STL Reflection

Link to my teaching video, along with my reflections.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B481IyPLCKh0RjlCOUNTTndsbVE/view?usp=sharing

HS Visit 2

I was significantly less impressed with the second HS teacher I observed. His class was a video editing/broadcasting class that was in charge of the school bulletin. I feel that there were many things about his teaching style that work great in theory, but failed to deliver in practice.

For instance, he wanted his students to work on the things they enjoyed doing most. This is full of merit, but I feel he failed to deliver-- while the students who liked editing got to do video editing, and the students who wanted to news anchor did so, there were many students who sat around and watched youtube videos the whole class period. It seemed to me that the teacher didn't push his students out of their comfort zone in the slightest, or even to do a good job with the jobs they were in charge of. As long as they appeared to be working, he was happy to be completely hands off.

It also appeared as though he was doing a very large portion of the work during the broadcasts, despite many of his students appearing to have nothing to do. There was very little instruction, and what instruction there was seemed to be of poor quality.

While I feel that his philosophy on allowing students to do the work they enjoy most is one that can be successful in a classroom, I was disappointed to see him implement it to such poor effect. Students' boundaries and comfort zones should be pushed, allowing them to learn and grow. 

High School First Visit

The classroom I visited was part of Project Lead the Way, but was at a learning center instead of a high school. Students are pulled from high schools all around the valley for classes.

I found the classroom ambiance to be very relaxed, allowing students to work at their own pace. While working at computers, they were also allowed to wear headphones to listen their own music. However, students weren't distracted and worked diligently at their tasks. The teacher provided them with the tools they needed to accomplish their work, and then floated around the classroom helping them as needed.

I would really enjoy teaching in a classroom like this. There were only about 10 students, so it was easy help them on an individual basis. They also seemed to really enjoy the work they were doing.