- I don't always give good feedback - I found several points throughout the lesson where I a.) didn't correct or mild an answer that was incorrect, but instead encouraged the student b.) didn't encourage a student in the way I should have when their answer was correct. I do understand that these two things are the opposite of each other, but I didn't like the way I handled either situation. When students answers are not quite what I am looking for, I am going to work hard to try to tease more information out of them, or guide their answer towards the correct (or more correct) answer. I also to need to spend time and effort acknowledging students to are willing to participate in class. Often answering a question, especially on content that is brand new, is very nerve-racking and I need to me more attentive to that.
- I don't always stay firm with my behavioural expectations - On several occasions, I expressed my behavioural expectation for a particular student, but then didn't wait for that expectation to be enforced. Because my TA was filming, she caught the student doing exactly what I had them not to, right after I had told them. This shows students that sometimes they can get away with things and pull the wool over my eyes. I really need to work on giving clear expectations, and enforcing consequences when those expectations are meant.
- Great information for future lessons - In looking at the footage from today I realized that several activities didn't go quite as well as I had wanted them to, and how to alter them for the next class. In video form, it was much easier to see the different between wait time/think time pauses and confusion/frustration/really-don't-know-the-answer pauses. Sometimes I find this a difficult distinction to remember when I'm reflecting independently.
Today my TA filmed me while I was teaching one of my lessons. I would be lying if I said I was excited about it. However, aside from really regretting my choice of clothing ensemble and hair style, I found watching myself teach very informative. Here's what I learned:
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This we have been instructed to reflect on our one "key learning" from our practicum experience. To be quite honest, I immediately pushed the assignment aside, because really, how can you pick one thing? Only one thing? We spend 10 hours a day at an elementary school filled with expert teachers, administrators and teaching assistants, but I have to pick one thing that I learned? So the phrase has sat in the creepy back-caverns of my mind...one key learning... And today it has dawned on me. And you will smirk, because you thought of it right away and I'm just slow. Here it is: keep it simple. I've seen in it written on a number of Facebook statuses and it ravages my twitter feed. I have been told since I was about five that I need to 'keep things simple.' And I'm here to say: I finally get it! Here's why keeping it simple is finally a meaningful phrase for me:
Here's a copy of my lesson plan for a Social Studies lesson I did today. It's very simple, perhaps over simple. The goal was to understand the link between climate and daily life. We ended up only talking about housing but the connection the students did make was very strong and they were able to illustrate what I wanted by the end of the lesson. I felt positive and my students were engaged and learning throughout. Who knew, keeping it simple really works! Good grief! Today I taught my very first Math lesson and I think it went quite well. The goal of the lesson was for students to collect data from their classmates and record it using tally marks. Overall the lesson went quite well. Here's why:
Today I had the pleasure of teaching my Grade 3's about sorting rocks and minerals. And I have to say, I was pretty excited about this lesson. I had really good activities, and pretty good assessments to go with. I didn't quite achieve assessment triangulation, but pretty darn close. Here's why it didn't work.
Here's my lesson from today... My wonderful TA has given me the opportunity to go back and revisit this lesson tomorrow morning. Here's what I've decided to change...
Here's the plan for tomorrow's lesson. I'll let you know how it goes!! Today I taught my very first official lesson during my practicum. While I was a little nervous, I was really really excited to try out the things I had planned. A few things that went well...
A few things that can be improved...
Here's a copy of my original lesson - I hope to post my revised lesson soon! I'm going to be honest here, prior to this semester, I couldn't exactly be described as a team player. Actually, I've never really been on a team before. Sports weren't for me. I was in a lot of choirs, and there is a certain amount of working together, one-for-all and all-for-one, but you still kinda wanted to sing a little louder than your neighbour. Collaboration was not something that came particularly easy for me, and I really believed it was because people just aren't meant to be collaborative. Everyone is looking out for themselves more than anyone else. Whether it be for grades or money, power, responsibility, bragging rights, everyone is trying to be the best. There's my schpeel, don't stop reading, I promise it gets better! So this is honestly how I felt. But I was very wrong. In these past 8 weeks I have been surrounded by some of the most wonderful people I have met in my entire life. These people are kind and generous, responsible and reliable and unbelievably brilliant. I have worked in numerous group projects that have included a great deal of A.) fun, B.) learning, C.) balanced/equal workload D.) effective results. I swear, this has never happened for me before. And while this is largely due to my amazing colleagues, I really think there is more to it than that. Doesn't everyone have in them the potential to be an amazing collaborator? I think yes! It is all in how you build the environment around people. And how do I as a future teacher learn to build this effective, collaborative environment? After spending many, many hours with the amazing Kurtis Hewson, where collaborative learning was not optional, I think I have put together a few tips for myself. 1) Everyone must be working towards a common goal. This may sound rather difficult, as we as teachers will have a myriad of students working towards many different things, but its really all in how you spin it. While one of your students may clearly be university bond by the time they're grade 2 and another is destined to be the next Michael (Jordan or Jackson or C. Hall) all students should be there to learn. Learning is the most important thing! 2) Forced group work is key! I know this sounds bad, but really, we as teachers need to put our students into groups, a lot! But we must be careful to do it in meaningful ways. I still think that sticking your top student with a student that's really struggling, and a student who doesn't care into a group and making them work together on a project that's worth 50% of the final grade. This is tedious for all involved and can easily be seen as a punishment from all parties. Instead have lots of small group interactions. "Get into a group of 3 and discuss ....... for one minute." "I want Meagan, Andrew and Dan to work together to summarize this paragraph in 45 seconds." Force your students to work together in small increments. Force your students to work with people they don't often work with. By pairing new groups together you may hit upon a fantastic collaborative group! By collaborating for only a short time, these groups can easily disperse on the chance that the group doesn't work that well together. No harm, no foul. 3) Let collaboration be a tool, not a method of individual assessment Group work is such a great way to build relationships and get many varied viewpoints on a topic. Its great for discussion and development of learning. Don't use group work as a way of assessing individual students and their progress. At the end of the day, we want to be building a collaborative society. A group of citizens who want more for "us" than for "me." I have had the amazing joy of experiencing this for myself in these past weeks, but I really hope I can implement
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Johannah Wirzba
I am Junior High Language Arts teacher who has the amazing privilege of working with crazy, amazing staff and students each and every day. I hope to use this space as a way to process the many new ideas being thrown at me and grow as a learner and educator. Categories
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May 2016
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