I now have only two more classes before I student teach. I am so excited with the content of Emergent Literacy and Literacy for Special Needs, 3-6th grade. I am subbing as I can fit it into my study/life schedule. I cannot wait to be in 2nd and 6th grades for ST.
A wonderful confidence has filled me in this last semester. It truly overwhelms me when I am in the classroom for real!
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Thursday, December 2, 2010
How to conclude such an experience
It seems that 15 weeks is hardly enough preparation for a career that can span many, many years. That was a thought I had as I began General Methods in this the Fall 2010 semester at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, NY. Little did I know the depth of instruction and quantity and quality of experiences that awaited me.
I am completely different than when I began. As a substitute teacher, I would hear the experienced teachers either joke or speak wistfully of their General Methods class and other college classes. They used terms that, although interesting, had no definitions in my mind. What struck me thought then was I really wanted to know what the terms meant. I really wanted to know how to teach.
I awaited General Methods eagerly because of an event that happened during one class period while I was substitute teaching. I had to teach a lesson on basic division. Okay, I thought to myself, I know how to divide and maybe even a few students could imagine the process. But I was completely at a loss as to how to get the concept across. I took a chance and drew a pizza on the board and started talking and dividing it into parts. I turned around and saw many blank stares. I was stuck. I couldn't impart the information that I knew I had in my head. I did give my self credit for trying but I had no tools to obtain from my toolbox whatsoever. If I only knew about assessing prior knowledge, about how to get their attention, how to even motivate them to group together and then separate (as in a social interactive lesson with its dual purpose of instructing on content) to illustrate division!
That event made me quite eager to learn the basic tools of our profession.
I can say now I have. I not only have learned them in an academic sense but had the opportunity to employ them in a safe, classroom (ours) environment before moving the skills out into the public by presenting them during the fieldwork. I saw good modeling (you did it), I got to do it and then I got to do it for real!
I will explore my experiences in fieldwork throughout this blog entry. I will say that I couldn't imagine the deficit that would be created if fieldwork was ever eliminated from the program.
The growth in my confidence as a teacher came through my fieldwork and only after I presented the three lesson plans for real. I had drafted lesson plans in other classes but this was the first time something I wrote was actually tried out. The academic lessons became real lessons. That was crucial for me. Wow. (Can you imagine how it feels to see a play that you wrote reach production?)
I was only somewhat surprised by how absolutely natural it felt for me to be in the front of the classroom (or walking around in it) as it did. In 2005, I wrote and instructed curriculum designed for 2-7 year olds in a youth group. The other day, I looked back at my notes and my full binders of lesson plans (my own creation) and realized I was assessing prior knowledge, I did have a "grabber", and I did do development and closure. I varied each session and mixed in group work and individual work. I did this for 3 years on my own. I had between 7-15 students per class. I sometimes had a parent volunteers but I generally ran the group alone.
Was that an omen? I hadn't yet decided to return to school but I had already ventured into that field, JOYOUSLY.
The greatest impression that I am taking away from this class as well as from the fieldwork experience is that some people are destined to become teachers. I see how my own children have reacted throughout the years to their teachers and the teachers I have had and those that I most remember. The profession of teaching is a holy one. We are duty bound to live by the values and the codes that we expect our students to live by. I have met teachers that have a deep and passionate glow in their eyes when they speak of teaching. There are some, also, that show no fire at all and would appear to have gone into teaching by mistake.
Another important impression was made by the group of fourth grade students who got to teach me about teaching in my fieldwork class. They took to me and hugged me. When I passed them in the hallways, they asked if I was coming to their class. I gathered from that that I made an impression on them. I know young children can be overly friendly and maybe they hug and request a visit from everyone but a part of me hopes it was because of me! I tried, while doing everything else that goes on during a lesson, to watch them. Just to observe their expressions and attentiveness levels. I am very expressive with my face and my hands so I think that they were attentive because of my animation as well as my words. Their faces told me so. There was only the typical amount of fidgeting and I really believed they respected me and what I was trying to accomplish with them.
I believe the students should know that you want them to feel a part of the lesson. Even though direct instruction requires the teacher to be doing most of the talking, you can still talk with the students and not just lecture at them. I liked the constant question and answer checking for understanding that I did even in the direct instruction lesson.
I have discovered, with the help of the graded rubrics from my cooperating teacher, that I need to eventually be able to not only teach the content but to be more aware of all the other behaviors going on alongside of the teaching part of a lesson. I know that comes with experience and practice. The comments from the teacher indicated that for her the noise level would have been too loud and the children too active during the direct instruction lesson. I have to say I didn't mind it and she acknowledged that it is completely a personal preference. I didn't notice it was getting loud because I was trying so hard to stay on my "script" for my lesson. I didn't criticise myself too much because I know I will learn how to do this facet of teaching as I get more experience.
All of the methods will work for me. The cooperative learning methods are my favorite because long after the students forget how to multiply fractions (I was studying for the NYSTCE CST-Multi-Subject today), they will have learned how to treat other people as partners in school and in life and how to discuss differences respectfully. I will try to incorporate social skill-building lessons often into my classroom. Elementary school is the ideal place to begin this type of teaching. The younger the better. Particularly if the school's population and behavioral issues indicate that there is little social skills training going on in the students' homes.
As I titled one of my blog posts, I have grown as a teacher because now I know I can do this. I can follow curriculum and create unique and intriguing lessons. One issue I foresee is my ability to really grasp the current learning levels of my students. But I think I feel this way because when I drafted my WebQuest, the level of skills needed did not align with the students that would be using it. I knew the class of 4th graders was basically one of struggling learners, although not inclusion or special education at all. The topic was from fourth grade but I think the skill level would have been more akin to 6th grade skills. We, the teacher and I, modified it as we went along. I also know that when I have my own class I will know where they are in their learning progress and be able to design lessons based on that knowledge.
I had the good fortune to be helped by so many teachers and administrators in my local school. They all welcomed me and offered me any assistance that I could ever need or want. They opened the school computer lab and the library to me. They even let me use the laminating machine for a culminating project of binding all of the posters form the cooperative learning lesson into a giant book. I couldn't have been more welcomed.
Personally what helps me most is my family's absolute devotion to my success. My children understand that when I have the door shut of my home-office that means that I am studying. When they had homework, they came to understand that I also had homework. Overall, my family has also learned a lesson about self-sacrifice (my time away from them) but also about self-importance (even though we are part of a family, we can all have our own interests).
I plan to use my unceasing stamina and patience to carry me successfully through my second career. As an elementary school teacher, I couldn't think of two personality traits that are more important.
I already explained my expectations of the class above with my story but I will add that I got so much more than I ever expected. The fieldwork is absolutely crucial and real professional growth comes from this opportunity to observe and work with a practicing teacher. I know that fieldwork is very difficult for some students to arrange but it really makes you do what you are waiting and learning how to do: teach. I really experienced a safe learning environment: one where I had time to learn, time to receive feedback, time to change my thoughts and work as appropriate, time to exchange ideas with the others in the class, time to actually execute my own ideas in a lesson plan of your own design. Wow.
In the Self-Evaluation Rubric, I addressed my thoughts on self-evaluation and peer review. In sum, self-evaluation is crucial to growth as a person and particularly as a teacher. You must know when to revise and "tweak" your obligations to your students. You can only know what to tweak if you are honest with yourself or have peer/colleague feedback.
When I began Nature of Schools in Summer II 2010 with absolutely limited knowledge of how to use the vast resources that the Internet held, I finished it feeling confident and experienced in using and sharing those resources. Just like in this class, I began the class with only the fear of teaching division in mind, yet as I finish this class, I not only have great set of filled binders of the real tools that a teacher needs, but I have solid experience in designing and executing appropriate lessons. And, the confidence to use them.
I am completely different than when I began. As a substitute teacher, I would hear the experienced teachers either joke or speak wistfully of their General Methods class and other college classes. They used terms that, although interesting, had no definitions in my mind. What struck me thought then was I really wanted to know what the terms meant. I really wanted to know how to teach.
I awaited General Methods eagerly because of an event that happened during one class period while I was substitute teaching. I had to teach a lesson on basic division. Okay, I thought to myself, I know how to divide and maybe even a few students could imagine the process. But I was completely at a loss as to how to get the concept across. I took a chance and drew a pizza on the board and started talking and dividing it into parts. I turned around and saw many blank stares. I was stuck. I couldn't impart the information that I knew I had in my head. I did give my self credit for trying but I had no tools to obtain from my toolbox whatsoever. If I only knew about assessing prior knowledge, about how to get their attention, how to even motivate them to group together and then separate (as in a social interactive lesson with its dual purpose of instructing on content) to illustrate division!
That event made me quite eager to learn the basic tools of our profession.
I can say now I have. I not only have learned them in an academic sense but had the opportunity to employ them in a safe, classroom (ours) environment before moving the skills out into the public by presenting them during the fieldwork. I saw good modeling (you did it), I got to do it and then I got to do it for real!
I will explore my experiences in fieldwork throughout this blog entry. I will say that I couldn't imagine the deficit that would be created if fieldwork was ever eliminated from the program.
The growth in my confidence as a teacher came through my fieldwork and only after I presented the three lesson plans for real. I had drafted lesson plans in other classes but this was the first time something I wrote was actually tried out. The academic lessons became real lessons. That was crucial for me. Wow. (Can you imagine how it feels to see a play that you wrote reach production?)
I was only somewhat surprised by how absolutely natural it felt for me to be in the front of the classroom (or walking around in it) as it did. In 2005, I wrote and instructed curriculum designed for 2-7 year olds in a youth group. The other day, I looked back at my notes and my full binders of lesson plans (my own creation) and realized I was assessing prior knowledge, I did have a "grabber", and I did do development and closure. I varied each session and mixed in group work and individual work. I did this for 3 years on my own. I had between 7-15 students per class. I sometimes had a parent volunteers but I generally ran the group alone.
Was that an omen? I hadn't yet decided to return to school but I had already ventured into that field, JOYOUSLY.
The greatest impression that I am taking away from this class as well as from the fieldwork experience is that some people are destined to become teachers. I see how my own children have reacted throughout the years to their teachers and the teachers I have had and those that I most remember. The profession of teaching is a holy one. We are duty bound to live by the values and the codes that we expect our students to live by. I have met teachers that have a deep and passionate glow in their eyes when they speak of teaching. There are some, also, that show no fire at all and would appear to have gone into teaching by mistake.
Another important impression was made by the group of fourth grade students who got to teach me about teaching in my fieldwork class. They took to me and hugged me. When I passed them in the hallways, they asked if I was coming to their class. I gathered from that that I made an impression on them. I know young children can be overly friendly and maybe they hug and request a visit from everyone but a part of me hopes it was because of me! I tried, while doing everything else that goes on during a lesson, to watch them. Just to observe their expressions and attentiveness levels. I am very expressive with my face and my hands so I think that they were attentive because of my animation as well as my words. Their faces told me so. There was only the typical amount of fidgeting and I really believed they respected me and what I was trying to accomplish with them.
I believe the students should know that you want them to feel a part of the lesson. Even though direct instruction requires the teacher to be doing most of the talking, you can still talk with the students and not just lecture at them. I liked the constant question and answer checking for understanding that I did even in the direct instruction lesson.
I have discovered, with the help of the graded rubrics from my cooperating teacher, that I need to eventually be able to not only teach the content but to be more aware of all the other behaviors going on alongside of the teaching part of a lesson. I know that comes with experience and practice. The comments from the teacher indicated that for her the noise level would have been too loud and the children too active during the direct instruction lesson. I have to say I didn't mind it and she acknowledged that it is completely a personal preference. I didn't notice it was getting loud because I was trying so hard to stay on my "script" for my lesson. I didn't criticise myself too much because I know I will learn how to do this facet of teaching as I get more experience.
All of the methods will work for me. The cooperative learning methods are my favorite because long after the students forget how to multiply fractions (I was studying for the NYSTCE CST-Multi-Subject today), they will have learned how to treat other people as partners in school and in life and how to discuss differences respectfully. I will try to incorporate social skill-building lessons often into my classroom. Elementary school is the ideal place to begin this type of teaching. The younger the better. Particularly if the school's population and behavioral issues indicate that there is little social skills training going on in the students' homes.
As I titled one of my blog posts, I have grown as a teacher because now I know I can do this. I can follow curriculum and create unique and intriguing lessons. One issue I foresee is my ability to really grasp the current learning levels of my students. But I think I feel this way because when I drafted my WebQuest, the level of skills needed did not align with the students that would be using it. I knew the class of 4th graders was basically one of struggling learners, although not inclusion or special education at all. The topic was from fourth grade but I think the skill level would have been more akin to 6th grade skills. We, the teacher and I, modified it as we went along. I also know that when I have my own class I will know where they are in their learning progress and be able to design lessons based on that knowledge.
I had the good fortune to be helped by so many teachers and administrators in my local school. They all welcomed me and offered me any assistance that I could ever need or want. They opened the school computer lab and the library to me. They even let me use the laminating machine for a culminating project of binding all of the posters form the cooperative learning lesson into a giant book. I couldn't have been more welcomed.
Personally what helps me most is my family's absolute devotion to my success. My children understand that when I have the door shut of my home-office that means that I am studying. When they had homework, they came to understand that I also had homework. Overall, my family has also learned a lesson about self-sacrifice (my time away from them) but also about self-importance (even though we are part of a family, we can all have our own interests).
I plan to use my unceasing stamina and patience to carry me successfully through my second career. As an elementary school teacher, I couldn't think of two personality traits that are more important.
I already explained my expectations of the class above with my story but I will add that I got so much more than I ever expected. The fieldwork is absolutely crucial and real professional growth comes from this opportunity to observe and work with a practicing teacher. I know that fieldwork is very difficult for some students to arrange but it really makes you do what you are waiting and learning how to do: teach. I really experienced a safe learning environment: one where I had time to learn, time to receive feedback, time to change my thoughts and work as appropriate, time to exchange ideas with the others in the class, time to actually execute my own ideas in a lesson plan of your own design. Wow.
In the Self-Evaluation Rubric, I addressed my thoughts on self-evaluation and peer review. In sum, self-evaluation is crucial to growth as a person and particularly as a teacher. You must know when to revise and "tweak" your obligations to your students. You can only know what to tweak if you are honest with yourself or have peer/colleague feedback.
When I began Nature of Schools in Summer II 2010 with absolutely limited knowledge of how to use the vast resources that the Internet held, I finished it feeling confident and experienced in using and sharing those resources. Just like in this class, I began the class with only the fear of teaching division in mind, yet as I finish this class, I not only have great set of filled binders of the real tools that a teacher needs, but I have solid experience in designing and executing appropriate lessons. And, the confidence to use them.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
IPM: It is for EVERYONE
We left the Direct Instruction Strategy/Behavioral Model behind this month and delved into more unfamiliar content information.
We were asked to consider the question of "Why direct instruction is not enough?"
A very pertinent question that was initially hard for me to answer. I found that by then end of the month and after doing the readings and the in-class exercises, I could answer that question easily. Direct instruction is an excellent method of conveying BASIC information in its repetitive format but does nothing for the higher levels of thinking. Students must be able to not only absorb the facts of a concept, a strong foundation in the basics is crucial, but must also be able to apply, synthesize and evaluate the information into new and unique concepts. That is what the Information Processing Model and its corresponding methods of instruction generate among the students.
Simply put, DI is the foundation and IPM lessons are the tools to build the rest of the house!! Within an IPM lesson, students learn to ask questions about real-life problems, working teams to generate ideas about how to solve those problems, reach into their creativity on a variety of levels and think, not merely absorb.
(November content reflections)
Although DI teaches the basics, student don't have to carry around basic knowledge about concepts like they used to. In our information age, they can just look it up!!
But thinking skills, inquiry-based learning, must be taught now more than ever.
If our job as teachers is to educated our students, then we are duty-bound to teach them how to think so that they can one day educate themselves.
The IPM lesson do take longer to prepare and combined with the curriculum requirements might be impractical to use all of the time. It would be negligent of modern teachers to not incorporate IPM lessons periodically, even in small portions as an extension of a DI lesson.
There are countless methods with which to use the IPM. Certainly, after a bit of experimenting with some of them, teachers could find a method they are comfortable with and make a few lessons that incorporate it.
Ironically, since we missed a class on this topci, I found myself wishing for some Direct Instruction on the Information Processing Model!
We were asked to consider the question of "Why direct instruction is not enough?"
A very pertinent question that was initially hard for me to answer. I found that by then end of the month and after doing the readings and the in-class exercises, I could answer that question easily. Direct instruction is an excellent method of conveying BASIC information in its repetitive format but does nothing for the higher levels of thinking. Students must be able to not only absorb the facts of a concept, a strong foundation in the basics is crucial, but must also be able to apply, synthesize and evaluate the information into new and unique concepts. That is what the Information Processing Model and its corresponding methods of instruction generate among the students.
Simply put, DI is the foundation and IPM lessons are the tools to build the rest of the house!! Within an IPM lesson, students learn to ask questions about real-life problems, working teams to generate ideas about how to solve those problems, reach into their creativity on a variety of levels and think, not merely absorb.
(November content reflections)
Although DI teaches the basics, student don't have to carry around basic knowledge about concepts like they used to. In our information age, they can just look it up!!
But thinking skills, inquiry-based learning, must be taught now more than ever.
If our job as teachers is to educated our students, then we are duty-bound to teach them how to think so that they can one day educate themselves.
The IPM lesson do take longer to prepare and combined with the curriculum requirements might be impractical to use all of the time. It would be negligent of modern teachers to not incorporate IPM lessons periodically, even in small portions as an extension of a DI lesson.
There are countless methods with which to use the IPM. Certainly, after a bit of experimenting with some of them, teachers could find a method they are comfortable with and make a few lessons that incorporate it.
Ironically, since we missed a class on this topci, I found myself wishing for some Direct Instruction on the Information Processing Model!
Friday, November 5, 2010
I know I can do this now!
This is the response to the questions raised in the Jo 2 assignment for General Methods 5921-F10.
Although the lesson I gave on November 4, 2010 to a 4th grade class at the Sullivan West Elementary School was formulated around the Direct Instruction strategy and the Behavioral Model, my preparation for it rested in the pursuit of answers to many questions. In reality, my preparation required me to use the information processing model and the inductive teaching methods. I can explain.
Inductive teaching is based upon the claim that knowledge is built primarily upon the learner's experiences and interactions with phenomena. (From reading from Moodle, Week 10, Using Varied Instructional Techniques: Inductive and Deductive Teaching Approaches)I drew deeply on my prior experiences with children, as a mother, a substitute teacher and as someone who designed curriculum for a youth group for children ages 2-7 years old. I also frequently referred to all of the information I gained through the many weeks of classwork that we did on Direct Instruction to prepare an appropriate topic and grade-level lesson for this class.
Throughout the design/drafting process of the DI LP, I constantly asked myself questions about whether the grabber, development and activities were engaging and content-based. I constantly thought and rethought about what my objective was and if the lesson would meet that objective. I had an impression that the students I would be teaching were of the lower end of the "bell-shaped curve" of students and checked and rechecked my instructional levels of information. I questioned myself regularly about whether this group of students could absorb the information as I was presenting it. If I felt a particular activity (I ended up with six!) passed my scrutiny, I kept the activity as it was. If not, I redid it: changed the wording, changed the content a bit, and even changed the format of the activity itself. The writing and rewriting process required me to raise questions, make generalizations, and utilize the observations I made during the 4 hours of observation time that I spent with the class prior to designing the lesson.
In the Information Processing Model, the learners are presented with a problem, they are given the opportunity to investigate and find solutions to the problem, while developing their investigative skills and gaining confidence in their own abilities to think and to reflect on their progress. The problem for this assignment was to draft a DI LP lesson in camouflage. I dove into this lesson because animals are a personal passion of mine and how they share our world with us is also a passion. I readily and eagerly have learned about these topics since I was a child. Therefore, I already had vast experience with studying the animal kingdom. My investigative skills were honed when I went searching both the Curriculum Library and the Internet for resources to enhance my lesson plan. I gained confidence because I began to realize that I can solve this problem successfully because I found excellent information to help enhance my own ideas about how I wanted to lesson to be. I can also take advantage of the element requiring reflection before and after the lesson was presented.
I, in effect, gave myself an inquiry-based lesson while designing a direct instruction plan!
I can now tell you how the lesson went...
I arrived early which served me incredibly well because I was able to set up and greet the students at the door. I enjoyed the experience of being organized in that setting. In a certain way, I felt like I was some sort of specialist that came in to deliver a special lesson.
The children greeted me excitedly and sat right down in front of me as I directed them. I was seated in a chair at the front of the room. I definitely sensed their interest and curiosity as they came in.
My grabber was effective and actually grabbed them but did not over-excite or distract them. I believe the simplicity of the "funny nose and glasses" that I used as a disguise was an effective segue into a lesson on camouflage.
I planned many more activities than I actually had time for and that gave me confidence as well. The feeling of being prepared is incomparable! The confidence that that brings with it has always been and will always be a goal of mine.
I have evidence that the children learned because I constantly checked for understanding throughout the lesson and could tell from their responses during the activities that they understood the vocabulary that I had taught them during the development section. I have further evidence because I assigned them Independent Practice and they all did quite well.
During the vocabulary game, there was great enthusiasm. I was telling them the definitions to the vocabulary words and I purposely kept them general. But, impressively, they seized upon this loophole of vagueness. I was asking for just one word to go with the definition that I read out loud but they were responding with two or three words for the one word that I intended as the answer! Clever. They even protested when I told them I wouldn't accept certain other words for a certain definition. They were thinking critically about the subtleties of the meanings of the words I gave them. That was a completely unexpected but joyful occurrence.
The hard part was calming them back down after a point was scored by a team! I would do more with keeping their voice levels lower and keep them seated better. Students kept popping up out of their seats, in rapt excitement!
The overall experience was easy because I was so prepared and so excited. I felt naturally suited for this position.
I think that if the students in this and other classes, other teachers and peers would comment on my abilities, they would definitely say I had potential and great enthusiasm and friendliness. I have always prided myself in being approachable and intuitive about people and their needs. I know my students will learn that about me as well, someday. The information I am learning in MSMC and all of the outside reading and workshops that I am doing is greatly informing my abilities and generating great confidence for me.
The cooperating teachers I have worked with through the last year and one-half will have to say that I arrive prepared and organized and with a confident, friendly attitude towards my work and towards the students. These characteristics make it easy for the cooperating teachers to trust me with their students. I know that the teachers often feel a "loving possession" over their class. They sense I respect that feeling.
My knowledge of instruction and technology has already informed the teachers with whom I have had the occasion to discuss these items. The word WebQuest is now heard around the school! I have also told several teachers about PB Works and they have expressed interest in using it. I will be able to comment better after I present the students with my WebQuest in the next week or so.
The teacher commented today, November 5, 2010, as I met with her for her personal feedback that I am a very calm person, that the students, when she polled them, enjoyed the lesson and felt they had fun and learned a lot, and that I "seemed a natural in that place at the front of the room."
I have personal insight into myself as a teacher having finally taught I lesson that I prepared. I realize I can convey content information in a confident effective way. Even with this one example, I have an instant of proof that I can do this!!
Although the lesson I gave on November 4, 2010 to a 4th grade class at the Sullivan West Elementary School was formulated around the Direct Instruction strategy and the Behavioral Model, my preparation for it rested in the pursuit of answers to many questions. In reality, my preparation required me to use the information processing model and the inductive teaching methods. I can explain.
Inductive teaching is based upon the claim that knowledge is built primarily upon the learner's experiences and interactions with phenomena. (From reading from Moodle, Week 10, Using Varied Instructional Techniques: Inductive and Deductive Teaching Approaches)I drew deeply on my prior experiences with children, as a mother, a substitute teacher and as someone who designed curriculum for a youth group for children ages 2-7 years old. I also frequently referred to all of the information I gained through the many weeks of classwork that we did on Direct Instruction to prepare an appropriate topic and grade-level lesson for this class.
Throughout the design/drafting process of the DI LP, I constantly asked myself questions about whether the grabber, development and activities were engaging and content-based. I constantly thought and rethought about what my objective was and if the lesson would meet that objective. I had an impression that the students I would be teaching were of the lower end of the "bell-shaped curve" of students and checked and rechecked my instructional levels of information. I questioned myself regularly about whether this group of students could absorb the information as I was presenting it. If I felt a particular activity (I ended up with six!) passed my scrutiny, I kept the activity as it was. If not, I redid it: changed the wording, changed the content a bit, and even changed the format of the activity itself. The writing and rewriting process required me to raise questions, make generalizations, and utilize the observations I made during the 4 hours of observation time that I spent with the class prior to designing the lesson.
In the Information Processing Model, the learners are presented with a problem, they are given the opportunity to investigate and find solutions to the problem, while developing their investigative skills and gaining confidence in their own abilities to think and to reflect on their progress. The problem for this assignment was to draft a DI LP lesson in camouflage. I dove into this lesson because animals are a personal passion of mine and how they share our world with us is also a passion. I readily and eagerly have learned about these topics since I was a child. Therefore, I already had vast experience with studying the animal kingdom. My investigative skills were honed when I went searching both the Curriculum Library and the Internet for resources to enhance my lesson plan. I gained confidence because I began to realize that I can solve this problem successfully because I found excellent information to help enhance my own ideas about how I wanted to lesson to be. I can also take advantage of the element requiring reflection before and after the lesson was presented.
I, in effect, gave myself an inquiry-based lesson while designing a direct instruction plan!
I can now tell you how the lesson went...
I arrived early which served me incredibly well because I was able to set up and greet the students at the door. I enjoyed the experience of being organized in that setting. In a certain way, I felt like I was some sort of specialist that came in to deliver a special lesson.
The children greeted me excitedly and sat right down in front of me as I directed them. I was seated in a chair at the front of the room. I definitely sensed their interest and curiosity as they came in.
My grabber was effective and actually grabbed them but did not over-excite or distract them. I believe the simplicity of the "funny nose and glasses" that I used as a disguise was an effective segue into a lesson on camouflage.
I planned many more activities than I actually had time for and that gave me confidence as well. The feeling of being prepared is incomparable! The confidence that that brings with it has always been and will always be a goal of mine.
I have evidence that the children learned because I constantly checked for understanding throughout the lesson and could tell from their responses during the activities that they understood the vocabulary that I had taught them during the development section. I have further evidence because I assigned them Independent Practice and they all did quite well.
During the vocabulary game, there was great enthusiasm. I was telling them the definitions to the vocabulary words and I purposely kept them general. But, impressively, they seized upon this loophole of vagueness. I was asking for just one word to go with the definition that I read out loud but they were responding with two or three words for the one word that I intended as the answer! Clever. They even protested when I told them I wouldn't accept certain other words for a certain definition. They were thinking critically about the subtleties of the meanings of the words I gave them. That was a completely unexpected but joyful occurrence.
The hard part was calming them back down after a point was scored by a team! I would do more with keeping their voice levels lower and keep them seated better. Students kept popping up out of their seats, in rapt excitement!
The overall experience was easy because I was so prepared and so excited. I felt naturally suited for this position.
I think that if the students in this and other classes, other teachers and peers would comment on my abilities, they would definitely say I had potential and great enthusiasm and friendliness. I have always prided myself in being approachable and intuitive about people and their needs. I know my students will learn that about me as well, someday. The information I am learning in MSMC and all of the outside reading and workshops that I am doing is greatly informing my abilities and generating great confidence for me.
The cooperating teachers I have worked with through the last year and one-half will have to say that I arrive prepared and organized and with a confident, friendly attitude towards my work and towards the students. These characteristics make it easy for the cooperating teachers to trust me with their students. I know that the teachers often feel a "loving possession" over their class. They sense I respect that feeling.
My knowledge of instruction and technology has already informed the teachers with whom I have had the occasion to discuss these items. The word WebQuest is now heard around the school! I have also told several teachers about PB Works and they have expressed interest in using it. I will be able to comment better after I present the students with my WebQuest in the next week or so.
The teacher commented today, November 5, 2010, as I met with her for her personal feedback that I am a very calm person, that the students, when she polled them, enjoyed the lesson and felt they had fun and learned a lot, and that I "seemed a natural in that place at the front of the room."
I have personal insight into myself as a teacher having finally taught I lesson that I prepared. I realize I can convey content information in a confident effective way. Even with this one example, I have an instant of proof that I can do this!!
Have any quesitons? Go to a Museum!
For Week 9, Dr. Smirnova posted a video to watch. In light of my Internet service, videos always take longer to load than they are in viewing time! But, I proceeded.
Our topic was still Direct Instruction but with an eye towards beginning to learn about the Information Processing Model and Inquiry-based lesson plans. The video actually took place in the Long Island Children's Museum. The activities depicted were so vast and varied that I felt as though I had to go there with my own children as soon as possible. The perfect laboratory for learning!
The museum visit is an ideal combination of direct instruction and inquiry-based learning: the museum presenters had the children gather in small groups and gave them information and then encouraged them to touch, smell, think and question (asking questions of the museum presenters as well) on their own.
The forum of the museum presents opportunities for all sorts of learners to learn: visual, tactile, auditory, and inter- and intra-personal. The children's faces glowed with excitement and engagement. For the children on the field trip from their school, it could be that this is their only chance to experience such a place. For the children, young and older, visiting with their families, everyone had a chance to sit face-to-face, hear the information and then interact with each other with the information. Often times, families don't make time for this sort of essential educational and emotional interaction.
This adventure is constructivism at work!
Interestingly, the expressions of excitement on the children's faces at the beginning were still present at then end of the video but they also looked exhausted from their adventure!
I truly experienced their excitement with them during this video. I have gone to MANY museums myself and with my own children. As they play, they are learning. The educational process in a children's museum or in any hands-on exhibit occurs naturally. Knowledge is assembled naturally and remains with the children for a long, long time.
Our topic was still Direct Instruction but with an eye towards beginning to learn about the Information Processing Model and Inquiry-based lesson plans. The video actually took place in the Long Island Children's Museum. The activities depicted were so vast and varied that I felt as though I had to go there with my own children as soon as possible. The perfect laboratory for learning!
The museum visit is an ideal combination of direct instruction and inquiry-based learning: the museum presenters had the children gather in small groups and gave them information and then encouraged them to touch, smell, think and question (asking questions of the museum presenters as well) on their own.
The forum of the museum presents opportunities for all sorts of learners to learn: visual, tactile, auditory, and inter- and intra-personal. The children's faces glowed with excitement and engagement. For the children on the field trip from their school, it could be that this is their only chance to experience such a place. For the children, young and older, visiting with their families, everyone had a chance to sit face-to-face, hear the information and then interact with each other with the information. Often times, families don't make time for this sort of essential educational and emotional interaction.
This adventure is constructivism at work!
Interestingly, the expressions of excitement on the children's faces at the beginning were still present at then end of the video but they also looked exhausted from their adventure!
I truly experienced their excitement with them during this video. I have gone to MANY museums myself and with my own children. As they play, they are learning. The educational process in a children's museum or in any hands-on exhibit occurs naturally. Knowledge is assembled naturally and remains with the children for a long, long time.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The case for getting rid of grades and stickers
I began a book called "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn. Published in 1993, Mr. Kohn stepped out of the prevailing theories of the time. He incises the management in the work place, teachers in education and parents at home and opens up their flagrant and faulty use of rewards as motivational tactics.
I was glued to this theory of abandoning rewards and grades and replacing extrinsic motivators with intrinsic ones. Mr. Kohn's claim is that when you use rewards to motivate employees, students or children, you become focused on the performance and not on the process of learning. The "if you do this then you get that" theory steals motivation from people and replaces it with a false focus on the "that."
All educators should read this book just for its opposing point of view to trends in the last many years.
The greatest question he asks is not "How can you get your students motivated?" but "How can you best create a learning environment where students don't feel controlled and in which they are encouraged to think about what they are doing?"
As I read the first chapters, and I have many more to go, I felt afraid of what the theory entailed as I believed in behaviorism. I have my doubts now as to its ability to generate atmospheres for true learning.
I'll keep you posted on my progress in the book and whether Mr. Kohn succeeded in he arguments and convinced me to follow his ideas.
I was glued to this theory of abandoning rewards and grades and replacing extrinsic motivators with intrinsic ones. Mr. Kohn's claim is that when you use rewards to motivate employees, students or children, you become focused on the performance and not on the process of learning. The "if you do this then you get that" theory steals motivation from people and replaces it with a false focus on the "that."
All educators should read this book just for its opposing point of view to trends in the last many years.
The greatest question he asks is not "How can you get your students motivated?" but "How can you best create a learning environment where students don't feel controlled and in which they are encouraged to think about what they are doing?"
As I read the first chapters, and I have many more to go, I felt afraid of what the theory entailed as I believed in behaviorism. I have my doubts now as to its ability to generate atmospheres for true learning.
I'll keep you posted on my progress in the book and whether Mr. Kohn succeeded in he arguments and convinced me to follow his ideas.
Eruption of Experience with the Volcano Lesson Plan
In class, we were all given a direct instruction lesson plan by Dr. Smirnova and asked to evaluate it in depth as against preassigned Mount Saint Mary College criteria.
The lesson plan I was assigned was on volcanoes and was designed for fourth grade.
I spent a long time reading each section and contemplating its content with the MSMC rubric for lesson plans next to the lesson plan on my desk.
The process was unique to me since I had only written my own lesson plans in Curriculum Planning and waited for their review by the professor. I had never had the opportunity to evaluate a lesson plan of someone else. Actually, I felt strange doing this and even emailed Dr. Smirnova about whom would have access to my comments. I was assured that the original author would not see my comments and that just Dr. Smirnova would. I felt way out of my league of experiences to think that I could, with only 9 classes under my belt, evaluate someone else's work. I thought, "Who am I do this?"
I continued however. I looked at a section of the lesson plan, looked through my notes and readings and even ventured onto the Internet for further clarification, and wound up back at the MSMC rubric. I picked apart every section. I enjoyed it to the extent that I felt I found an item of content that I thought was misplaced somehow. How it was misplaced, I couldn't have been sure. I did find issues that I was able to support with my understanding of what the lesson should have looked like by referring to my notes, etc.
I also learned several things from the content that I felt was appropriate. I really liked how the author mentioned the lessons that were coming next and connections made to similarities with prior lesson content. But, importantly, I realized that this author didn't check for understanding very much or at least did not spell out when he or she was going to do it.
Structurally, all parts of the typical DI lesson plan were met but I really found I could only reach "2's" on the rubric.
I could only hope that someone would spend as much time as I did on this review on one of my own lesson plans. I believe in learning by doing and learning from my mistakes. I would also like to know if I have the correct idea on the items that the reviewer felt I did correctly.
Overall, I appreciated the opportunity to compare and contrast: compare my ideas with those of someone else's about a direct instruction lesson and contrast what I believed to be correct content and style with content and style of another.
Read my next blog for some thoughts on an interesting book I am reading, "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn.
The lesson plan I was assigned was on volcanoes and was designed for fourth grade.
I spent a long time reading each section and contemplating its content with the MSMC rubric for lesson plans next to the lesson plan on my desk.
The process was unique to me since I had only written my own lesson plans in Curriculum Planning and waited for their review by the professor. I had never had the opportunity to evaluate a lesson plan of someone else. Actually, I felt strange doing this and even emailed Dr. Smirnova about whom would have access to my comments. I was assured that the original author would not see my comments and that just Dr. Smirnova would. I felt way out of my league of experiences to think that I could, with only 9 classes under my belt, evaluate someone else's work. I thought, "Who am I do this?"
I continued however. I looked at a section of the lesson plan, looked through my notes and readings and even ventured onto the Internet for further clarification, and wound up back at the MSMC rubric. I picked apart every section. I enjoyed it to the extent that I felt I found an item of content that I thought was misplaced somehow. How it was misplaced, I couldn't have been sure. I did find issues that I was able to support with my understanding of what the lesson should have looked like by referring to my notes, etc.
I also learned several things from the content that I felt was appropriate. I really liked how the author mentioned the lessons that were coming next and connections made to similarities with prior lesson content. But, importantly, I realized that this author didn't check for understanding very much or at least did not spell out when he or she was going to do it.
Structurally, all parts of the typical DI lesson plan were met but I really found I could only reach "2's" on the rubric.
I could only hope that someone would spend as much time as I did on this review on one of my own lesson plans. I believe in learning by doing and learning from my mistakes. I would also like to know if I have the correct idea on the items that the reviewer felt I did correctly.
Overall, I appreciated the opportunity to compare and contrast: compare my ideas with those of someone else's about a direct instruction lesson and contrast what I believed to be correct content and style with content and style of another.
Read my next blog for some thoughts on an interesting book I am reading, "Punished by Rewards" by Alfie Kohn.
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