Ok, maybe the image is a little 'over-the-top' but in all seriousness. Getting ready to take over three classes is a little nerve racking.
Everyone keeps talking about ORGANIZATION! Making sure every thing is planned out to a tee. Well, that is what I did. So much so that I overburdened the time I had and realized (by both advice and reflection) that I was trying to cram way too much stuff into the first two classes.
For my first class, for example, I began by playing period music, handing out examples, of the region for them to touch, giving a lecture, showing a movie clip, and asking them to work independently on three separate maps. Sounds like a lot right? It was :)
My head and heart were in the right place in that I wanted to give them a context rich beginning to our Meso-American unit. The problem was, it was just too much for one day and they weren't able to actually get to finish the maps themselves (which was one of my main lesson objectives).
In any case, as I begin to take go further into planning and teaching my lessons I am becoming very aware of just how important this whole experience this is. There are many things that are not-teaching that come into play every single day. Things we don't even expect to cause issue (like handing out a graphic organizer, talking to a student who was absent, or dealing with a minor behavioral issue) come up every single day. Each day I learn a little bit more and speaking with my coop and supervisor often has given me both great insight into improv
Everyone keeps talking about ORGANIZATION! Making sure every thing is planned out to a tee. Well, that is what I did. So much so that I overburdened the time I had and realized (by both advice and reflection) that I was trying to cram way too much stuff into the first two classes.
For my first class, for example, I began by playing period music, handing out examples, of the region for them to touch, giving a lecture, showing a movie clip, and asking them to work independently on three separate maps. Sounds like a lot right? It was :)
My head and heart were in the right place in that I wanted to give them a context rich beginning to our Meso-American unit. The problem was, it was just too much for one day and they weren't able to actually get to finish the maps themselves (which was one of my main lesson objectives).
In any case, as I begin to take go further into planning and teaching my lessons I am becoming very aware of just how important this whole experience this is. There are many things that are not-teaching that come into play every single day. Things we don't even expect to cause issue (like handing out a graphic organizer, talking to a student who was absent, or dealing with a minor behavioral issue) come up every single day. Each day I learn a little bit more and speaking with my coop and supervisor often has given me both great insight into improv