As I conclude my second month of student teaching, I wish I could say I felt better about what I'm doing with my classes. I am planning and teaching lessons for the senior college prep classes, and our unit uses The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. I wanted to do something relevant and useful for my students; and since Pausch's book is based on a lecture he gave at Carnegie Mellon, it was appropriate to plan this unit around oratorical skills and communication.
My plan seemed pretty solid at first. I introduced the book, the author, and the culminating project (a graduation speech for the students to give in class). I gave the students clear objectives, and I explained that participation and grades for the unit would be rooted in oral communication or discussion. It was my hope that through "authentic discussion" (Randy Bomer), my students would be able to discuss the literature, find the themes, discuss the connection between their lives and the theme, and pose and respond to questions in a student-led atmosphere. I diligently studied and sought to improve each discussion by seeking out resources, and our discussions did improve. The students are now respectful toward one another, compliment each other, politely agree or disagree, and ask deep questions that require critical thinking. The format for discussion stays the same: students fill out two worksheets per week (one response journal and one discussion form), the requirements stay the same. But the discussion skills improve. I must say, I'm impressed (and grateful that it worked).
All the while, I have included workshops for pre-writing, drafting, and revision for their final graduation speech, but students were mostly expected to complete outside of class.
These successes are not the problem.
I had all these other ideas I wanted to incorporate into the lesson. But I forgot about them, or I didn't figure out how to fit them in until after it was appropriate. I had all these ideas about what to include in revision and writing workshops, but we ran out of time. I wanted to compare and contrast good and bad speeches, and discuss what qualities they as an audience value. All of these supplemental ideas supported the unit and culminating project, and they would have scaffolded perfectly into the unit. But the time has passed, and I'm afraid that their writing will have suffered because I didn't do these activities before they wrote and turned in their speeches.
I have discovered other ways to incorporate the ideas this time, but it doesn't fit together because the larger project came before the supplemental activities. I know that I can use this if I ever teach this again, but the damage has already been done.
How am I ever supposed to REALLY teach them something if I can't get all of my thoughts and ideas onto paper and into a cohesively scaffolded unit? And although I plan my unit using backwards design and I fill out daily lesson plans, why do I feel like I'm not FEELING this unit piece together? Like I've left something out? Like they don't understand the point (even though we have talked about it)? Am I just projecting my insecurities onto my lessons, or do my students feel like I haven't prepared them as well?
Ms. Slater,
ReplyDeleteI completely understand your frustrations. I am teaching college prep seniors. I am also currently teaching a writing unit—not speeches but literary analysis—and I am not comfortable with it. I don’t know about you, but for the past 2 years, I have been teaching mostly literature, poetry, figurative language, etc…this is my first attempt to teach writing. I have over-planned every day so far. There have been multiple pieces of my lesson plans that I have had to leave out, but I am starting to think that might be okay. We are not supposed to be perfect, and teaching writing is really hard! I have spent a lot of time walking around and helping individual students, and less time in whole-class discussion and mini lessons. I am writing an essay alongside the students, and tomorrow I plan to show them my outline and ask them for feedback (a Mason-esque technique) before they give each other feedback. I am not sure if I will really have time for this, but I am going to try it.
So, this is probably not a very helpful comment! I have no answer for this problem, except that this is where daily reflection comes in really handy. Assessing the students’ progress each day, reflecting on what might have been left out, and then adapting the next day’s lesson to fill those gaps. I think that is all we can do!
Lindsay,
ReplyDeleteI am sure your students gained more than you think from your unit. As teachers, we always feel as though we should be doing more, that we have failed our students by not exposing them to a specific piece of literature, or in your case a specific speech. However, our students pick up on much more than just what we see in the classroom.
As you mentioned, after having students complete their worksheets and talking about the requirements and expectations of the discussions, your students improved. They picked up what you laid out for them as a teacher, and it sounds like they are using these tools appropriately and effectively.
As Sarah mentioned before me, daily reflections are a major tool to first time teachers. Assess your students each day, comment on how you could present the information possibly more successfully, or why it was a success that day, and then make adaptations as necessary. All any teacher can do is keep trying and manipulating lessons to reach our students.
Stephanie
Lindsay,
ReplyDeleteI love that you are reflecting on your lessons and working to improve them. In my opinion, this is what the really good teachers do. They constantly look for ways to improve, for ways to help students better understand, for ways to engage all their students. With time, you will feel more comfortable in planning and implementing your lessons. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and keep on being a reflective teacher.