When thinking about the semester in it's entirety, I feel as though I have learned a lot about how I should and will teach Language Arts. I have always had a good grasp on L.A. related things but throughout the semester, I have realized there are so many parts to learning about these different things. I have learned more about the importance of scaffolding when teaching Language Arts and how important differentiated instruction is. It is difficult when we, as teachers, already know all of these things and we need to be aware of the fact that our students are still building the foundational knowledge needed to become successful language arts learners.
I have also learned more about incorporating technology into my classroom in regards to language arts. Through doing the New Literacy Project, I learned about the many different kinds of literacy there are and how to use different technologies to teach about those literacies. In doing this project, I learned more about how easy it can be to incorporate these different things into language arts instruction and how it can be beneficial to students.
Overall, I am really pleased with what I have learned in this course about teaching language arts. I feel more prepared, especially after having written multiple lesson plans. I obviously have much more to learn, but I am pleased with the progress I have made this semester!
Reflecting back upon the last 15 weeks in this course, I believe that I have been exposed to a wide variety of teaching methods that directly pertain to the subjects of English and language arts. I entered the semester unsure of how this course would be any different than TE 301, which shared many of the same goals. Fortunately, this course offered more methods, ideas, and opportunities to practice my teaching.
ReplyDeleteIn the first lesson plan, many of the tasks seemed menial and daunting to fill out. After completing the large lesson plan, it helped me to make the mini-lessons due in large part to understanding what was expected of me.
The greatest tool I will take away from this semester is the importance of technology in the classroom. I often forget about this component to teaching because I didn't grow up in an era where technology was as important as it is today. I know have a deeper intrigue for learning what current teachers are allowing their students to play/do on the computer, and what goals are expected in doing so. In addition, I have also understood how essential teaching-monitoring of the computers is, especially since children are so well versed in technology, that they are able to navigate through websites far quicker than I ever imagined. Technology is moving progressively and our students need the opportunity to understand what their future holds. Now, if we could just get the same number of computers in every room in Lansing Public Schools as in Okemos, that would be awesome!!
In culmination, I believe this class has offered me a variety of teaching practices that I will carry on into my professional career. This does not limit what I intend to learn in the future, but I believe I have a solid repertoire of information to begin my internship year upon.