Week 9 - Self Reflection / Final Word
This online course was one of the most rewarding experiences I have had so far at the University of Bridgeport. I was looking forward to creating real lesson plans that could be fully utilized in a secondary ELA classroom. Creating these three lessons has helped me understand a few aspects of myself as a prospective teacher. First, I have found that it is much easier to create a lesson using content/materials that I am passionate about. This may seem obvious, but I noticed that I was able to easily imagine the objectives and outcomes for each lesson when working with texts that I personally enjoy. Additionally, I have found that a helpful tool for creating effective lessons is to place yourself directly into the shoes of the student. As a student, I would look forward to any opportunity to engage with my classmates and collaborate on a project. I kept this in mind, and I decided to incorporate some type of group work in each lesson. I felt like using group activities could help students tackle difficult questions and simultaneously strengthen social/emotional bonds. As a student, I tried thinking about some of the most memorable classes I have had, and most of them had some element of partnering, grouping, or in-class discussion. Going through this process has helped me realize that what I value most about education is having the opportunity to actively engage with peers and to work cooperatively to achieve a common goal. I look forward to asking my future students for feedback so I can adjust the lessons in order to make my classes engaging and practical.
I feel like the biggest challenge was avoiding a repetitive formula for creating lessons. For example, I feel like I should come up with more ways to conduct an Independent Assessment other than an exit ticket. I am interested in exploring other options so that my students do not get bored. I also want to try using interesting forms of technology to make my classes fun for the students. I can see that Kahoot is a very popular game in the classroom, and I would like to learn more about how to implement effective forms of play in the classroom.
Overall, I feel like this class was extremely helpful for planning and designing lessons. I would like to see the other lessons that my classmates have created. Furthermore, maybe it would be helpful to have students in this class work in groups to design lessons. I understand that the online format can be limiting, but perhaps this can be done in a future semester.
Thank you!
This online course was one of the most rewarding experiences I have had so far at the University of Bridgeport. I was looking forward to creating real lesson plans that could be fully utilized in a secondary ELA classroom. Creating these three lessons has helped me understand a few aspects of myself as a prospective teacher. First, I have found that it is much easier to create a lesson using content/materials that I am passionate about. This may seem obvious, but I noticed that I was able to easily imagine the objectives and outcomes for each lesson when working with texts that I personally enjoy. Additionally, I have found that a helpful tool for creating effective lessons is to place yourself directly into the shoes of the student. As a student, I would look forward to any opportunity to engage with my classmates and collaborate on a project. I kept this in mind, and I decided to incorporate some type of group work in each lesson. I felt like using group activities could help students tackle difficult questions and simultaneously strengthen social/emotional bonds. As a student, I tried thinking about some of the most memorable classes I have had, and most of them had some element of partnering, grouping, or in-class discussion. Going through this process has helped me realize that what I value most about education is having the opportunity to actively engage with peers and to work cooperatively to achieve a common goal. I look forward to asking my future students for feedback so I can adjust the lessons in order to make my classes engaging and practical.
I feel like the biggest challenge was avoiding a repetitive formula for creating lessons. For example, I feel like I should come up with more ways to conduct an Independent Assessment other than an exit ticket. I am interested in exploring other options so that my students do not get bored. I also want to try using interesting forms of technology to make my classes fun for the students. I can see that Kahoot is a very popular game in the classroom, and I would like to learn more about how to implement effective forms of play in the classroom.
Overall, I feel like this class was extremely helpful for planning and designing lessons. I would like to see the other lessons that my classmates have created. Furthermore, maybe it would be helpful to have students in this class work in groups to design lessons. I understand that the online format can be limiting, but perhaps this can be done in a future semester.
Thank you!
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