Tutor Year Reflection

A blog or similar forum is very effective when used as reflection. Blogs allow constant feedback from a partner and allow the blogger to review any feedback he/she receives whenever he/she pleases. Nobody is perfect, so having people comment respond to questions you may be having or suggest alternate methods to go about a certain lesson. In my original posting, I identified the blog as simply a way for people to review and provide feedback on things that were going wrong. However, now I realize that blogs are also a great way to spread things that DO work in addition to things that don't. Communication is key for any educator. Last week during the inquiry celebration, I learned how effective communication and collaboration can be. Once every other month, all teachers from the same department got together to review what they've done, what they can do in the future, and what could be improved. Because of this, they were able to create fun, exciting lessons that the students really enjoyed and helped the students gain a better understanding of the material.

 Drew, in a previous post, you mentioned that students in you class last semester seemed to learn better when engaged in non-lecture activities. Is this something that you have experience in your Special Education classes as well? What have you done to "engage" the students and keep their interest? Any words of advice on that front?

Learning Goals

My learning goals this past semester have involved classroom management.  So far, I feel that I have learned much in my time with my host teacher, especially during my first tutor activity. The students are beginning to listen to me more often and respect the authority I have unlike earlier in the semester when most of the ignored what I might have been saying. My research is about how teacher-student interaction (like walking around while they are working) affects classroom management. I have noticed that recently, when my host teacher and I walk around, the students stop goofing off more than earlier this year when they really didn't care who was around.

My plan hasn't changed much since my latest submission. My host teacher and I look over my plan every time I visit, so we are staying on top of any activities that may be due in the near future. My progress seems a bit slow to me right now, but it is much better than last semester when I was scrambling to complete many activities.

Digital Story

The first thing that comes to mind when it comes to my PDS experiences is the difference in teaching styles and classroom management by my different host teachers. I could also liken that to how easily I was able to form a rapport with some students yet have difficulty connecting with others. Other ideas could be the different ways my first host teacher incorporated learning by providing multiple lessons that were interactive and helped the students understand the lesson better.

One of the most important facets of a story is the amount of detail included. Whether the details are written or presented in pictures or even spoken, the better the details, the easier it is to imagine what is occurring. Some stories that may be interesting to hear would probably something new to me, like an alternative way to teach a lesson or how a peer handled a difficult situation.

As I stated earlier, images and other multimedia help with the details, which help the listener create a better mental picture. Also, when telling a story, a picture or a video can be great in helping break the monotony of constant text. Like in PowerPoint presentation, too much text can really be boring. By making audio recordings or even videos, the storyteller/presenter can inject their own personal feelings, potentially creating some empathy and a connection between the listener and presenter. Also with videos and pictures, the listener can feel like they are part of the classroom by actually seeing and experiencing what the presenter did.