Reflection 7

Ok so I just realized I'm missing a reflection, so here are some of my thoughts about the week when Geoff was gone:

STL #4: How Technology affects Society, Politics, Economy, and Culture.

STL #5: Teach students to know the positive and negative effects of Technology.

Within this STL we should teach Middle School to Reuse, Reduce, Recycle.
Use technology to fix things from natural disasters.
Learn about the pros and cons of Technology.

Should Teach High School to have more hands on experiences. Goes more in depth

STL #6: Students will develop an understanding of the role of society in the development and use of technology:

In Grades 3 – 5: Technology gets outdated quickly
In Grades 6 – 8: Technology advances and uses are determined by society
In Grades 9 – 12: Compare and contrast technologies

The observation of the high school was interesting. Braden and I went to Springville high school. We had a good conversation with the teacher, but once again did not see much direct instruction. This has happened repeatedly and at first I thought our timing was just off, but really it seems that 80 to 90 percent of the time in a tech class is student work time. Interesting...

Reflection 6

Ok I don't have that much too say for this reflection, so I thought I'd answer some the questions asked during class:

What are my words?

Umm is one of my words for sure.

YES!!!

Exactly!!

Sweet.

I'll add to this once we watch more video and I see which'ns I use the most.

How do you hand out papers? Before class? During? At the end?

I think I'll try to have any papers that need to be handed out on a desk at the beginning of class and have the students pick them up on their way in. This would definitely be a procedure so I wouldn't have to tell them each time. If this doesn't give then I'd rather hand out the papers myself during student work time or right at the end of class.

What do I think of creating fun titles for simple activities: Rapid Fire (For student Input).

I love this idea. This totally a classroom management tactic. These fun titles are actually code for procedures and for checking for understanding. I think this would also help for kids to talk about your class outside of your classroom.

Reflection 5

How do you handle it when students give the wrong answer?



That is a good question. Some of my teachers just made fun of me, but that was ok for I was a friend with most of my teachers so I'd just make fun of them for not teaching me better. I think this question goes back to the ambiance created by the teacher. If the students are comfortable with the teacher (and with the other students) they will take more risks by answering even if they don't know for sure, but this can lead to wrong answers. So... it totally depends on the teacher's style. Like if I was Geoff, I'd just say "...No. That was way wrong!" But since he has a good relationship with the students it's ok. I think I would try a couple different ways at first to see what works best for me and the students. For example:
1. I would break down the question into simpler parts and just talk with that one student until he/she understood it.
2. I would say 'almost' and then ask another student to help out and then return to the first student and have them repeat the answer back to me in their words.
3. I would say "...No. That was way wrong!" and then reexplain it myself.




Ok Next Question:
What makes a good teacher?

-knows content

-objective based

-expects more (focus on growth)

-Engaging Environment

-High trust in students

-Use assessment/evaluation

-Passionate about discovery

-use inquiry based instruction (constructivism)

-gets the students to talk about your class outside of the classroom

-Doesn’t cover information, uncover it

-Uses the Ping Pong ball effect (has the student who understands explain it to the others) I'd probably them to "spread it like its hot"... or sumthin like that.

Last thought: (Ok I know this is from seminar, but I pretty much consider seminar as part of this class...)

What is your policy on....?

-Cell phones: Inherit the school policy and/or allow them in the classroom as long their always on silent/vibrate and they only text not talk. Can not be used during direct instruction time.

-Passing Notes: Not allowed. Too distracting from other students as well. I'd tell them to put the note away or it'd be thrown away and to just talk to the person during work time for I don't plan on having hardly any days as just direct instruction.

-Discipline: Beat them with the "rod of correction". haha. I'm a few generations too late for that. I think I'll try something like Geoff had. The 3 R's. I really hope to have a good enough relationship with the kids that discipline is not an issue, but if it is then I'd probably start with an individual interview with the student, then detention, then the principle's office, then the parents, etc.

-Etc: Ok So there are a lot more situations/policies that I need to think through, but at least this is a start.