It's the first day of school. The Goal: teach the first 10 minutes of your "first day" lesson plan. This lab was beneficial in multiple ways. First, I got to think through what would be a good way to establish classroom procedures right away, create a welcoming environment, etc. Second, I had the chance to teach for 10 minutes and practice classroom management skills with my cohort members who had transformed into students with various personalities. After watching my video, here is one thing I did well and one thing I can improve on for next time!
Gems: things that went well with my lesson.
I believe it's important to go over your objectives for each lesson. This all goes back to the first domain of teaching and learning: Organization and Structure of Content Matter. Students learn better when they are aware of the structure of the content as well as see how everything their learning contributes to the end goals. Going over the objectives also helps you as a teacher remain business-like and on task by reminding yourself of what you want your students to be accomplishing during the class.
Opps: Opportunities for improvement in future lessons.
I realized while I was watching my video that students asked me to repeat directions and/or had questions about what I just asked them to do. This means that either I'm not giving clear directions and/or I did not have their attention. So, going forward I want to make sure I thoroughly plan how I want to give directions and then also make sure I ask my students to repeat back the directions after I give them. That will hopefully help my directions be more clear and ensure that students were paying attention.
I'm looking forward to practicing more during next week's lab on interest approaches! Thanks for following my blog, I'd love to hear your thoughts!