Journal Writing

Week 7 (13th August - 17 August 2017)

1. Problem

It is the week where I started to realise how tough it is to manage a classroom. On

Wednesday, I entered 3 Beta and they seemed to easily lose their focus on the
lesson. Since I taught them writing skill which focused on creating a thank you card,
the lesson was simpler. However, while doing the activity, I could not control the
class as everyone was so eager to paste the pictures. I could not stop them from
coming to the front of the class since they ignored my instructions and they cannot
understand English. I asked them to sit but they did not listen. The other pupils start
to walk around and doing other things. Some of them ignored me and keep doing
other things. So what can I do instead of using Malay language to scold them.

2. Analysis

This problem occurred because I did not being strict to them at the beginning of the
lesson. I knew that it was my own mistake since I did not emphasise on the rules for
my class during that time. The pupils seemed to lose their respects towards me
since they sometimes did not listen to my instructions. They ignored me and keep
doing their things and playing with each other. There were pupils who did not finish
the exercises given and there were also the pupils who throw tantrums during my
lesson. Moreover, the week begins after long school holiday. So the pupils have
many thing to talk with each other.

3. Suggestions For Improvement

There are several ways that could be done to overcome the problem mentioned
earlier:

a) I need to seek help and support from my mentor and the senior teachers
or those who are more experienced, to discuss on my difficulties. I should
try to ask some advices from the teacher who is in charge of teaching all
the classes involved. I am sure they would have a lot of method to handle
the class since she has taught them and knew their attitudes very well.

b) Apart from that, I think I should restate the rules for them to follow every
time I want to start the lesson. I would make all the rules clearly and more
easy to be measured, so that they could remember each of the rules.

4. Duration
I will try to overcome this major problem as soon as possible since I realize that if I
am unable to manage this problem immediately, I might be facing other problems. I
could be encountering the problem of having difficulties in achieving the learning
objectives in teaching and learning activities.

5. Further Action

In managing a classroom, I need to be very patient. I should not have to give up on

them. I should try to dig up why they are behaving like that. Maybe my lesson is too
boring or too difficult for them. I will always seek guidance and help from my mentor
and also my supervising lecturer. I would also read a lot and try to find more reliable
sources to be referred to.

6. Conclusion

I will need the assistance from my mentor and the senior teachers to assess the
effectiveness of my managing the problem. My partner could also evaluate whether I
have succeeded in handling this problem.

As a trainee teacher, I realise that this is an aspect that should be taken into
consideration when beginning the teaching profession.

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(Lecturer’s signature)