The
authors provide a list of eight tips to let you know your lessons are
appropriately paced. Look at the list
and reflect on your teaching for the past few days. How many of these tips do you think apply to
your classroom? Describe which ones
you think apply and give examples.
I would like to believe that my lessons are engaging and that the students appear to be interested; however, there is always one or two that just don't want to pay attention regardless of how fun the lesson may be. One of my lessons was all about the United States of America and I provided multiple visuals. I always try to be as animated as possible when I read (and that is just me anyway). I feel like the students enjoy that time together on the carpet for story time. My book was There's a Map on My Lap! I think that the hardest thing is when students are so engaged that they want to stop for a longer discussion during the story and there is only so much time for each lesson. Everything is so time sensitive! What really amazes me is when there are students that you think aren't paying attention, but they know more than the students that appear to be more actively engaged. Wow! I know that time managment is what I struggle with the most; so, I am having my cooperating teacher time me. I will let her know prior to my lesson an estimated time and modify if needed. I can honestly say, "I am learning a lot!" ...and even though I am enhausted when I get home, I am enjoying first grade for the second time in my life (or third including field).
ReplyDeleteChristy I completely agree time management was one of my biggest issues. I went and bought a digital watch and continue to look at it through my lesson and I carry around a time schedule as well so I can always make sure that I am on time and know quickly how much time I have left. I have also noticed that some of my students that are "dazing" are the ones that are actually learning the most.
DeleteI agree with 100% of how tricky it can be when students want to share, but we know we only have so many minutes to teach the lesson. When you have the feeling that there are many students who want to share, a "turn and talk" is a wonderful way of giving many students at one time the opportunity to share. By doing this, everyone gets the opportunity to share in a short amount of time. Does anyone have any other ideas of how to deal with this?
DeleteI also have the problem of having to cut the discussion short because of time. My seventh period class loves to tell me stories. Most of the time, these stories have to do with what I am teaching them. I don't want to cut their stories off because I feel they are learning because they are connecting to the content but if I dont we run out of time. I created a lesson one day that let the students share their stories. I had students writing stories on their paper about a topic related to weather because we were covering weather. This gave them the opportunity to tell me their stories, learn about weather and practice their writing skills. I can't do this all the time but every once in a while it lets the students know that I want to hear about their stories.
DeleteWhen it comes to certain things, I am a very enthusiastic person. My enthusiasm is displayed through my facial expressions, hand/ body movements, and my voice. I have very good control of the tone of my voice. I know when I need to have the “mom” tone to my voice, when I don’t, and when I need to have a light and airy tone to my voice. Having enthusiasm and being able to control the tone of your voice are very big factors when it comes to teaching. During a lesson today that combined word wall words and math, the students were a little weary of the assignment. Once, I had modeled it for them on the overhead, they seemed a little more interested. (Of course there were that couple of kids who didn’t.) For those who didn’t seem too engaged, I went around to see why. I found out that a few of them just didn’t understand what they were supposed to do. So I briefly explained it to them by asking them questions. Once that light bulb flickered, they were off and running and had their whole sheet filled out. After a few minutes, I started calling on volunteers to come up and give us their word/ number models on the overhead. I noticed that we were having trouble with vowels and consonants. So I stopped and we wrote the vowels on the board. I had the students look over their papers to make sure they had counted the correct amount of vowels and consonants. Before we knew it, we were out of time. I transitioned them into getting their coats and book bags. For this lesson, I think I hit all of the pacing tips. Does this happen for every lesson though? No. I am definitely still learning and trying to incorporate everything I have learned into teaching every lesson. Even though I did hit the 8 tips, I still feel as if the lesson could have gone better. Maybe it’s just me. I certainly get joy out of teaching when I see a student’s light bulb turn on!
ReplyDeleteI can relate. I am really hard on myself when it comes to my lessons. I have a vision of how it should go; however, it doesn't always go as planned and it has left me
Deletefrustrated. Class management and time management is everthing! Trying to touch on all content areas is difficult. I feel that everything is so fast paced.
I think you also bring up the important notion of perception. It is so important for us to be perceptive of our students and how they feel so we can better meet their needs.
DeleteYes I definitely understand the tone of voice and how to go about it with your students. Sometimes you just want to scream and say STOP! Haha but obviously you cannot do that, and wouldn’t want to do that because it would break their hearts. So you just take a step back and realize that sometimes there is a need for the “mom” voice but also the fun loving teacher that they know and love. Also sometimes when the students don’t understand what you are trying to explain to them, you have to reevaluate yourself. This is the tricky part because it is all on the spot and has to be a lot better than the first time you explained it.
DeleteChristy, I best thing I think you can do is to not get frustrated. That will make things seem even worse. Think of the parts of the lesson that did go well and those that you would change to make that vision a reality but do not get frustrated with yourself. Unless you teach a lesson a few times, you are never going to get it exactly right, word-for-word, step-by-step, like you have planned it. There are always factors such as students questions, a nose-bleed, or even a bad explanation that can change your plan. :)
DeleteWhen I am teaching I think about how these students are viewing the lesson. My class is wonderful and although a few of them can be a little bit of a handful sometimes, they are all very smart and very active in their learning. I have noticed during our morning work that even before I can ask the question or get things going I have students with hands in the air. This active engagement is great because I don't feel like I have to constantly be pulling answers out of them, however this means time management is key for me. If I even let them get off track a little, I am pulling them back in because it starts a huge wave of story telling. I try and keep things moving by having multiple students going up to the board at a time, and then while I walk around the room I ask other students to share their answers while there are those at the board. This seems to help but I think there are just some days where no matter what you do your going to get off track and behind.
ReplyDeleteWhen I am teaching being enthusiastic is not a problem for me at all. I love teaching and my students can feel that teaching vibe coming from me. I know even have them saying or repeating catch phrases that I say because they enjoy it so much. I think this helps because you do have those few students who will fade off or who just wont want to pay attention. I am constantly moving and talking to my students want to pay attention. The other day it made me feel really good when I had a little girl in my class tell me that she remembered something I had taught because of what I said and that she would never forget it. It really made me feel like what I was doing was right.
I would have to say the biggest thing I need to work on is pacing and time management, and making sure that my requirements are presented in a kid friendly method for things like writing assignments. Other than that I think that I am really getting the hang of this teaching thing. HAHA
I think Arizona is going to be gaining a great, knowledgable and a well off teacher pretty soon. But I feel the same way as you do about the morning work and the stories. what I do is I limit the number of students that are going to comment about the morning literacy boards and I also tell them that I would liek to hear form different students. Once the LB is done everyone has had a turn to say something. Best of luck :)
DeletePassion is indeed very important, and it is not something that Edinboro University can teach you. Those of us who have true passion for the professional will do whatever it takes to make our lessons and our instruction effective. Not only is this passion evident, it is also contagious. Our students can feel our passion and become eager and motivated learners.
DeleteI have been running in the trouble with the whole timing thing but only with one of my blocks. I have a group of students for 30 minutes to cover LB's and homework and it usually takes between 12-20 minutes or so to go over everything, then 6 of the students from the group go to LS classroom and they cover Language Arts in that classroom while I go over LA in my classroom. Those students are gone for about an hour and that is enough time to cover our lesson in LA with the rest of the students. The issue is once they come back I have 15 minutes to talk about Social Studies and teach a whole lesson as well as go over the vocabulary (one day), reading the next, and worksheets and homeworks as well as reviews. out of the 21 students in the classroom there are 16 of them in that class that have IEP's and they move at a significantly slower pace than the first class. Its hard to keep the students focus on things that don't interest them much. I try to relate the material that we are reading to them somehow and for example this week we read and talked about Navajo Code talkers and we decoded things as well as talked about how learing a new language and not knowing something and how it might take them a long time to figure it out. I spoke Bosnian to the students and wanted them to think and see if they knew what I was talking about and of course they couldn't guess it and I said thats how the codes weren't be able to be broken by the Japanese becasuse they didn't know the language. I use a lot of hands on stuff with my students and the more they go over something the more it sticks. Writing needs lots of work so we have them write reviews and definitions as well as study guides on the same information and most of this is in their IEP's to get the repetition of the material and the test questions are pulled right from their study guide and the reviews.
ReplyDeleteHaving variety in our instruction is important because it allows us to reach the needs of all learners. You have implicitly addressed this. You also bring about the notion of different groups of students and how their needs might differ and how this might influence our time management differently. This is truly tricky when you are teaching more than one group of students.
DeleteIn my kindergarten classroom keeping the students engaged is always a key task. The students have a very short attention span, I have to be the most exciting and entertaining person in the room. The students love this, any silly thing you can do they fall in love with. I did shapes the one day for a lesson and I had these huge purple sunglasses. I called them my shape finder glasses and we did an activity with them. All of the students go to wear them and they giggled and laughed but they loved it. I try to get all of my students engaged in the lesson. Even if I am calling on one student I have other students in the class group respond with a hands up, thumbs up, or hands on your head. Anything to get all of my students involved. I have definitely been improving on my pacing, I realize that if I have twenty minutes to do a list of things I have to figure out how and what exactly I need to get done within those twenty minutes. I also make sure I am hitting my learning objectives which are the most important. I cannot believe that we only have two weeks left at our first placement. I have learned and gained so much from my co-op and from being in the classroom every day. I hope that everyone is having a wonderful experience and good luck with your last two weeks!
ReplyDeleteYes, it is flying by! I feel like the students in first grade are engaged in my lesson plans because it isn't the norm. I am learning that sticking to the lesson plan and objectives is mandatory; however, I am still searching for balance.
DeleteEngagement is key, and sometimes we feel like we are really actors just as much as we are teachers, but this is one of the things that really stands out to students; it is what they remember. I liked when you talked about how much time you had. I think knowing how much time you have and breaking your lesson into chunks is an excellent tool to help with pacing. I know that even when I teach in my classes, I break the two hours into increments to help me manage my time more effectively. It really helps!
DeleteThe glasses are an awesome idea. And, yes, I definitely agree, anything you can do to make them laugh, they will remember forever. I believe an effective classroom has to have humor in it.
DeleteI love the idea about the glasses and I think that it is very hard to keep kindergarten students engaged. They are always looking for the next thing and ready to move. Sounds like those glasses were an amazing trick and lots of fun. Might even have to borrow that idea from you since I go to kindergarten next. You are a great teacher Hannah and I know this from countless stories from students who have had you! Keep up the good work and great job!
DeleteWhen teaching Kindergarten I believe that everything they are learning is related to reallife situations because it is all a building block to what they will need in further education. Also actively engaging students is key because without that technique your students will be doing whatever they prefer and the class will be crazy. I think I have both of thoses tips down because I try to do different things with the students so its not the same thing each day and I try to explain how they can use this outside of the classroom. Teaching at each individual level is the most difficult I believe out of this section because each student is usually at a different level. I try to evaluate what students know in the beginning so I can base what I need to emphasize on and what is a review. I do have a few students that no matter what we are learning they are in a different planet, it seems like. Yesterday for example we learned about 2-d and 3-d shapes. This lesson lasted two days, so yesterday we reviewed from the previous day. Looked at several different examples and then played a game. I called on one student they had to name the shape correctly and I threw the foam shape to them. Then the student with the shape would come to the front and continue the process. We had five different shapes and this lasted for about 10 minutes as a exit slip. The shapes were all named and one student didn't have the chance to "hold" a shape. After several chances to name several different shapes, he finally was able to identify the name of one shape. I did use positive reinforcement when he finally knew the one shape. I usually am very enthusicastic especially when struggling students are able to reach the objective/goal. For example all the students think it is funny when I dance so when going through the sight words if everyone gets their word correct we have a 2 minute "dance party". I also try to be as excited as I can be when introducing a new lesson because I remember when I was in school if the teacher wasn't excited then I wanted no part of it. This book has become very helpful with the 3 sections that we have read so far.
ReplyDeleteThat is what I am talking about!!!!! Teaching should be fun!!!! Personality plus is what contributes to a positive classroom environment. I am certain that the Kindergarteners love your engaging lessons. Katie, I can count on one hand the teacher that have made a difference in my life and that makes me sad. I know exactly how you feel. You are going to be an amazing teacher! We are almost there! Hold on tight!
DeleteI am glad you have found the book to be helpful. When I read it, I thought it was such a valuable tool. I know student teaching is a very, very busy time for everyone but the lessons and tips presented in this book are so valuable. I truly appreciate everyone learning and growing together! I also love that it gives all of us an opportunity to come together and share. This is important to think about when you have your own classroom, too. Teaching can be such an isolated profession, but it is together, with each other, that we learn and grow.
DeleteI also find this book to be very helpful. It puts things in a perspective that you wouldn't normally think about. I really like the seventh section of this chapter. How to teach anything to anyone. They talk about establishing a relationship. I believe that establishing a relationship with your students is very important. By listening and paying attention to the lives of your students, you are showing them that you care about their lives. You can also use this to find out what they like to do and connect it to your lessons. Treat your students with respect and care about their well being and they will have respect for you and care about what you are trying to teach them. There are a lot of good tips in this book.
DeleteDuring lessons that I am teaching and I notice those couple of kids who are drifting, I'll say their name and tell them I am coming back to them. Example, "Mary, I'm coming back to you, listen to what the other students are thinking." Have a couple students share and then go back to that student. It seems to help a lot. Especially because you don't want to just throw them into the spotlight and embarrass them but it gives them the idea that I knew they weren't paying attention.
DeleteI like to get the students involved in my lessons as much as possible. I have learned that its good to chunk your lessons. Provide various activities within one lesson in order to break up th period and keep the students interested. If I have to lecture or give notes, I will only do it for so long and then I will give the students an activity to go along with what we just covered. I am learning to connect everything that we are learning. I have the same students in my math class as I do in my science class. We were covereing probability so I decided to tie it back to my lessons on meterology and how there is probability on predicting the weather. I taught a lesson yesterday on the different instruments used to predict the weather. The lesson went really fast because the students were interested and asking questions. At the end of the class, I had the students making their own anemometers. We finished the lesson with one minute to go. When I see that the class is not responding to my questions, I will try and rephrase them in a way that I think the students will better understand. I think the key to teaching is loving what you are doing. My teacher told me that you have to find something good out of everyday. I have used this through student teaching and it keeps me going. I like to find a topic that students are interested in and use that to connect them to my lessons. You have to be passionate about what you are trying to get the students to learn or they are not going to be interested. Find something that relates to their lives and they can connect to. Also put it in terms that they can understand. The biggest thing that I do is ask questions. Asking questions gets students involved and helps the teacher assess their learning.
ReplyDeleteI like your method of finding one thing that the students are interested in and trying to look for ways to connect it with your lesson. It seems like a really simple strategy, but I'm sure it's very effective. I think that anything that gets them engaged in what is about to happen next is always a good thing. I think the challenge is trying to find ways to manage time wisely once you have the students engaged, because I've found that they always have "one more thing" to share about the topic once you get them going. That's probably been the hardest thing for me: cutting a good discussion short in order to get to the rest of the lesson.
DeleteI definitely think that actively involving all my students is the area I could work on the most in my classroom. I went to a school where active involvement was not a high priority, yet I still managed to learn a lot and get very good grades. Sometimes I think I buy into the assumption that if I could do it, the kids I teach can do it too. However, throughout this semester I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to start thinking more like an elementary teacher. By that I mean that I need to be more creative in the way that I bring students from point A to point B during a lesson. It’s very easy for me to repeat the same teaching practices that were used on me during my school experiences, but I’m starting to become more conscious of this. I think the biggest way I can start applying this is by giving the class over to the students as often as possible, whether that be through group learning, turn-and-talk, hands-on learning, or inquiry-based instruction.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think that making all students successful is something that I find myself often trying to accomplish, but not always going about it in the right way. I liked what the author said about finding a way to meet students at their own particular level instead of a grade-based or age-based level. I think that often times I try too hard to get my lower-achieving students to be able to complete a task that is out of their usual skill range so that it will boost their confidence, but I think the author here makes a good point that consistent success at our own unique instructional level is the most effective way to help students build confidence. In my own classroom, I can start applying this method by pushing students to be the best that they can be on the level they are currently at, rather than trying to bend the instruction by giving them extra support so they can do what all the other students are doing. If anything, I feel that I may actually be reinforcing a sense of helplessness pushing them to try things that they can only accomplish if I am there to assist them.
As soon as you start using those strategies like turn-and-talk and manipulatives, you will definitely have a better engagement response from your students. They thrive for fun. Anything you can do to incorporate them talking to each other or playing (exploring) with manipulatives during your lessons will make them want to learn more. Just make sure that when you start to incorporate those things, you have clear rules for the procedures so classroom management doesn't start to become a problem.
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