Pedagogy Centered
Pedagogy Centered
Embedded Files
The category focuses on what I have taught within my practicum experience and the skills and strategies that I have used to prepare for my lessons. In this section, you will find how I reflect before, during, and after my lessons and assessments. Overall, I have realized that a lot of my teaching does not always go the way that I expect it and therefore must always think on the spot and provide backup for potential issues.
Planing clear and developmentally appropriate lessons and having materials/equipment ready in advance
Throughout my practice and experience, I have organized clear and appropriate lessons designed from the ministry's curriculum as well as from my own and the board-suggested long-range plans. These lessons had clear expectations and goals that aligned with the students’ needs and the requisites for their success.
It is important for me to be organized when planning and developing lessons as they help create goals and determine learning stages. As mentioned above, one way of doing so is the use of long and short-range plans. These plans help provide teachers and students with all the resources that they need in a single, easy-to-find file. I have used these plans to develop my own plans when I am preparing to create units of lessons within a specified amount of time. Although these lesson plans may be very detailed, it is most likely that there will be interruptions and issues that arise that will alter a teacher's plans. As a preparation for this, I have scheduled days where I anticipate issues or misconceptions within lessons being taught. These days are usually labeled as review days in which we can address all concerns and catch up to where the plans show. Alternatively, there may be no misconceptions or little need for review days in which the class is ahead of plans. This means that supplementary lessons/materials must be created for each unit so that students may reinforce what they have learned and engage in additional learning.
Implementing lesson plans effectively
Lesson planning must be organized and reviewed constantly, as I have worked in a rotary school for the past practicums, I have found a constant need to alter and change the lesson to match the class that I am teaching. I have realized that an exact lesson that I have organized may not work the same way in other classes. By understanding the student and school culture and finding similarities and differences between each class, I can effectively implement my lesson plans to match those of the class.
Artifact: Asking for student input
During the first few days of my practicum, I asked students to express their interests and hobbies with me. In this example, my grade 7 class was asked to answer questions about their interest relating to mathematics. Overall, I have found out that this particular class would like to learn more about coding in a collaborative environment. This is important as it allows me to have a clear understanding of my student's preferences and how I can use that to create an effective lesson in which students are actively engaged.
Overall, implementing lesson plans effectively means knowing your students. To learn more about how I participate in my student's community and self, please go to the following:
Motivating students and engaging them in learning and integrating appropriate technologies into instruction
Motivating and engaging students in learning is not about the subject nor about the topic, students learn every day from their own experiences and interests at home and at school. Within my experience, I have noticed that while some students are more engaged in others through different lessons, almost all students are engaged when they have the freedom to actively inquire and experiment with topics that we talk about. I have realized that it is not the issue of "liking" or "not liking" the issue that we discuss but instead about the progress that the students take to look into the issue.
Most recently, I experimented with the Mission on the Moon project by Inksmith where students learn about coding and STEM by experimenting with a miniature robot that they can program using a micro:bit. Instead of using the lesson template where students must follow every step, I introduced the robot by showing some basic features that the student can code for 10-15 minutes and allowed them to use the rest of the period to explore and experiment with the robot and micro:bit. At the end of the period, most students were able to design and implement coding features that I had never introduced and were never expected of them. By allowing students to inquire about their own hypothetical problems, all students within the class were engaged in their own learning and were able to exceed expectations.
To learn more about the Mission On The Moon course, please click on the following:
Providing effective and timely feedback to students
Immediate feedback is important for students to understand the materials that they are learning, it is essential to address misconceptions as soon as possible. This is why after any instructions are given, I have learned to connect with the students to make sure that all individuals understand what is expected of them and how they can use that knowledge to further their learning.
During assessments, I have made sure that I have reviewed all of their work and pointed out both areas of improvement and strengths that they have shown within their work. These works are then returned to the students for review. I have noticed that it is important to give students time to look at and fix any errors that they have made. By acknowledging their mistakes, I can clearly see the process being made and use that knowledge to develop future goals for my students.
The importance of student input goes beyond that of written materials, continuous observation and discussion with my students are also a must. I feel that it is important to have strong connections with my students to fully understand their thinking and understand their likes and dislikes. I asked my students to write their opinions on this example as I felt that it could be a great way to have anonymous input from students who are too shy to share their perspectives. In the future, I will most likely add an additional section for students to express their reasoning and to explain their thoughts, this way I will have background information about their submissions.
Google Sites
Report abuse