Month: February 2019

When I heard that our class was going to the VMFA, I was excited because I had never had a guided tour there or considered it for a student or whole grade field trip.

LIKES: I enjoyed seeing the bottom level student space. I thought that that interactive room would be great space for groups of children to explore and learn. I also enjoyed the virtual learning lesson of the program. I thought the woman who was communicating with us over the speakers was knowledgable and did an excellent job prompting questions. I believe that using that technology would intrigue students and get them to ask a lot of questions they had never considered before.

DISLIKES: Personally, I thought the first tour guide was incredibly boring. I think that wonder questions are great for kids, but I have noticed that sometimes the activities people demonstrate for us are run into the ground. After seven times of hearing, “what do you wonder?” it kind of gets old. I think it’s a tough challenge to model things to adults that are meant for children (i.e. keeping the same level of engagement). The second part of the technology experience was also hard to get through. We spent 30 minutes watching the guide click through links on the website, and for me, that was boring. I just feel like the time could have been utilized so that we could have seen more first hand items in the museum and learned more information.

In general, I compared this trip to our 2 science outings at the buildings in U of R last semester. I so enjoyed seeing the facilities that U of R had and I think the tour guides did a great job at treating us like adults, but at the same time showing us how to cater to our future children. Again, I think it’s tough to model activities meant for children to adults. All in all, I was really disappointed with the VMFA trip and thought that the tour guides could have been more engaging and provided more information/activities.

This was the first class that I thought the literature circles seemed repetitive. I think that If I were younger I may enjoy the structure more, but I’ve found the assigned roles monotonous and the continued circles boring. I wish we could have an open discussion about the book instead of the guided assignment (because we are adults). And I know that what I’m stating is sort of the job of the discussion director, but I wish the entire process could be more free flowing. I understand how this wouldn’t work for young children but I think we could have more interesting/in depth discussions with less roles to go over.

Regarding the sort, I was finally confused with how to put the words together even though I knew what most of them meant individually. I thought it was interesting how our group usually flies through word sorts and we are all on the same page…but we were stumped! Probably because Abby was gone 🙁

I LOVED taking the assessments…even if they were bad. Taking tests is my favorite thing in the world and we hardly ever do it in grad school. I learned a lot about how to construct a clear, effective assessment. There were so many things that I did not know affected how students test and the packet with tips was extremely helpful.

I HATED the last assignment. If I were to remake this assessment I would write an actual question where “question” was bolded. I think the way that the statement was phrased and the do you agree or disagree was placed below it was horrible! I would most definitely use a rubric/assessment like this in the future but completely alter the format to make the assignment easier to process.

A lot of people were upset that last class we were told that the first lesson plan due was the biography. Several students mentioned to me that they had already started and were kind of thrown off about the subject of the lesson plan. I do agree that even though we discussed HOW to write a strong lesson plan, we did not discuss what our first one was going to be about.

This was the first class at the University of Richmond that got me excited about writing a lesson plan. I am not even sure if excited is the right word, but I feel more confident about the upcoming assignment. I really liked that we were able to see such a seasoned teacher conduct a lesson. Before this, I never understood the concept of a lesson plan, especially in the U of R format, and this video gave me a much better understanding of it. I also liked the film because it was very relatable and the teacher seemed respectful, caring, and intelligent. Writing down what I saw in the lesson plan template as the video progressed also helped me visualize and figure out how the lesson plan process actually works.

As I expressed to you earlier, lesson planning has always been something that has weighed heavily on me throughout my time in the program. It was very emotional to finally understand how to write one. I really want to be proactive for my first lesson plan so I can get feedback along the way and not feel like I am scrambling to put together something I’m not proud of at the last minute.

Regarding the activities we participated in in class, I appreciated how they mirrored Mrs. Wicketts’. I would 100% use every activity in my future class because they not only engaged the students, but they taught them new information and reinforced it.

I have been so nervous to become a teacher because I have been extremely worried about how I am going to teach my children. I know that I will love and respect them, but I also want them to learn things from me. I think today’s lesson was a huge step for me and has helped me think in a different way.

I’m looking forward to becoming more skilled and learning how to write and adapt lesson plans for children.

 

Thank you for a listening ear and today’s lesson!

Hands down, my favorite class so far. I liked the fact that we covered a variety of activities and I actually found the skills progression chart quite useful and extremely interesting.

I would 100% use both of these activities in my classroom and believe they would be most well-received/understood in upper middle school and all levels of high school. At first, I did not understand the point of the year progression document activity, but once everyone had sorted their evidence, I was surprised at how much information had been gathered + how many inferences could be made. Surprisingly, I have never done an activity like this before. I have examined primary sources in depth but never put them in order and compared them to other groups’ data. Also, I appreciated that the activity allowed for individual, group, and class collaboration.

I have done a compare and contrast activity with historical pictures before, maybe even the same ones if I am remembering correctly. I have always enjoyed it..however, I think we did kind of go over board talking about the similarities/differences that we saw in the pictures. Nevertheless, a great activity!

I think that as everyone is finding their groove, the class is becoming more exciting and moving at a better pace. Sometimes I feel like we spend too much time on activities that only need a brief overview because we are all older. But, that could be just my fast-paced nature. I do think yesterday’s class was much better. Regarding time, in my opinion, literature circles do not need to be as long. If everyone does what they are supposed to do and stays on track, it isn’t a complex task. — On a happy note, I do enjoy my book! I wish it were written for adults because the young writing is sometimes hard to take seriously. I love a good love story mixed with some murder and maybe some fighting but I do understand that the book is written for kids. I think it does a great job incorporating history with intrigue and I am glad that I hadn’t read it before.

Overall, I think the flow of class is getting better and I am happy that I will utilize the lessons provided yesterday.