The best way to explain what I’ve
been learning is how to improve rigor without over doing it in my lesson plans
and time efficiency. I’m much better at composing detailed lesson plans but
right now I feel I try to over-plan more than efficiently plan. I want to take
up all the time of the class but I don’t want to over pack the classroom with
information. I found a website about efficient lesson plans and it goes over a
lot we’ve read in our texts in the past years.
Teaching for the objective and the requisite
is one of the most important aspects to remember. One question I have is: "What do most people start with when writing lessons; activities, objectives,
essential questions, or something else?"
I’m teaching two units right now,
one on Fahrenheit 451 and one on Hamlet to seniors. Hamlet was the most
challenging simply because seniors don’t see how it’s related to anything in
their life and that’s my challenge this semester. We bought the audio to the CD
instead of having them read parts. It includes music, inflection in voice, and
more. I know exactly how long each act will last and I can time that into my
lesson plans as well. We have about to finish Act III and today was the best
day I’ve had in a week or two! They were engaged, 100%, participating in
discussion, and were beginning to connect how Hamlet could be related to their
lives. It was definitely a breakthrough I needed after this long week and a way
to remember why I love teaching English.
One thing I’ve been reflecting on is how
to improve confidence in the classroom while keeping the learning atmosphere
professional and at ease. I’m really good at connecting with the students and
getting to know them and their personal learning style. I’m working on tying
that in with their education so they feel safe in my classroom and learning at
the same time. I was really blessed to work with my CT who has been an
emotional and educational support through these busy times without holding my
hand through the process.
I’ve also been implementing the
Common Core Standards in all my lesson plans even though they haven’t finalized
the transition. This will give me a leg up on knowing how to apply them in my
regular teaching career. http://www.corestandards.org/ela-literacy
I have been accommodating to
standards more in Literacy, Reading, and Language than anything else in my
unit. My objectives fit closely with
finding figurative elements of a novel as well as comprehension and character
development. I think this will help them out in the long run of reading and
writing.
I’m starting interactive journals
this week that incorporate different subjects and themes in their writing and
reading. Here’s a Pinterest blog of different ideas you can click on and view: http://www.pinterest.com/mrsest/interactive-notebooks/
So far it’s going great and I plan
on adding it in to their bellwork daily. Thanks for reading!
Works Cited
Kizlik, Dr. Bob. "Five Common Mistakes in Writing Lesson Plans." Educaiton Oasis. Education Oasis, 2011. Web.
"English Language Arts Standards." Common Core State Standards Initiative. 2012. Web
Works Cited
Kizlik, Dr. Bob. "Five Common Mistakes in Writing Lesson Plans." Educaiton Oasis. Education Oasis, 2011. Web.
"English Language Arts Standards." Common Core State Standards Initiative. 2012. Web
