So I read chapter five tonight during commercials of Survivor and The Office (I promise, I paid attention). But it was a timely read in light of my field experience today. My class has been reading Metamorphosis and then also read two essays/short stories by George Orwell. For probably 45 minutes, I watched the teacher engage her students in an amazing conversation that was exactly what Gallagher was talking about in reference to deeper reading. I watched light bulbs go off as students made connections to the deeper parts of what was happening, why and what Orwell was trying to say. And they actually had fun with it. I promise, these students really seemed interested in the conversation. They talked voluntarily. They showed enthusiasm. And I walked out of the room saying, "ha, it really is possible to have that kind of classroom."
Mrs. Morton has been doing this teaching thing for a long time and is definitely one of the pros. So she wasn't tied to these structured questions that Gallagher shares with us. But I would be willing to bet that in her first few years of teaching, she had her own list of questions - and then it just came natural. And that is what I am hoping we will encounter the more experience we gain.
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3 comments:
It's nice to hear that you have found your field experience to be rewarding. I have enjoed mine as well, but with all we have to do, wish it were possible to be in the classroom more often. But, alas, the bills keep coming and I keep paying them.
I think that the questioning is my biggest fear. Keeping them talking will be the hard part. When I plan lessons and section them off, I plan on writing out key questions and main themes I want them to "get." Having it written out will eliminating thinking on the spot, which I'm pretty good at.
~Stan
Yes, I think we have a lot to learn from the old pros - if nothing else, that such a classroom can be possible. Just because a teacher has been teaching a while doesn't mean he/she is necessarily good, but the good ones are VERY good. Mrs. Boyd has so many strategies she interchanges constantly. But more than that, she knows, almost by instinct, what tone to take with a particular class to get them to achieve their best. Knowing the perfect blend of freedom and authority, of encouragement and enforcement...yeah. That's pretty awesome.
That is the type of classroom that I long for. I want to be the teacher that can effectively involve his/her students into a great discussion. I know that a lot of the proposed questions can be found on the internet for any source, but creating your own prompts would be great!
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