Thinking
back to Tuesday’s class all I can think is wow! There was so much information in
such a short amount of time but that was perfectly fine because the information
I did receive will be so useful. I felt for Dr. G when she shared her
stories with us and am excited to have received the question handouts from Dr.
Horwitz. One part of the class that was extremely useful and fun to watch was
when Bob, Kim, and Buddy planned a lesson in front of us.
Being
able to watch teachers create a lesson plan was interesting. It was so helpful
to be able to hear a teacher’s thoughts as they plan. At times, I was asking
the same questions that Buddy was asking and thinking some of the same things
that Kim or Bob were saying. This made me feel confident that I have learned
from the education classes I have taken. It also made me wish that I had a
co-teacher and/or Dean of Pedagogy. I had obviously heard of co-teaching before but I found that the way they bounced ideas off of each
other and asked each other questions seemed so helpful and their lesson evolved
easily. Although it seems Kim and Bob work well together, I kept thinking what
happens if co-teachers don’t get along. Personalities can clash and I think
that if two teachers don’t work well together the class could suffer from it. What
can one do if this happens in their classroom?
Specifically, when
listening to the planning I learned that I would need to think of how to group
the students. I have learned about grouping students in Sped 433 so I knew
what they were talking about when they were choosing between heterogeneous and
homogeneous groups. I also realized that it is extremely important to plan what
I’ll be doing when the students are working, what I will do when students need
extra help, and what I will do when students already understand the material.
These are things that I have learned at RIC but being able to hear different
examples of these aspects was very useful.
Being
able to see a lesson being planned out made me less nervous to make my lesson
plans for this class. One of the most important things I learned is to know
what I will be doing while students are working and to have extra things
planned so that students don’t spend class time not being productive. Also, I
learned that it’s okay to ask other teachers questions and to go to use
resources when I need it. Most importantly, I learned that the skills I learn
at RIC will prepare me for the future and that is very reassuring. Overall, I
really enjoyed this class and feel I am definitely on the right track to succeed when I teach this semester.
Tiffany, you brought up a good point about knowing your students well and the lesson plan. I think that once we have a class room of our own lesson planing will be a little bit easier when we now who we are planing for and not just imaginary students. This will be valuable knowledge for differentiation and tailoring lessons to fit our classes.
ReplyDeleteHi Tiff,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about how it is really interesting to watch current teachers actually plan a lesson they are going to use. We talk in class about when you’re making lesson do this, and do that, but don’t forget to check this and include some of that. And now we finally got to see how co-teachers really do it! I also had the same kind of reinsuring feeling that I was asking the right questions and thinking the same things that the teachers were voicing in their planning. It shows that we are heading in the right direction of how to question our own lessons to make sure they are aligned with the learning targets we set for the students. By seeing what we learn in our class in practical application, it allows us to squash some of our fears and see that even teachers today still question their plans so that they maximize the benefits for the students.
To address your concern about co-teaching, I think that clashing personalities is a reality of the position. In this case, Buddy was able to play moderator and make sure that both sides could have their input. They seemed to get along, but I could see Bob was a little let down that some of his ideas didn't hold up. Its hard to have your ideas criticized, but that is part of being a teacher. The goal should be what is best for the students, rather than personal preferences.
ReplyDeleteBuilding on what Jessica said, you have to compromise. I am sure there are plenty of co-teaching groups that have totally different ideas they want in their lessons. Like any relationship (on any level) there is give and take. A true professional knows when to pull back and not always be so firm.
ReplyDelete