Learning How To Teach - Blog Post #2

Getting time to spend with my CT during plan has been an eye-opening experience. Before this semester, I never got the chance to speak with a teacher about why certain texts or activities were chosen. Everything I knew came from what I have seen teachers putting together last minute or what I have read in education books, merely the finished and polished product. But the experienced teacher I work with has shown me the thought and consideration that should go into planning a lesson.

            All of her classes are supposed to prepare seniors for college. She invites me to ask questions and make suggestions as well. This has encouraged me to think about motives and objectives not only within her own lessons, but as I plan my lessons as well.

            She has shown careful thought in her use of teaching literacies. All of the skills she wants her students to be able to utilize are similar to that of Bomer’s. With the most difficult texts she has had students read, such as “The Republic” by Plate and “Leviathan” by Thomas Hobbes, she reads first aloud. This enables them to pick up on certain things they wouldn’t have otherwise. Groups also read together, while other times she has students read individually.

            I have learned that she chooses each reading skill meticulously. She makes conscious decisions on which skill is paired with which reading. This goes along with Smagorinski’s discussion of backward design and overarching concepts. Her use of these really came in handy when I was discussing my lesson planning with her. Nm,

            Her questions and criticisms helped me question the “why” of my lessons. Instead of focusing what I was going to teach, she drove me to think about what I wanted my students to get out of my lesson. I am teaching a culture unit to a college prep senior class. I knew I wanted them to explore rites of passage, as they were getting ready to embark on their own rite of passage entering college and many of them leaving home for the first time. I thought about having them read different articles and take notes, but my CT suggested I explore more interactive activities to get them engaged, since this was the opening lesson to the unit. After I picked my activities, my CT asked me blatantly what I wanted the students to take from the lesson, what was my essential question. This was not something I could just make up. I did want them to learn something that would stick with them, especially throughout their college years. After answering this question, I was able to think of the best ways to reach my desired final product, the knowledge they would take with them. Although this backward design was only in the context of one of my lessons, it helped me get a better understanding of not only why I teach what I teach, but also why I teach how I teach as well.

This showed me a new take on creating lessons, which I believe will make my lesson more meaningful to the students. Instead of merely preparing content, I had specifics in hand that I wanted my students to understand. This also helped me create essential questions that would be useful. My CT has these posted for every class and discusses them to get students thinking throughout the activities. I have found the experience of working with my CT thus far, an extremely enlightening one.