Lesson Reflection

As a PYP school, the students at Mt Macedon are addressing the Value of Communicator and
how this is reflected in their own learning profile. The lesson, based around the question What is
an eective communicator?, asked the students to think about all dierent styles of
communicating and listening. As a class, we recorded all the answers on the board under two
categories of communicator and listener, and students were encouraged to think about how the
answers they provided could link to their own personal traits. Students began to recognise not
only their strength, but their weakness, which created a conversation on how to turn our
weaknesses into our strengths, but also relating it to classroom rules and behaviours, addressing
students with behavioural problems to think of the consequences their communication, or lack of
communication, resulted in. After spending 10 minutes on the floor, students were grouped and
given a communication skill (from the answers on the board) and asked to come up with a short
role play of their skill (eg. a good listener faces the talker, maintaining eye contact with good
posture, what does this look like? What does it look when these skills are not used? What does
this mean for our communication abilities?). Students were given 5 minutes to practice their skill
before performing in front of the class, which was recorded on the class iPad, which students can
access anytime to watch if they needed to reflect on their communication skills (especially the
students who are misbehaving in class, they can be sent o to watch the videos and reflect what
they can do to be better listeners etc). After each role play, a discussion was held to allow
students to comment on the importance of communication. Allowing student to present their own
understanding in a creative manner motivated students to get involved and engaged in the lesson.
The lesson was concluded with student making a mind map of their own communicator skills in
their PYP portfolios, encouraging students to focus on their positive trails and what they add to
the classroom community.

Key points in reflection

behaviour management

use of ICTs as a reflection

engaging students through involvement

reflecting on ones self

focusing of the positive attributes students have

reinforcing the classroom contract by reinstating what a good communicator does and linking it
to the agreement e.g. a good communicator does not call out, instead they raise their hand if
they want to ask or answer a question.