3. This chapter introduced you that lesson planning was an outgrowth of your instructional design. The DID section helped you see the overall organization of your instructional unit, and this lesson plan section helped you address what you would do to achieve the unit on an instructional day-to-day basis. Now identify, describe and use the most common steps in lesson planning. Lesson planning is one of the skills that all teachers need to master, but sadly I think we learn to cut corners instead of streamline. We know that it is easier to do an activity that really doesn’t help as much but is much easier to plan than an activity that takes more planning but could have great rewards for learning. In order to effectively plan, we need to consider some things. First, we must consider our learners. Our students are the ones we’re teaching. We’re not teaching adults; we’re not teaching the principal; we’re not teaching administrators. We have to know our students and how they best learn or our efforts will be misguided. Secondly, we must also know our standards. While knowing how our students learn is valuable, knowing what they should learn is equally, if not more valuable. Knowing what we have to teach is critical in planning because a Santa Claus bingo might be fun, but does it really have any educational value? We need to know ahead of time what we would like our students to learn. If we don’t, then we are cheapening the education they should be receiving by only teaching our students what we can “cover” in our class. Next, we must also consider the level of knowledge that our students should learn the material. In the sciences, concepts build on one-another (as do other disciplines). A 7th grader does not have to know how chemical bonding works, but just that it occurs. A 5th grader does not need to know the steps in photosynthesis, but he can know that a plant takes in water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight and makes its own food and produces oxygen for us to breathe. Looking at scales such as Bloom’s taxonomy is helpful to understand what level our students should know information. Should they be able to remember or should they be able to evaluate? Analyze or Apply? These types of decisions must be made in our planning stage. After identifying the depth of knowledge, we must then design or plan to use strategies that fit our selected content and depth of knowledge. These strategies should be research-based to ensure our students are getting the best opportunities to learn. Whether using an introductory activity to stimulate their interests in a topic or a main lesson, these strategies for learning need to be grounded in something concrete rather than something that “worked” for a teacher in a random school… for a random class… once. In order to present the information well and prepare students for further endeavors, we must also find supporting technology for them to use to develop their use of technology. Whether that means that we allow them to work on computers to make a presentation or interact with a presentation that has been created, we need to incorporate technology into our lesson planning to further the students’ interest in and ability to use technology. Technology must not be our starting point though. As the book states, “Instruction must drive technology.” We cannot start with an interesting presentation that we found and make that our content knowledge. We cannot use a podcast on plants that doesn’t fit our standards just because it is the only one we could find, and we needed to catch up on some grading while the students listen. Technology must accompany the content we already plan to teach, not determine the content we plan to teach. Finally, in the planning stage, we must assess and revise, ensuring that our focus is the standard and WHAT we’re going to teach. Once we have a finished lesson plan, it is time to situate, orient, and design our classrooms to accommodate that lesson plan. The learning environment must be prepared, so students have the best opportunity to learn. At this point, we need to determine what pieces of technology are needed and where they will be in the room. If centers are going, then computers need to be at certain stations, etc. Teachers must plan lessons in order to maximize learning for all students. If teachers do not, then students are not getting the quality education they so desperately need to make it in this world. We hold the keys to helping our planet, our country, and our problems by showing students how to be leaders, thinkers, and dreamers. Those changes won’t happen as much if we do not strategically lead, question their reasonings, and inspire them to dream.
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2. Different students have different learning styles and their learning styles influence their learning. As a teacher, you should understand your students’ learning styles when preparing for the classes. Discuss your understanding on different learning styles and its influence on learning.
In the classroom, teachers must be focused on making sure EVERY student learns. While the content level goal is to aim around the middle of the class intellectually, the mode in which that content is presented must have some flexible aspects to it in order to accommodate all types of learners. As discussed in Chapter 2, learning can occur in many different ways. Students vary in their primary learning styles. Whether auditory, visual, or kinesthetic, students’ learning styles need to be noticed in the classroom, so students can best learn and feel noticed and valuable. Students can also approach information differently. Some students have environmental factors that prevent their learning. Some students psychologically cannot learn because they do not trust the teacher or cannot stop allowing their mind to wander. Students also have a difficulty learning about subjects that contradict their personal or cultural beliefs (i.e. Christians not agreeing with the Theory of the Evolution of Man). Students can be extroverts and love to be social with their peers while learning (Cooperative Learning strategy) or introverts and despise working in groups. Students can learn best from inquiry and using their own intuition to understand content or from seeing the facts about content. From Chapter 2, it is evident that all students are different. If we as teachers do not recognize this, we have already lost because students will not be able to learn from us and will not feel included in our classrooms. Instead of teaching to the majority, we as teachers need to incorporate different angles or learning in our lessons to include all types of learning (when possible). I firmly believe that learning to effectively individualize learning while also encouraging students to get out of their comfort zones and learn in a different way are effective in developing them emotionally, socially, and intellectually. 1. Standards have altered teacher preparation programs and curriculum requirements in schools. The intention behind standardization is to ensure equivalent and consistent instruction and to provide measurable outcomes. Do you believe that the implementation of standards identified by national, state, and curriculum organizations has accomplished their intent? Explain why or why not.
Standards in the classroom have positives and negatives in their nature. Positively, standards allow us as teachers to know what we need to teach to prepare students for a state test or for the next grade. They allow us to be held accountable for what we are teaching by ensuring we are giving students our best in the content we teach. They are developed using careful planning and conscious understanding of content knowledge as a whole. Negatively, standards put boxes around what should be taught in the classroom. They are developed to standardize classes, but the problem with that is that students are not standardized. Each student is different, and each student will choose different career paths. Some students need to know an extensive knowledge of chemical equations because they will be pursuing a degree in chemical engineering or as a chemist, but others will not need that knowledge because they will be doing anything that does NOT have to do with chemistry. Because of the differing nature of students, standards often try to create students who know all of the same information, especially before high school where students have a little more freedom in which classes they take and on what level. I believe that standards, and their accountability, have created a culture of “teaching to the test” in order to show that the teachers have taught the standards. What I have noticed though is that teachers find out what standards are emphasized on the test, and those standards are emphasized in the classroom to boost test scores. Instead of covering the standards equally and incorporating them into a wholistic understanding of the content knowledge, teachers want to boost their test scores to get a pat on the back and try to earn a bonus from the administrators and superintendents who look at numbers instead of the quality of education delivered. I believe they have not accomplished their intent because the measures used for accountability have failed to hold teachers accountable. They have instead created a culture of quantitative measures rather than qualitative. If standard mastery could be measured on a large scale (for accountability’s sake) without creating this culture, then standards would have accomplished their goals. I believe that the idea behind standards is wonderful, and I do not believe that not having them is better than having them. Instead, I believe that changes need to be made before teaching becomes solely about a test and not about the students. Hello guys,
my name is Brian Long. I am in the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program at USM. I plan to graduate Summer 2019. I currently teach Biology and Chemistry at Oak Grove High School. I feel that I am capable with using technology but don't know near enough of it to use in my classroom effectively. I am looking forward to this class, and learning about different types of technology. I currently use Chromebooks in my classroom and a smart board. I also use online software for practice. I like interactive presentations and surveys. |
Brian LongHello! I'm a biology and chemistry teacher at Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I have a wife and a daughter, and I love to spend time with them. We go on adventures like hiking, kayaking, exploring, tree-climbing, and much more. I enjoy be apart of my church, hunting, fishing, playing the drums, Crossfit, and playing ultimate frisbee. I love teaching, and I love my students. Feel free to look around! |