Week 4

This week in class was great! I really enjoyed getting the opportunity to sit in a class in James Love Elementary. I got a chance to sit in on a first grade class. I loved getting to watch how the teacher ran her classroom and how she interacted with the students she had! I learned a couple of things that I like and dislike in a classroom setting. First thing that I liked was the children working in small groups. I think group work is really effective and it gives the teacher a chance to sit and work more closely with a particular student. One thing I disliked though, was the teachers inability to maintain control of her classroom. I think that it is SO important to be not only the teacher figure, but also the authority figure. In my future classroom I will be sure to set very specific rules and expectations on the first day of class, so that when I deal with issues later on, I can at least say the students knew the consequences and knew what was expected of them. Another thing I liked in this classroom was the integration of technology. The teacher really utilized the programs on the computer to enhance the student's learning experience. A second thing I disliked, though, was the underplanning. I watched how the teacher handled her classroom and it seemed as though she was planning her lesson on the fly. There was not much creativity and a lot of down time. I know that it is SO important that students are engaged in what they are learning. I think that this comes directly from having a well-prepared teacher. I learned a lot about how a teacher truly has to figure out what ways they can best facilitate learning in their classroom. There are so many things to think about as a teacher, including each student as an individual.

I read this article on the importance of planning in a classroom: http://www.tesol.org/docs/default-source/books/14002_lesson-planning_ch-1.pdf?sfvrsn=2
One of my favorite quotes was,

There are a number of benefits to writing a lesson plan. First, lesson planning produces more unified lessons ( Jensen, 2001). It gives teachers the opportunity to think deliberately about their choice of lesson objectives, the types of activities that will meet these objectives, the sequence of those activities, the materials needed, how long each activity might take, and how students should be grouped.

I think this really explains how important planning really is in a classroom!