Helsingin Normaalilyseo Teacher Training in Physics

Helsingin Normaalilyseo is the school where all the future subject teachers practice teaching. This school is located at the center of Helsinki where the students are usually the top students from ElementarySchool.  Students need to apply to junior high and high school and the competition is tough.

Helsingin Normaalilyseo (Helsinki Normal High School)

Student Teaching

Pre-service teachers come here to practice their teachings.  I observed two different physics classes with two different teachers, one male and one female.

 9th grade Physics.

The pre-service teacher took a roll at the beginning and tried to remember the names. He had taught 2 lessons a week before that so he was familiar with the students.  There were  5 boys and 10 girls in this class. He reviewed first because some students were absent for couple of days.  Review on Thursday’s lecture: atomic structure, protons, neutrons, mass number, atomic number.  He drew a model.   

Next Review of Friday’s lecture.  Radioactivity, gamma, alpha, beta, neuterium radiation. 

Beta releases electrons

Alpha – helium

Gamma –particle radiation

Nauterium- protons

Half-life= time half of the radioactivity is gone. 

Student asked a question, he had to review the answer from a book. That happens when you try to teach the first time!

One boy in the front row played with a cell phone all the time during the review.   But when asked, he answered the questions correctly. Only four girls were actively involved in review. 

I had fun observing the class.

When he started the new lecture, the same boy took out a book, not a text book, and started reading it. He did not pay any attention to the lecture.  The girl sitting next to him, used a cell phone throughout the lecture.  

New lecture: Fission.  He did drawings on overhead. One students informed she did not have colors and teacher found some colored pencils in the cabinet.  He drew the process of fission.  He sat most of the time by the computer which he used for drawing.  Girls and two boys did the same drawings into their notebooks but the one boy jut sat doing nothing and the front row boy kept reading. 

Teacher had online demonstration which he showed with a computer.  The he passed out colored paper that showed the process of a nuclear reactor.  The illustration did not have names and he wrote names on the board and students were supposed to figure out what was what.  While doing it, he walked around the classroom to check the work.  The teacher finally told the boy to complete the worksheet. 

Teacher then started asking questions and now boys also started being interested in the lecture, and girls were interested in the topic too. Three boys and three girls answered questions. The boy who read the book, seemed to know everything.

Next:  Students worked in pairs to come up with pros and cons on nuclear energy. 

One pair, boy and girl did not talk to each others, girl used online to find answers, boy quietly wrote his opinions into the notebook.   Two other girls seem to use online too. 

Then teacher asked the class:

+: jobs, energy efficient, ncos effective, no pollution,

-:  waste, mining, enriching, accidents

The law says that waste produced in Finland must stay in Finland. 

Students told stories they had read from newspapers. 

Lecture continued:  Fusion.  He drew another illustration on fusion. 

Teacher seemed to “favor” one student, Lily, in answers. He ignored one girl sitting in the back row even she raised the hand all the time.  Students started packing the notebooks at the end even the teacher was still talking.  Students left, some of them said thank you. 

Pre-Service Teacher Evaluation. 
The teacher evaluation always starts with his/her own reflections. 

First the teacher reflected on his own teaching:  run out of time, he was not too familiar with the topic. He taught he did OK in presenting the topic.

Then the mentor teacher, using her notes. went through the lecture step by step and commented on what was good and what could be improved.  She very kindly explained everything in a positive way. 

Second class taught by a female pre-service teacher.  (short, very skinny lady):  Physics properties of metals.  9 boys, 8 girls were in the class.  She asked if the students had finished homework.  She showed the homework solutions on overhead. 

Second problem, how much does railroad tracks expand during summer when temperature difference is 50 degrees between winter low and summer high.   She showed the result and asked if there were any questions. 

The class was very rowdy.  Next, she lectured on temperature, asked about thermometer.  She reviewed the demonstration she showed last time and asked if students remembered the answers.  

Do you know any other devises on how to measure temperature?

She showed an infrared photo and asked questions.  How can you use infrared cameras?  To my opinion, she did not explain the meaning of the colors in detail.  Students were quiet during this demonstration. 

She reviewed again on how heat can be transferred.   She showed a photo of two cans filled with hot water.  One had a matt surface, another one was shiny. Which loses heat faster? Discussions.

Next students made their own thermometers.  In a bulb with narrow tube, students set the bulb into ice first to mark 0 point on the tube followed by boiling water to mark 100 C. Everyone started with hot water.  It was crowded.  I would have divided class in half and forced half of them start with 0 measurements. 

Some students finished early and teacher talked to some other students while waiting the remaining students to finish.   

She drew a thermometer on the board and asked questions.  She made an equation on the board.  If the distance is 15 cm and that corresponds to 100 degrees, how much is 1 degree?  Students were rowdy again.  Some students played with paper towels.  I asked two students if they liked physics. They both said it’s the most stupid topic in school.  Next the students put their thermometers in unknown temperature, measured the distance and then using calculations determined the proper temperature. 

Everyone wrote the answers on the board. Teacher took the actual temperature and then the class discussed the differences between measured and calculated values. 

Next teacher gave statements of items and students were supposed to find the temperatures of the items.  Books and cell phones were allowed.  Many students talked all the time, but they did complete the assignments. 

She gave a homework assignment.  Read p. 67 and do the problems 1, 5, 9 on p. 72.

Reflections:  Teacher trainee talked about her experience in teaching.  She acknowledged that the class was little noisy but thought that the class went well. The mentor teacher praised her performance, her calmness and the way she talked to the students. I mention that she should have paid more attention to everybody’s homework.  She just showed overhead the correct answers without bothering to check anything.  She later knowledged that she should have done so because she has the same age child at home and she always feels good when teacher comments on her work. I thought her voice was too mellow, not authoritative enough. 

Teacher trainees are required to observe other teacher trainees for 30 times.  They can choose to observe teachers in any discipline or any teacher trainees.  It does not have to be your own subject. They need to teach 4 classes on major subject and 4 classes on secondary topic during both semesters, total of 16 times, 75 minute lessons. This repeats twice, preliminary teaching (September-October) and primary teaching (March-May).