Although I blogged about each lesson individually, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on the experience as a whole. The three lessons that my group taught in the classroom probably served more as a learning experience for me, rather than the students. I learned my strengths and weaknesses in front of a classroom. I loved getting feedback from my peers after every lesson. Although I will not name the student, one of my classmates told me privately after my lessons this week, I was made to be a teacher because of my presence in front of the room. This was definitely a great thing to hear after how stressful it was preparing and being in front of the classroom. Its nice to know that all of our hard work is worth it.
I have not watched the videos yet but I think it will be interesting to see myself in front of the room. One thing I know I have to work on, is my posture and eye contact with the class. I feel myself moving a lot when I am trying to talk in front of the class. I also notice that I do not know what to do with the hands a lot of the time when I stand in front of a room. It was hard but I think I got better at remembering to say "Boys and Girls" instead of saying "you guys". I know from talking with my group members that we all struggle with remembering to speak correctly.
I also do not think many people realize it is difficult to teach with a group of students. My personality is different from other members of my group. I found myself jumping into the lesson even if it was not my turn to talk. I wanted to give each of my group members a chance to teach in front of the room so it was hard for me to sit back and watch. Something that was helpful about working in a group was that we were able to each work with a group of students during the activities. It was also nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of during the planning stages of our lessons. Overall this was a great learning experience, I am eager to see what my other classmates come up with for their unit plans.
This quote definitely sums up my philosophy for teaching and why I want to be a teacher. One day I want to make a difference to someone and I hope I can do it.
Maggie,
ReplyDeleteAfter watching your group teach each of your lessons and reading your blog, I felt it was necessary to tell you that I think you did great as a teacher. Each lesson, you remembered that not only were you teaching, but you were managing a classroom as well. It was very obvious that your group worked together to "bounce ideas" off of one another. I definitely noticed that you always used "Boys and Girls" instead of "you guys", which I know from my personal experience, is extremely hard to do. I hope you were able to watch your video and reflect on the different teaching techniques you used to create a fun and safe learning environment! Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog and watching you teach your lessons!