All Good Things Must Come to an End

As this course comes to a close, I think about how much I have learned, not just about teaching, but about learning.

This course has taught me so many ways to implement various lesson plans, whether it be Direct, Information Processing, or Social Interactive.

Thinking back, I had seen these lessons all the time growing up and in my fieldwork and subbing experiences, but I had never had a name for any of them.

I also learned that writing GOOD lesson plans is more than just jotting down a couple of notes. All lessons are made up of different parts, and all of those parts are needed in order for lessons to be successful.

I have learned to look for all of these parts when I am observing, and use all of these parts when I am teaching.

As for being a teacher, I have learned that one of the most important things I can have is flexibility. Things are going to happen in the classroom. Students are going to act up, the fire alarm is going to go off. What is important is how a teacher handles these situations and maintains control over the class. Even though lesson plans are very detailed, they are not set in stone, and can be tweaked as needed.

One thing that surprised me during my fieldwork experience was how much I prefer information processing and social interactive lessons. Even when I am subbing, I find myself encouraging students to work together and think critically. This does not mean that I am opposed to Direct Instruction. That is not the case at all.

I believe DI is appropriate when introducing a topic and also with working with students with special needs.

Overall, as a teacher, I feel as though I have become more comfortable. I am more confident when I enter a classroom and am not as intimidated when it comes to introducing new topics to students. There had been times when I sub where the teacher asked me to begin teaching a new topic to students. I would have fumbled my way through it. Now I have an idea of what needs to be done and how it should be done.

I think this confidence comes from being in the classroom frequently. Eventually you get the hang of it and are able to adjust.

As for what I can improve on, I think there are plenty of things. I believe there is always room for improvement in anything a person does, including teaching. If there is one thing that I need to work on it is patience. I need to remember that not all students are going to understand information the first time it is presented. Sometimes I will need to slow down and reteach information.

When this course began, I expected to learn about the different methods of teaching. I left with a whole lot more than that. I now feel as though I am prepared for a job interview. I am able to explain various teaching models and provide examples of how I have, as well as how I would, teach all of them. This was an experience that I have not had with any of my other class taken so far.

A significant part of this course was peer evaluation. We were often asked to provide our peers with three pluses and a wish following presentations. I personally liked being on the receiving end of this. Assuming my peers were being honest (and not just nice), it would provide me with constructive feedback and allow me to make changed and improve my work in the future.

Another major part of this course was self reflection. We were often asked to reflect on our work and our experiences. I will admit, I am not the biggest fan of reflecting, but if I am going to ask my students to do it, I must do it as well. Reflecting allows me to really break down what I learned and show my understanding. It allows me to see where I succeeded and where I went wrong. Reflecting helps me to break down and see what I really learned.

I know I still have a lot to learn, but I feel as though I am off to a pretty good start thanks to this class.

Job Interview Adventure

In our last week of class, my teacher held a mock job interview. Five students volunteered to play the role of elementary school principals looking to hire a new team of teachers. All of the questions to be asked were based on what we learned throughout the course.

At first, I must admit I was not terribly excited to do this. In the end though, it turned out to be a pretty interesting experience.

First of all, I discovered that I remembered more information than I had originally thought. I was worried going into the class that I would blank out when asked about the different models and strategies.

I think what I was most impressed with was how I was able to share examples of how I had used all of the models and strategies we learned about in my fieldwork as well as subbing experience.

I thought all of the "principals" asked very good questions and they all seemed to take their roles seriously.

Overall, it turned out to be a worthwhile experience, and I'm glad I did it.

Six Thinking Hats

In my class I learned about different methods that can be used with the social interactive model (SIM).

Our class was put into groups to learn about various methods.

My group was assigned Six Thinking Hats.

This method provides students with a problem. The problem is then looked at from different perspectives. Six to be exact. Each hat is explained below:

White Hat: This person looks at the information provided and makes an educated decision.

Red Hat: Decisions are made based on gut reactions and emotions.

Black Hat: People wearing the black hat look at the problem cautiously and defensively. These people look at all of the bad points to the decision.

Yellow Hat: People wearing the yellow hat are positive and optimistic.

Green Hat: People wearing the green hat find creative solutions to the problem.

Blue Hat: The person wearing the blue hat is generally the person who is in control of the meeting. Example: Chair of a committee.

This method is a nice way to show how people base their decisions on all different reasons.

Social Interaction: What's the Point?

Social skills are vital to being successful whether you're in school or on the job. School is really the place where people learn and practice their social skills. Everybody knows social skills are used on the playground, but what about in the classroom?

This is where the Social Interactive Model (SIM) comes into play.

SIM is used to facilitate group work in the classroom. Unlike Direct Instruction, SIM is student-centered and requires students to work together in a structured setting.

SIM lessons begin with the introduction of the task by the teacher. Students are then placed in groups. There are many different methods for grouping students. It may be done randomly through choosing Popsicle sticks, counting (1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2...), or it may be done based on skill level.

The point of SIM is to make students responsible for their learning. This is because SIM requires students to be able to take what they learned and share it with group members, as well as the rest of the class.

One cooperative learning method that was used in my class to show SIM, is Jigsaw. In Jigsaw, students are put into groups (in whatever manner the teacher chooses). Each group member is assigned a different part of a problem. Students then research their assigned part. Before they return to their group to share their findings, they must first meet with other students in the class from different groups who were assigned the same part. This new group is known as the expert group. The expert group makes sure that everyone has found the same information and come up with a way to share their findings with their home groups.

Jigsaw makes every group member responsible. All students in the group must do their part in order for the final product to be a success.

One advantage to SIM is that is allows for students to use their higher order thinking skills. The disadvantage is that it is extremely time consuming.

It's Time For Inquiry!

I completed all of my lessons on greater than, less than, and equal to in the 2nd grade classroom.

They did well with the WebQuest for the most part. It was hard for some of them to read the information provided on the web sites, which made doing the research a challenge. This was after I consulted with my cooperating teacher about what web sites she uses with the students.

The students really enjoyed using the laptops in class. This was the first 2nd grade class in the building to use the laptops. They are usually reserved for 4th and 5th grade.

After I began by introducing the assignment and explaining what needed to be done, they were free to explore. They loved researching!

According to my cooperating teacher, during this time, it was the quietest she had ever seen them. They were all engaged.

Due to the grade level, age, and overall maturity level of this class, I had to walk the students through every step of the WebQuest.

While students worked on the laptops, I played the role of facilitator. I walked around the room and assisted students as needed. This was their time to learn, however, not my time to teach.

The WebQuest was broken into two separate lessons. The first day was information processing. On this day, students only researched their topics. Day two was social interactive. This lesson required students to work in groups, share the information they learned the day before, and create a riddle.

Overall, I think the riddles came out better than I expected. I knew this would be hard for some of the students in this class, but I wanted to challenge them.

When all of the riddles were written and illustrated, it was time to share. The students loved presenting their riddles and their classmates loved guessing the answers to the riddles.

Looking back, I can't say that 2nd grade is an ideal grade for using WebQuests, at least not at this point in the school year. They are too dependent on the teacher to show them what needs to be done. I think WebQuests are great for older students who are more independent.

Local Interactive Museums

After watching the video on the Long Island Children's Museum, I decided to try and find any local museums that offer the same experience to students.

I found the Mid-Hudson Children's Museum in Poughkeepsie.

There is also an interactive museum for kids in Middletown. Unfortunately, they do not have a link.

Time to Teach

Today was the day that I implemented my Direct Instruction lesson plan!

I introduced the concept of greater than, less than, and equal to in a 2nd grade classroom.

Overall, I think it went well. My cooperating teacher loved my lesson!

I am, however, very critical of my own work. So I can find plenty of things that could have been better with it.

My anticipatory set wasn't as smooth as I had rehearsed. It was a lot tougher to carry out when there are 23 7-year-old kids yelling out answers at me when I was not asking for any answers.

My transitions could have been better as well. Despite writing them in my lesson and practicing ahead of time, it was hard to remember to actually say all of the transitions between the development, guided practice and independent practice.

One activity that I did during guided practice that worked really well, was one that included sorting small pompoms into two groups. They had to count how many pompoms were in each group and then figure out which symbol (>, <, =) to use. In their math notebooks (I needed them to write all of this down to have some kind of record of their work) I had them write the whole problem down, and then write it out in a sentence. For example, they would have to write 13 > 7 -- 13 is greater than 7.

I wanted them to understand that the symbols we were using were taking the place of the words.

Most of the class did very well with this. Some did not get it right away and needed another example, but then quickly picked up the concept.

One of the reasons this activity worked so well was because it was very kinesthetic. they enjoyed using the pompoms and having the hands-on work.

The best part of the lesson for me was the closure, and no, I'm not saying that because it meant it was finally over.

During the closure part of the lesson, I asked students to tell me what the concept of the lesson was, and everyone could tell me. I then asked the class to tell me one thing they learned from the lesson, and most were able to tell me how to use the >, <, = signs correctly.

I felt like my lesson had been a success!