From Lesson Plans To Sponges (Practice Post)
This upcoming year is going to be a true test of
organization, patience, and willpower. Where I am pretty comfortable in working
with students, I still have A LOT to learn. I have come to terms with the fact
that this won’t be easy, but it will be worth it ;). Between lesson planning and
time management, I will definitely have my hands full. Over the course of this
next school year, I would like to enhance- in every way, shape, and form- my
ability to teach and work efficiently with students. I believe that mixing my
field experience with my past and current classes will allow me to build a
solid platform I can stand on when I begin my teaching career.
A big
goal I would love to work on is lesson planning! Lesson planning, as a whole,
can make or break your connection with students. Not only should we understand
how to correctly structure our lessons, but they also need to be effective! I
have so many ideas, but I want to learn how to organize them in terms of
chronological order. What do I teach first? What am I working up towards? If my
lessons do not reach the students, then what is the point of teaching them? I
want to be able to create universal instruction that will cater to each
student; while, at the same time, grasping the steps I should take in order for
my students to get the most from the content.
I would also like to increase my
knowledge in time management. Yes, I can have a well thought out lesson;
however, things happen. An exercise that I anticipate to last 15 minutes might
only last 10 minutes. What if I have a lesson intended for the entire class
hour, but my students and I get through everything 5 or 10 minutes early? I
understand that improvising and thinking on our feet is a much needed quality for
teachers, so I want to practice that.
The cool thing about this experience
is that it can be everlasting throughout our career. I might have this last
year to soak up all I can before becoming a certified teacher, but I will be continually
learning different techniques in the education world. “School” will not end
when I walk across the stage at graduation. Ideally, I would love to keep my
sponge form throughout my career as a teacher.
Love your goals, Emily. Venturing into this year, I myself have fears and slight reservations when it comes to lesson planning and time management. Something about being able to construct solid lessons that will build upon each other makes me nervous. However, I know throughout this year we will have tons of practice to troubleshoot and get it right (or, close). Just the other day, I found myself at my placement troubleshooting the effectiveness of a lesson. With that, the most important thing we can continue to do as educators is seek that effectiveness. I love your comment about staying like a sponge. It rings true with my belief on continued education after college. Also, I share similar views and concerns with your time management aspect. Earlier, at my placement, I found myself constantly worried that I was rushing the students. One of my biggest fears is that I will eventually blaze through something and have 40 minutes of "umm...lets grab our course textbook and find something." Although, I think the best thing we can do to remedy time problems is observe our MTs, practice, observe, and keep practicing. We all, in our own way, will find a way to balance time and the pressures of effective lesson planning. Do you have any strategies you use when trying to balance time in the classroom?
ReplyDeleteGreat read, and I look forward to learning from you this year as well.
I like the goals that you have picked for the year. I also have worries about lesson planning because I have not practiced how to create an English lesson plan. The good news is that this year is our chance to practice a lot! Your mentor teacher may even show an easy way to create lessons for students. Do you like planning everything at once or do it a unit at a time?
ReplyDeleteI also have worries about the timing of lessons. Sometimes I think I have a lot planned for a lesson but then the students get through it a lot faster than I planned. I think this year will be a good time to figure out timing for different activities. My mentor teacher said that lessons will sometimes take longer than you think they will because you can not really guess how long it will take for students to write down notes and to discuss.
I cannot wait to hear more about how your student teaching experience goes and how much you will learn!
Love your final paragraph, Emily! Here’s to “keeping your sponge form” throughout your teaching career! What a great image and message in support of lifelong learning! Teach on, Ms. Hellewell!
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