Learning to Teach

As I prepare to begin student teaching in the spring, learning on my part on how to be a better teacher is very important and dare I say, necessary.  Through some of my required course readings, I have been given the resources and opportunity to invest in my learning as a student teacher.  Written below are musings and lessons I have learned from these readings.  

3 relevant connections to your student teaching internships.

 1 - The first connection I can make to my student teaching internship is the aspect of applying group teaching methods.  Group teaching methods include lectures, discussions, demonstrations, field trips. role-playing, and utilizing guest speakers.  All of these group teaching methods are things I wish to implement and utilize as student teacher.  They are all very good tools to facilitate students learning and many of them are method that I remember really learning through.  I plan to use many if not all methods as a student teacher.

Additionally, in my last teaching lab (see previous blog post)  I used a lot of discussion.  I have found that as far as teaching preferences go, I really enjoy discussion and group work as a teacher and feel as though group teaching methods (maybe with the exception of lecturing) make it really easy for students to pursue their own learning and feel an element of control in what and how they are learning.

2 - Another connection I can make is the importance of objectives and answering the "why" for the students as they learn.  As a teacher, I already know the purpose of learning and where a lesson may lead, but the students cannot see the end goal and must be given guidance as to what they should be pulling and internalizing from each lesson.  This is in the form of objectives.  When I student teach, objectives are something that I am going to need to include in all of my daily lessons.  Objectives also provide clarity and help eliminate stress from learning.

3 - The last and final connection I can make to my student teaching internship is the importance of student-led learning.  As was briefly mentioned in the first connection, students, when more in control of their learning, often see the end goal of the lesson more clearly.  One way to implement student-led learning is through group work.  Leading group work/giving instructions and then sending them to search and learn on their own in the best way they know how is how I want to lead my classroom.  Needless to say, I plan to implement group teaching methods in order to allow students to lead their learning.

2 connections to other courses that are part of your #TeachAg Journey

1 - When I took AEE 100 Fall 20 semester, we learned about he importance of objectives in lesson planning and teaching.  We learned how to write a proper objective and how to meet that objective in a lesson.

2 - My fall '19 semester at Penn State Berks I was able to take Educational Psychology and learned about the importance of control for students in their education.  This was also touched on in AEE 311 as well (if I can remember correctly).  All of my AEE courses are starting to blend together.  Needless to say. control of learning for students increases retention and interest in what they are learning.  Control of learning could relate to group work and field trips because students may have opportunities to ask complete tasks and group work within heir groups and even by themselves.

The Triangulated Connection (w/ citation!)

1 - Based on the importance of group work and the connection to learner control in the classroom from AEE 311 and Educational Psychology, I was able to find an article on the impact of student control over their learning.  After a school switched to this kind of instruction where the teaching is the "coach rather than the facilitator", students began to enjoy their learning more and develop more critical thinking skills.  This is turn prepares them more from post-secondary schooling and a future career.

Citation:

Richmond, Emily. “What Happens When Students Control Their Own Education?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 24 Oct. 2014, www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/10/what-happens-when-students-control-their-own-education/381828/.