Rebecca Alber has some great ideas for turning what could be an end-of-summer-bummer into a transition experience that will start your school year off the right way. While I do think rehearsal is key to giving any presentation, the tip I plan to use the most is #3: "Over Plan the Lesson." It just makes sense. You are going to have to plan the next lesson anyway, so why not get a head start and be prepared if you need to fill some time at the end of the hour. The students will appreciate that they are not just doing "busy work" and that you really have their best interests at heart. You will also appreciate knowing that you won't have to scramble to put something together that may be meaningless and distracting simply to fill the time before the bell rings.
Ideally, I would like to have entire units prepared in advance; that can be tweaked and molded as needed. This way, if one lesson is shorter than expected, I can keep my students going and get ahead of schedule. By staying ahead, you will have more flexibility to cope with school assemblies, fire drills, and other unexpected events that will take up class time. Having multiple lessons planned in advance is also a good idea in order to stay prepared for an emergency absence. It may even help behavior during the time that you are away because students will understand that it is still business as usual even with a substitute. However, with that said, I would probably still have an alternate supportive learning lesson available for substitutes that do not have a background in my subject matter. Ideas for this in and English classroom might be: re-teaching on how to investigate text; format and write an MLA style paper; cite sources on the web or from a written text; specific grammar related activities with easy to understand, detailed instructions for the teacher; etc.
Work Cited: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/back-to-school-preparing-first-day-rebecca-alber
Megan,
ReplyDeleteI think that having your units prepared in advance and available for tweaking based on the evolving situation(s) is a great idea. I had not considered just how many benefits you can get out of a little extra preparation. It really makes sense to "overflow" your lessons to me now. (Now that I think about it I can hardly remember a period where there was "dead time" at the end of the hour in my favorite high school teacher's class! Always one step ahead...) I also share your dislike for busywork - you hit the nail on the head when you stated that the students will sense and appreciate that you really care if you pour that care into your lesson plans.
Timothy
I'm totally with you on the over-planning bit. I feel like there are two ways to walk into a classroom before a lesson; overplanned, and planned. If you have taught a lesson before, it may be acceptable to go into the classroom merely being "planned". On the flipside, I think it is important to pace around and brood over a lesson plan you have never taught before. To me, this always comes of way more passionate in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteMegan, Thank you so much for your post!
ReplyDeleteIt is such a great idea to have units planned ahead of time. There are so many instances where I have talked to teachers and they say, “homecoming week was crazy I have barely had time to do anything.” Having units and lessons prepared in advance will relieve some of the pressure when confronted with other school activities. I know as a teacher I really want to be well prepared and organized because I believe that students are able to tell when teachers are just “winging it” (as some might say). I understand that everyone has their days, but for instance when there is a sub, students should be expected to work just as hard as if “you” were in the classroom.
I also loved your point about rehearsing your lesson ahead of time. Rehearsing is the key to making sure that you have all your thoughts in order. This practice also allows for brainstorming questions that the students might ask. Sometimes as I prepare for a lesson I like to think about possible questions so that I am prepared with answers. Since we’re not mind readers, we cannot always predict every question, but it’s always good to be a little over prepared. Good luck with your semester.
Thanks, Lindsey Wiggins