4.2 Manage classroom activities

Demonstrate the capacity to organise classroom activities and provide clear directions.

The Industrial Arts have a heavy focus on practical lessons and the organisation of these activities is imperative. A lot of preparation is required to maximise the time we have, keep people on task as well as to cater for students working at different paces.

An example of good organisation could be seen in the lesson planning I did for a year 10 Wood class. They had to make a standard bedside cabinet or modify the design to better suit their needs. I oversaw their first 5 practical lessons and in that time, it was my aim that they would all have their 2 side panel assemblies completed.

With 24 students all embarking on the same project, I found the best thing to do was to start each lesson with a clear outline of what was expected of them in this lesson. I let the students work up to a point, and when the first student was ready to move on, I would assemble the class and walk them though the next step by doing a demonstration. Even if the students were not up to this yet, they were to come and watch so that when they were ready to move on, they didn’t have to wait for further instruction.

I found this method very effective and felt the practical lesson flowed nicely as it ended up that I was doing 1 demonstration per lesson.

If I found students were powering ahead or lagging behind a bit, I would suggest that the person in front go and help someone who was behind for a while so that the group was generally working at an even pace.

Attached are some progress photos of the side panel assemblies that they completed over 5 periods.