My “Complete Teaching Episode” has some minor modifications from most others in Education 353. I have worked alone for the entire semester and instead of observing for three hours one day a week, I observed for two hours a day twice a week. Having taking Education 354 the semester before and observing only once a week for three hours, my personal opinion is that I liked going in for more than one day. You get to see the students in more then one setting and seeing them on different days during the week, so you can see different moods or tendencies the students have. With that being said, I used my weekly morning tutoring session with students as my “Complete Teaching Episode”. One reason for this was because the only period I got to see during the day was a science class that was taught by the school science teacher. She would come in every day during first period and Ms. Shikar would have a prep period. All my reporting back might be a little bias because I couldn’t have my partner report for me, and MS. Shikar would work with the other half of the students during the session.
This was not the first time I have had the privilege of working with students in a small or large group. I have taught mini-lessons before and have done one-on-one tutoring as well. I really enjoyed this experience though, because I was helping students learn to read and use different literacy strategies on top of their regular language arts period. It was more challenging because these student were selected because of the under achievement during the day and on different assessments. I preformed a number of these morning sessions, and I truly believe that as the semester progressed and I became more familiar with the students, the tutoring become more natural. I also felt I was improving. Some of the strengths from my lesson were how I included all my students in the lesson. I made sure everyone read at least one section of the booklet that went along with the lesson. At 8 o’clock in the morning some students are not motivated to be learning or to be in school, especially when they hear all the other students outside in the playground running around. I tried to make the lesson as fun and exciting as possible. My personal belief is, if you as a teacher are excited and motivated yourself to teach even the most boring and dull material, the students will follow your lead and be motivated as well. Also, when you’re a teacher especially a student teacher, the students want to impress you. If you reward them at the end they are going to work for you so they can get the prize of the extra time during “free-play”.
Technology is a growing part of the classroom and the program that they used in P.S. 81 had handouts that worked with the SMART board and overhead projector. Using the SMART board allows the students to get up and move around the classroom and interact with the story while using technology. If teachers and educators can get their students motivated to learn and incorporate as much technology as possible then the students will be willing to learn and their lessons will be as successful as possible.
Like all student or young teachers, my lesson had its flaws. I have had teachers tell me hat after twenty years of teaching they are still learning new and different ways to teach lessons, and which techniques are no longer successful. One aspect of my lesson that I noticed that I would to work on and change is my questions I ask the students, or the hints I give them. I feel like sometimes I ask questions that are too easy to answer, and the students got the answer right away. For example, if I ask a student a word they are trying to define I will basically give them the meaning and then ask if they understand it. What I would like to do is ask some general questions first and have them try to figure out the definition themselves, instead of giving them the answer. The student will have much more of a sense of satisfaction if they work through the problem themselves and get the answer compared to me giving them the answer. One other minor thing that can be changed very easily is the way I give board notes. Sometimes during the tutoring session I would completely turn my back on the class and write something down, as I get more familiar with teaching and giving notes, I will learn that I can have students come up to the board and write down the notes, or I can be writing something while the students are answering a question.
Teaching my lessons were fun and exciting. I would have a different booklet each week for the students and they were centered on a different literacy technique. One week it was summarizing the story, another week it was using pictures to make inferences about the story. The goals were clearly stated on the booklet and the students knew what they were going to be learning during that session. Every morning when the student knew I would be instructing them instead of Ms. Shikar, they always seemed a little more motivated. I do not like to brag, but as a student it was always a little easier to have a student teacher perform a lesson and it was a nice break from always hearing the same voice. Being that the students wanted to impress me and show off their skills, there was never a problem with students acting out. I would have to remind some students every now and again about not calling out and raising their hand, but this is normal for ever third grade classroom. Some people get upset when the students cal out, but we have to remember they are only 7 years old and want to have fun. Some of the best teachers have the patience of saints, and I must be understanding in this. Over the course of the semester I felt a very strong connection between me and the students. We called each other by name and sometimes I would talk non-school related things with them. I also feel I am young at heart and was able to go back to my third grade days and do the same thing they did. If one made a joke about something during the silent reading, instead of instantly yelling at him or reprimanding him, I chuckled a little to myself and quietly showed him what the other students were doing. It was my understanding that all of my objectives were met. The students almost always answered all reading comprehension questions correctly using the different methods that were taught during the lesson. Ms. Shikar also said numerous times through out the time I was there, that their reading has improved. Overall, I’d consider my time a success. I can honestly say that because of the “thank you” gift I got from the whole class, and the fact that students gave me hugs goodbye and saying they will miss me. I really enjoyed this experience and will truly miss the kids and teachers.
I found out that presenting in front of students is totally different then presenting in front of my classmates. I found it infinitely easier to present in the front of the kids. I say this because it’s hard doing a second grade lesson for a group of college students. They know all the answers. Also, when you’re getting graded on a lesson your peers know exactly what components belong in a lesson and in what order. When you’re in front of twenty five third graders, they don’t know the make-up of a lesson, or what order everything must be presented in. The younger students are only interesting in learning and having fun while doing it.
Knowing which students learn which ways is important for teachers. Not everyone is an auditory or visual learner. Taking this into account makes preparing a lesson that much harder for teachers. The extra work that we put into making the lesson multi-sensory will pay off in the long run. The students will master it easier and we will not have to re-teach it, only review for the test.
I do not want to keep repeating myself, but this has been the most fun field experience I have had at Manhattan College. My cooperating teaching was phenomenal and the students were very warm and welcoming. I looked forward to every Tuesday and Thursday because I knew I was going to be able to see my students and have fun. If I am lucky enough to student teach at P.S. 81 in the, it will be a blessing.
