Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Surprise me!
What has been the biggest surprise for me... This question is much more difficult than it seems, because honestly, there have been so many surprises up to this point (in a good way)! But the biggest surprise for me was how my students responded to my lessons and activities. This is the first time I have ever created and taught a mini unit and was extremely excited and scared at the same time. The task seemed daunting and I felt like the students would find it difficult to follow along when a new teacher was in front. Boy was I wrong! The students took very well to my expectations, guidelines, and activities. I was very pleased with how the students reacted and showed me that with the proper amount of preparation and willingness to be flexible, real engagement can be formed! One thing that I really took away from this mini unit was how explicit I need to make my instructions (especially by modeling) and making sure my directions are given before letting the students go and do the activity. It is extremely difficult and hard on the students when I have to pause them a minute or two into the activity, to remind them of a behavioral expectation that I forgot to mention during the instructions. Overall, I felt very satisfied (and surprised) as to how well students were able to listen and follow directions with proper instruction and modeling!!
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4 comments:
Peter,
It's great to hear that your mini-unit went successfully. I agree that it is a pretty daunting task to take on, but so fun and worthwhile. I like that you've reflected on giving clear, explicit insructions. That's something I'm working on as well. In my unit, as much as I thought I had covered everything, I would always find myself a few minutes later interupting to add or clarify something. One thing that helped me check to see if I had explained everything was to ask the students repeat the instructions back to me - to see if they understood and also for me to hear the directions back and see if I had forgotten anything :)
Katelyn
Hi Peter,
Great reflection of your lessons! It is an exciting, yet daunting task of planning, implementing and assessing lessons/units for such a wide range of ability and skill levels. Being very explicit with lessons and directions takes much planning and predicting, as well as reflecting on lessons previously taught. Katelyn's suggestion of having the students repeat back the instructions is great. I use this technique too...although, now as I sit here and reflect, I don't think that you have heard me do this. :)Teaching is an "art" that is refined and "polished" with much practice and the interactions with the students keeps me coming back each day! Glad that you are with me this year, to share this very special group of students.
Heidi
I love your honesty Peter! I too had a little difficulty with choosing ONE thing that suprised me. I'm glad your students did what you expected of them. That is very difficult in my classroom at times. Keep up with the explicit teaching of expectations and I'm sure as you go each lesson will go more smoothly!! :)
When I watched you working on your mini-unit, I was impressed at the enormity of the task you were asking of your students. I'll admit i was nervous for them. But you were very clear, and because of that, each student was able to have a fun and useful experience. You're becoming a great teacher! It's a pleasure to be your neighbor!
-Peter #1
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