I had the opportunity to observe, Rheanna with her Year 6 student. It was immediately clear that Rheanna places a strong focus on creating an optimal environment for her students. She welcomed him with small talk to ease him into “work mode” for the session, then efficiently rearranged the room to allow her student to receive continuous support with using the laptop as he worked. This start to the lesson created a more enjoyable and relaxed atmosphere, allowing the student to put in maximum effort.
In this lesson, Rheanna first worked on a school research task with the student, which explored the Diwali festival. She maintained strong communication with him throughout the entire hour to ensure that he was understanding the task and the information they were reading. She also skillfully diverted any conversational tangents to keep her student focused. As he worked through the task, she gently redirected him whenever he started to lose traction. For example, as they read through articles, Rheanna guided him in categorising the information, effectively helping him retrieve relevant details from various sources that might otherwise overwhelm a primary school student.
Rheanna also worked on less obvious skills in the background, such as reading proficiency and comprehension. She did this by prompting him to read the information out loud and rephrase it in his own words to ensure understanding. Additionally, Rheanna split up the lesson for maximum productivity by switching to math as a break from English. Rather than letting the student relax for a few minutes after their English work, she encouraged him to move on to math. This strategy effectively helped the student retain momentum from the previous task.
Rheanna excelled at encouraging her student to think critically and lead himself to the answers, rather than relying on continuous prompts. When he got stuck on a question, she guided him in the right direction by asking questions that helped him adopt the right thought process for solving it. After observing Rheanna’s lesson, I gained several valuable strategies, including consistent communication, the use of guiding questions, avoiding irrelevant conversations and distractions, and substituting other productive activities in place of breaks.
Jenna Freed
