Example Teaching Reflection
I taught for just the third time the other day, and if keeping that in mind I actually feel like I did really well. Yes, there were things that needed improvement, for instance I think my hands were cold because for some reason they kept ending up in my pockets, and also I wish I would have thought about teaching the lesson based around assessment a little bit more. But I did see signs of improvement. From watching the video it looked like I felt more comfortable than the last time I taught, I walked around the room more and just kind of had fun more. Teaching really teaches, and it doesn’t just teach students, but the teachers too, and I was taught a lot through teaching again.
There were some things the other day that are in need of improvement. I learned from watching the video that every time I wasn’t doing something with my hands that they would be in my pocket. Since its my job to be a teacher and to be as engaging as possible I feel like having my hands in my pocket is something that doesn’t make me look like I am comfortable in my teachers position. I am afraid that if I don’t fix this habit my future students will look at me and be distracted thinking about how nervous he is, or what he has in his pocket so it is important I stop this habit, which I don’t feel will be too hard as long as I remain cognizant of the problem. Another thing which I wish I would have done better was test assessment better. I had a great opportunity towards the end of class to test the assessment of the students in a great way, I could have told them to pick a tempo name and sin it at the tempo and then have the rest of the class chime in and give their opinion on what tempo name they were playing. However instead I decided to tell the groups of students what tempo to sing the song at, and told the class before they performed the song what tempo they were supposed to sing it at. I still got an assessment, however I could have used the assessment as another way to help teach the concept better. With better preparation of a lesson plan I will better be able to think of these things, and through my education at ball state I will learn more and better ways to prepare a lesson plan.
The second time I peer taught I really didn’t like my style of teaching. I was boring, I stood around in one spot for pretty much the entire song, I didn’t feel as if I really engaged the students in the lesson and I just didn’t walk away feeling like I did a very good job. This peer teaching I really improved in a lot of different ways. This teaching I walked around, I made the student laugh, kept the lesson fun and entertaining, and overall I felt like I engaged the student better than I did the last time I taught. I was really happy with the way this teaching went. I also really liked the fact that I was better able to be myself in front of the class, I think this means that I am more comfortable talking in front of people. A big thing I didn’t like about my last teaching is that I didn’t feel like myself, but this time I was comfortable and just went up and taught and had fun, it was really enjoyable
“I’ve learned a lot from teaching.” That statement is kind of weird and ironic, but I feel like it makes a lot of sense here. You can read a book all day about how to teach, but until you actually get out there and teach I feel like there are lessons a teacher won’t have learned from books. I’ve learned a lot from these experiences, I know now that I am comfortable teaching, and I know there are still things that need improvement. In the future I hope to learn more about how to effectively make a lesson plan, for I feel like this lesson was lacking in assessment. Also I plan on watching my peer teaching videos more closely, so that if I find any more undesirable mannerisms I will be able to stop them before they become a problem. All in all a great experience, and I can’t wait to have more like it.
I taught for just the third time the other day, and if keeping that in mind I actually feel like I did really well. Yes, there were things that needed improvement, for instance I think my hands were cold because for some reason they kept ending up in my pockets, and also I wish I would have thought about teaching the lesson based around assessment a little bit more. But I did see signs of improvement. From watching the video it looked like I felt more comfortable than the last time I taught, I walked around the room more and just kind of had fun more. Teaching really teaches, and it doesn’t just teach students, but the teachers too, and I was taught a lot through teaching again.
There were some things the other day that are in need of improvement. I learned from watching the video that every time I wasn’t doing something with my hands that they would be in my pocket. Since its my job to be a teacher and to be as engaging as possible I feel like having my hands in my pocket is something that doesn’t make me look like I am comfortable in my teachers position. I am afraid that if I don’t fix this habit my future students will look at me and be distracted thinking about how nervous he is, or what he has in his pocket so it is important I stop this habit, which I don’t feel will be too hard as long as I remain cognizant of the problem. Another thing which I wish I would have done better was test assessment better. I had a great opportunity towards the end of class to test the assessment of the students in a great way, I could have told them to pick a tempo name and sin it at the tempo and then have the rest of the class chime in and give their opinion on what tempo name they were playing. However instead I decided to tell the groups of students what tempo to sing the song at, and told the class before they performed the song what tempo they were supposed to sing it at. I still got an assessment, however I could have used the assessment as another way to help teach the concept better. With better preparation of a lesson plan I will better be able to think of these things, and through my education at ball state I will learn more and better ways to prepare a lesson plan.
The second time I peer taught I really didn’t like my style of teaching. I was boring, I stood around in one spot for pretty much the entire song, I didn’t feel as if I really engaged the students in the lesson and I just didn’t walk away feeling like I did a very good job. This peer teaching I really improved in a lot of different ways. This teaching I walked around, I made the student laugh, kept the lesson fun and entertaining, and overall I felt like I engaged the student better than I did the last time I taught. I was really happy with the way this teaching went. I also really liked the fact that I was better able to be myself in front of the class, I think this means that I am more comfortable talking in front of people. A big thing I didn’t like about my last teaching is that I didn’t feel like myself, but this time I was comfortable and just went up and taught and had fun, it was really enjoyable
“I’ve learned a lot from teaching.” That statement is kind of weird and ironic, but I feel like it makes a lot of sense here. You can read a book all day about how to teach, but until you actually get out there and teach I feel like there are lessons a teacher won’t have learned from books. I’ve learned a lot from these experiences, I know now that I am comfortable teaching, and I know there are still things that need improvement. In the future I hope to learn more about how to effectively make a lesson plan, for I feel like this lesson was lacking in assessment. Also I plan on watching my peer teaching videos more closely, so that if I find any more undesirable mannerisms I will be able to stop them before they become a problem. All in all a great experience, and I can’t wait to have more like it.