Wow, it seems like it was just the first day of class, and now we only have 5 more weeks left in the semester, which is about 10 more classes. That does not seem possible! I actually feel more overwhelmed now than I have ever felt before. With the amount of projects we are working on in this class, on top of all of our other classes work and tests to study for, on top of lacrosse and on top of my job, I am at my max capacity. Like I have said before, I will say it again, this is just preparing us for what teaching is going to be like.
Today in class we worked on how to prepare, and what steps need to be taken in order to effectively plan a lesson. Although it took us about the full two hours to get it down, I think it is important that we did spend that much time on it. If we can understand what it takes to have our students be successful, we will be great teachers. Like Dr. Clark said today, too many teachers today do not take the right, effective steps to plan a lesson and that is why we have such a huge gap with student learning today.
What I learned today is that it is better to take a longer time to go over the information students are not learning, and break into small groups, instead of just moving on with the next part of the lesson if students still do not get the first part. This step happens in the teacher input. The teacher needs to give a formative assessment and evaluate what each students knows then move on from there. One of two directions will take place. Either the teacher can continue with the lesson if each student understands, or the teacher may need to review in a different way than they did before if the students are still not understanding the information. A lot of the times I like to be on a schedule and make sure I get things done in order and on time, so this is something I will need to work on. I need to realize that what I plan is not always going to happen, or happen on time and I have to learn to accept that.
Another thing that shocked me today was when we took a calculator and found out that if you procrastinate or waste even just 5 minutes in the beginning or end of class, if you multiply that by the number of school days there are that means you are loosing 16 days. 16 days is a lot and a whole lot can be taught in that wasted time. In my future class, in order to prevent that wasted time, I think it would be effective if I set the standard of as soon as my students walk into the classroom, they have that 5 minutes of usually wasted time to complete the problems or review that is on the board in their notebooks. This will allow me to diagnose the students knowledge, give them review and to re-jog their memory from the day before, and prevent that wasted time. If I do this I think it will give the students less time to procrastinate and more time to learn!
I completely agree with the need to break down the information and spend more time on something the students don't understand. For so many teachers, it's all about "I've taught this lesson, I just need to get through everything" and that is not the right approach. Learning how to change plans so the students understand better is what makes a good teacher.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you're so busy! You are on a great track to being superior at time-management. All the experiences you're going through now is helping you very much with the busy life of a teacher.
Sounds like everyone is in the same place.. Stressed! I agree with you that it was important for our class to spend two hours learning how to make a lesson plan because we all talked it out and figured out what we think it should look like and now it will stick with us forever.
ReplyDeleteLindsey,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your help with the diagram in class on Wednesday! I can definitely see the connections you are making from what we are learning to how you are going to make that happen in your future class. I tend to be like you at times and get in a groove where I do things just to get them done and so I can get everything done on time because like you said, I like everything to be on schedule. Its awesome to see how class Wednesday helped you realize that its okay to not have everything perfectly on schedule all the time if that means you are helping all students get to where they need to be. That is something I took from Wednesdays class as well. Good luck with your heavy schedule the next few weeks!!
Stephanie Blackwell
Lindsey,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate this statement: "I am at my max capacity. Like I have said before, I will say it again, this is just preparing us for what teaching is going to be like." THIS IS A GREAT PERSPECTIVE! Student teaching hits people hard sometimes - -- but...if you maintain this perspective, you are truly preparing yourself for the student teaching experience.
I also appreciate the level of interaction you had with us and the class as we were making our lesson plan flowchart. Thank you for always being willing to help!
Additionally, I appreciate how you connected with our discussion on time-on-task. This will help you to realize the importance of using every minute!