Surprise!

I think the biggest surprise I've had throughout my whole graduate experience is my ability to achieve the high standards expected from me by my professors. Being a returning student with a family creates a lot of distractions. I think my determination to perform at such a dedicated level has both impressed and surprised me.

Putting It Into Words

In order to tell you what I've learned about being a teacher, I would have to write a book. It begins with the smallest of conversations in the classroom and goes to the implementation of one of my lessons. In fact, I want my life to be full of learning. The social interactions we had as a class helped me a great deal to learn about others, create presentations and stand up in front of everyone to present. Having Dr. Smirnova as a professor also brought a different perspective to the world of teaching. When I learned about why Dr. Smirnova became such a technology expert, I realized that if you take what you have learned, you can create a any type of positive learning environment for your students.

Change is Good

I am definitely different today than at the start of this semester. When I entered this class, I had no idea what Methods of teaching was all about. I had no clue on how to deliver the information to the students. By exploring and actually creating a lesson plan on each method of instruction, I not only found out how to do the lessons but when to use each one. This Methods class has given me the tools to draw from when I need to prepare a lesson.

Because of Me

I hope that I have had an impact on students and that they remember what I have taught them. There have been people like that in my life - you know...that one sentence or "Aha" moment that sticks with you. Most of my observations up to this point have been only observing, but I love being able to teach students something that they can use to make their learning easier. I always try to get to know the children that I work with. I like to know their background. In the video that Dr. S provided to us, and the title has escaped me at the moment, the speaker who was a professor, said that he had no idea one of his students was sleeping in his car. He asked, in essence, how can that be good for your focus, concentration, your ability to do well in school? How can you not learn about your students? They all bring something different with them. You have to have an interest in your students.

In addition to getting to know the students, I have introduced a great deal of strategies and activities from dipthongs to comprehension. I love seeing the looks on the students faces when they get it. You just know you've done something wonderful. The most recent lesson I taught was called "Get the Gist." It is a comprehension strategy that I worked on with a student who is having trouble comprehending text. At the end of the lesson, he said, "That was hard, but it was fun!" He worked really hard on this strategy and we applied it and repeated it until he got it, and although I made him work at it, he enjoyed it and he learned. It was hard for me during the lesson because I didn't think what I had planned was "good enough," but after hearing his response I knew it did!

I believe that I have helped my peers with technology questions both in Curricular Planning and General Methods. I love to show people what I've found out because I remember how I learned it. I was asking the same questions and now I can teach others!

I am so excited to Student Teach in January. To actually be in a classroom where I am responsible for the creativity, learning, growth in order to make a difference in these children's lives is what I have worked so hard for.

A Day in the Life of an Information Processing Chid

After reading and watching the posted video-clips, it is obvious to me why Direct Instruction isn't enough in the classroom. The Long Island Children's Museum video actually brought tears to my eyes for some reason. I loved the look on the children's faces when they could touch, smell and be a part of the learning. Unfortunately, when I was a child I don't ever remember many places like that. It seems to me it was more like, "Do this because I said so and don't touch that." What amazing discoveries children can experience today! By allowing children to actively construct their own knowledge, they learn! The teacher's role as a guide on the side as they engage, explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate together with the student, allows them to build on prior knowledge and experience new understandings. We all learn by modifying our knowledge. However, when we use the IPM, learning becomes an evolving process that we build on. There is no way that Direct Instruction could touch or affect children the way the IPM does.

I"ll Take One DI Lesson And One WebQuest To Go Please

I have to admit that creating this Direct Instruction lesson plan and plugging away at the WebQuest requires a lot of hard work and research. They must both be very detailed. I never realized the amount of research that is needed for each. I have found that you have to play them out in your head. You must go through it as if you were actually teaching it, but then you must also act as the student to see if what you are teaching can be understood and flows in a natural manner. Hopefully with experience, these type of issues can be resolved.

Write a Direct Lesson Plan the Right Way

I have discovered that the overview in a direct lesson plan must contain exact wording. You must state the 3 W's - Why you are teaching it? How you will teach it? and What the lesson is about? I have chosen the topic of photosynthesis as this directly relates to my Webquest which will deal with Native American crops/planting. I think that this will be a good introductory lesson to show the students how plants grow and what affects them. I can't wait to use an interactive tool that I found on this topic. I think the students will love it.

This Is What I've Been Waiting For!

I have been growing since the day I was born. I have grown as a daughter, a wife, a mother, a student and now a teacher. I have combined my strengths from all of these roles and now use them as a kind of backbone to assume the role of teacher. Besides becoming knowledgeable about all of the methods in education, I have noticed that my learning style has changed. It is no longer pen, book and paper. The world of technology brings about a new learning style that is different, yet very exciting. The options available to a 21st Century teacher seem endless at this point and I'm sure they will continue to grow. I enjoy listening to videos made by teachers around the world. The perspectives are so colorful. So, this is what I've been waiting for. I have been waiting to see how a teacher works, talks, demonstrates, models, checks for understanding, analyzes, and watches. This is the good stuff that will be embedded in my brain when I walk into my first classroom. It is my expanding knowledge of education.

Read All About It.....

This past month has been one of most in depth learning experiences thus far in my education courses. I have enjoyed learning about models, strategies, approaches, but perhaps the most exciting is learning about all the different types of instruction. I compare Direct Instruction to building a house (of knowledge). The activities of getting to know each other and collaborating within our groups have been contributing to the base of a strong foundation among my peers and instructor. Each week, we build on that foundation with the framework of Methods. I have learned a great deal about Direct Instruction through the explaining, modeling and demonstrating which is done in class. The videos by Dr. Ybarra were all very informative, but I think the 24 questions per 50 minute class really surprised me. It makes sense to do this to check for understanding and to not use it for anything else but as an end toward automaticity (not discipline.) I also loved Zig Engelmann's approach to Direct Instruction. He says, "If they're learning, that's all that really counts." If students don't struggle that doesn't mean that they are not learning, they are being taught in a way that they can exceed the teacher's challenges. A child's behavior will change when you have made a difference. Their self-esteem, confidence and how they approach learning new skills will be positively affected. Teaching in small steps and cyclically checking for understanding, ensures that your students will learn.