Mini Lesson Reflection

What went well in your teaching? Based on what you learned as an instructor, what changes would you make next time?

I didn't feel nervous while giving my mini-lesson, which was definitely a positive aspect of my teaching. I felt like I was able to articulate my thoughts very well in a way that the students could follow and understand easily. Feeling confident when teaching was a struggle that I've had in the past, so it felt great to be able to overcome it and feel comfortable in front of a classroom.

In the future, I would offer a printout of the technology I presented, in this case, the Hero's Journey story mapping application. I hadn't thought of printing out the finished product, but both Erika and Nicole M. demonstrated how helpful that strategy was for students' understanding.

I didn't show the copy and paste procedure because I had done all of that prior to the presentation beginning but I couldn't start the application over without losing all the work that I had done. I determined that it would be of more instructional benefit to go through each step of the application and detail the elements verbally instead of toggling back and forth between the application and my word document, copy and pasting the text. Also, I took on more of a role of a teacher-trainer in the presentation, and discussed the possibility of a teacher having students brainstorm story ideas instead of asking my colleagues to do so.

LifeSaving Lesson

Based on my learning experience from the LifeSaver lesson, one attribute of inquiry learning is the creativity it inspires in students-my group came up with many ideas of how to perform experiments with LifeSavers candies, and they were all different and viable. One thing I have noticed about inquiry learning is that it is more motivating than just doing the steps the teacher says to do. Rather, students have a great time exploring interesting qualities or characteristics of what they are learning about when they are given more choice to decide how to inquire.

I can incorporate inquiry into curriculum planning by allowing students to ask questions and explore answers on their own instead of always providing or expecting a specific answer. I can promote inquiry learning by giving students opportunities to ask questions about the things that interest them and then seeing how they come up with answers to those questions.

Image source: http://www.accidentalhedonist.com/media/life-savers-by-bewarethecheesedotcom.jpg

Scaffolding in the Classroom

Scaffolding. What an odd term for an educational concept. When I think of scaffolding I first think of support structures that are set up alongside a tall building that allow workers to do their job safely when high in the air. In education, that definition is not far from the truth of scaffolding in the classroom. Scaffolding, or giving students support as they learn something new, is essential for students to be able to internalize what they are learning.

In today's lesson, the scaffolding tools of showing and hiding text in a document and hidden slides in a presentation were very helpful as they gave me an opportunity to use a template to fill in the necessary information. This was very important because I had not yet internalized what kinds of information I would need to write about in a business letter or an action plan presentation. With the tools of the templates available, I was able to see exactly what I needed to provide. In the future, those tools could be removed and I would be able to remember how to create business letters and action plan presentations.

Technology helped me modify the files so that I could save them as my own template and adjust them according to my own needs. For example, in the presentation, I was able to delete the hidden slides once I felt I no longer needed them anymore. 

Widget: Discovery Learning

When I think about my future classroom, I see discovery learning being an integral part of my teaching and curriculum. I want my students to learn through doing, rather than just parroting what I tell them to do. As someone who believes in a progressive approach to education, I will be excited to see my students asking their own questions, performing their own research, and learning in the way that they learn best. Instead of being "the sage on the stage," I will focus on being "the guide on the side," assisting as necessary but not pretending that I am the source of all knowledge.

In the Widget project in class last week, we got a big taste of discovery learning-we found for ourselves what a widget is, we decided on a country to research, and we chose how to present our country. With few limits, our imaginations and creativity were allowed to blossom in the project. We got to enjoy seeing our own ideas on display, and it was a blast to watch all the other presentations, since they were so different from each other. If our professor had told us exactly how to do the research and presentations, they would have been quite boring. But since we had so many fun and creative ideas to share, none of the presentations were the same, yet they all fulfilled the criteria given. The Widget project was discovery learning at its finest.

Image source: http://www.petheartprints.com/Parrot/graphics/parrotamazon.jpg

No parrots in the classroom! 

Beliefs on Technology in the Classroom

My beliefs about teaching and learning with the use of technology are that technology can be a huge support not only to a teacher, but also to students in the classroom. Teachers are supported by technology resources such as the internet, where they can find teaching materials and even you tube videos to enhance the learnings in class. Students who learn through visual methods are supported by having information presented to them in a new way-via video, slideshow, or audio recording. Plus, technology is a huge part of everyday life in the 21^st century, and as such I believe classrooms should reflect the prevalence of technology in their everyday practices.

In classrooms I’ve observed, technology has been used as an aid with subjects such as math, in the instance of using a fun you tube video to demonstrate skip counting. I have even seen the use of iPod touches for students to practice reading on their own in a fun, self-paced way. Another way teachers incorporate technology is by using document cameras to go over examples of work, for instance in literacy workbooks or on writing prompts, especially when students are still practicing handwriting and need to see examples. It’s exciting to see technology being used in the classroom in new, interesting ways, because it is a picture into the changing look of education.