Primary class

    I also do my internship in primary education at the same school "De Puzzel Basisschool Runkst", which is located in Hasselt. With this level, I am placed in the last grade (level 6) in that school. Like the pupils in pre-primary education in terms of diversity, this class consists of 17 students of which only 7 of them are girls. More than half of them are of South and West Asian descent and the rest are of Caucasian descent. English is not taught yet in grade 6 of primary level; however, most students in that class can communicate in English and some of them can do really well. 

    Since English is not included in the curriculum in this grade yet, I have planned to spend most of my time observing how the students are taught, materials and lessons are used and the teacher interacts with her students. Besides, I also help the classroom teacher check and mark the students' answers during the lesson and give a helping hand whenever needed. 

     At the same time, I would also like to challenge myself in a foreign country. Therefore, I have chosen to lead an activity and teach two lessons. The first activity is "Quizzes" about things the students like such as animals, flags, celebrities, etc. I use two interactive platforms (Blooket and Quizizz) to carry out this activity. The second lesson is about Khmer Literature and the last one is about origami (A jumping cat). 

    Before I give out my first activity, I have some time to observe the class to see how I should treat the students and to know what the rules in the classroom are. However, what I have observed and even the classroom teacher gives me the absolute authority to control the students, I have not executed that power really well, especially during the last lesson in which I teach the students to fold a jumping cat. It was kind of loud that the classroom room teacher had to step in to quiet the student down. 

    For the first activity in which the students have to use a device to play some quizzes with Blooket and Quizizz goes really well. The students have a lot of fun playing with those two platforms. Even the classroom teacher herself also learns a lot from using those interactive platforms. 

    The most difficult lesson I feel I have not done really well is teaching my Khmer Literature. Firstly, I have a really broad objective and too many tasks for students to do. As a consequence, I do not achieve my goal. In addition, I get shocked when two students explicitly show that they are no longer interested in my lesson even though I have noticed and preconceived that the classroom teacher normally lets her students do whatever they like to do or hold if they do not disturb their classmates while she is teaching. 

    The last lesson, in which I have to teach them to fold a jumping cat, goes really well except for the fact that I do not shush the students. Consequently, the class becomes too loud; thus, the classroom teacher has to intervene.  

 

    What I have also preconceived of a classroom in the first world is that students are taught in a more liberal way so that they are allowed to say whatever they want and especially they can interrupt their teachers anytime. However, the way teachers in this school both pre-primary and primary levels share some common practices with teachers in Cambodia. They will raise their voices when the class gets really loud. In addition, students are not allowed to speak over teachers while teachers are explaining. Instead, they need to raise their hands when they are asked or want to say or answer any questions.

    One thing the classroom teacher uses to show the students her moods is the traffic light-like sign. She normally moves the clippers up or down to reflect her inner feelings. In case of being uncontrollably loud or annoying, a stop sign will be employed. If that behavior still persists, the student who is making such noise will be expelled from the classroom, which I was not allowed to do in my previous workplace in my country at all. 

    Some significant differences this school has from schools in Cambodia are that in each classroom there are numerous materials including a smartboard that teachers use to help provide more means for students to learn from. In addition, the students are made to conduct experiments after learning the theories. Furthermore, students are often made to do research and present in front of the whole class. 

    I have always kept telling people that to encourage students to love reading, some certain time needs to be blocked and dedicated to reading. I am amazed when I get to see that what I deem to be very helpful in promoting reading is actually practiced in this school.  What is more, sometimes older students in this school are asked to read a book to younger students. 

    Like the pre-primary level, the primary level also has a psychologist to come and observe any hyperactive and impulsive pupils in the classroom and come up with suggestions for the classroom teacher to do to deal with those students. 

    Personally speaking, I have learned a lot from this internship and have almost nothing to say to improve the education in this school besides the only thing that interactive platforms are not fully exploited yet. The class would find exercises or math problems more doable in a more fun way if interactive platforms were used more often.