Questions and Lectures

            This week we discussed questioning again as a continuation from last class.  We went out into the classrooms and observed questioning.  When we returned, we discussed the questions we observed and used a protocol to direct the questions we heard and find ways to ask deeper meaning questions.  The discussion focused on how we needed to examine the questions we ask and realize that sometimes the questions we ask are not exactly the questions we mean to ask.  We should examine what the result of the questioning is and find a better way to ask it so that we get the desired answers we want from our students.

                                          http://www.nsrfharmony.org/

 

            The other part of this week’s class was devoted to the art of the lecture.  We came back into the classroom to find that the seats had been rearranged into the forward facing position that a majority of classrooms use.  Dr. H. then asked us how sitting this way made us feel as students and we discussed the preconceived notions of a lecture.  We were then given a badly made graphic organizer to take lecture notes on.  She did this to show us the importance of good organization and to stress the point that as the lecturer needs to be well-organized and prepared when giving a lecture.  Other important aspects were to keep the lecture short and to make sure you know what you are going to say and be well-rehearsed.  This is very important because a bad lecture can turn students off from learning where as a good, well-delivered lecturer can be a gateway to further learning and interest in a topic.  I was glad to have this class because I feel that lecturing gets a bad rap, as if it is the worst sin a teacher can commit..  Sometimes you have to give a direct lesson sometimes because of time constraints due to the school year and testing, sometimes because it is simply the best way to introduce a topic or review a topic.  Having been taught what is importation in lecturing and having what not to do pointed out is a valuable lesson to have had.

History and lessons

This week in class, we had a lot of information presented to us about the history of CF and their problems stemming from what happened in 2010.  This information was very informative and it helps to understand what happened in the past so as to better understand what is happening now and why people feel the way they do about it.  I want to say more about this but I just am having trouble formulating how to say it in a way that doesn’t come out as judgmental or too sympathetic towards either side.  I will use the rest of this blog to talk about the second half of the class which was on lesson planning, but I wanted to touch on this issue a little because I feel it was very important and informative.

The second part of the class was devoted to lesson planning.  Two co-teacher and the Dean of Pedagogy came into the class and demonstrated how they plan a lesson, by planning the lesson in front of us.  This I felt was extremely helpful.  I feel that this type of fish bowl exercise would have been something that would have made doing microteaching in 406 easier.  In the future, it would be great if secondary education students were exposed to this sooner.  We are told to do lesson plans and the parts are explained to us but we then go off and try to do it without any true understanding of what we are doing.  This presentation was amazing as it really showed us what steps to take and how to question our planning.  It also showed that veteran teachers also fall into the trap of getting too bogged down in the details of an activity and have to be brought back to the lesson plan.  The example also shows the value of co-teaching and having a third party help you in planning to bring you back to the central task when you go off on a tangent.  All in all I am extremely glad we had this presentation in our class.

Administrator panel

This week in class, we had four administrators from CFHS come and speak to us.  They talked to us about what they looked for in a first year teacher.  They stressed that teaching is a lifestyle and not just a job.  If we were in it for the pay then perhaps we should consider a different job.  They talked about how a teacher needs t be willing and able to always improve his/her teaching and be open to working with the administration to beter their teaching habits.  They talked about how a teacher must be open to learning about their students and finding ways to reach all of their students.  A teacher should always be willing to find ways to give the students opportunities to learn and grow.

            Other things that were talked about was that a teacher should never become too comfortable and always find ways to challenge themselves as well as the students.  What stood out about this part of the discussion was a diagram the principal drew on the board.  He explained that most teacher burn out happened when the teacher operated in the danger zone, but the best teaching happened in the risk area.

            There was a long discussion on class room management.  They stressed that if a new teacher or any teacher needed help they should not be afraid to ask for help from the administration or peer teachers for help.  The administrators also spoke about when they were teaching how they managed their classrooms and how using peer teacher as a resource was helpful.  The most important thing they stressed was that it was very important to always be consistent in management, rules should not change depending on the student but be applied equal at all times.  Overall I felt that this was a very good panel and very informative.

Chapters 5 & 7

These two chapters were very helpful to me.  I have heard a lot about helping students with reading strategies and so on but this is the first time I have seen examples of many different strategies laid out.  Chapter 5 not only explains the strategies but also gives examples of how to implement them.  This is something I feel has been missing from my education, education up till now.  There is a lot of talk about using different strategies and theories behind different things but there has been, in my opinion, a lack of practical examples of not only the strategies listed but of how to implement them.  Personally, I would like to either read something like this or have things explained in a lecture more often I feel my apprehension for my first year of teaching would be decreased remarkable if practical examples are given and explained.  Especially in the area of class room management which I feel has not been gone over in any great length in any of my education classes.  Chapter 7 is a good reference to making a class room an open and safe environment for learning.  Again, it was nice to have not just things listed out but explained and explained with examples. 

Parent Panel

            This week we heard from some parents of students in the C.F. School system.  The biggest thing that the parents wanted from a teacher was communication and not just the negative things but the positive things as well.  As a parent, myself I totally agree.  Outside parent a teacher meeting that happens only once a year at my kids’ school, and report cards, the only time I get any feedback is if it is negative.  

            As a parent, I always wonder what is happening in the classroom.  This is a large chunk of time that I am an outsider in my child’s life.  I have to rely on their telling me things and looking over their papers to get an idea of what is happening.  If my children’s teachers contacted me even just twice a year with a phone call to tell me how they are doing and stressed the positive things I would feel better as apparent and I would be able to encourage the things they do well at home so that they could do even better in school.

            When I am a teacher, I will certainly remember this panel discussion and I hope that I will remember how important it is to communicate with a parent.  I want to be the type of teacher that encourages my students to do well and lets the parents know what the student’s strengths are.  I don’t want to be the teacher that doesn’t talk to parents or only contacts them when there is a problem.