Inspiration from the Little Things
Week Two
Week Two
Have you ever had that moment when
you are teaching a lesson and that one student blurts aloud “This is boring!”
You are at a standstill, you think of something nice to say but the only words
that come to mind is ‘How?’ As teachers, we learn that not all children are the
same. They do not learn the same. They have their own way of learning. I had a four
year old student, a couple of years ago that the only way that I found
effective to teach him colors was through cars. He loved them wore them in some
degree every day. Carried his special red convertible in his pocket just to keep
him calm throughout the day. He spent his learning center time in the block
center to make a car track. But in one on one and small groups he was not able
to identify colors for me except red. One day, I brought in a race car pack
filled with various colors and sizes of cars. That morning, I worked with him
in blocks and we played with each car. I also had the color poster for him to
look at and compare. Each time before he got another car to play with he was
asked to find the color on the poster and say it aloud. I then pointed to a
color on the poster and had him find a car that has the same color. Working
with him individually for nearly a week and a half, he was able to identify
nearly all primary and secondary colors.
Teachers are not robots. We cannot
expect students to learn just based on information from a textbook. We have to individualize
learning in order for our students to learn, comprehend, and demonstrate the
information given. A worm found in a play yard can inspire a whole lesson of
worms and decomposition. Or a hawk in a tree, could inspire a week long lesson
of bird watching. Or a student asking why do we use sun tan lotion in the
middle of circle, could inspire you to spray a half of a piece of construction
paper with suntan spray and have the other piece (control) beside it outside and see any changes within a
few hours. If a teacher is not inspired by their own inquires let alone their students,
then why be a teacher? The greatest teachers learn from everyone in their
world. (Cauley and Pannozzo, 2011, p. 4).
Cauley, K and Gina Pannozzo. (2011). Inspired Responses. Annual Editions: Education Psychology, 2-4.
Eggleton, P. J. Motivation:
A Key to Effective Teaching. The
Mathematics Volume 3 Number 2
Kim-
ReplyDeleteI love the statement that teachers are not robots! your blogs are always so friendly and comprehensive! I, too, like most teachers have had that "This is boring" statement yelled in my class. It is very frustrating to have to meet certain criteria and do it creatively every lesson. It's almost impossible! What I try to do is mix it up, and explain to the students that sometimes, direct instruction must be done. I have had students "guest" teach a lesson here and then which shakes it up. What are some of your tactics?
Christan
Kim,
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic blog! You really brought this weeks topic to life for me through your post. I love that you were able to reflect on your students likes and issues and turn that into a learning opportunity for him. I have seen way too often teachers become frustrated with their students lack of interest and ignore the student, when in reality it is the students cry for help. You were able to take the time and help this students one on one and this shows that you care for this student and want him to do well.
I wish our education system allowed for teachers to no be "robots". Although I do not have a full time teaching position, I was able to sub in a school district this year. The frustration and sadness that I saw from other teachers about standardized testing was disheartening. They had ideas, plans and lesson that they were unable to use because they had to make sure the students were prepared for the standardized test. There was no time to get off topic and explore the lessons. This was hard to watch!
Thank you for sharing your post and specific examples from your own classroom. It is nice to read that teachers are reflecting on their students and taking the time to help them each grow and learn.
Jess