Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Chpt. 13 Response: Flexible and Integrated Planning

By Tiffany

I thought your reflection of your second and third year teaching were interesting. It is very true that you do have to be flexible, not just year to year but within the one school year. Students’ behaviors fluctuate through the school year. I know at my school when we got close to winter break the students tended to act out a lot more. This was the case with spring break as well. Finally, the end of the school year, which thankfully I am missing out on this year, the behavior is much more sporadic. I think planning is very important, but you need to be flexible and not be stubborn. If you see that your students are really into one educational activity, but it is time to move on, maybe either find a way to integrate the other activity into the current one, or give them some more time. I think it was great that you were able to reflect on the school year and make the appropriate changes. Your students are all different and until you get a feel for them (and even afterwards!) it is hard to know what works best for them.

With regards to the authentic tasks and integrated learning, I think it gives more opportunities for better comprehension. Your students are putting past knowledge with current knowledge and applying it to something real and tangible to them. I think it is a great way to provide a lesson, but like you, I wonder how much flexibility I will be given with my lesson plans once I have a classroom of my own.

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