UPDATED:
This morning I sent all the information to my last two people for letters of recommendation for the MAT program! Whoopie! One more step down! It's always awkward to ask someone for a recommendation... I always feel like, "Hey, will you please write a letter to the University telling them how great I am??"... :-/
Is routine bad? And if it is, how do I not get in a routine when I become a teacher?? Each year brings new students, who bring new skill sets and problems. I feel like I should adapt to my classes...really get to know them and what makes them tick. But, is there a way to create lesson plans that can adapt easily? How will I be as a teacher? Will I take the time to truly get to know my students? I'm sure it will be easy to fall in to routine, but how do I keep that from happening? How far am I willing to go to get over any "ruts" or "slumps"?
A teacher lectured to his students yesterday for the whole 50 minute class time. He prefaced his lecture with a speech telling them that college professors lecture for the whole 50-90 minutes, and they need to practice paying attention. The funny thing is I was thinking the same thing yesterday before I visited the school. There are all of these new fandangled ways of teaching, but when these kids ultimately go to college/university (hopefully), they'll be faced with a LOT of lectures and possibly feel unprepared. Is there a disconnect between some of the new ways of teaching in high school and the type of teaching used in college/university settings? How do I prepare my students for college/university yet still make learning fun and interactive?
How in the world did I pay attention in all of those lectures when I was at university? I mean, I brought food for when I was tired, but at the same time I knew I HAD to pay attention because I needed good grades. I needed the scholarship $$ and the grades on my transcript so companies would want to hire me. In high school there are those incentives, but they don't seem to be reinforced much. In talking with the high schoolers that I interact with often, the idea of a good grade is passing. How did they decided that passing should be their goal? Was it parents or teachers or media?
Are good grades enough? I definitely do not think so. I agree that a person should be well rounded.
Good reflections...nice to see a "future" :) teacher thinking outside the normal box. You go girl!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree: school taught me to pass school exams. I was not at all prepared for the practices needed for uni.
ReplyDeleteWell I totally agree that you have to change your teaching every year depending on the students you have! It's def easier to do the same thing year after year but not as effective! Also, maybe the when your professor was talking about his "routine" he just didn't need help with any prep stuff. I know that sometimes it is harder to explain to someone how to do what you need instead of just doing it yourself. I still have plenty of stuff for volunteers to do but sometimes it's easier if you just take care of everything especially when grades are involved;)
ReplyDeleteI was lucky enough to go to a high school that did prepare me for college. I knew what kind of classes I would be taking and most importantly I learned that the majority of grades in college are based only on tests so I learned and took classes on effective study habits. I would say that is something that a lot of high schools lack-opportunites for students to learn how to study effectively they just assume they know and then are confused when they fail or think they aren't smart when the real story is that how to study effectively is something that also has to be taught.
Okay last point and then I'm done:)- Also, I don't know if only getting good grades should be the focus. I know many, many very successful, knowledgable people that weren't A students. They just found a passion or something that they were good at and took off from there. I know there were quite a few classes in college that I didn't not do my best in because it wasn't going to really contribute to my future job and I wasn't totally vested in the subject area. I think the bigger thing to try to get across to students is the importance of education and really trying to find their passion in life! Anyways just some thoughts for you! Love you! (also I only teach kinder so really what do I know:) Melissa