I Am My First Lesson Plan

In an informal discussion between myself and the class teacher we would determine our roles throughout the activities, what teaching styles will be used to match the needs of the individual children or groups. Discussing the individual children and preparing to provide additional support ensuing all needs are met, any barriers that may become apparent during the lesson can be overcome without fuss.

Do you ever find yourself wondering how you can form a better connection with your students? You are not alone. In her book, Bad Guys Don’t Have Birthdays, Vivian Paley looks for ways to improve her teaching methods and connect with the children in her class. After coming in contact with a school director that was a fan of promoting abstract thinking, Paley noticed that she was neglecting to take her students’ ideas into consideration and in many instances, focusing more on what she knew to be the answer rather than how her class solved the problem. To change her teaching style, Paley thought it would be better to immerse herself in the many different perspectives of her preschool class rather than presuming that she understands

During the months of September and October this semester I spent time at two different schools in four different classrooms. Being able to observe different classes and teachers at Westside Junior High and South Live Oak Elementary was a very new and exciting experience for me since I can’t say I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. My experiences at these schools gave me a better insight into the differences between schools, classrooms, and teachers. The purpose of this field experience was to get 10 observation or tutoring hours in an elementary or junior high setting. I chose to observe a

Lawrence also started a lesson using an active board by having sample problems on it and students were called on random to answer the questions. The students seemed to respond to the lesson very well. There were some students who decided to have their own conversation instead of doing their lesson so Mrs. Lawrence call on the students to get their attention; however , they did not respond so she politely walked over to the group and said something to them and they stop talking completely. For the most part these students looked like they were having fun while learning. Many were helping each other count while some were holding up fingers. After this hour and a half of observation, I wanted to interview Mrs. Lawrence concerning on lesson plan development.

At Arts-Based School I did my observation in Leni Fragakis’s third grade class. This was the first observation I had done since learning about instructional design. Since learning it, I now have a new way of observing, I pay more attention to the teacher; how she implemented the lessons, what strategies she uses, and the types of assessments she uses. This gives me a better experience because before I was just paying attention to what the students were doing and their part in the classroom and now I am paying attention to so much more. Even though it is important to watch the kids, I now also know how important it is to observe the teacher, too. I was also able to observe what I am learning in class be used in the classroom.

I encourage children to participate in classroom activities and to honor the classroom rules. I listen to what the children say and expand upon their language, building their vocabulary and background knowledge. I understand when to teach directly, when to provide time for exploration and discovery, when to practice skills, and when to encourage creativity. I plan activities that have a purpose and that challenge children. We have site words, colors, shapes, letters, and numbers posted throughout the classroom. In small group time we have enrichment work that is fun as well as educational. We also have calendars that we send home with the parents that have daily activities on them to help the children to learn while at home. The parents also have the opportunity to view the lesson plan because it is posted on the wall in the

I observed the preschool classroom of Ms. K. Today was a smaller group, as several children are on vacation. This is a new facility and just the host teacher was in there at this time. I came into the classroom at 8:00 and left at 9:00. I spoke with the host teacher before and after the observation for feedback, which I felt was beneficial to both her and me. I observed the children during inside for 20 minutes. I observed the children during outside play for 40 minutes.

In this class I was able to assist with everything the students did. I helped with craft time where the students would create a craft depending on what the lesson plan was for that week. I helped students utilize their fine motor skills by advocating the individual task of using a glue stick without help, coloring in the lines, and using safety scissors. Each task was focused on the child performing at the best of his or her ability and using praise to promote the task and the child 's ability to perform the task. During story time the students would sit in a circle and either Mrs. Abby or I would read to them while asking questions about the story or about something pertaining to the story. During music time, the students watched educational videos about letters, numbers, colors, and how to count. I saw that the videos kept their attention while also allowing them to dance and sing along. In this type of class setting I was able to contribute to the development and advancement of each child by pouring my knowledge and experience into their lives. Having such a small class was helpful in that I could focus on each child individually to ensure that the students were equally cared for and valued.

There are so many opportunities and lessons I have been taking away from this observation experience. First, being the importance of structuring a classroom

The two times I saw my Cooperating Teacher allow the students to engage with the material on their own, the students quickly became confused as they lacked the skills to manage their time, locate reference resources, use the technology needed, and reflect on their learning. Because students lacked these skills, they did not get everything out of the activities that they could have. My Cooperating Teacher addressed this problem by teaching students the skills needed for these situations which drastically improved the student 's ability to learn from these activates. Noting the success of this training, I have been trying to design my lesson plans and such so that I have a balance between real-world activities and skills education. Though I have not quite found that balance yet, I have improved.

I am the proud mom of four AMAZING kids, a wife to my supportive and hard-working husband, and a dedicated educator with 19 years of creative, effective, and engaging teaching experiences. I LOVE teaching…from the moment you step into my warm, welcoming, themed classroom, to interacting and guiding every student toward personal success, to sharing in their triumphs and challenges, to fostering the “real-world” connections, and most importantly…fostering a love of learning! I work endless hours planning, researching, preparing, and implementing in order to be creative, effective, engaging, and fun for every student. I pride myself on being able to connect and build strong relationships with all of my students each year. I believe in the importance of knowing each student’s learning style, and truly understanding their personal strengths and weaknesses, as like every adult, each child is unique and learns differently and at their own pace! Further, I believe that ALL kids can LEARN! I teach each of my students the importance of taking ownership, involving

Overall, the students in Mrs. Park’s classes are very well behaved. The main challenge is keeping the students engaged and alert in class. Often times, there will be a student, or several, with their heads down on the desk, asleep. Mrs. Park addresses this issue by quietly walking over to their desk, without disrupting class, and asking the students to complete a particular task. If the issue persists, Mrs. Park will have a discussion with the student to ask them how they think that the issue can be resolved. I have observed that the students are much more alert when they are working in cooperative

This essay will provide details about how the lesson plan and sequence of lessons for the mathematics unit of symmetry caters for individual students’ needs in regards to active engagement in learning activities and what differentiation measures are put into place for students with varying levels of ability.

During my observation time in a kindergarten classroom, I have noticed that the students have a wide variety of abilities, attention spans, interests, and love for learning. When it comes to the teacher’s instructional strategies, she intentionally takes into consideration all of the above characteristics to make sure each student gets what they need to be most successful. During lessons students are engaged because of the teacher’s ability to implement interests of the student’s into things and giving them options. If an error occurs during a lesson, the teacher normally, allows for the student who got something wrong to try again, or to call on a friend to help them out. This way the students are still giving the answers and not the teacher just telling them the information. The teacher chooses a lot of small group instruction and centers where she can work with a small group, but then, easily monitor all the other groups to make sure they are on task and doing their work.

The following data was gathered while fulfilling duties as a principal intern at Theresa Bunker Elementary School. The data was observed during five to seven minutes of classroom observation as part of a walk-through in the spring of the current school year. My cooperating supervisor for my internship was able to go on these walk-throughs with me in order to have a productive reflection meeting afterwards. This elementary school has two of each grade level from Kindergarten to sixth grade. Since it was more feasible in this small school setting, I actually was able to do a walkthrough in eight classes. Here I will report my observations from five of those walk-throughs. As I went in to each room I was looking for four