Teaching in My Field Experience

Last Thursday, I taught my field experience lesson in which Dr. Franklin came to observe. I had create a lesson to use while the students were reading Julius Caesar. It revolved around the speeches given by Antony and Brutus and creating a political/public relations speech, commercial of ad support one of the two characters using a list of character traits, as well as quotes and events from the play. I really enjoyed teaching this assignment because the students were engage and excited to take a break from reading the play and actually work with their classmates to create the assignment. At the end of the hour they presented what they had come up with and they exceeded my expectations with their creativity and knowledge of the play.

I thought that the students really enjoyed getting up and getting to collaborate with their classmates, at least most of the them anyways. I also think that the lesson that I present and had worked hard to prepare went as well as I could of expected. With that said, there are many things I would have changed. First, I would have made this a two day assignment. The students got more involved and I really found many ways in which I could expand this assignment and even more learning could have taken place. One thing I would have added is more explanation to my introduction. I had a few really good questions relating the political aspect of the play to the political experiences that are going on right now with the upcoming presidential election, but I would have liked to have more class discussion about them. Another item I would have liked to cover is that as a class we come up with list of character traits of the two characters and really explore their character development. The last thing I would have liked to add was a model of how to create a good PR commercial, speech, etc, by explaining and modeling to them things such as a strong introduction and conclusion.

A few problems did arise during my lesson. First, was that the kids were working so hard on creating good products with their groups that I had to rush them to finish. Had this been my class we would have taken the rest of the class period to finish and presented the next day, but I did not have that kind of time with this class. Second, was a problem I had with one girl who left to go to the bathroom 5-10 minutes before we started presenting and did not come back until the bell rang. My cooperating teacher was absent the day that I presented my lesson, so I am not sure what action would have or should have taken place. If it had been my classroom, we probably would have waited for her, had a student go and find her, and there probably would have been some sort of discipline for her action. It was disrespectful, not only to me, but also to her group members. I know students are sometimes scared to public speak, but this was a horrible way for her to deal with it and it needs to be addressed.

All and all I was excited about how my lesson turned out. I loved seeing the students engaged, excited and LEARNING!! It was a really good feeling!!!

Size matters...

Oh Gallagher, that's so cliche. I have to disagree with Gallagher's assessment of 3 in a group being the best number (107). Having grown up in a family with 3 kids, I have to say that it's always going to be 2 vs. 1, so having a group of 4 (if it must be more than 2) would be my preference. I do agree though that groups of 2, especially when it's not always the exact same partners, are the best way to go.

I really liked Gallagher's take on Accountability (112). The whole "hitchhiking" thing can be quite interesting to those who are working hard, so any sort of accountability ideas are a good thing. I especially enjoyed the idea of having group projects in which the group members do not know which of them will have to present it to the class, so each of the group members have to have a basic understanding on what the group has done.

I also love the idea of "collaborative groups" and "talking to learn" (122). Tomorrow I am teaching "The Great Gatsby" at Central High School and I hope to incorporate some of this (although I already had planned on doing this before the reading). Students interpreting text on their own, and being able to discuss it with others and bounce ideas off of each other, are important ways for them to think critically. I feel like it's important that they realize the significance of their own interpretations and opinions.

Collaberation and Deeper Reading

I don't know about you guys, but I can see where collaberation could also be a great way to help students think deeper about what they have read. The ten strategies Gallagher gives us to use on p. 114 have great implications to start the students off with. Anchor questions start the class lecture off to a deeper understanding of what the students need to see regarding reflection of historical background and elements of the novel, but if they are going to reflect on a personal level to the novel we're wanting them to engage to, we should let them collaborate. When I gave a quiz in my class this week over "Of Mice and Men" I asked them questions that would help them see what they needed to from the novel, but when we discussed the answers, I let them pull their personal knowledge into the text and this really urged them to think critally about it from their own experiential values. They also discussed it among themselves to come up with the answers in lecture. It really seemed to work.

Dominos in Lit Class? What?

I thought that the domino idea from chapter six of Deeper Reading was really interesting. It seems to me that it could be a fun exercise for the students to do. Plus, it will help them see the chain reaction, see how events lead from one thing to another, deepening their understanding of the material.

Like Kevin I really appreciated the section on questions we don't want to ask. During my field experience we were covering poetry (something I am not overly interested in) and I found myself struggling to find questions that would engage the students. I myself was not particularly engaged and that made it even harder to draw them in. Unfortunately I found myself asking them simple yes/no questions and even fill in the blanks...it was not good. Eventually we moved past this awkward stage and managed to have a pretty great discussion about Frost. I just wish I had read this section earlier so I had been better prepared and the class would have had more time for the good discussion versus the awkward teeth-pulling that had come before...

What Not to Say

The section titled "What Not To Say" was awesome. I haven't really thought of asking students this question in my lessons but now that I've read this section it makes a lot of sense. I was impressed with this instructor's use of the question. Using a table with data represented is a good item to use for basic data comprehension but asking students to identify what that table doesn't say takes critical thinking to a higher level. I think that this question would be great for individuals or groups to discuss.

Birthday Card

I received a birthday card for my 21st birthday from my roommate Anna. On the front of the card a person in a rabbit suit was reclining by a pool with a cool drink. Captioned below the picture were the words, "Happy Birthday from the neighbor you don't speak of". I laughed as I paired the picture with the quote. I immediately understood the card was from Harvey, a giant invisible rabbit. After thanking Anna for the card she and I talked about the meaning. Anna did not grasp the meaning of the card in the way I did. I realized that my past viewing of the movie "Harvey" set the foundation for my viewpoint.
Chapter 6 discusses the importance of collaboration between students. Every student has different insights and experiences that provide bases for his or her knowledge on a particular topic (104). Therefore, students can use those previous experiences to help classmates to further understand topics discussed in class.
In chapter 5 the Plug-Ins and Literary Dominos exercises seemed to be useful in the classroom setting. The Literary Dominos are helpful when asking students to recall events and declare the importance of the characters' actions leading the end. Starting the students with the last domino allows the students to take one step backward and evaluate the story to find what led to the ending. After students complete this exercise they are able to think about the cause and effect relationship of a story.