It’s hard to believe that we have a little over a month before this semester is over. It has gone by so fast and I feel that I have grown so much in my educational career. The end of the semester is approaching, as well as, student teaching! I’m excited and nervous at the same time.
One of the biggest learning experiences that I had this past month would be when I received feedback on a lesson that I taught from Dr. Clark and Dr. Parker. I was teaching a small group lesson on finding the evidence in the text. It was a text about bats. The feedback I received was very helpful. I learned that I need to take that opportunity to teach science and support inquiry. I had always planned on integrating, but I wasn’t realizing the opportunities I had right in front of me. After talking with my professors I realized how much I could be doing with that one text. The next find the evidence passage is all about shelter dogs. I am excited to do different things with it to spark the student’s curiosity and get them all excited about shelter dogs! I plan on showing pictures, talking with the students and their experiences, and I may try to call an animal shelter.
My outside learning this month took place on Twitter. I have begun following a page called @Teacher2Teacher. They have short conversations at least once a day that ask different questions. For example, “How do you use social media in your classroom?” and “How do you teach group discussion skills?” Teachers from all over answer it and all of the sudden you have all these different strategies to use when it comes to social media, group discussions, etc. It’s great to read what other teachers do in their classrooms and what works!
I feel that my learning experiences relate to both Standard 3 and Standard 4 of the NCTCS. In regards to standard 3, I am making instruction relevant to students by allowing them to participate in discussions regarding shelter dogs. They will get the chance to talk about real-life experiences and we will talk about how many issues have come up with shelters being too full lately. In regards to standard 4, I am integrating and utilizing technology in my small group lesson and in my instruction because I am learning new strategies on how to teach through Twitter. I am also planning instruction appropriate for my students.
In my future classroom, I will think and plan more for integration. The feedback I received helped me to see that I need to not focus as much on the skill of finding the evidence, but I need to open up a whole new world of learning for my students to allow them to become well-rounded.
It is so helpful when we get feedback. But you know one of the biggest things I learn from recieving the feedback is how important it is that I give it to my own students. When I get feedback I always look at what feedback is helpful to me and the kind I like to get and I file it away to remember to do that for my own students.
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