This chapter really hit home for me in some aspects, so I have a lot to comment on (sorry!). I have always been considered very sensitive and compassionate. This is why I look forward to working with children, because I feel that they need this compassion in the classroom. With the growing diversity in the classroom, I feel many students are sometimes overlooked in this aspect. It is important to let every child know that they are valuable and that they matter. This is why it was intriguing to read that there is a strong correlation between teacher warmth, friendliness and understanding and students’ attitudes. I think it is very important that students have a good attitude towards school because the more they enjoy class; the more likely they will enjoy learning. They will actually want to be in class!
I think another reason students may enjoy being in class is when they are appreciated; when they feel that they have a choice. Constructivist approaches to planning involved shared and negotiated lesson plans. I think this is such an interesting concept and I look forward to seeing if I can implement it into my own classroom. The fact that the teacher just provides ideas to help guide planning and the students help decide what activities and approaches to use is just fascinating to me. To give the students this much freedom and choice amazes me; it wasn’t even considered when I was in school! My only concern is if curriculum allows this. I know some schools have very structured learning environments and I just wonder how much flexibility you really have as a teacher. I will ideally plan on doing what I can, but I wonder how much the “system” will restrain me (I don’t really want to get fired during my first year!).
I definitely was reassured while reading this chapter. In one of my first journal entries I was worried because the author had stated that teachers are more effective if they actually have their degree in the subject they are teaching. What I am taking from this chapter is that this is true, but it also says that the reason they are more effective is that they present the information more clearly and recognize student difficulties. I figure, if I do my research and make sure I am clearly stating my topics, then I could potentially be as effective as teachers who have majored in the subject content.
The final topic I found interesting is seatwork and homework. I know the chapter said that seatwork should not be the main mode of instruction and I have to agree with that. After everything we have read, I can’t see that sitting at your desk and doing worksheets by yourself could be an effective way of teaching. I know when I graded all of the worksheets for the school I worked at, a lot of the papers had more than half of the questions wrong (average math class-they tracked their students). Clearly, it was too complicated for them and therefore they resorted to guessing. Not once did the teacher go over the incorrect answers with students so there was an opportunity to teach and it was overlooked. We talked in one of our classes about how due to requirements classes were moving on before students could fully comprehend the information and lesson. That is what happened frequently in this classroom; the school was very structured and the students struggled to keep up.
Also, it said that you should hold the students accountable for their homework. I know the school I worked for did not hold students accountable. If they got questions wrong, the number was circled and then it went into their Friday Folder. No child had to redo their answers or figure out how to do the problems correctly, the assignments just got sent home and it was left at that. As a teacher I am going to really strive to help my students with homework and to help them come up with the correct answers. The Point/Counterpoint about homework was interesting, but I have to disagree with the people against homework. I think that students could be interested in homework if a teacher strives to make it comprehensible and to make it interesting. There are always ways to make learning interesting; we just have to figure out how to appeal to students’ different needs and interests.
No comments:
Post a Comment