January 25, 2016
Today at school, I taught my very first reading lesson. In addition to that, my supervisor came to observe my lesson and she also videotaped me. I have to admit that despite all of that happening all at once, I didn’t feel nervous! I realize that this is only my second full week of taking over the lessons, but I feel very at ease with the children and with my cooperating teacher. She is so supportive! Though I didn’t feel nervous about teaching my first reading lesson, I felt that it could have gone a lot better. I got really positive feedback from both my supervisor and my cooperating teacher, but deep down I knew it wasn’t my strongest experience in front of a class. If I’m being true to myself, I felt as though my lack of success came from aspects of my planning that translated into my delivery. My lesson was about context clues. I was able to find a really nice graphic organizer that was intended to help the kids identify various types of context clues within texts. I started the lesson by gathering the students over at the carpet. I first introduced the five different types of context clues (using a definition, synonym, antonym, example, or inference). I think this part of my lesson went really well. The children seemed to be active and engaged, and their participation let me know that most students understood the concepts. I thought that I might have kept the students at the carpet for a little bit too long, but they seemed to do well with their focus despite the time. The second part of my lesson was where I felt it started to go downhill. I used the context clue examples that were suggested to use with the graphic organizer. Mistake! I think that if I had created my own examples, the lesson would have gone far better. I think that some of the examples provided with the graphic organizer were too vague. The children seemed to struggle with placing each of the context clues into the specific categories. I’m fairly certain that had I made my own examples from scratch, I could have done a better job in making the concepts more clear-cut for the students. I also used the “think, pair, share” strategy in my lesson. I feel that the students responded really well to this. Immediately after my lesson was over and I spoke with my supervisor, I expressed to her that I wished I had done this a few more times throughout the lesson! Reflection Looking back on this journal entry, I feel as though there is a lot I can say! First off, I’ll mention that the lesson I referred to within the journal entry was a lesson that I videotaped as a trial. A few days after I gave this lesson, I watched my video. Having the opportunity to view this lesson gave me a completely different perspective. Upon talking to my supervisor and cooperating teacher at the close of my lesson, I was distressed and felt it went terribly. Though they both reassured me that it went far better than I was expressing, I’ll admit that I did not believe them. However, upon viewing my video of the lesson some days later, I feel they were right. It went far better than I thought. The students were focused and seemed eager to participate. Many children were able to contribute valuable ideas to our conversation. In terms of the sentence examples I used within my lesson, I still feel that it would have been better to create my own examples. The students shared their understanding by answering my questions mostly accurately, but I feel that they would have left the lesson with a more solidified understanding if they were given more concrete and straightforward examples than the ones with which I provided them. I’ve learned a lot from this lesson. I think that the biggest thing I can take away is keeping my students in mind during preparation stage of a lesson. It’s essential to think of the needs and levels of the students in the classroom while developing a lesson. I should have done a better job thinking of how the students would interpret the context clue sentence examples ahead of time. Had I done this, I might have better predicted how the lesson would have been received and eliminated some of the uncertainty coming from the students. At the time, I think I was too concerned with the content of the lesson. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but thoughtfulness of both content and students must always be considered. This year’s insightful and engaging K12online conference was filled with exciting presentations from a multitude of presenters. One presenter who I found to be especially interesting was Mr. Samuel Wright from Daejeon, South Korea. The link to his presentation can be found here. Mr. Wright created a unit for his 5th grade students in which they were able to compose musical compositions inspired by the plots and characters of fairy tale stories. Mr. Wright was sure to include both familiar and unfamiliar fairy tale stories within his unit. The students began by merely listening to a multitude of different music. Next, they were able to create and compose by using live instruments in the classroom. Finally, they took their compositions to the next level by using technology. Mr. Wright and his students used platforms such as Garage Band, music apps on iPads, and iTunesU. His students were able to show their understanding and represent their feelings of chosen fairy tales through creation, collaboration, imagination, and the use of technology. Additionally, the students were able to vastly grow their musical vocabulary.
This presentation was so exciting for me to watch! Garage Band, which is one of the programs Mr. Wright utilized with his students, is one with which I am very familiar. However, it had never occurred to me to use Garage Band within an educational setting. This is such an innovative way to incorporate technology into learning. To an outside eye, it may have seemed that Mr. Wright's students were merely playing. Wrong! These students were invested in their thinking. The music they were making was forcing them to count, which incorporates math. Their collaborations forced them to work together, which develops social skills. The fairy tales from where they were finding their inspiration targeted both reading and writing. Additionally, the students used technology to provide both positive and constructive feedback to their classmates. In conjunction with verbal feedback, the children utilized an online platform to provide responses and reactions to other children in the form of online comments. As I am someone with an abundant passion for music, dance, and the arts, this activity is absolutely one that I would consider incorporating within my own classroom. I love the idea of getting the children up on their feet and allowing them to create. This is not a common occurrence in classrooms, so any opportunity for creation and imagination should be seized! I think one way to incorporate some of the technology we’re learned about during EDUC 611 would be for Mr. Wright to create a TED-Ed lesson plan out of his conference video. By doing this, he could provide his fellow educators with the specific tools and format needed to recreate his unique lesson with their own students. I very much enjoyed the formal of the K12online conference. I found the videos to be informative, easy to follow, and eye opening. What an amazing way for educators to attend an invaluable conference without having to travel, make scheduling accommodations, or spend money! I have added @K12online to my growing list of Twitter followers, and I am excited to stay connected with further updates and insight related to conferences in the future. Conference formats such as the one K12online uses are key for teachers to connect and network with others, get new and fresh ideas, and stay relevant in the ever-changing world of education. Five weeks ago, social media was a concept that I never connected with education. Not only did I never pair the two together, but also my narrow mindedness believed that social media tools were inappropriate for a classroom setting! I limited myself into equating social media with only Facebook and Instagram. Now, after only 5 weeks of exposure to new and exciting social media platforms, I see just how wrong I was. My eyes have been opened to a limitless amount of possibilities for incorporating social media into an elementary educational setting. I have begun to grow my very own personal learning network in order to include myself within an interactive learning community.
To start, I have been able to acknowledge that social media includes so much more than Facebook. The world of social media is complex and vast. It embodies an endless amount of websites, blogs, and tools that can enhance one’s educational experience. Some sites than I have grown a particular fondness for are Twitter, Linkedin, TED-Ed, and Classroom 2.0. I initially found Twitter to be a superficial platform for following friends and celebrities. I have now come to realize what a useful networking tool Twitter can be. I am following a number of accounts related to education. Some are elementary teachers’ personal accounts filled with exciting ideas and content such as @flourishingkids. Some are related to educational practices that I can use to help guide my own technique such as @robertjmarzano. I have also learned a range of appropriate strategies for students to weave Twitter into their learning through Leslie Anglesey’s article, 10 Ways Students Can Use Twitter for Paper Writing, such as allowing students to reach out to experts in the fields they are researching. Through familiarizing myself with social media tools such as Twitter, I am able to gain knowledge about how to cover the ISTE Standards within my educational practices. Through becoming more and more comfortable with various platforms for technology, I feel I am most able to encompass the ISTE teacher standard of designing and developing digital age learning experiences and assessments. Additionally, I have discovered the world of educational blogs. Through blogs, I am able to connect to and relate with fellow teachers, find fresh and exciting ideas for lesson plans, and even view video of other classrooms in action. Two blogs I have found especially useful for ideas, inspiration, and information are Mrs. D’s Corner and Corkboard Connections. The former has a vast variety of ideas for lessons and projects, while the latter provides resources, teacher tips, and connections to other educational networking sites. My own personal learning network, something I never even knew I had, is growing and developing by the moment. I am excited by the prospect of all that I will continue to learn from networking through many different social media sites. I will persist in finding many more platforms that can help me expand my ideas for the classroom and allow me to incorporate the ISTE standards within my teaching. One day soon, I hope to grow my PLN to include my very own blog where I am able to share lessons and ideas I’ve developed myself. |
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