UNITED PENTECOSTAL CHURCH PHILIPPINES

CREATIVE TEACHING

Prepared by:

BROTHER PEDE I. CASING, MAED

Noted:

PASTOR JOBERT C. OVALO

“And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers”. (Ephesians 4:11)
INTRODUCTION

A Sunday School is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in

character.

In recent years, numerous new teachers have taken their positions through altrnate
certification routes. This has been most prevalent in what is referred to as hard-to-staff areas; chief
among these is mathematics. Many of these transitioning professionals rely on various forms of
school-established support to enrich their development while performing their teacher role.

To supplement the usual support on matters of K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum and

methodology typically provided by principals, some schools have hired experienced teachers
trained to be math coaches. These individuals are usually master teachers with many years of
experience, and they spend much of their time mentoring new teachers. The math’s coach role
involves observing the teacher, making constructive comments, and offering to teach model
lessons. Follow-up discussions afford the opportunity to delve into aspects of teaching beyond the
observed lesson. All this is critical, because it’s during the first few years of a teaching experience
that he develops the practices – the habits, methods, procedures, and techniques – that will persist
in one or another throughout the teacher’s career.

Unfortunately, not every new teacher (i.e., a teacher in the first 3-4 years of teaching) will
have the advantage of having math coach. Such a teacher will have to rely on being his own coach:
a self-coached teacher.

It is common that we best see ourselves through the eyes of others. Opinions about our
dress, humor, intelligence, and yes, our teaching skills, are usually established by the comments
of others. If you do not have a math coach, then you will have to do some serious self-inspection.
Videotaping is a clever way to get a new perspective on your practice. Watching your teaching
performance in this way can be enlightening – a way to pick up on any distracting habits and sees
if you conduct the class efficiently. You will see yourself as your students see you.

This lesson exemplar will generate discussions with your colleagues so that they too can
offer input to help you become the truly exemplary teacher your students deserve.
WHAT IS CREATIVE TEACHING?

Creative teaching is when you appeal to the creative side of pupil’s brains. If you would

like to read some of the science behind creativity. Creative teaching can take many forms. Pupils

may be in or out of their seats, they may be talking or working in silence, they may be working

with you, in teams or by themselves. Creative teaching does not necessarily mean that you need

to put in hours of preparation for every single activity you do, making up cards, activity packs and

the like. This would in fact be a bad plan, as the pressure would remove any possibility of having

a life outside of the classroom. While pupils might find it hard to believe that such a life exists, we

teachers know that it does exist and that it is very precious to us!

The idea behind creative teaching is to enhance the learning process, and as such it should

enhance your job too. It should be a satisfying and enjoyable experience for you as well as your

pupils. It’s not selfish to want to enjoy your job.

Creative teaching is a mindset to enter into: consciously entering into what I call a

CREATIVE STATE. It’s about how you present yourself as someone who cares and enjoys

teaching your subject; how you motivate your pupils to participate and understand; how you go

about making learning more fun or engaging. It’s about spotting opportunities to liven things up.

It’s about encouraging pupils to take responsibility for their work in a way that doesn’t feel like a

burden (to you or to the pupil).

It is very easy for a teacher to get into a protective, controlling mindset whereby every

pupil’s precise movement is contrived and dictated. In this kind of teaching pupils must do exactly

as the teacher says, do the prescribed activities that are designed to keep them in their seats and

stop them from talking to anyone. This method of teaching gives the teacher control, but it lacks
right-brain creative input. Often it’s used because class behavior isn’t very good and we feel that

this is the only way to achieve any form of coherent structure of learning.

Creative teaching, done correctly, will move you beyond such comfort zones into areas of

teaching that are far more rewarding for you and your pupils alike. It requires a certain amount of

trust between you and them. This is not possible, of course, unless a clear and well-enforced

discipline structure is in place first, otherwise chaos will ensue. Getting the conditions right first

is the most important factor when teaching effectively.

Plenty of research tells us that a more creative approach to learning improves results. If

pupils have awareness of how they learn and an interest in the learning process, they take more

care and have a greater control of their work. It gives them sense of ownership over their work: it

becomes personal. And we all know that as soon as you care about something personally, you

focus better on it and perform better as result. In terms of pupil learning, we’ll call it improving

their learning performance: their focus, energy, enthusiasm, comprehension and academic results.

FEELING CREATIVE

You are creative. No excuses, it’s official. Creativity is something we all have; we now

know that it is a skill that can be learned. It is not simply a gift given to the Mozarts and Einsteins

of the world. You might not be as in touch with it as you once were a child. You might never have

had the creative touch nurtured in you in the way that others seem to have had. Or maybe you

know there’s a creative genius in you that is itching to be let free in the classroom. But take a

moment to consider just how creative you and all those people around you actually are.
WHAT DO PUPILS NEED IN ORDER TO LEARN CREATIVELY?

In order to engage with creative learning and improve their learning performance, pupils

need:

 Knowledge of how to learn and a sense of self-responsibility

 Clear structure in their learning

 Reasons to be interested in your subject

 A positive rapport with their teachers

 Appropriate stimuli to keep the RAS alert

DESIGNING AN EFFECTIVE LESSON PLAN

Although theories abound about the best way to teach mathematics to children, it is
universally accepted that a well-designed lesson plan is the main ingredient of a successful lesson.

WHAT ARE THE COMPONENTS OF A LESSON PLAN?

There are nine major components that might be included in the design of an effective lesson
plan:

1. Prior Skills Inventory (Pre-Assessment).

2. The Objectives of the Lesson.
3. A Start-up Activity.
4. A Motivational Activity.
5. The Body of the Lesson (discovery, developmental, application of new concepts, pivotal
questions, etc.)
6. The Planning of Differentiated Instructional Paths for the Gifted, Average, and Weaker
Students.
7. The Generalizations and Conclusions (to be modified, if necessary, based on the progress
of the lesson).
8. The Homework Assignment.
 9. If time permits . . . (a brief interesting activity, if there is time left after you have completed
your lesson).
These basic elements are designed to be both universal and flexible and lend themselves to a
variety of instructional approaches.

 Prior Skills Inventory (Pre-Assessment)

Most lessons have a set of prerequisite skills that will be used in the lesson. For instance,
students must know how to perform operations on fractions and decimals before learning
how to express fractions to decimals and percent forms and vice versa.
 The Objectives of the Lesson
The objectives of the lesson should be clear to you and to all members of the class. It can
either be written on the board before students enter the room or be elicited from members
of the class during the development of the lesson.
 A Start-up Activity
Most mathematics lessons in relation to accounting, business and management begin with
a start-up exercise. The purpose of the lesson-starting activity is to engage students in
something that will contribute to the lesson. This activity can include review of past work
and previously learned concepts, foreshadow topics to be learned, or motivate students in
some novel way.
The second use for the start-up activity can be to review some specific skills that may be
essential to the day’s lesson.

 A Motivational Activity
The motivational activity addresses the question, “why do we have to learn this”? One
motivational technique is to highlight the utility of learning a topic. Teachers are encouraged to
use current events, present a problem involving recreational mathematics, accounting, business
and management, or make connections to students’ interests to motivate a lesson.

 The Body of the Lesson (discovery, developmental, application of new concepts, pivotal
questions, etc.)
The development of the lesson. Now that you have students motivated to learn, you have
to lead the class through a series of discoveries and the development of the lesson.
 Application(s) of newly acquired concepts. Allow time each lesson for students to apply
what they have just learned.

Planning pivotal questions. Students are likely to remain actively engaged if challenged
with questions that effectively lead them through the discovery and development of the
lesson.

 The Planning of Differentiated Instructional Paths for the Gifted, Average, and Weaker
Students
Because many mathematics classes have students with varying skill levels, design lessons to
engage learners of all abilities. This means you must come to class prepared to present advanced
students with some challenging problems and somewhat weaker students with a series of simpler
exercises that gradually lead to the point at which the average student is functioning. Weaving
these plans into the instructional design is tricky but can be done by finding a time when most of
the class is working on a similar (parallel problem of an easier nature. For instance, if the entire
class is solving (by factoring) the quadratic equation x2 – 2x – 15 = 0, advanced students can be
asked to solve (by factoring) 6x2 = 2 – x. Having students place solutions to the problems on the
board for a side-by-side comparison shows the similarity in their solution, although the second
problem requires more algebraic (symbolic) manipulation and factoring skills than the first
problem.

 The Generalizations and Conclusions (to be modified, if necessary, based on the progress
of the lesson).
Every lesson should end with summary and conclusion to clarify the concepts and skills
presented. Either summarize the lesson or ask student volunteers to do it. Encourage students to
communicate about mathematics. When the students articulate what they understand, either
verbally or in written form, the main points of the lesson are reinforced. Listening to student
summaries serves as an informal assessment of both student comprehension and the effectiveness
of your instruction.

 The Homework Assignment

Have your planned homework assignment, but always be prepared to modify it, based on the
students’ performance in the lesson.
  If time permits . . . (a brief interesting activity, if there is time left after you have
completed your lesson)
Because teaching and learning are individual aspects, it is important to recognize that, for a
variety of reasons, some lessons may finish early. You may find that a lesson has gone more
smoothly than the same lesson did in previous classes. Thoughtful planning can include an extra
application problem or the presentation of a tantalizing tidbit to whet students’ appetites in other
areas of mathematics. Some teachers routinely assign a “problem of the week” that can be reviewed
if time permits. These do not have to relate to the theme of the lesson and thus can be saved for an
appropriate time. These problems typically reward students who think creatively and fashion
elegant solutions.

PLANNING GROUP WORK IN THE MATHEMATICS CLASSROOM

Much research has been devoted to the efficacy of using group work in the mathematics
classroom. In addition to the ordered-pair construct, there are many other ways to design
effective lessons that employ group work. Organizing the routines and delineating student
responsibilities during group work is essential for its success. Students should know exactly
what is expected of them during group work. Basic principles that make group work successful
are as follows:

1. Groups should consist of three or four students.

2. Students should have a clear understanding of how to form groups.
3. Students are to complete the entire assignment, in the same order, at the same time. How
can students help one another, if they are not working on the same problem?
4. Each student in the group must assume all the roles in the group, including that of the
facilitator, the recorder, the contributor, and the presenter. Thus, everyone should be
writing, calculating, and contributing.
5. Anyone from the group may be called on to present their findings to the class.
6. Students must understand that they are responsible for each other. All members of the
group should benefit from the learning activity. There can be no leisure learners in group
work.
7. Students should understand that any member’s notes can be collected and graded. This
grade will be assigned to all of the members of the group.
 TEACHER-CENTERED VERSUS STUDENT-CENTERED
INSTRUCTIONAL MODELS
As you plan your lesson, decide the extent to which the lesson will be student centered.
Teacher dominated lessons (sometimes referred to as chalk and talk) are usually not too effective
because they do not adequately engage students. However, students should not be expected to learn
everything without your structure and guidance. An effective lesson includes opportunities for
student discovery and for teacher-guided learning. Some topics lend themselves to one
instructional model over another; consider this as you design your lessons.

INCORPORATING TECHNOLOGY INTO YOUR LESSONS

Teachers are encouraged to integrate technology into the mathematics classroom. To be

successful, you must carefully plan the use of technology with your other classroom activities.

1. Low Tech (Compasses, Straightedge, Cardboard, Scissors)

2. High Tech (Dynamic Software with a SMART Board or LCD Projector)

HOW TO USE QUESTIONS EFFECTIVELY –

OR THE ART OF CLASSROOM QUESTIONING

SOME DOS AND DON’TS OF QUESTIONING:

1. Don’t answer your own question.
2. Don’t ask yes/no questions.
3. Don’t ask a question to embarrass a student.
4. Do wait after asking a question before you call on student.
5. Don’t call on student before you ask the question.
6. Don’t label the difficulty of your questions.
7. Don’t encourage chorus answers.
8. Do ask open-ended questions.
9. Don’t ask questions with multiple parts.
10. Don’t ask elliptical questions.
11. Don’t ask personal questions.
 12. Use questions that compare and contrast items.
BEYOND THE CLASSROOM: EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

AND KEEPING UP WITH THE PROFESSION

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

1. Setting up a Peer-Tutoring Center

2. Creating a Math Club
3. Forming a Math Team
4. Student Preparation of Math Research Papers
5. Making Parents a Part of the Learning Process

IMPROVING YOUR PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

1. Professional Development
2. Taking Graduate Courses in Mathematics
3. Subscribing to Mathematics Journals
4. Building a Math Library
5. Attending Math Conferences
6. Accessing Grant Funding Opportunities

A FINAL NOTE

Do not fear having students with disabilities in your classroom. You will find that students
with disabilities will enrich your classroom community and teach you how to be a better teacher
for all students. Remember that you are part of a team of school professionals committed to the
success of students with disabilities. Ask questions, collaborate, observe, but most of all talk to
your students. Ask them how they learn best – and listen, really listen. You will find that they are
your best resources.
CURRICULUM VITAE

PERSONAL BACKGROUND:
Name: PEDE INTONG CASING
Birth Date: March 01, 1987
Birth Place: Sayao, Kumalarang Zamboanga del Sur
Age: 29 years old
Gender: Male
Civil Status: Single
Present Address: P. 28, Poblacion, Buug, Zamboanga Sibugay
E-mail Add: pede_casing@yahoo.com
Contact Number: 0906-109-7582/ 0910-920-7759
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND:
Elementary: Bliss Elementary School
Bliss, Buug, Zamboanga Sibugay
March 2000
Secondary: Buug National High School
Manlin, Buug Zamboanga Sibugay
April 2004
Tertiary: Mindanao State University – Buug Campus
Datu Panas, Buug, Zamboanga Sibugay
Course: Bachelor of Secondary Education
Major: Mathematics
April 2008
Graduate Studies: Saint Columban College
Pagadian City
Course: Master of Arts in Education
Major: Mathematics
HONORS/AWARDS RECEIVED:
Elementary: With High Honors
Secondary: Valedictorian
 Tertiary: Magna Cum Laude
TEACHING EXPERIENCES:
PAX HIGH SCHOOL MARGOSATUBIG, ZAMBO. SUR 2008-2009
CATITUAN NHS – MALANGAS, ZAMBO. SIBUGAY 2009-2014
MALANGAS NHS – MALANGAS, ZAMBO. SIBUGAY 2014-2016
BUUG SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL- BUUG, ZAMBO SIBUGAY 2016-PRESENT