is acquiring an understanding of the students. While talking directly with each student provides information about how each student perceives himself or herself as a learner, it is also useful to:

· administer oral or written diagnostic questionnaires or surveys to assess students’ current skills, abilities, attitudes and interests
· consult available personnel, student portfolios and records from previous years
· consider the potential for using previously successful adaptations with each student, and plan other adaptations that address specific students’ learning requirements.

Instruction and learning are both improved when teachers take every opportunity to learn about their students’ strengths and needs. The diagnostic information gathered allows teachers to individualize instruction and assessment to meet the needs of each student.

Planning Classroom Environment and Routines

Another aspect of planning and organizing for instruction involves establishing the classroom environment and routines conducive to learning.

Teachers are encouraged to include students in setting some of the routines and expectations for use of classroom spaces, and for participating appropriately as a community of learners. When establishing positive environments and clearly defined routines, it is important to:

· ensure students feel safe enough to take risks when expressing their ideas or attempting new learning experiences
· establish roles and expectations for group members during collaborative and cooperative discussion and activities
· establish expectations for independent learning experiences
· involve students in determining some expectations and routines so that they take ownership and responsibility for adhering to them
· explain and discuss the regular use of learning and assessment tools (e.g., learning logs/notebooks, computers and computer programs, portfolios, checklists).

Organizing Classroom Facilities and Resources

Some suggestions for organizing classroom facilities and resources to support the philosophy of learning advocated in this curriculum guide include:

· Arrange the classroom furniture to accommodate both group and individual student activity. Clusters of desks or large round tables facilitate large and small group interaction, while single desks and secluded nooks provide places for individuals to work and learn independently.
· Collaborate with the teacher-librarian or other personnel to develop a classroom resource collection that supports the current unit of study.
· Reserve at least one wall or bulletin board area for displays related to the current unit of study. Encourage students to contribute to the display.
· Designate display areas for students’ projects and multimedia products.

Planning and Organizing for Instruction and Assessment

Saskatchewan Learning has identified the amount of instructional time that must be allocated to each Specified Area of Study. Teachers are expected to provide 100 hours of instruction for Psychology 20.

Communicating with Students’ Families

It is important to establish regular, positive communication with students' families. The following suggestions may be helpful:

· involve students in establishing procedures for regular communication with their families
· provide opportunities for significant, relevant involvement of parents in classroom activities and learning experiences
· acknowledge and be sensitive to the diversity of family structures, and to the economic, ethnic and cultural backgrounds of family members
· encourage the exchange of informal notes and telephone calls between family members and the teacher
· arrange in-home visits to get to know parents and caregivers, and encourage them to ask questions and to discuss students' progress reports
· use available technology (e.g., post, e-mail, Internet) whenever possible to enhance communication with family members
· invite students’ parents/caregivers or other family members to volunteer in the classroom or school, in capacities that make them feel comfortable and feel that their contribution is worthwhile, but be aware of and sensitive to such matters as family schedules and availability.

Reflecting Upon Practice

Whether beginning the second year or second decade of their careers, teachers benefit from the accumulated understanding that is the result of reflection on past practice and experience. In the contexts of their classrooms, teachers are asking questions and gathering information that continues to shape their practices as they apply what they discover to subsequent classroom teaching and learning situations.

Teachers who approach each day as reflective practitioners consider what they know and believe about aspects of their daily practice such as:

· students: their interests, strengths, needs, personal learning goals, etc.
· curriculum: philosophy and expectations, aim, goals, instruction/assessment suggestions, etc.
· their own philosophy: about instruction/ assessment, and how theirs is similar or different to that of the curriculum
· their own reflective practices: what they reflect upon, why they choose those areas, what requires reflection next, etc.