If you want to be dazzled by a life well lived, check out Tillie Olsen's story.
And, if you want to post a thoughtful reflection about your first teaching experience in 410, then click on "comment"(below) and post away. Looking forward to reading what you thought about your lesson on Monday.
8 comments:
A reflection....
Teaching in class yesterday was more fun that I ever thought it would be. I was excited about my lesson with big red bows and wanted to share my excitement with the class. I think the activity of writing on the bows and sharing worked well, but my first explanation of it could have been a little clearer. Instead of just quotting the lines from the passage I could have introduced the topic by reading more of the passage and re-familiarizing everyone with what I was going to be talking about. The feedback that I received from peers was great. It helps me to know what they liked, what I could maybe turn into a longer lesson with time and what I could use a little help with. I learned again and will continue to learn that I speak fast. I have to slowwwwww down. The goal that I have for my next teaching assignment is to speak slower and maybe be a little more clear with directions. Also I would like to continue the practice of being a teaching ninja.
See you in the AM,
Allie
I'm gonna take the cue from Allie and post my reflection here =) I'll check out Tillie when I'm closer to caught up on my homework.
Peer feedback was TOTALLY the best part of yesterday. It was reassuring to hear what I did well, and some of the suggestions for improvement were really useful. The night before we taught, I had debated for quite some time whether or not I should have everyone come up to the board and write their own ideas. On the one hand, it prevents me from struggling to keep up, as I did, and also from talking at the board when addressing the class, which I also did. However, on the other hand, students are sometimes intimidated by coming to the board, so I would be interested to hear more from other people about how they think that would work out in a genuine setting. I was relieved by how terrifying everyone wasn't; it's really nice to get to teach in an environment like the one we have in 410. I think most of us did the micro teaching, and I can't speak for everyone else, but I know that I was still really nervous in front of them. I was nervous about our lesson in theory, both on account of the time restriction and just general nerves, but that dissipated instead of intensifying as everyone else taught their lessons.
Specifically, I got from my critiques that there was too much "back time." Totally valid, and I really appreciate hearing it from the perspective of my "students" for the lesson, because it is easy sometimes, I think, to think you're doing better or worse at something than you really are. Some of the suggestions offered to resolve them were really handy, and I connected feedback from multiple people really easily. It was nice how everything fit together so well.
To that end, my goal for my next teaching assignment, and I hope this isn't too simple, is two-fold: I will make sure not to give the class my back as often, and I will make sure that the point of the lesson is clearer. I think that it got lost in my wrap-up because I had expected to need to draw the lesson out and didn't accomodate well for how engaged the class was. I also need a watch. I'm gonna shoot to get that this weekend.
So obviously, back-time and poor tie-in didn't work, but it seemed like the activity *did* work. Even though I was treating this as a pre-reading activity, everyone seemed to segue right into the story with a little bit of prodding. I'm sure that as an ACTUAL pre-reading, it would take a little more guidance, but I would be expecting that. I still really need to work on this time thing. I'm hoping the watch will help with that.
I think that about covers everything... back to the RRR@! (reader response reflection)
Every time I teach, whether it is for ten minutes or an hour, I am reminded of why I ever wanted to be a teacher in the first place. Teaching feels good. It feels right to me. It feels like a place where I can use what I have been given. I have a mind, a voice, and an imagination and I feel like teaching is a place where those things can be embraced.
I am happy with the ten minute lesson that I did in class. Since it was real and it happened, of course there are things that I could have done differently. There are also things that I wish I could have done more of, had there been more time. I think that the drawing activity was successfull and I was also happy with the "two sides to every story" idea that I came up with. I feel like I could really run with this idea and create a project that students could do...something involving writing and art and theory. Yeah. Those things.
I am not sure if the activity with the iron really made a difference in the lesson or not. I wanted to bring in an iron so that the students would have a visual for when they were reading the story afterwards. While the idea was there, I don't know so much that brining an actual iron to the class made a difference. I could have just mentioned how we don't usually see men ironing in the media instead. This might have freed up another minute or two for student voice.
The critiques that I recieved from my peers were mostly that I should have talked more about the story in the beginning of my lesson. I think that this might have grounded the activites a bit more and given the lesson more relevance.
Preparing and teaching this lesson has taught me that I am ready! I have so many ideas and I can't wait to bring them to real high school students! This lesson also taught me that teaching has the ability to temporarily cure fever, nauseau, and dizziness because I felt sick as a germ in class on monday, but when I was teaching, I felt great! Hoorah.
My goal for my next teaching assignment is to try to incorporate some theory. Perhaps some feminism or some good ol' socialism.
Teaching on Monday was a lot of fun and it felt good to be able to get some teaching in before we go into our schools. I feel that my lesson went well and I was excited to teach it. I think that I could have found a more interesting activity to do with he class (there were so many creative lessons!), but from the responses that I received it seemed like the class was into it. One thing I also noticed from the responses was that the lesson I taught would have been more effective if there was more time, which i totally agree with. I found that after teaching on Monday, I grow more confident about teaching every time I do it an am very excited to begin teaching in the middle schools. I love the teaching experience and can't wait for a time when I can have the experience every day rather than periodically. For next time, I want to have a more appealing activity to go along with the lesson, especially knowing that I will be encountering kids a lot younger than us soon. Besides that, seeing everyone else do such a good job teaching really inspires me, so lets all keep up the good work.
Kellen, your final thoughts echo my sentiments exactly. I am still riding high on your energetic and engaging lessons, and I am most impressed by the enthusiasm and openness with which you are all posting teaching reflections--I love to hear you say that you love to teach! I love to hear Rich say that "teaching feels right." Yeah. Your reflections here really capture the essence of the teaching experience. Yes, it's about having a plan, having a presence, engaging people, and making a point. And, it is also about feeling good, happy, confident, smart, challenged, and pushed a little. It is, indeed, a feeling we are trying to nurture and one we are trying to cultivate for ourselves. A good feeling from my students doesn't make my wallet any fatter, but boy does it validate my existence on the planet!
If you haven't already explored them, I urge you to check out Kate and Aimee's blogs--I will link them on the homepage of this blog.
Peace, and see you in the am.
i didn't know where to post this at first so I made my own blog and posted it there (following Aimee's suit) but here it is again:
I think my lesson yesterday went well...a lot better than I thought it would. The biggest complaint I have with the lesson was that it felt choppy, which is possibly a result of time constraint and nervousness. I had really wanted to do something a little more creative and hands-on, and after seeing some of the other lessons I definitely have a better idea of how to do that now.
The most common comment on my lesson seems to be that it allows students to connect their lives to the text. It was also mentioned that birth order is a good topic, because it is something everyone can talk about and share their experiences with.
I always get really nervous before teaching and then discover half way through the lesson that it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Ashley's suggested that I should give more feedback to my students after they answer a question so that they will know if they are on the right track. That is something I want to work on. I also need to work on not being so nervous. It is an ongoing struggle with me, but I've made a lot of progress since I began the program and it is something that I hope will decrease with time and experience.
Dr. Cook,
Joe Purdy's song Miss Me is really good! Got any more?
Allie,
I'll burn you a Joe Purdy CD that you'll love. I'll try and get it ready for Monday. Gotta wait for the new one, though. You may have heard Joe's songs on "Scrubs" or "Grey's Anatomy" or "Lost." He's awesome!
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