I laugh that we as educators may not always feel happy being observed, but today I wish someone could have been there! I had my first graders watch a screencast of me showing a Google Presentation about some technology vocabulary words. This lesson came directly from some feedback from my administrator about adding more academic language into my lessons. I then had students complete a paper and pencil assignment that went along with the screencast. I was really unsure how it was going to go, and I was so happy and surprised that it went seamlessly.
I felt like a success today and that is always an amazing feeling. I am so excited to see how my students will keep growing and advancing in their computer skills. My plans for the new year will be to begin to use Google Docs with these first graders and really get my student to student collaboration going! Even though I have only seen this class 15 times, I know after a day like today that what we are learning is sticking and we are becoming tech savvy at age seven.
Hi Katie. When you break down the time spent with your students it really opens your eyes to see just how precious time is. As educators it’s important that our content is concise and effective for your learners so they may get the most out of their learning experience.
ReplyDeleteIt really is great when you see your students reach that “ah-ha” moment and really excel. Although you were the only one present during this session to witness positive result, what are some things you could do to gain the student’s feedback? Video interviews?
Katie,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are doing everything right! Keep working on your goal of incorporating more engaging online learning.
Even though you only meet with your students for that short amount of time, you can still impact them. Many educators feel that time in the seat is the most important when its actually the assignment itself and the engagement level during that time. Is there anyone else at your school or in your district that you could share lessons with to make it easier on yourself?
Sounds like you are doing very well. Congrats on the assignment and keep it up!
Erin
Katie,
ReplyDeleteI always love to read your blog because it reinforces what I feel about observations and teaching in general. I frankly hate the artificial nature of being observed. Mainly because when it happens it never seems like it's one of those days when the learning is magical and everything falls into place. The time we have with our students as specials teachers is always so limited. The trick for us is always trying to get as much done in the time we have, have our students enjoy it and feel like we've been successful. I can't imagine how hard that is for you with such limited time. I'm impressed with your commitment to your students and your desire to improve yourself and keep on going.
Those days are the best! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteKatie - Nice post. Since I live in the high school world, it's hard for me to understand what it would be like to be a specials teacher in an elementary school. I can empathize a little bit because of my schedule. I teach a junior English class which meet 3 days a week (MWF). When I look at how much time I spend with my Juniors versus my Sophomores which meets 5 days a week, it's hard to see how I can make an impact in less amount of time. Now, add on to that the habits of schools in always scheduling inservices or furlough days on Mondays or Fridays and my MWF class seems to be meeting twice a week many times. The time constraints are always real, but as Erin stated earlier, finding ways to make the time valuable and effective will make it feel as productive as possible
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