Vietnamese Teacher Day 20 November

Teacher day is  an important day on the Vietnamese calendar. Teachers are held in high regard and teaching is appreciated. In accordance with this Vietnamese custom, some of my Vietnamese students have written cards and bought gifts to school for me. While the gifts are lovely, the cards and the thoughts are the bits I treasure. One wee sweetheart wrote" I hope you like my present as much as I do!" The gift was a packet shortbread. Of course I love it.
If you are a student at a public school in Vietnam you get the day off, and you drop into your school with a present for your teacher.
There are certain parallels with New Zealand and children bringing along gifts at Christmas time. This causes me to question the practice and reflect. Lately some of my lessons have turned pear shaped so I ask myself am I REALLY doing the best job I possibly can for each and everyone of these students in the 1 hour they are in my class? I think not. The hour goes by so quickly and with 22 studenst, each and every one gets about 2 minutes individual time. Am I extending them individually?  I am teaching them on masse, and the diet is very similar for everyone? Are they learning? What are they learning? How do I know? What opportunities am I creating for them to demonstrate their learning, and talk about their learning? Its a lot to ask/ do in that mythical 2 minute individual time slot.
Sadly being a specialist teacher I only work with the students for the one hour in a week unless I can negotiate extra time with the class teacher in my non contact times.I really do operate in a silo and sometimes you feel like a processing factory, children in children out. Are they getting the best deal possible?. I don't think so, but I do hope they are getting some good teaching and some learning
As I know most of the children from last year, and know the ropes of the school I am tailoring the planning and the activities so those that have skills are able to extend, and share their knowledge, teach others. In my older classes I have "I'm finished and I can teach someone else" experts so they can share their learning/ knowledge. So yes my teaching is improving. I am doing a small amount of skill teaching and then some constructivist activities to allow the students to extend and develop and co-construct. I grapple with ideas to do the teaching component better. I am sure the ICT integration and activities I have planned for next term will be better than this term, which was much better than last year. I am providing opportunities for the older students to self access and to peer access. However I'm sure I'm not the absolute best teacher I possibly can be for my students. I need to know more about their individual learning and them . What are they thinking while they are in my class, assessing that learning and having learning conversations. Like my students, I too still have things to learn, to be better at my job. I am inspired by a quote from Doug Blocher "learning is not a spectator sport". If only an hour didn't go so fast.