One thing that has really concerned me has been taping my teaching. Although it will be a great thing in the end, it is really making things unnatural in the classroom. I'm not sure if there is any way to avoid this, but it seems like there always seems to be problems with the technology, and therefore, takes up precious class time to figure out how to fix it. I do enjoy watching the videos, and actually seeing myself teaching, but things happen such as running out of batteries, memory is full, or just little glitches in the devices that make it difficult to teach. I just wish it felt like it wasn't staged at some points. I don't know if there is any way to prevent that, but I thought I would just express my thoughts. I tried my first reader's theater this week with "Ronald Morgan Goes to Bat." I assigned mixed ability groups and the parts. Then, the students got to draw and label their character on a piece of paper so that they could take ownership of the character. Then, they were able to read their parts in their groups, practicing using expression while they were reading. This experience was a nice thought, but didn't go as well as I had planned. I know I obviously needed more time. I wish I could have had the time to allow the students to make costumes for their characters, and really practice their parts. It just seems like there really isn't time for that in my classroom. Maybe it's the strictness my school puts on sticking to the basil, or maybe it's me. But, I feel like I am pressured to get so many things done that I can't even give the students the time to do their best work. They can't have the time to analyze the situation, critically think, and truly get something out of the activity. I feel like this is a reoccurring theme for many of us, and I would like to hear some feedback on how we are supposed to handle this.
One thing that has really concerned me has been taping my teaching. Although it will be a great thing in the end, it is really making things unnatural in the classroom. I'm not sure if there is any way to avoid this, but it seems like there always seems to be problems with the technology, and therefore, takes up precious class time to figure out how to fix it. I do enjoy watching the videos, and actually seeing myself teaching, but things happen such as running out of batteries, memory is full, or just little glitches in the devices that make it difficult to teach. I just wish it felt like it wasn't staged at some points. I don't know if there is any way to prevent that, but I thought I would just express my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI tried my first reader's theater this week with "Ronald Morgan Goes to Bat." I assigned mixed ability groups and the parts. Then, the students got to draw and label their character on a piece of paper so that they could take ownership of the character. Then, they were able to read their parts in their groups, practicing using expression while they were reading. This experience was a nice thought, but didn't go as well as I had planned. I know I obviously needed more time. I wish I could have had the time to allow the students to make costumes for their characters, and really practice their parts. It just seems like there really isn't time for that in my classroom. Maybe it's the strictness my school puts on sticking to the basil, or maybe it's me. But, I feel like I am pressured to get so many things done that I can't even give the students the time to do their best work. They can't have the time to analyze the situation, critically think, and truly get something out of the activity. I feel like this is a reoccurring theme for many of us, and I would like to hear some feedback on how we are supposed to handle this.