Well, look at us. Finally coming to the end of the course. I love the consistency that these ETE courses have. While reading through the chapter, I couldn't help but think of my ETE 371 course that I took last year. While we covered many of the same strategies as were discussed in the chapter, this book really breaks it down quite nicely. When I think about how quickly we covered all of that material in a 2-week course, it makes me glad to have this refresher so close to student teaching.
Anyway, let's move on to the reflection, shall we? One of the things that really stood out to me was how each example of student assessment had both an "advantages" and a "disadvantages" paragraph. Because, truth be told, there is no perfect assessment; at least not one that I have found. It's important to know the pluses and minuses that go along with each type of assessment so that we can plan accordingly, and apply what we know about our students to the type of test we choose. When it really comes down to it, I think that choosing the appropriate assessment strategy should depend significantly on what will work best for our students, and less about what is easiest or most convenient for us as teachers.
Secondly, I really enjoyed the breakdown of creating assessments based on the objectives that we write. I feel like this should have been obvious to me, but it really wasn't. When I was novice teaching, I wrote a couple of tests over the Civil War. At the time, I thought they were good tests—and they were for the most part. But, looking back, I didn't do enough to align the assessment with the objectives. My objectives were full of take-aways that I hoped the students would get; the tests were just about "how much do you remember?" What a poor assessment. It makes me wish I would have taken this course before I novice taught in a middle school. While I scored high marks, I don't know that I benefited the students near as much as I thought I did.
Overall, I really enjoyed this chapter in what it pointed out to me: no test is perfect, plan accordingly, and never settle for what's easy. While none of us is embarking on this new path so that we can kick our feet up as we copy and paste lessons from year to year, I can guarantee we've all had teachers in our lives who didn't plan lessons/assessments according to us as students, and definitely keep things fresh in the classroom. Let's all strive to not be that kind of teacher.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Chapter Six
I found this chapter very interesting. For starters, it really breaks down the lesson planning process, but more specifically, I love how they discussed learning objectives.
In my own experience, I've made the faults pointed out in the book—my objectives did not focus enough on what I wanted the students to be able to do. That's a very good point. After all, the purpose of that segment revolves around teacher communication. As I've stated in the past, communicating effectively with your students is crucial to their effective understanding and completion of the tasks expected. Looking back, I never knew anything at all about lesson plans when I was in school. I like that the authors eluded to the lesson plan being publicly available to the students and their parents, because it will allow the intentions and objectives to be known up front. This can only help the students meet expectations more effectively in my opinion.
Also, the rationale aspect was something that I've never really seen previously in other classes, but it's so true! I've been asked in the past, "Why do we have to know this?!" and have been unprepared with an effective answer. But when we include that rationale right into the lesson plan process, the reasons why become obvious (at least to us). But, just as importantly, we will already have an answer to the question when it arises.
On that point, I don't blame the student for asking the question! I know I've asked it in the past myself and, to be honest, I don't know that I've ever needed to use algebraic formulas in my every day life. Sometimes the reasons why we have to do something is not always obvious. When a student asks that question, we can oftentimes take it the wrong way. Maybe a teacher will just view the student as lazy, or possibly entitled. The truth, however, is that we are asking the student to devote time and attention to what we are doing, and their time is just as valuable as our own time. They have a right to know that their time is not being wasted, and that what we are doing has value. After all, if we can't justify that point, then maybe we are just wasting their time as well as ours.
Overall, I thought the lesson planning process they have laid out was incredibly straight forward and offers a somewhat step-by-step guide (even though it isn't really step-by-step like that). Regardless, it breaks the planning portion down into easy to understand sections, and that's something that works well for me and brain.
In my own experience, I've made the faults pointed out in the book—my objectives did not focus enough on what I wanted the students to be able to do. That's a very good point. After all, the purpose of that segment revolves around teacher communication. As I've stated in the past, communicating effectively with your students is crucial to their effective understanding and completion of the tasks expected. Looking back, I never knew anything at all about lesson plans when I was in school. I like that the authors eluded to the lesson plan being publicly available to the students and their parents, because it will allow the intentions and objectives to be known up front. This can only help the students meet expectations more effectively in my opinion.
Also, the rationale aspect was something that I've never really seen previously in other classes, but it's so true! I've been asked in the past, "Why do we have to know this?!" and have been unprepared with an effective answer. But when we include that rationale right into the lesson plan process, the reasons why become obvious (at least to us). But, just as importantly, we will already have an answer to the question when it arises.
On that point, I don't blame the student for asking the question! I know I've asked it in the past myself and, to be honest, I don't know that I've ever needed to use algebraic formulas in my every day life. Sometimes the reasons why we have to do something is not always obvious. When a student asks that question, we can oftentimes take it the wrong way. Maybe a teacher will just view the student as lazy, or possibly entitled. The truth, however, is that we are asking the student to devote time and attention to what we are doing, and their time is just as valuable as our own time. They have a right to know that their time is not being wasted, and that what we are doing has value. After all, if we can't justify that point, then maybe we are just wasting their time as well as ours.
Overall, I thought the lesson planning process they have laid out was incredibly straight forward and offers a somewhat step-by-step guide (even though it isn't really step-by-step like that). Regardless, it breaks the planning portion down into easy to understand sections, and that's something that works well for me and brain.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Chapter Five
I know the bulk of the chapter was about the different taxonomies, and
learning to engage the students senses, but I've had all that before. So
I wanted to focus on the aspects of the chapter that were new to me. I'd never really seen curriculum broken down to that degree. It's one of those things I had always just assumed was "what we teach." Turns out, there's a lot more to it than that. One thing that I really found interesting was the differences between overt and covert learning. Not because it was new and fascinating, but because it was something I had never really considered.
Think about it: how do we know if our students truly understand something? We can ask them questions to try and wring some information out of them, but is that just knowing, or is that actual understanding? What is understanding anyway? There are a lot of movies I've seen that I could explain to you, but that doesn't mean I understood them at all. It's hard to find that line, and I'm not sure that it will always be obvious. It's true that our assessments should be designed to pinpoint these various levels of grasp, but I don't know how well I'll be able to do that early on. It'll take time, but I'm sure we can get there with a little help.
Which brings me to my next point: getting help. I love that the authors encourage collaboration between teachers, and even between subjects! Most textbooks have encouraged us to find a mentor in the school while we are still educational saplings, but never have they spent as much time on collaboration like Mr. and Mrs. Kellough. I think this is incredibly important, and it's one of the first pieces of advice I got my from CT when I was novice teaching; always collaborate! He would even try to work in the vocabulary words from their Language Arts class into the History lessons just so students could hear them more often and associate new meaning. It was a brilliant move, but it was also a great example of how teachers in different specialties can work together to help each other.
Think about it: how do we know if our students truly understand something? We can ask them questions to try and wring some information out of them, but is that just knowing, or is that actual understanding? What is understanding anyway? There are a lot of movies I've seen that I could explain to you, but that doesn't mean I understood them at all. It's hard to find that line, and I'm not sure that it will always be obvious. It's true that our assessments should be designed to pinpoint these various levels of grasp, but I don't know how well I'll be able to do that early on. It'll take time, but I'm sure we can get there with a little help.
Which brings me to my next point: getting help. I love that the authors encourage collaboration between teachers, and even between subjects! Most textbooks have encouraged us to find a mentor in the school while we are still educational saplings, but never have they spent as much time on collaboration like Mr. and Mrs. Kellough. I think this is incredibly important, and it's one of the first pieces of advice I got my from CT when I was novice teaching; always collaborate! He would even try to work in the vocabulary words from their Language Arts class into the History lessons just so students could hear them more often and associate new meaning. It was a brilliant move, but it was also a great example of how teachers in different specialties can work together to help each other.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Chapter Four
Rules and Procedures seems pretty straight forward. It's dealing with disruptive behavior that seems daunting to me going into the classroom. There are a lot of useful strategies here, many of which I learned in ETE 345 as well, but I still have this nagging anxiety about it. I know that, as a teacher, I will have to expect misbehavior to occur at some point in my career. After reading this, it seems like the best way to avoid as much misbehavior as possible is to plan accordingly.
Procedures are important. Something not mentioned extensively in the text is that students should be a part of the rule-making process. I like that the book mentioned starting with only a few core rules (i.e. be respectful, don't just leave class, don't steal things, etc.), but then I think the class needs to have a discussion about what the students feel is important enough to be included in the rules and procedures. I think it helps the students to feel like they are an important part of the class and it helps students to feel included and respected.
Either way, I think the most important aspect of effectively controlling a classroom is to create a friendly, inviting environment, where students feel safe and respected. As teachers, we should all be trying to foster an environment where students can put their best self forward. The authors have pointed out that the majority of misbehavior is due to students' needs not being met. Whether it's the result of a student finishing their work quickly and having nothing else to get them through the end of class, or whether it's the result of a student not having an interest in the subject, it's important that we consider our students when planning lessons and activities. Sometimes the best/easiest way to teach a lesson is not the same as the best way to learn the lesson from the perspective of the student.
One last point I want to make that I particularly enjoyed is the section where they discussed "why do we have to do this?" I thought it was very poignant that they pointed out the importance of not brushing such inquiries off, because it's a legitimate question that opens up opportunities to explore the importance of our subject matter and material. Never brush this question off. If it was important enough to the student for them to challenge the lesson in that way, then it's important enough to be addressed. Sometimes just discussing why a lesson is important opens up so many new doors to create future lessons and learning opportunities for all involved. I love when students ask me this question, and I'm glad the authors addressed it in the chapter.
Procedures are important. Something not mentioned extensively in the text is that students should be a part of the rule-making process. I like that the book mentioned starting with only a few core rules (i.e. be respectful, don't just leave class, don't steal things, etc.), but then I think the class needs to have a discussion about what the students feel is important enough to be included in the rules and procedures. I think it helps the students to feel like they are an important part of the class and it helps students to feel included and respected.
Either way, I think the most important aspect of effectively controlling a classroom is to create a friendly, inviting environment, where students feel safe and respected. As teachers, we should all be trying to foster an environment where students can put their best self forward. The authors have pointed out that the majority of misbehavior is due to students' needs not being met. Whether it's the result of a student finishing their work quickly and having nothing else to get them through the end of class, or whether it's the result of a student not having an interest in the subject, it's important that we consider our students when planning lessons and activities. Sometimes the best/easiest way to teach a lesson is not the same as the best way to learn the lesson from the perspective of the student.
One last point I want to make that I particularly enjoyed is the section where they discussed "why do we have to do this?" I thought it was very poignant that they pointed out the importance of not brushing such inquiries off, because it's a legitimate question that opens up opportunities to explore the importance of our subject matter and material. Never brush this question off. If it was important enough to the student for them to challenge the lesson in that way, then it's important enough to be addressed. Sometimes just discussing why a lesson is important opens up so many new doors to create future lessons and learning opportunities for all involved. I love when students ask me this question, and I'm glad the authors addressed it in the chapter.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Chapter Three
There was so much information in this chapter that it left my head spinning. I've had assignments involving questioning before, but this is the first time that I've seen it broken down to this degree. One thing that really caught my attention was how much the levels of questioning aligned with Bloom's Taxonomy. I can't imagine that was a coincidence. It's important that we align our questions with these objectives so that we can systematically build our inquiries in difficulties.
I think that the Socratic method discussed in the chapter has a lot to do with that building of questioning. Socrates started out with simple questions for his students, but he continued to build "whys" as he moved through the progression of questions. While we don't have to imitate Socrates all the time, it's important to use this type of questioning with students because it forces them to constantly evaluate their own answers. Look at it like this: we start with "in the box" questions about a subject, then we move to "out of the box" questions which require a student to support the answer, then we move to "about the box" questions that require the student to evaluate why they believe what they believe. This might be fairly new in the scope of educational questioning, but this was the Socratic method. It's still just as relevant today as it was then.
I love this concept. Looking back on my own schooling, questions too often focused on what we knew. At the highest level, we were only required to offer evidence to support our argument. But rarely, if ever, were we required to think about why we held certain beliefs or ideas. To put that into curriculum based examples, I remember learning about the Civil War in History class. We were always asked to identify the causes, but only on a basic level. It would result in answers like, "The North wanted to abolish slavery so the South rebelled." The effect was always war. But as I got older and started to really think deeply about the subject, I learned that the causes dated back decades—even as early as the War of 1812—and the effect wasn't always war. To move that to the highest level of thinking, I began questioning whether war really was unavoidable as I had been taught.
When you begin to see these examples on your own, it makes you begin to question a lot of what you've learned. If we can get our students doing this early on, we can really have amazing conversations about History. We can encourage students to think about what they've learned and whether they really believe what they believe. It can cause students to come forward with amazing questions, and can spark some very in depth conversations in the classroom. This is the highest level of thinking to me. It's about encouraging our students to question what they know and understand themselves better in the process. I think that's what the authors were eluding to in this chapter. They may have only discussed questioning, but the end result is always a better understanding of the world around them.
I think that the Socratic method discussed in the chapter has a lot to do with that building of questioning. Socrates started out with simple questions for his students, but he continued to build "whys" as he moved through the progression of questions. While we don't have to imitate Socrates all the time, it's important to use this type of questioning with students because it forces them to constantly evaluate their own answers. Look at it like this: we start with "in the box" questions about a subject, then we move to "out of the box" questions which require a student to support the answer, then we move to "about the box" questions that require the student to evaluate why they believe what they believe. This might be fairly new in the scope of educational questioning, but this was the Socratic method. It's still just as relevant today as it was then.
I love this concept. Looking back on my own schooling, questions too often focused on what we knew. At the highest level, we were only required to offer evidence to support our argument. But rarely, if ever, were we required to think about why we held certain beliefs or ideas. To put that into curriculum based examples, I remember learning about the Civil War in History class. We were always asked to identify the causes, but only on a basic level. It would result in answers like, "The North wanted to abolish slavery so the South rebelled." The effect was always war. But as I got older and started to really think deeply about the subject, I learned that the causes dated back decades—even as early as the War of 1812—and the effect wasn't always war. To move that to the highest level of thinking, I began questioning whether war really was unavoidable as I had been taught.
When you begin to see these examples on your own, it makes you begin to question a lot of what you've learned. If we can get our students doing this early on, we can really have amazing conversations about History. We can encourage students to think about what they've learned and whether they really believe what they believe. It can cause students to come forward with amazing questions, and can spark some very in depth conversations in the classroom. This is the highest level of thinking to me. It's about encouraging our students to question what they know and understand themselves better in the process. I think that's what the authors were eluding to in this chapter. They may have only discussed questioning, but the end result is always a better understanding of the world around them.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Totally forgot the introduction!
I'm excited to dive into this class. Considering I'm already two chapters in, I kind of know what to expect, which is to learn a lot. I did my novice teaching in a middle school, and I wish I had taken this class first. While the experience went well, and was rewarding for me as a teacher, I think I could have made it that much better if I had known all of this going into it. Anyway, looking forward to being here and taking away many valuable lessons. A little about myself: I'm not a traditional student.
Becoming a teacher was a new and unexpected journey for me. I worked in the corporate world for over eight years. I started in graphic design, moved into marketing, and eventually became Director of Communications for a local non-profit until 2007 when donations took a hit. After that, I worked at Cat in their marketing department, spending my days trapped in front a computer working in dealer support. After less than a year there, I was ready to be done with marketing all together lest I go insane—at least marketing in the corporate world. I made the irrational decision to quit and live off of my savings for nearly nine months. During that time, I volunteered with a Bloomington-based non-profit called GOYA. They had a need, and I was able to fill it. It wasn't a paid position, but it was one of the most fulfilling jobs I'd ever had, and one I still volunteer for today. My job was to create and implement fund raising strategies, and create the materials necessary to spread the word of our organization.
As a company, we adopted the slum of Mitumba, outside of Nairobi, Kenya. We raised funds vigorously and, within the first year had dug three fresh water wells, built a medical facility, and teamed up with the ISU Mennonite College of Nursing to send nurses and doctors to Mitumba three times a year to treat the nearly 10,000 people that live there.
After only three years, we were able to build an elementary school and middle school, train teachers, and create nearly 100 jobs for the residents of Mitumba. My final hurrah there was moving forward on building a high school. In Kenya, high schools are traditionally boarding schools, which meant that we would have to hire staff to stay on the grounds 24/7, provide three meals a day, and have a dedicated medical facility on the grounds. The total cost of the project to build it, staff it, and maintain it for one year, was $250,000. Pennies by American standards for a school, but that's a fortune in Kenya. After nearly 20 months of working, we were finally able to purchase the land and begin construction on the school. It's still not open yet, but we are getting closer every day.
That's a really long way of explaining why teaching is such an unexpected adventure. Making this jump into uncharted territory has been exciting and scary for the past four years. Honestly, my work with GOYA is why I'm here today. After working on this project, and spending so much time discussing education, meeting with teachers, and seeing the change a good education could bring, I knew I had to teach. I knew it was going to be the best way for me to use my knowledge and experiences, and hopefully inspire other people to close their eyes and jump. Sometimes we don't always know where we'll land, but that's okay. If I can use my experiences to inspire other people to jump too, then this will all have been worth it.
Anyway, that's my introduction.
Becoming a teacher was a new and unexpected journey for me. I worked in the corporate world for over eight years. I started in graphic design, moved into marketing, and eventually became Director of Communications for a local non-profit until 2007 when donations took a hit. After that, I worked at Cat in their marketing department, spending my days trapped in front a computer working in dealer support. After less than a year there, I was ready to be done with marketing all together lest I go insane—at least marketing in the corporate world. I made the irrational decision to quit and live off of my savings for nearly nine months. During that time, I volunteered with a Bloomington-based non-profit called GOYA. They had a need, and I was able to fill it. It wasn't a paid position, but it was one of the most fulfilling jobs I'd ever had, and one I still volunteer for today. My job was to create and implement fund raising strategies, and create the materials necessary to spread the word of our organization.
As a company, we adopted the slum of Mitumba, outside of Nairobi, Kenya. We raised funds vigorously and, within the first year had dug three fresh water wells, built a medical facility, and teamed up with the ISU Mennonite College of Nursing to send nurses and doctors to Mitumba three times a year to treat the nearly 10,000 people that live there.
After only three years, we were able to build an elementary school and middle school, train teachers, and create nearly 100 jobs for the residents of Mitumba. My final hurrah there was moving forward on building a high school. In Kenya, high schools are traditionally boarding schools, which meant that we would have to hire staff to stay on the grounds 24/7, provide three meals a day, and have a dedicated medical facility on the grounds. The total cost of the project to build it, staff it, and maintain it for one year, was $250,000. Pennies by American standards for a school, but that's a fortune in Kenya. After nearly 20 months of working, we were finally able to purchase the land and begin construction on the school. It's still not open yet, but we are getting closer every day.
That's a really long way of explaining why teaching is such an unexpected adventure. Making this jump into uncharted territory has been exciting and scary for the past four years. Honestly, my work with GOYA is why I'm here today. After working on this project, and spending so much time discussing education, meeting with teachers, and seeing the change a good education could bring, I knew I had to teach. I knew it was going to be the best way for me to use my knowledge and experiences, and hopefully inspire other people to close their eyes and jump. Sometimes we don't always know where we'll land, but that's okay. If I can use my experiences to inspire other people to jump too, then this will all have been worth it.
Anyway, that's my introduction.
Chapter Two
Dang! Talk about some valuable information! The entire section on using technology, field trips, guest speakers, etc., was fantastic! I remember when I was young, and we took a field trip to visit Lincoln's Cabin in Springfield. It was a fun trip, but it wasn't educational. I didn't notice at the time, but I've thought about it recently. Just last year, my oldest daughter took the same field trip. When I asked her what she learned, she didn't have much to say. There was no discussion afterward, no real take-aways. It was like the whole point of the field trip was to just go somewhere new.
It's important for us as teachers to remember that everything can be a lesson. Field trips aren't just fun outings, they're a way to teach something new. Guest speakers are a great way to let the students interact with experts on certain topics. When it comes to guest speakers, they can be effective if done right. I think it's important to prep students on what they're going to hear about, discuss some of the preconceived ideas about the topic, and encourage students to ask questions. It's just as important to bring in a guest speaker that can help to facilitate this process seamlessly, so that the guest speaker becomes a part of the lesson and not just an off-topic lecture.
Lastly, I really enjoyed reading about the various philosophies of teaching. To me, the teaching methods seemed to just be a reflection of the kind of person the teacher is. If they lecture a lot, maybe they don't like challenges or maybe they just like to talk a lot. It was interesting to see this type of philosophy related to what the teacher seeks from the students. In the case of lecturing, the instructor is seeking to introduce new ideas into the subconscious. That's a different way of looking at it than I had previously thought. It helps to explain why lecturing can be an effective tool sometimes as well; it helps to introduce new ideas. It doesn't mean we can't discuss them, just that the material needs to be taught before it can be discussed. Yes, I know this is combining the two ideas.
Really, the cognitive-experimental does seem to incorporate these two ideas though. I think that's why I related so much to that. This style allows for so much variation in teaching strategy, and allows the students to really grasp those "big picture" ideas as opposed to just remembering whatever the teacher said. It's interesting to think about the classes I've enjoyed the most/least, and compare the teaching style to these philosophies. It makes me realize a lot more about myself than I had expected going into this chapter.
It's important for us as teachers to remember that everything can be a lesson. Field trips aren't just fun outings, they're a way to teach something new. Guest speakers are a great way to let the students interact with experts on certain topics. When it comes to guest speakers, they can be effective if done right. I think it's important to prep students on what they're going to hear about, discuss some of the preconceived ideas about the topic, and encourage students to ask questions. It's just as important to bring in a guest speaker that can help to facilitate this process seamlessly, so that the guest speaker becomes a part of the lesson and not just an off-topic lecture.
Lastly, I really enjoyed reading about the various philosophies of teaching. To me, the teaching methods seemed to just be a reflection of the kind of person the teacher is. If they lecture a lot, maybe they don't like challenges or maybe they just like to talk a lot. It was interesting to see this type of philosophy related to what the teacher seeks from the students. In the case of lecturing, the instructor is seeking to introduce new ideas into the subconscious. That's a different way of looking at it than I had previously thought. It helps to explain why lecturing can be an effective tool sometimes as well; it helps to introduce new ideas. It doesn't mean we can't discuss them, just that the material needs to be taught before it can be discussed. Yes, I know this is combining the two ideas.
Really, the cognitive-experimental does seem to incorporate these two ideas though. I think that's why I related so much to that. This style allows for so much variation in teaching strategy, and allows the students to really grasp those "big picture" ideas as opposed to just remembering whatever the teacher said. It's interesting to think about the classes I've enjoyed the most/least, and compare the teaching style to these philosophies. It makes me realize a lot more about myself than I had expected going into this chapter.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)