One suggestion that I repeatedly noticed involved highlighting specific parts of the standards listed in my lesson plans. I thought this was an excellent suggestion because it makes the lesson easier for the supervisor (or anyone else) to follow. When I am lesson-planning, I have trouble deciding which standards apply to a particular class, and I often list more than I need to. If the standard could be applied to the content in any possible way, I usually put it in just to be safe. The problem is that each National Geography Standard encompasses a variety of information, and I would only use a few phrases or one sentence out of the paragraph. By highlighting the sections that apply to my lesson, it gives the observer a better idea of what to expect. It also helps me determine which standards really apply to the content and strategies that I will be using for that day.
If I am going to incorporate the Elements of Literacy into my lesson plans, I need to do more than simply list the letters that apply. I need to specify which elements are being used and why/how I am using them. The reasoning for this is similar to why I need to highlight key parts of standards. By writing out the elements, the lesson plan is easier to understand, and it helps me focus my thoughts on what I want to accomplish.
Although I seemed to do a respectable job on this for my Unit Plan, I need to continue to use a variety of objectives for my lesson plans. I need to continue to incorporate action verbs like describe, compare/contrast, explain, discuss, define, distinguish, identify, etc. Furthermore, I need to return to these objectives at the end of each lesson and check to make sure they were accomplished. This is important because informal assessment is a key component to a successful classroom. On that note, I also need to work on including certain aspects of assessment in my lesson plans. My cooperating teacher explained that many teachers do a lot of good things in the classroom without really thinking about it (Ex: Walking around the classroom to monitor students during think-pair share). The problem is that your supervisor needs to see it in your lesson plan. I need to be more thorough In the future when writing the assessment portion of my lesson plans.
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Excellent job with this. When I first started teaching I would include all these standards because I thought I was demonstrating to a university supervisor or my adminstrator that I was covering all these things. I think this is human nature. But as I have begun to think about the qualities of effective teaching I realize it has to do with explict decisions teachers make in the classroom. The reason I have you all do this reflection and analyze is because if forces you to really think about what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what impact this will have on student learning. We make you all write this stuff done now that you are more conscious about what you are doing. But your teacher is right. Alot of effective teaching is done without thinking about. Keep up the good job and being reflective about your teaching. Dr. M
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