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The importance of books in teaching
Differentiated instruction and learning theories applied essay
The importance of books in teaching
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“I teach the way I was taught.” This quote usually conjures a negative picture. I will not only explain how I would teach if I did not have books, pencils, paper, or a smartboard, but also I will discuss how my teaching would change based on that scenario. I will followup with two reflections on experiences I have had, one of which was as a teacher and the other as an adult student. In the above scenario, I would teach the following activities to successfully cover a unit on rhythm and musical notation without today 's resources. I would use popsicle sticks to create ta and ti-ti rhythms (quarter and eighth note rhythms), which is the Kodaly teaching method . Students would write rhythms in the sand and play them on body percussion. Musical …show more content…
The specific situation was a beginning pottery wheel-throwing class. I was disappointed as the teacher has a good reputation and my other teacher friends said that they really enjoyed taking his previous classes. I was looking for instructions that were broken down into smaller segments. I was also expecting a handout with the written instructions for techniques on the different stages of throwing a pot on the wheel. I had heard that one of his strong teaching techniques was to demonstrate and then talk a student through the the particular technique. I found the opposite in all of the above areas. The instructions were not broken-down, he did not even give the sequential order of creating a pot and there are very distinct stages. There were no handouts and I found him taking over and finishing the students ' projects without clearly describing what he was doing. I asked him where he learned to teach and he said he learned from another potter friend or to reaffirm “I teach the way I was taught.” It was an insightful experience to compare his teaching style with differentiated instructional techniques. This experience reaffirms that differentiated instruction is an effective teaching process. Some of the items I will focus on in improving in my teaching is the breaking down of instructions, and to minimize my tendency of
“The teacher is the one who gets the most out of the lessons, and the true teacher is the learner.” Elbert Hubbard. The most important thing about
For this lesson I still need to learn how to analyze instructional goals and differentiated instructional strategies. When I transfer to a university to further my education; in my educational classes I will learn about this. In addition to student teaching, I will be learning how to handle future situations with the appropriate grade level. Lastly, I will ask for advice from art teachers and teachers in general to find out more information on differentiated instructional strategies.
While I find value in both sides of the argument on what effective instruction looks like I do believe that there is something to be said for a “something old and something new” approach. As an English teacher I appreciate the ability and encouragement for creative projects, collaboration, and the use of technology; however, I also have a great deal of appreciation for a more traditional approach such as handwritten rough drafts, research papers, and a novel study that is completed in class with students reading aloud portions of the book. In an ever-changing society I know that I must be open to change as no two days in the classroom are alike.
This book describes the seven laws of teaching every educator must know in order to work with children on a day-to-day basis, and how we, as future educators, need to view our students. The Seven Laws of Teaching was originally written by a man named John M. Gregory in 1884, and then rewritten by a man named Charles Walker. John M. Gregory was a teacher from the beginning, as he started teaching when he turned seventeen. Gregory then continued onto be a leader in many educational organizations and many schools and universities. In 1917, Charles Walker wrote a revised copy of The Seven Laws of Teaching, and although he may have changed a few words, Walker didn’t want to change the original completely. Walker simply changed the outlook on students based on the difference of time in the world. When Gregory
When I first decided to be a teacher I had many thoughts and opinions about teaching and education. Some of my thoughts and opinions have stayed them same; however, many have changed from the discussions and readings in LL ED 411 and 480. When I first decided that I wanted to be a teacher I thought that most students learned in the same manner. I also thought that the teacher should have power over the classroom. Likewise, I thought that technology should not be used in the classroom--except to type papers. I now know that there is not much truth to my ideas and thoughts because my thoughts were shaped only from my experiences. My experiences are narrow because they were shaped from the problems in schools and the old ideas that teachers still have. Now that I have learned the other sides to these problems I know that my thoughts about teaching and education are not fully developed.
At the beginning of the lesson he was informing the kids, and he asked them if they were understanding it. He demonstrated at the end of the informing task exactly what they were to do. He then would ask the kids to go back to their mats and practice while he observed (extended task) them. After observing he went over to individual kids if they needed help or if the entire class needed help he would stop the class and refine the skills that the kids were having trouble with and went over the cues to remind the kids what they needed to do. Then he would have the children continue to practice (application task). He would then go back to rotating the class room to help the children, and encouraged them when they were demonstrating things
Currently I am co teaching a fifth grade class of eleven students. The class is a general education class with four students who have disabilities. My main focus for the class is teaching the human body system and implementing writing into the class. Differentiation of instruction is something we need to show that we are implanting in our classroom. There are four levels of differentiation of instruction; content, process, product, and affect. What we teach, how we teach it; how students demonstrate what they have learned, and how students feel about what they are learning is what DI is about. Educators need to start by choosing the best content that will help all of their students. The content not only has to relate to the subject matter, but need to connect to their culture. The process is also a crucial component of DI and Santamaria feels that the best thing to do for the students is having them work in groups, but Utley took an individual approach to DI. Santamaria feels that cooperative learning stimulates learning. The last component to DI is the product. This could be as simple as allowing the students to present their final product
When teachers differentiate their lesson, the students are more engaged to learn. Students have some choice in their learning activities, which motivates students to want to learn and also puts more learning responsibility on the students. Some students may prefer to work alone or in groups and some students like to be hands-on. By differentiating the lesson, all students’ needs are being met. “Differentiated Instruction gives students a range of ways to access curriculum, instruction and assessment. DI engages students to interact and participate in the classroom in a richer way. It is based on the assumption that all students differ in their learning styles, strengths, needs and abilities and that classroom activities should be adapted to meet these differences
Upon being faced with the task of writing my philosophy of teaching, I made many attempts to narrow the basis for my philosophy down to one or two simple ideas. However, I quickly came to the realization that my personal teaching philosophy stems from many other ideas, philosophies, and personal experiences. I then concentrated my efforts on finding the strongest points of my personal beliefs about teaching and what I have learned this semester, and came up with the following.
After doing the lesson, I felt that many things went well. According to the class evaluations and observation, the class really enjoyed the 4 different explore sound stations. The stations allowed for self-discovery, but were also structured enough for the teacher to have control. Classmates also liked the pictures that went along with the vocabulary terms. I think we did well with monitoring the students. We made sure the students were ready to continue to the next thing by having them give us “a thumbs up/ thumps down”. Lastly, I thought we did a great job at starting the lesson off strong with an engaging activity with the various sounds played from a cellphone app. It caught their attention and got them curious as to what
As I reflect on my experiences observing in three different classrooms over the last three months, I cannot express how much I have learned by being in the classroom. I began the Master of Science in Education last fall and previous to the practicum experience I had taken 8 classes. I read books, listened to the experiences of my classmates and instructors, reflected on my own education, and tried to imagine how this information was going to prepare me to face a classroom of elementary school students. While I learned theories and skills that should be known by any educator, these classes could not teach me what I most desired to know: what tangible steps could I take to correctly implement all of the correct ways of teaching.
Along these two weeks we have been prompt to make a recall to our own way of learning and why we became a teacher: Was it because coincidence, due to life circumstances, maybe because family tradition, was it a conscious decision or because someone influenced us? Whatever the answer is, we have to face reality and be conscious that being a teacher does not only means to teach a lesson and asses students learning. It requires playing the different roles a teacher must perform whenever is needed and required by our learners, identify our pupils needs and preferences, respecting their integrity and individuality but influencing and motivating them to improve themselves and become independent.
In today’s classroom, the teacher is no longer viewed as the sole custodian of knowledge. The role of a teacher has evolved into being amongst one of the sources of information allowing students to become active learners, whilst developing and widening their skills. Needless to say, learning has no borders – even for the teacher. One of the strongest beliefs which I cling to with regards to teaching is that, teaching never stops and a teacher must always possess the same eagerness as a student. Through several interactions with other teachers, I always strive for new ideas, techniques, teaching styles and strategies that I might add to my pedagogical knowledge. Furthermore, through personal reflection, feedback and evaluation...
Pike, B., & Bradley, F. (1997). The philosophy of teaching: Developing a statement that thrives in the classroom. Clearing House, 70(3), 125. Retrieved October 6, 2011 from http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9703092460&site=ehost-live&scope=site
In this course I experienced an important change in my beliefs about teaching; I came to understand that there are many different theories and methods that can be tailored to suit the teacher and the needs of the student. The readings, especially those from Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2011), Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2007), and Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P. (2010), have helped me to understand this in particular. In composing my essay about teaching methods and other themes, my learning was solidified, my knowledge deepened by my research and my writing skills honed.