As many of you will notice, I'm a complete noobie to this blog thing. I have yet to figure out how to search and locate classmates on here, so don't feel neglected that I haven't responded to your blogs. After being sick this entire week with what I believe to be either the flu or some nasty unknown virus from the hospital, I finally am getting around to posting about our text.
As I have read through Chapter 4 of Daniels and Bizar, I have come across some concepts that I recognize from grade school, and some ideas that are completely fresh. Growing up, I recall many teachers, generally in the fields of science, math, and literary arts, who would use group collaboration as a method of teaching. Much of chapter 4 reflects on concepts that I experienced from early elementary all the way through 12th grade. The idea of composing digital media, such as PowerPoint presentations, was a common method used by my teachers. I personally found this method to be effective because the students communicate to find a solution, or compose a written piece, but then also must communicate and allocate assignments within the group to ensure that the information is complete and ready to be presented to others. Group collaborations are effective because they give the students a chance to communicate with each other, as well as with the teacher. Team work skills are refined as students realize that the task of completing the project must be divided among themselves.
As I read through the text, I found the K-W-L+ concept described in Chapter 2 to be most interesting. This is a new concept to me, as I did not experience this during my K-12 days. I see this as an effective tool for both the students and the teachers. At the beginning of a unit, have students fill out a K-W-L+ after the introduction, and then again after the unit is complete. This tool will help the students measure how much they have learned, and what they may need to study for test time. Teachers can use the before and after K-W-L+ to measure how well the students learned the information, and if more instruction is needed before moving forward with a test or the next unit.
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3 comments:
Your blog looks pretty good so far, especially from a "noobie"!
Looking forward to reading more of your posts, glad you're back.
Hey Andrew,
I was really struck by your comment today about the parent who was irate that more traditional grammar lessons were not being taught to her child. You said that you weren't sure how to respond to her and wondered if anyone had some suggestions.
I think one of the biggest challenges about being a teacher is working with parents to achieve a common goal. I've had scuffles with many parents along the way, over a variety of things, and one thing in particular helped me to work through these awkward situations. Learning to trust myself as a teaching professional.
Because of the media and other outlets, teachers have begun to doubt their self-worth and their authority in the classroom. We are consistently told we are not as good as doctors or lawyers, and, fairly obviously, we are not paid us much...so the thinking goes...we are not as capable.
More teachers need to stand up and recognize the hard work they have accomplished to become a teaching professional and learn to trust their judgement beyond the seemingly harmless suggestions of parents or even administrators and policy makers.
When it comes to the theories and ideas regarding the teaching of grammar, you are the expert. If you have parents that continue to express concern, perhaps building an information sheet that describes some of the research regarding the teaching of grammar would be helpful for them.
Often people feel that because they were taught a certain way when they were in school that this is this *best* way and should still be done this way.
Part of our job is educating parents as well. I'm really glad you brought this scenario to the forefront.
P.S.
I'm looking forward to reading your updated blog :)
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