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.
Annette, I love your comparison to your lab class students to your cooperating center students. I would have expected the high schoolers to be better than us! (We just need to start being a little more difficult for you..just kidding). I thought you did a great job of not getting flustered and staying on track when I was yelling out some interesting things during lab.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I did really like your osmosis idea! I wouldn't ditch it just because it was difficult to do in our 10 minute lab. That time frame makes it really tough! In your real class, you can spend the time you need to emphasize the aspects that you would like. Great job Annette, we are all learning! :)
I love everything about this post, Annette! It is good to work through all of those what ifs, figuring out what you can do different to be better is progress, and progress is what we want! I really like that you took your experience and looked for similarities at your cooperating center. I believe that the role playing, while can be funny, is also a great tool. It is good to know that we are dealing with these difficult situations for a reason, and not just to give our classmates something to do while we teach! I think you have made a great connection!
ReplyDeleteAnnette, you put a lot of thought into this reflection. I agree both as the teacher and the student the role play was funny. Funny is a bad term but it made both sides want to laugh. I think we should be able to control these temptations in a high school setting.
ReplyDeleteAMAZING reflection, Annette! There are always what-ifs and we as educators can never be fully prepared for them. However, I did hear about how amazing the osmosis activity was, so I am definitely checking that out!!! I had the awesome opportunity of working with you at Bellefonte HS! You did great. Remember, students are scripted, so as long as you remember how the content should flow and what slide or prop goes with what, you'll do great!
ReplyDeleteAnnette,
ReplyDeleteYou are pretty awesome. I thought the same thing as soon as I sat down -- how much better I could have taught and about all of the things I meant to say that I forgot.
This is a good time to improve on your teaching methods. It is good to go back and consider what could be improved, but do not forget to acknowledge the things that went smoothly. Your osmosis activity was good and I am glad you shared it.
The role playing is so funny, but it is useful. It is better to experience it with fellow classmates now for the first time rather than in the spring. Looking forward to your next lesson.
Annette,
ReplyDeleteAmazing reflection! You definitely covered some of the factors that made it difficult for classroom management in this first lab: it was to funny and unexpected and than connected it to your cooperating center and the students real behavior. Also I liked how you explained how getting to raped up into our actives that we as teachers can loss sit of our objectives and street the lesson off cores.
Annette, this is a great reflection blog (wish I would have thought of it). The way that you started by saying if this than that is a great way to reflect on how things good have gone differently.
ReplyDeleteHaving you reflect on how we acted and how the kids acted at your new school is just one more way to show that what we do in these labs is to make us better students.
Great job
Annette; I really enjoyed reading your blog! I enjoyed reading how you made connections between our lab and your cooperating school, that is such a unique and interesting way to tie everything in full circle. Since we will do these in real life what better way to make connections now rather than later! Great Job! Keep up the awesome work! :)
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