My final learning objective was that all students would engage in on-topic discussion. From my observations, I know that this occurred, especially with my opening question. Also, I found it interesting to note that my group that was so far behind everyone else actually had the best summary of the article. I believe that this is due to their extensive discussion while reading the article.
All this discussion of discussion reminds me of what we have discussed in class. You have mentioned over and over again how much middle-graders want to talk and share things with their peers, and I was able to see that firsthand in my class with this lesson. The students who were more engaged in discussing the topics came away with a deeper, more thoughtful …show more content…
Through pondering my lesson and writing this paper, I have discovered many ideas that I want to try in my next lesson, such as more clearly-defined time periods and adding some sort of closure to my lesson. I have also learned more about my students and how they work – what sorts of activities they enjoy and learn from, how they interact in different settings and with a different teacher, and just about them and their personalities, too. All of those lessons I learned can be used to inform my future …show more content…
I grew professionally first in my ability to transition roles as a teacher, specifically of literacy (“8(d) The teacher varies his/her role in the instructional process (e.g., instructor, facilitator, coach, audience) in relation to the content and purposes of instruction and the needs of learners.” InTASC Standards). My KWL lesson was my first literacy lesson I had ever written and fully taught, so I honestly did not know much about how to switch roles between that of one leading the class and that of one guiding groups and individuals and discussions in a literacy context. Once I began teaching my lesson, though, it just flowed and came naturally. Part of my growth in this standard was simply discovering that I can switch between roles and balance the “guide on the side” and “sage on the stage” models of teaching, something I believe in strongly enough that it is part of my educational philosophy. Finding out that transitioning between roles as a teacher is actually not as difficult as it seems from simply thinking about it was quite a
All this discussion of discussion reminds me of what we have discussed in class. You have mentioned over and over again how much middle-graders want to talk and share things with their peers, and I was able to see that firsthand in my class with this lesson. The students who were more engaged in discussing the topics came away with a deeper, more thoughtful …show more content…
Through pondering my lesson and writing this paper, I have discovered many ideas that I want to try in my next lesson, such as more clearly-defined time periods and adding some sort of closure to my lesson. I have also learned more about my students and how they work – what sorts of activities they enjoy and learn from, how they interact in different settings and with a different teacher, and just about them and their personalities, too. All of those lessons I learned can be used to inform my future …show more content…
I grew professionally first in my ability to transition roles as a teacher, specifically of literacy (“8(d) The teacher varies his/her role in the instructional process (e.g., instructor, facilitator, coach, audience) in relation to the content and purposes of instruction and the needs of learners.” InTASC Standards). My KWL lesson was my first literacy lesson I had ever written and fully taught, so I honestly did not know much about how to switch roles between that of one leading the class and that of one guiding groups and individuals and discussions in a literacy context. Once I began teaching my lesson, though, it just flowed and came naturally. Part of my growth in this standard was simply discovering that I can switch between roles and balance the “guide on the side” and “sage on the stage” models of teaching, something I believe in strongly enough that it is part of my educational philosophy. Finding out that transitioning between roles as a teacher is actually not as difficult as it seems from simply thinking about it was quite a