I would like to again mention the two experiences I have had thus far are night and day. My first placement was not the greatest, the school was very dry and the staff was not very supportive with one another, and it appeared less supportive of the students. The school I was first placed at was definitely similar to the school spoken about by the anonymous woman Grant Wiggins wrote about in this article. Students could easily slip through the cracks as the teachers just lectured and the students took copious notes (or didn’t). I shadowed some of my AVID students for a day, and felt similarly to what the coach wrote about. A lot of information was being thrown at those students, with little time to digest it.
As for my students now, the school I am placed at now, the story is a little different. I have yet to shadow students at my school, but I have observed several different classes in different subject areas. I notice that there is a change of pace very often in the classrooms at this school. I know we stretch in my class, and I’ve seen them stretch in their English class. We have block days, so we do realize how long two hours is, the class is definitely chunked up in order to keep them interested and awake. I think the school I am at now is similar to the school the coach talks about wanting to have after she did her observations. It’s quite nice.
This article aligns well with my teaching beliefs, I think learning needs to be interesting. I teach history, which is a tough one to keep “fun” since half the class would rather be in any other subject but history. I think the way to do so is to keep it interesting, which falls on the way the teacher runs the classroom. Don’t give the kids time to be bored, and they won’t be.
As for my students now, the school I am placed at now, the story is a little different. I have yet to shadow students at my school, but I have observed several different classes in different subject areas. I notice that there is a change of pace very often in the classrooms at this school. I know we stretch in my class, and I’ve seen them stretch in their English class. We have block days, so we do realize how long two hours is, the class is definitely chunked up in order to keep them interested and awake. I think the school I am at now is similar to the school the coach talks about wanting to have after she did her observations. It’s quite nice.
This article aligns well with my teaching beliefs, I think learning needs to be interesting. I teach history, which is a tough one to keep “fun” since half the class would rather be in any other subject but history. I think the way to do so is to keep it interesting, which falls on the way the teacher runs the classroom. Don’t give the kids time to be bored, and they won’t be.