I consider my audience both my colleagues and future schools I will work at. This program is helping me develop my methods and objectives as a teacher. My project should speak to how envision creating a classroom that is accessible to all kinds of learners. ( I would like to note here that I saw a reference to this in the Clark reading, which pleased me immensely. Clark discusses that one should use a variety of media in their trainings, as this is more effective [Clark 19]).
The kind of resource I want to create is one that can be used by my colleagues to re-invent how they design lessons for their classroom. The readings this week go a long way towards helping me conceptualize that idea so that I can make it more concrete for my capstone. I am playing with the idea of using Clark as a format, creating a training manual on how to build a Universal Design Lesson Plan. Walk my colleagues through the design process and help them visualize how it could be used in their own classroom. A Universal Design Lesson is simpler to design than a traditional Differentiated lesson and, I believe, more effective. It could be a very valuable resource.
4 Comments
I really appreciated this set of readings, for two reasons.
Reason #1: I believe that there is not enough professional development for teachers. The lack of professional development leads to ineffective teaching, inadequate use of classroom time, and the exponential cost of having an ineffectual teacher in a classroom. Reason #2: These readings helped me to conceptualize how to design lessons. One things I saw, that is inevitable, yet our most precious resource, is that there must be an investment of time. "...that instructors can simultaneously develop and deliver effective training...as a result there is minimal lesson development, under the assumption that the delivery process will generate effective instruction automatically." (Clark 22) In order to be effective, we need the proper training and time to develop our instructional methods and materials. My husband works at Google. In Google, there is a program called G2G. It is a Google internal program that strongly encourages employees to work on their professional development. Classes include: Public Speaking, Training Facilitation (how to teach a class), Writing More Clearly, E-Mail Writing Skills, in addition to technical courses such as Statistical Thinking, C++, and How to Write Better Design Documents. Taking one of these courses will show up on your Google internal profile, and while not mandatory, will give you points in your next employee review. Google is investing time and money to create valuable and effective employees. Teachers are expected to make a lot of these jumps and figure it out as they go along. Upon reviewing Sensemaking and Dervin, I had this take away: *Create a bridge for the student and the information they seek. My job is not only to create a bridge, but explain to my students that they need the bridge. The students walking into my classroom do not always know what they need to know. I have to facilitate that process and get them. At the Passover Seder, there are four children whom we address the story to: The Wise Son, The Wicked Son, The son who doesn’t know how to ask, and the simple son. A majority of my students “don’t know how to ask”. I must help them get to a place where they can either love me or hate me, but they will at least know what the question is. Key pointers I learned from the readings:
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2017
Categories |