This
class has done the most to prepare me for taking over my own classroom. In my
placement, I have only taught standalone lessons. This course provided me with
my first experience in putting together consecutive lessons. I now know exactly
what needs to go into a unit, and this will be invaluable as I prepare lessons
and units for my future classroom. Book talks were useful as I was introduced
to several interesting books that could be taught in my own classroom. It also
allowed me to read a book that I thought was interesting and present it to the
class. I will be exploring some of these books more and considering how I can
implement them into my classroom. I also enjoyed the mini-lessons and the
different topics we had to present them under (pop culture, social justice,
etc.). This helped me think of ways to introduce texts to students in more
interesting ways.
Several
of the theories and texts in the course were useful to me in developing my
teaching style, and several of the ideas I utilized in my unit plan. I
particularly like the ideas of shying away from multiple choice exams to test
students’ skills and knowledge. Open-ended responses can ask for the same
information from students, but ask them to use more skills to come up with the
answer. It turns students away from memorizing information and encourages them
to use critical thinking skills. I also enjoyed Kelly Gallagher’s book,
discussing over-teaching of texts. In my own classroom, I plan to have a loose
outline of when students need to have a text read by. I will give them guided
reading activities to complete as they wish throughout the text. This way,
students aren’t stopped at the end of every chapter to complete a comprehension
quiz. Students are able to get into the flow of reading and connect more with
what they read.
This
course has definitely changed the way I see myself as a teacher. Every course I
take at Eastern adds some new information or teaching skill to my arsenal. This
class has added the most to my arsenal throughout the discussions with fellow
classmates. Seeing how my classmates would react to certain situations or their
philosophy towards teaching shows me many different viewpoints on the subject,
allowing me to choose which ideas I want to implement in the future. This class
and the people in it have exposed me to the most opinions regarding education.
Participating in this class has drastically changed my viewpoint towards
teaching (in a good way), and I look forward to trying out these ides in my own
classroom.
