The interest approach, probably the most important part of your lesson, besides the actual content that you are going to teach the students, it's the make or break part that will help you get everyone's attention or give students the cue to zone out for the next 51 minutes. I also think that the interest approach is one of the hardest components of a lesson plan to write because it should be creative, engaging, and exciting for the students. Also kids are the toughest critics, they will let you know if they do not like something faster than you can blink!
This weeks lab was about interest approach and how we would grab the attention of our students. I know that I personally walked into lab feeling pretty confident about what I came up with for an interest approach, but as I started actually doing it and presenting it, I realized that it was not turning out as well as I had hoped. Which brings me to the first thing that I learned...
Lesson 1: Nothing ever goes as planned!
After I was done teaching I began to think about how it went and what worked and what did not work and what I could have changed. I realized that I could have changed a few things here and there to make the interest approach flow. I realized that it seemed a bit choppy to me when I went back watched the video again. I also learned that you really have to make your directions really clear, which means the next thing I learned was...
Lesson 2: Clear, concise, and precise directions are key!
I now know that I have to make sure I write my directions out word for word and really think them through before I say them and that it is okay to read them off the lesson plan to make sure they do not get messed up.
The last thing that I learned was that not every student is going to like your interest approach and will not seem engaged in your class. Maybe we just have not figured out the right way to get that child engaged yet or the topic in question just does not interest them. That being said we cannot write them off and give up on them we have to keep trying to find something that will work well for the whole entire class. I know that I am really excited to keep working on creating more interest approaches and really finding ones that captivate my students.
I am also super excited and nervous for the next lab because I am going to be teaching an ag mechanics demonstration! Look out for that post to follow!!!
Just some food for thought my fellow student teachers!
"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest" - Benjamin Franklin
Britt,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are learning a lot from your reflections. I think that some students are "too cool for school" and that they may appear to not be interested when actually they are. I also think that it is definitely a good idea for us as new teachers to write out everything in our lesson plan so it is always easy to access and read. Keep up the good work!
Brittany!
ReplyDeleteAwesome blog! You do a nice job getting to the students prospective and level. I think your reflections will really help you with future labs. Its hard when you think your giving clear directions but then they are not! It always sounds better in your head :) I think writing them out is good but will be time consuming. Maybe focus on writing out directions and difficult pieces of instruction.
Hey Brittany!
ReplyDeleteNice job explaining what happened in your lab! I think it always plays out better in your head and being able to reflect on why it went really well or why it didn't go well at all is what makes us awesome teachers!
I think the most important part of reflecting is being able to critically assess yourself and be okay with that.
I watched your video and I think you had a great idea! Maybe if there were more students it would have gone better for you. I really liked that you did the element of surprise with (Top secret). I'm glad you're able to look at this with a positive spin and learn from it!
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteFirst off I love quote! Secondly I feel that you fight the nail on the with the difficulty of writing and then delivering an effective interest approach. I also think that clear and exact directions is apart of this and once that happens every thing else will start to fall into place.
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI like how ou engaged your student by asking them to recall information they already knew. I also think you handled billy really well. Your really shows that you are aware of what it takes to be a teacher and now you are trying to work at being the very best.I think this is important for growth.