Reflection 7

In order to be a good teacher, we must assess the students knowledge. Testing is an essential part of good classroom management. If the student knows he won't be tested on anything that the teacher presents, he won't listen, thus creating an environment that in not conducive to learning. I know that a good teacher tests while he is teaching, and also at the end. Testing also shows what the students are learning if one student gets a question wrong then that was his fault for not listening, but if the whole class gets it wrong then that was my fault as a teacher and i either didn't present it well enough or forgot to include in in the lecture. Testing and assessment are essential.

Reflection 12

This week we taught the students in the 6th grade class. Overall I think it went very well. Everyone in our group was well prepared and our lesson went on without a hitch. I learned from this experience a number of different things. First off you have to tailor your lesson to each individual student. We had some students in which English wasn't' their first language, so they didn't participate as much as the other students. There were the obvious smart students that knew the answer to everything and would be very involved, there were the outgoing students that wanted to participate but didn't always know the answer, then there was the shy students who would hardly participate. WE had to make sure all the students were actively learning. Also while I was teaching I understood about group work and good classroom management. Overall these student were well behaved and listened to what we had to say. I thought it was an enjoyable experience, but i will still be teaching highschool. :)

Reflection 11

This week since we didn't have class due to the other groups teaching at the elementary schools, our group met to finalize our lesson plan. We will be teaching the day after we get back from Thanksgiving break so we needed to make sure everything was in order. We worked together then broke up into our individual groups we would be teaching with. i taught with Ashley and we prepared our worksheet that told the kids what to look for while doing their assignment of producing a commercial about their idea to innovate an idea to improve the school. We also went over our slides and how we would present them effectively so that all the students would be able to understand. I think that we needed this extra time to get everything together. I know understand how much preparation goes into each individual lesson.

Relection 10

For this week in class we came together as our groups for teaching the 6th grade class. In our group we were assigned to come up with an idea to teach the students. This proved to be harder than I thought. With 8 people in our group, each being very different and having different opinions, we couldn't agree on an idea. Everyone thought their idea was best, or would shoot down the others ideas without providing an alternative. I learned from this activity how important a leader is in group work, not only in the learning environment but in the professional world. In the end Geoff had to come and talk us through, he became the leader, and everyone finally agreed on the topic. We then broke up into smaller groups, giving the freedom to each group to teach their individual topic how they would like. I learned that you need to give people assignment and take control or else nothing will ever get done. Working together as a group is something we will be teaching and we need to know how to do it ourselves, so that we in turn can explain and help the students that will be in our groups and emphasize the importance of a leader in the group. Also the other students need to be helpful and positive.

Reflection 9

Today in class we had several more student teach the STL's. I learned the following about becoming a better teacher based on their instructional methods:
Write new vocab on the board - everyone won't know how to spell it or remember what it means
Be specific with activities and times - sometimes activities take longer that you expect, tell them and make sure they stay on task.
Don't let them form own groups - kids form clicks and some kids don't have friends.
Mass confusion - no one will want to form groups with people they don't know
Have enough worksheets - if someone doesn't get a worksheet they won't know what to do
Don't have distractions on slides like a dinosaur unrelated
Data - be specific on numbers, be accurate, don't exaggerate facts
Make sure everyone understands the terms used.
Body language
Set up activity
Don't be too quick with responses
Double teaching, class room management

I think that I can improve on all of these thing which in turn will make me a better teacher.

Reflection 8

While in class watching the other students teach, I noticed most people lectured rather than taught. We talked about the difference. We learned that we shouldn't treat students as empty vessels, we should assume they already know something, and build on previous knowledge. But we also need to be careful not to go to fast, just because, one student or even half the students know something, it doesn't mean that the students that didn't raise their hands know. We should ask who knows, then make sure to have them or you explain what they already know. If they already know it, you shouldn't spend too much time on it.

Reflection 6

This week, I took notes while Geoff gave the people that presented their STL's in class. I wrote down everything that I thought I could do better, then today when I taught my STL on manufacturing I tried to integrate these things. I feel that my teaching experience went better than I've previously done. One additional thing I could have done was to tell the class what the game plan was. So that they knew better what we were doing. More details. These are the things I tried to do in my teaching:

When teaching
use media, board, hand outs for everyone. Involve class
Have a purpose, what am I supposed to learn
Test by asking questions
Have the goal on ppt.
Positive reinforcement praise
Why am I supposed to know this? This is why you guys need to know this. Today I want you to do this in order to do this.
Anticipatory set. the catch
Assessment test at end and through out

Why is this important?
Examples
Life with out this

Draw of previous experiences.. Who's done this
Walk around
Have class stand up and stretch at beginning if teaching last.