I really think that this is a chapter that I will be coming back to lots during my student teaching. I unfortunately found out the hard way that I need to make DETAILED lesson plans. I am a pretty good public speaker, and I at first thought I could improve my way through the day, just having a list of what we are going to do. Probably after the first 10 minutes of that first lesson I realized that if I go blank at any moment (which has happened) I have nowhere to pick up from. There was one point in the chapter that not much attention was drawn to, but the author commented that writing detailed lesson plans shows that you care about your students. Wow! I do care about my students already, so I want to prove it to them by working hard and writing lesson plans that will help them achieve success in the classroom and in life!
This chapter encouraged me because I am not a lecture-type teacher, and on page 229 the author commented that middle school teachers should barely use the lecture method in teaching lessons. There are so many different ways that students learn, and it was interesting to me that the learning styles of "at-risk" students are how I think I learn best! I want to make sure I incorporate the many learning styles throughout every week of teaching!
I am the same way...I am not a lecture teacher. Though I see importance and benefits of lecturing I feel that too much lecturing will bore students and end up turning students away from learning. I enjoy mixing things up and doing hands-on activities and getting the students involved in the material.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what you said about making the lesson plans detailed. In the past I have made my lesson plans somewhat broad, but realized quickly that I needed incorporate more details not only to keep me on track but to allow myself to keep the students on track. I now make it a goal to make sure my lesson plans are detailed and thorough.
ReplyDelete