What I found interesting about the Groseta reading was the different aspects that effect group work. Such as: Labels and signs; Colors; Moving classroom furniture; and Displaying group work. I never really though deeply into this before but I think that they all serve an important part in the students success. The one most important to me is moving classroom furniture. For different activities it would be nice to have the room set up differently for example having a classroom discussion on animal welfare vs. animal rights would be a circle of desks and a project would be pods. However this will be a challenge for me because 1. I'm limited on space which is most likely why the classroom is the way it is, and 2. the desks are the old clunky ones that have the seat attached. It's definitely a challenge I'll take on but i'm not sure how it will play out.
My question about field trips is how does one make it interactive for the students? I know its important to prep the students and make sure that they have questions to ask. But for me that was always a challenge and seemed silly; however as an educator I see the importance. 1. For the host of the trip, it makes them feel more successful when they are able to answer questions and 2. For the student, it keeps them engaged. But as a teacher how does one determine if the questions the students ask are deep enough for that learning piece. Is it acceptable to write the questions and give the students a list and tell them every question should be asked? Or, is it better to have the students write the questions they ask? I know from previous experience I would always write generic questions and when the time came to ask them I felt that they were to mediocre and refused to ask my questions.
"Research shows that teachers ask between 300-400 questions a day" my mind is blown! That seems like an incredible amount of questions, but if I start to think about all the little questions I ask back to back in any presentation i'm doing they would add up fast. One thing I struggle with and most teachers probably do is wait time. In the reading it says that typically wait time should be 5-7 seconds. To me this number doesn't seem proficient. That seems like very fast turn around time. If the students get accustomed to the teacher giving the answer after 5-7 seconds I feel like they would take advantage of that. But at the same time I think that gauging the energy in a classroom would determine the amount of wait time necessary. If its a high level of energy the students are engaged they may be ready to answer questions promptly. I suppose I'll have to wait until i'm in the classroom to find out.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Friday, September 27, 2013
Interest Approach_Reptile and Amphibian Safari!
If students are engaged, Classroom management shouldn't be a problem. Yes or No?
Answer: No. Students will still be a problem. However their role may change. My student that is suppose to be "authority/pusher" became the "little school girl." Last class Todd was authoritative, and not the friendliest student. But this week, he squirmed when I put the frog on his arm or asked him to touch the turtle. Allison remained a bully... My hypothesis is that when their blindfolded their identity becomes covered. Though people can recognize voices they can't see movements. So even though Todd spoke with authority, his actions were none of the sort.
As educators, we should recognize the front that students put on. Though they may be the bully or authoritative it may be an act in order to hide their real personality. When dealing with issues in class we need to remember the source of their behavior in order to correct it. Granted this is "role-play" I think it brought out some real issues.
After this Lab I realize that I need to be more clear in my instruction. When constructing it I thought that Right for Reptile, and Left for Amphibian, would be easy to remember but it wasn't. It didn't go as planned, I worked around it but in the future I would have given different directions.
I'm wondering if some of the terms I used were appropriate. I used vision impaired, it seemed fitting for the occasion but if there were a student in my classroom that was visually impaired it wouldn't be appropriate. Also, I called Todd a drama queen. This called Todd out in the class, the students laughed, and though the students laughed, it was at his expensive. Hopefully that would never happen in the real classroom but if it did I would make a point to apologize to him after class and depending on how it affected him, in front of the class.
Every tuesday night before Lab I go through my lesson plan with my husband, and when I did this one a great thing came out of it. After revealing what the animals were he wanted to know if he was right! It was a revelation! I realized that using curiosity(which may be a principle of interest) kept him engaged even after the interest approach was over. He was ready to listen to my lesson to determine if he was right or not.
Overall, I'm happy with my performance, but as always, there is so much room for improvement!!!
Answer: No. Students will still be a problem. However their role may change. My student that is suppose to be "authority/pusher" became the "little school girl." Last class Todd was authoritative, and not the friendliest student. But this week, he squirmed when I put the frog on his arm or asked him to touch the turtle. Allison remained a bully... My hypothesis is that when their blindfolded their identity becomes covered. Though people can recognize voices they can't see movements. So even though Todd spoke with authority, his actions were none of the sort.
As educators, we should recognize the front that students put on. Though they may be the bully or authoritative it may be an act in order to hide their real personality. When dealing with issues in class we need to remember the source of their behavior in order to correct it. Granted this is "role-play" I think it brought out some real issues.
After this Lab I realize that I need to be more clear in my instruction. When constructing it I thought that Right for Reptile, and Left for Amphibian, would be easy to remember but it wasn't. It didn't go as planned, I worked around it but in the future I would have given different directions.
I'm wondering if some of the terms I used were appropriate. I used vision impaired, it seemed fitting for the occasion but if there were a student in my classroom that was visually impaired it wouldn't be appropriate. Also, I called Todd a drama queen. This called Todd out in the class, the students laughed, and though the students laughed, it was at his expensive. Hopefully that would never happen in the real classroom but if it did I would make a point to apologize to him after class and depending on how it affected him, in front of the class.
Every tuesday night before Lab I go through my lesson plan with my husband, and when I did this one a great thing came out of it. After revealing what the animals were he wanted to know if he was right! It was a revelation! I realized that using curiosity(which may be a principle of interest) kept him engaged even after the interest approach was over. He was ready to listen to my lesson to determine if he was right or not.
Overall, I'm happy with my performance, but as always, there is so much room for improvement!!!
Friday, September 20, 2013
First Day of Class_Reflective Blog
Wow! What an experience. Its crazy how immediately after you finish your 10 minutes your mind starts playing the whole thing back and you begin to think how much better it would have been if...
If I had been more prepared I would have known that this lab was to showcase how we would go over Classroom procedures, expectations, and consequences. But I was so excited about the osmosis activity that i got carried away and may have missed the bigger picture.
If I was more prepared I wouldn't have realized last minute that I needed to discuss my procedures, expectations, and consequences. I wouldn't have buzzed through them so fast at the end trying to stay within the time frame given.
If I had been more prepared I would have known to watch the time when I started and kept track of it as I went along and I probably wouldn't have started freaking out in my head.
If I was less detailed on my procedures the class would have been able to read my poster and it may have been easier for them to follow along.
If I was more comfortable in the room I would have been less dependent on my cheat sheet and it may have went a little smoother.
There are so many what ifs to consider in getting prepared for the next lab. What I have learned from this lab is that no matter how prepared I think I am before I go into the lab or even the real world classroom there are going to be things that come up, and things that I didn't think of.
Some things I will consider for next time are to become more comfortable with my material so that I can talk to the class rather than at the class. I was to dependent on the lesson plan and memorizing what to say that if a classroom management issue came up it would be hard for me to find my place again.
Classroom management wasn't a big deal this class period. I have a feeling it could become more interesting as the weeks go on. What was hard about classroom management was the reality of it. The college students acting like young kids for this lab it was hard to deal with the issues because 1. your not expecting poor behavior from college students and 2. it was pretty funny. I left class thinking that we all acted like we were much younger than high school age. However, after sitting through a few classes at my cooperating center today I realized that we were really on target with our role play! The behaviors are so distinct when you watch for them. In just one class I was able to pick out shares-a-lot, the arrogant one, bully, and a few others. I think the role playing, though entertaining at times, will be a great tool for preparing us.
If I had been more prepared I would have known that this lab was to showcase how we would go over Classroom procedures, expectations, and consequences. But I was so excited about the osmosis activity that i got carried away and may have missed the bigger picture.
If I was more prepared I wouldn't have realized last minute that I needed to discuss my procedures, expectations, and consequences. I wouldn't have buzzed through them so fast at the end trying to stay within the time frame given.
If I had been more prepared I would have known to watch the time when I started and kept track of it as I went along and I probably wouldn't have started freaking out in my head.
If I was less detailed on my procedures the class would have been able to read my poster and it may have been easier for them to follow along.
If I was more comfortable in the room I would have been less dependent on my cheat sheet and it may have went a little smoother.
There are so many what ifs to consider in getting prepared for the next lab. What I have learned from this lab is that no matter how prepared I think I am before I go into the lab or even the real world classroom there are going to be things that come up, and things that I didn't think of.
Some things I will consider for next time are to become more comfortable with my material so that I can talk to the class rather than at the class. I was to dependent on the lesson plan and memorizing what to say that if a classroom management issue came up it would be hard for me to find my place again.
Classroom management wasn't a big deal this class period. I have a feeling it could become more interesting as the weeks go on. What was hard about classroom management was the reality of it. The college students acting like young kids for this lab it was hard to deal with the issues because 1. your not expecting poor behavior from college students and 2. it was pretty funny. I left class thinking that we all acted like we were much younger than high school age. However, after sitting through a few classes at my cooperating center today I realized that we were really on target with our role play! The behaviors are so distinct when you watch for them. In just one class I was able to pick out shares-a-lot, the arrogant one, bully, and a few others. I think the role playing, though entertaining at times, will be a great tool for preparing us.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Road Map to Learning?
Objectives.
Are they big and scary?
or
Are they a road map to learning?
Up until my reading and even after writing objectives is scary. Making sure that its written appropriately for the grade level, has three components: behavior, condition, and criteria, and making it not so big and scary.I have always thought that there is a lot of thought and time put into writing objectives, and for what reason. Something jumped out at me in the reading today.
"Imagine embarking on a road trip across the United States to a specified, but unknown to you destination. To further complicate the situation, you are forbidden to take a map or to stop to ask for directions. Obviously, the frustration would quickly become overwhelming and the anxiety of "it all" could cause you to give-up before you really got started."
All it took was the first paragraph of reading for objectives to click in my head. Surprisingly students do want to know where their learning will take them. They want to know that they got out of bed, got dressed, and came to school with for a purpose. And they want a road map to their learning. I've done enough classroom observations now to know that when kids walk into a classroom, besides excuses for incomplete homework, or asking to use the bathroom, one of the first questions is "what are we doing today" they really do want to know. And we, as teachers should be excited for that! And we can easily give them the answer, by posting the objectives.
In the L. H. Newcomb, et. al, reading the one thing that I found most interesting was forcing the students to find a purpose for learning. For example the teacher removes the eggs from the female at the hatchery and then calls on students to see if they can do it. If they can't they can admit they need to learn something, and that term learn becomes more powerful when the students use it.
Ultimately, writing objectives is like writing a road map to the students education and also your road map to teaching. It shows you where you start, what "benchmarks" you'll hit along the way, and where you'll end up. It's a tool used differently yet just as effectively for both parties.
Are they big and scary?
or
Are they a road map to learning?
Up until my reading and even after writing objectives is scary. Making sure that its written appropriately for the grade level, has three components: behavior, condition, and criteria, and making it not so big and scary.I have always thought that there is a lot of thought and time put into writing objectives, and for what reason. Something jumped out at me in the reading today.
"Imagine embarking on a road trip across the United States to a specified, but unknown to you destination. To further complicate the situation, you are forbidden to take a map or to stop to ask for directions. Obviously, the frustration would quickly become overwhelming and the anxiety of "it all" could cause you to give-up before you really got started."
All it took was the first paragraph of reading for objectives to click in my head. Surprisingly students do want to know where their learning will take them. They want to know that they got out of bed, got dressed, and came to school with for a purpose. And they want a road map to their learning. I've done enough classroom observations now to know that when kids walk into a classroom, besides excuses for incomplete homework, or asking to use the bathroom, one of the first questions is "what are we doing today" they really do want to know. And we, as teachers should be excited for that! And we can easily give them the answer, by posting the objectives.
In the L. H. Newcomb, et. al, reading the one thing that I found most interesting was forcing the students to find a purpose for learning. For example the teacher removes the eggs from the female at the hatchery and then calls on students to see if they can do it. If they can't they can admit they need to learn something, and that term learn becomes more powerful when the students use it.
Ultimately, writing objectives is like writing a road map to the students education and also your road map to teaching. It shows you where you start, what "benchmarks" you'll hit along the way, and where you'll end up. It's a tool used differently yet just as effectively for both parties.
Friday, September 6, 2013
Effective Teachers Affect Lives
After reading the assigned readings a few things jumped out at me:
The first thing was that to many teachers treat the textbook as the curriculum rather than a resource. As I reflect of the power behind this statement I begin to wonder if this idea could have an impact on student's perception of school.
I can remember back in elementary/middle school when homework was to read the chapter of our history book and come back the next day ready to discuss. To me the textbook was the syllabus, and on the first day of school when I was handed a two inch thick textbook my first thought was, I HATE SCHOOL! This has stuck with me through my entire educational career. As soon as I see a big textbook I think this is what I am going to do every day? That's no fun, and I think that it's important that early in education we explain to our students the power of resources such as text books! They are used to develop our knowledge and skills not frame it and box it into a fixed mindset.
The second thing I pulled from the reading was "fun is the result of accomplishment, not the purpose of learning"
As a Pre-Service teacher one thing I am struggling with is making sure that I am accepted by the students and determining how I will find that acceptance. It is so important to me that the students enjoy learning and I know that's impossible with a barrier of dislike/distrust. I find myself thinking that if I play a game every class period, and have them out of their seats doing something fun, hopefully they will get the hidden message and learn something that day, but at least they had fun and they'll enroll in another Ag course.
However, I couldn't agree more with the above statement, fun should be the result of accomplishment. If they're learning is focused around fun they may stop learning when it stops being fun. They may look for the fun first rather than later and miss great opportunities. I think rather than being the fun teacher I should teach the students to have fun learning.
One more thing that jumped out at me was "you were hired to affect lives"
Wow. Such a powerful statement. As education goes through the transformation of testing everything the teachers are being put on the hot spot. School is becoming a factory, focused on putting out numbers. Not students. Teachers are being assessed by the scores their students unfairly receive; when the scores are good the teachers can keep their jobs! What kind of reward is that? Where are teachers assessed on the number of students they affected? How about the one student they saved from an abusive home because they saw the bruises and cared enough to report it? What about the students they encourage to go to college, because he/she just needed one person to tell them they could do it!?
If teachers are hired to affect lives, Why aren't they rewarded for the lives they affect?
The first thing was that to many teachers treat the textbook as the curriculum rather than a resource. As I reflect of the power behind this statement I begin to wonder if this idea could have an impact on student's perception of school.
I can remember back in elementary/middle school when homework was to read the chapter of our history book and come back the next day ready to discuss. To me the textbook was the syllabus, and on the first day of school when I was handed a two inch thick textbook my first thought was, I HATE SCHOOL! This has stuck with me through my entire educational career. As soon as I see a big textbook I think this is what I am going to do every day? That's no fun, and I think that it's important that early in education we explain to our students the power of resources such as text books! They are used to develop our knowledge and skills not frame it and box it into a fixed mindset.
The second thing I pulled from the reading was "fun is the result of accomplishment, not the purpose of learning"
As a Pre-Service teacher one thing I am struggling with is making sure that I am accepted by the students and determining how I will find that acceptance. It is so important to me that the students enjoy learning and I know that's impossible with a barrier of dislike/distrust. I find myself thinking that if I play a game every class period, and have them out of their seats doing something fun, hopefully they will get the hidden message and learn something that day, but at least they had fun and they'll enroll in another Ag course.
However, I couldn't agree more with the above statement, fun should be the result of accomplishment. If they're learning is focused around fun they may stop learning when it stops being fun. They may look for the fun first rather than later and miss great opportunities. I think rather than being the fun teacher I should teach the students to have fun learning.
One more thing that jumped out at me was "you were hired to affect lives"
Wow. Such a powerful statement. As education goes through the transformation of testing everything the teachers are being put on the hot spot. School is becoming a factory, focused on putting out numbers. Not students. Teachers are being assessed by the scores their students unfairly receive; when the scores are good the teachers can keep their jobs! What kind of reward is that? Where are teachers assessed on the number of students they affected? How about the one student they saved from an abusive home because they saw the bruises and cared enough to report it? What about the students they encourage to go to college, because he/she just needed one person to tell them they could do it!?
If teachers are hired to affect lives, Why aren't they rewarded for the lives they affect?
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