Monday, December 21, 2015
It All Comes Down to This {Final Presentation}
The last leg of the semester was conquered, the final presentation! I was overwhelmed by the amount of support that surrounded me in the room as well as the digital presence of people. If you were not able to be there below is the video of my final presentation.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Mash-Up {Final Lab Reflection}
The lab component of our preservice teaching preparation was a crucial stepping stone prior to student teaching. Simulating a classroom full of high school students was difficult with 13 cohort members who are seniors in college, but there were foundational practices and characteristics that surfaced weekly in which we need to practice to be successful in the spring.
Foundational Practices:
1. Planning for the lesson
Each week we were challenged to prepare a different type of lesson for an allotted time slot. We were to prepare an entire lesson and then snippet the lesson to fit the time frame. As a developing teacher and lesson plan writer, I appreciated only having one lesson plan to develop for lab per week. This allowed me to utilize the online curriculums we have access to, reach out to past cohorts and PA teachers, thoroughly complete each essential element of the lesson plan, and develop supporting lab materials. Sitting here, over 3 months later, I know that taking the time to understand and develop each of these lessons thoroughly has allowed me to be more detailed in my planning which resulted in a successfully executed lab lessons.
2. Comfortability in Front of a Class
I have always found it harder to talk or interview in front of people I know. Lab was no different. I taught 3 friends that role played different student behaviors each week. I knew they would witness all my failures and successes and would provide me with feedback each week. As nervous as this thought was, it was also motivating to ensure I was prepared to show what I was capable of (and the grade attached to the lab was motivating as well). By the time my Life Knowledge lab came around, I was surprised at how comfortable I felt in front of a classroom of 24 high school students. In reflecting, I know it was because of the nerves I conquered with teaching my peers.
3. Feedback
This was not my first experience receiving positive and negative feedback. Athletics prepared me well for that, but having to give feedback was an art I had the opportunity to practice all semester. Reflective feedback that was constructive, sensitive, and timely was an area I improved in. As the semester progressed I was able to generate more thorough feedback because of the practice I had. Everyone receives feedback differently and I tried to adapt the way I worded certain comments for different members of my cohort just the same as having to know my students enough to adapt to them as well.
Personal Growth:
1. Tools in the Toolbox
Without the lab to apply our learnings from AEE412, I would have be a narrow minded teacher. I envision I would have learned these different types of ways to teach lessons as something taught but never applied because I would forget or be nervous to try them. I would most likely resort back to how I was taught throughout high school. Lab gave me the opportunity to apply learning and styles, feel comfortable doing, and get excited about the variety I have to choose from.
2. Reflective Practitioner
The theme throughout this blog is practice and experience will result in success and meaning. Reflection follows this theme. Reflection requires practice, that I started awhile ago in athletics that I did not realize, and again in Mississippi on the DSA trip. The questions of WHAT HAPPENED, WHY, and WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE are all important for successful reflection to occur. I want to develop reflective mindsets in my students because it will result in an increased ownership of their individual learning processes.
To The Future and Beyond...
1. Hand pick lab groups
2. Give feedback on lesson plans
3. If time allows, keep discussing lab performance after each person. It is nice to hear and discuss the feedback verses just reading it.
4. Make sections bigger - more feedback and more students to teach is more realistic
5. At the beginning of the semester, take time to teach best practices of giving feedback
BECOV
One of the principles we discussed early on were the 5 Characteristics of Effective teaching by Roshenshine and Furst. While developing and teaching my lessons these were where my sights were set. The video below is a mash-up of a few of my labs highlighting my strongest characteristic of enthusiasm. This is an innate characteristic of my personality but, as I learned, there is a time, place, and appropriate level to incorporate enthusiasm.
Foundational Practices:
1. Planning for the lesson
Each week we were challenged to prepare a different type of lesson for an allotted time slot. We were to prepare an entire lesson and then snippet the lesson to fit the time frame. As a developing teacher and lesson plan writer, I appreciated only having one lesson plan to develop for lab per week. This allowed me to utilize the online curriculums we have access to, reach out to past cohorts and PA teachers, thoroughly complete each essential element of the lesson plan, and develop supporting lab materials. Sitting here, over 3 months later, I know that taking the time to understand and develop each of these lessons thoroughly has allowed me to be more detailed in my planning which resulted in a successfully executed lab lessons.
2. Comfortability in Front of a Class
I have always found it harder to talk or interview in front of people I know. Lab was no different. I taught 3 friends that role played different student behaviors each week. I knew they would witness all my failures and successes and would provide me with feedback each week. As nervous as this thought was, it was also motivating to ensure I was prepared to show what I was capable of (and the grade attached to the lab was motivating as well). By the time my Life Knowledge lab came around, I was surprised at how comfortable I felt in front of a classroom of 24 high school students. In reflecting, I know it was because of the nerves I conquered with teaching my peers.
3. Feedback
This was not my first experience receiving positive and negative feedback. Athletics prepared me well for that, but having to give feedback was an art I had the opportunity to practice all semester. Reflective feedback that was constructive, sensitive, and timely was an area I improved in. As the semester progressed I was able to generate more thorough feedback because of the practice I had. Everyone receives feedback differently and I tried to adapt the way I worded certain comments for different members of my cohort just the same as having to know my students enough to adapt to them as well.
Personal Growth:
1. Tools in the Toolbox
Without the lab to apply our learnings from AEE412, I would have be a narrow minded teacher. I envision I would have learned these different types of ways to teach lessons as something taught but never applied because I would forget or be nervous to try them. I would most likely resort back to how I was taught throughout high school. Lab gave me the opportunity to apply learning and styles, feel comfortable doing, and get excited about the variety I have to choose from.
2. Reflective Practitioner
The theme throughout this blog is practice and experience will result in success and meaning. Reflection follows this theme. Reflection requires practice, that I started awhile ago in athletics that I did not realize, and again in Mississippi on the DSA trip. The questions of WHAT HAPPENED, WHY, and WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE are all important for successful reflection to occur. I want to develop reflective mindsets in my students because it will result in an increased ownership of their individual learning processes.
To The Future and Beyond...
1. Hand pick lab groups
2. Give feedback on lesson plans
3. If time allows, keep discussing lab performance after each person. It is nice to hear and discuss the feedback verses just reading it.
4. Make sections bigger - more feedback and more students to teach is more realistic
5. At the beginning of the semester, take time to teach best practices of giving feedback
BECOV
One of the principles we discussed early on were the 5 Characteristics of Effective teaching by Roshenshine and Furst. While developing and teaching my lessons these were where my sights were set. The video below is a mash-up of a few of my labs highlighting my strongest characteristic of enthusiasm. This is an innate characteristic of my personality but, as I learned, there is a time, place, and appropriate level to incorporate enthusiasm.
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