Reflection- Storytelling

By

Wong Chan Wai (Jowy).

After some reflections and review about my storytelling session today, I

realized one of my strengths was that I could adapt to the situation and make

immediate changes. According to (Schön, 1983), “If something isn’t working

correctly, then you “reflect” in the action-present and find a viable solution.”

During my storytelling session, I realized the time allocated was not enough so I

had to shorten my story and redirect to the main gist of the plot.

According to Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, “Spatial

Intelligence is an area in the theory of multiple intelligences that deals with spatial

judgment and the ability to visualize with the mind's eye”. In order to allow my

pupils to visualize my story, I have included flash picture cards as my props. This

became one of my strengths because I could arouse pupils’ interest at the very

beginning of the session. I also could relate my story to the object easily by

pointing it on the illustrated pictures. According to (Hanson, 1991) “pictures,

paintings, and other visuals constitute the most effective, most plentiful, and least

expensive teaching medium. Used appropriately and sequentially, pictures can

not only illustrate a topic but also can provide the experience base children

require in order to profit from reading and writing and from numerous other

learning experiences.” Thus, I regarded using pictures as a merit to pupils’ better

understanding of the story.

Besides, another strength I possessed from the storytelling session was

that I practiced two-way communication in my storytelling session. According to

(Wright, 1995), Storytelling is interactive as it involves a two-way interaction

between a storyteller and one or more listeners. The responses of the listeners

influence the telling of the story. In fact, storytelling emerges from the interaction

and cooperative, coordinated efforts of teller and audience. During my storytelling

session, I tried to maintain a two way communication with my pupils by asking

questions. Their responses towards the questions have proved their level of

understanding. One student even started making sounds when I mentioned

about the phrase “grasshopper was playing with his musical instrument.”

Therefore, a two way interaction is vital to ensure that pupils’ understanding

towards the story.

After a bit of reflection, I realized one of my weaknesses was in classroom

management. According to (Hammond, 2011), “nonverbal communication is an

important way to achieve attention and focus in your classroom.” I realized I did

not use any non verbal cues as my classroom instructions. As a result, I

panicked when my pupils started to misbehave. I should establish eye contact

with my pupils and focus on pupils who appear fatigued for eye contact can raise

their attention and focus on my story. Besides, I could use other nonverbal cues

such as remaining quiet and stare and the pupils who misbehave in future.

(Hammond, 1990) also stated that nonverbal commands can help you get control

of a disruptive student and ensure peace in your classroom.

On the other hand, I also found out that the language level of my story

was a bit difficult for my pupils. Although the content of my story was appropriate

and interesting, some of the vocabulary was above the level of my pupils.

Therefore, I should obtain a clear awareness of pupils’ language level at the first

place. I should also analyze the text carefully and simplify the text with simple

words if necessary. Few criteria I have to reconsider are the verbs, tenses and

nouns. (Radhika O’Sullivan, 1991) stated that “the advantages of teaching

literature depends primarily on the works selected. If the selection is too easy,

students will feel bored; if it is too difficult, students will feel frustrated and you will

be overwhelmed.” Therefore, reflecting upon my story, I came to the realization

the importance of the selection of stories which has to be put into serious

consideration.

There are a lot of rooms for improvement for my storytelling session. I

personally think that I should include sequencing activity in my storytelling

onwards. Sequencing activity can go from listening to the story to singing and

dancing to drawing. As teachers, it is essential that we maximize our students’

language learning potentials. According to (Eoin, 2010), one needs to think

creatively and find connections between different concepts. In this case, a

teacher needs to vary this teaching method, yet achieving connections with the

curriculum specifications. A teacher has to realize that each learner has different

learning style, based on the theory of individual differences. Above all, with

sequencing activity, pupils will not feel bored throughout the session.

In addition, I should make my storytelling more interesting by inserting

rhymed and repetitive phrases. According to (George, 2012), learning these

verses and rhymes helps in the development and overall understanding of

vocabulary. Using rhymes, I can improve on my pitch, tone and intonation.

Whilst in the aspect of cognitive development, these rhymes are patterns, they

help children learn easy recall and memorization (Monro, 2003). Children also

develop their mouth and tongue muscles by using the different sounds in the

rhyme. I can also enhance my interactions with my pupils by asking them to

repeat the rhymes after me. According to (Papaconstantiou, 1991), harmony in

the classroom helps relieve tension and keeps the door to language open. By fun

and interesting activity instead of monotonous activity such as reading aloud

words from the text, teachers get to reduce the affective filters within the

students.

To conclude, this experience impacted a lot on me. I realized that it was

not simple to handle pupils. One needs to have great patience and empathy.

Besides, I am seeing how important it is to “try and error”, we never know once

we make mistakes. And from the fall of mistakes, we learn to get back up, mend

on and repair ourselves so we can do it better again. Last but not least, I would

really like to have more chances to involve practically with pupils because I know,

experience makes you a master.

(1006 words)