Few things are more important to classroom success than good planning. What did you learn from today's class session (10/6) and/or the reading assignment that you think is particularly important to remember when attempting to plan effective classes/courses?
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
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I think a simple but important detail I learned was to focus to the themes or big ideas first. I remember in my JR blocks classes, I (and other students) would worry about what activities the students were going to do rather than the bid idea behind the lesson.
ReplyDeleteIt was also good to know that it won't be my sole responsibility when it comes to picking a book.
PS Maybe it's over my head, but I don't get "What is the difference between an orange?"
Can anyone explain, or this is like jazz in that, "if you have to ask, you'll never know?"
About that orange joke...
ReplyDeleteMore than 40 years ago, there was a whole set of jokes of this type. At my school, the answer was, "Because when ice cream melts, it doesn't leave any bones." There are lots of different nonsense answers, all of them (at the time) funny. Back then, we expected things to make sense, so absurd humor worked. Not so sure anymore. Anyway, another joke in this series was, "If the wheel falls off the wagon, how much does the apple way?" Two extra points to the student who can come up with the right answer to that one.
--Art Marmorstein
I think the biggest thing for me coming out of last class was looking at the process of picking a book. I know that a text book seems old fashioned at times. But they really provide the backbone for what goes on in the classroom, and making sure they help you meet standards is very important. I thought some of the other assignment handouts were very useful, and I will hang on to them and use them in class. Specifically the ones that assist in the readings, guiding students and helping me understand what they are comprehending.
ReplyDeleteZach Anderson
Don't worry John, I didn't get the orange thing either. But I did understand the ice answer where it once was a solid body, and being as 'bodies' (or the human-animal sort at least) have bones, when ice melts, essentialy dying, it leaves nothing, while when other bodies die, they tend to leave bones. Yes, that answer kept me up at night.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the chapter and class discussion is concerned, I'm also glad I won't be looking into a book alone. I was a little nervous about that possibility. There is an irony in not having standards in social studies either.While it maintains that the government thinks less of the subject, it also frees the teachers to follow a curriculum less regulated and therefore more enjoyable with less paperwork.
I do randomly think of games and activities, which I try to right down when it's appropriate (who has a paper and pen in the shower?) but I agree and find it better to look at the big picture instead of a smaller, more detailed rendition. It also keeps the classroom focused on those overlapping questions throughout the units or the trimester-quarter-semester when you have a big picture.
-Amber Eich
I guess what I most got out of this lesson was the text reading. The ways to manage a class using humor appealed to me the most. The Orange Joke. John you are a braver soul than I am because I had no idea how that joke was funny and worse I did not want to ask for the fear of it being a very obvious answer. So good for you man you are a brave soul. As for the two extra points and the apple question. I can't find it on Google and I asked Jeeves but he has no idea.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Amber about the daunting task of checking out a book to use for the class. I am more worried that being the new teacher in a school I will not have as much as a say as an older college but I guess I will deal with that problem when I get to it.