"What went well in your teaching? Based on what you learned as an instructor, what changes would you make next time?" Please sign your name to your post.
16 comments:
Anonymous
said...
What went well in the teaching was that I was able to assist my learner in successfully printing my worksheet. As an instructor next time I would complete the process myself before I have the student perform the operation-perhaps even modeling it for them as a class.
The process of teaching the technical skill of saving a document to the desktop went smoothly and efficiently. The learner followed the steps without any problems and in a timely manner. Because the learner is more tech savy, I must remember that this process will most likely take much longer with fifth grade students. If I am teaching this skill to students younger than third grade or who are less tech savy, I would think about shortening the directions to fewer steps to prevent confusion. While it is much easier to teach a skill while looking at it and completing a task yourself, it is important to take notice to how many steps you must take and not forgetting them when teaching the skill to a class.
Writing out the process and teaching this skill has tought me how important it is to be extremely thorough, clear, and detailed, practice with the equipment before teaching the skill, and ensure the browser works with the directions provided. And while I see no problems arising, I must be prepared to explain the process in a different way if need be.
Today I taught a mini lesson on how to save a document from the internet onto the student's computer. I think the lesson went very well. I modelled the task for Brittany beforehand and that really helped. For future mini lessons in technology, I need to remember to practice on the equipment beforehand and also make sure to write steps (instruction) as short and simple as possible so students don't get lost or confused. I also need to remember to slow down and make sure I'm giving students enough time to complete the task.
Teaching this lesson has reminded me I need to be very clear in directions and also very thorough. I need to be as familiar as possible with the equipment being used so I can help my students when they get confused or if something doesn't go right with the technology.
I believe my teaching went well as the student appeared to easily follow the steps to saving a worksheet appropriately and was able to save it to the F: Drive in her name. The change I would make would be to next time give my learner a hard copy of the the process needed to save in order to reference if she had any problems with following the steps of the saving process.
The pace of my mini-lesson was nice and smooth. It was easy to make sure my students were keeping up because there was only one student, who happens to be an adult that knows how to print from a computer. One thing that I learned was that the pop-ups that you get will vary depending on what browser you are using (MS Internet Explorer vs. Mozilla). I had to change the instructions on my T-Process page and upload the webquest again with the new corrected instructions. In thinking about teaching this lesson to a classroom full of students, I think the most important thing would be to make sure that everyone is able to keep up will all of the steps in the lesson. It will also be important to have a good knowledge of the technical abilities of the students.
My lesson went fine and I was very thorough in my printing directions for my mini lesson until it came time for Monica to actually print the worksheet in this computer lab because the printer hookup added an extra step in my process that I did not have in my lesson. I originally did my printer lesson in the education computer lab and the set up was different. What I learned from this is you can teach as best as you up to a certain point then sometimes glitches come up that are unexpected and you have to be flexible and go another route. Monica felt that she was able to follow my instructions clearly and had no problems understanding how to print the document. It is obvious how important it is to give clear, percise instructions when working with anyone, not just kids. Kristine
I feel that the lesson I taught was a bit more complicated than what everyone was teaching to each other today. Whoops! I wanted to focus on looking at the credibility of sources found through search engines online. This is a helpful skill to use to complete my webquest however, so I think that its a necessary lesson to have in order to successfully complete my webquest.
I think my learner followed along well with my assitance, but using the computer in a differnt lab then where I planned my lesson did cause some glitches in my original plan. I was able to quickly change my plan and have her complete the student successfully, but I will have to modify this in my t-process folder. If I was teching this for a class of students a projection of what I am doing would be helpful, along with printed directions.
I thought the mini-lesson went well – Kristine saved the worksheet without any complications. Kristine thought my instructions were clear and well sequenced, and that the instructional pace was very appropriate for a 6th grader. Although the saving process went well, I would change two things in my T-process page: 1. Mention the fact that F is not the only drive that can be a thumb drive (on Kristine’s computer it was drive G). 2. Mention the fact that My Computer is not the only location that might show up in the save location menu (on Kristine’s computer it was My Documents). Explain that if the box does not point to the thumb drive, students still need to click on the down arrow to open the drop down menu. I was thinking that it would be a good idea to have the instructions available on a big screen (projector/transparency/document camera), as well as those available on individual computers. As always, practicing the skill on the classroom computers helps prepare you for the actual teaching, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that complications cannot or will not arise. Monica.
The teaching went well and I felt that the instructions that I gave were clear and provided enough information for the learner to be successful in completing the technical skill. Next time I think that it would be beneficial to demonstrate the skill to my learner fist, and then provide them with step by step instructions. Overall I feel that teaching the technical skill was successful and my learner was able to accomplish my technical skill.
The process of teaching a technical skill went smoothly, once I worked out the kinks! I wrote my directions, after using my computer at home, but found out that it was different than the process I wanted the students to do in the classroom. I made a few changes to the lesson, and everything else went well! Something I must remember is to be clear and simple with the instructions, especially when working with kids that are fairly "new" to the technology. Erika Wilson
My target for my lesson was to teach Tara how to generate a friendly letter using a software program called "Read, Think, Write." The lesson went smoothly. Tara was very good at following my directions. Together we decided that I should correct my original intent to have the students type their rough and final drafts. Now, I will just have them type their final draft, only. I really like the idea of a peer review because it helps me see things I might quietly assume in my head and it also affords the back and forth of ideas from teacher to student and student to teacher. In a class situation, listening to what my student's are saying and what they are learning is also very valueable feedback.
I think my teaching went fairly well. I taught the technical skill of saving a document. Although it is a fairly simple task, next time I would like to model on some type of overhead projection. I think when that would be much more effective when teaching it to a much larger audience. I saw my mentor teacher do it that way and it worked well. At the end, I would also show the students how to retrieve the saved document.
Printing the worksheet from the process page went well. The learner followed the directions and was successful in printing out the document. The learner had taught me a similar lesson but had used a different server so the steps were somewhat different which was a surprise. In the future when a surprise occurs like this I would let the students know that it was different than I thought it was and work through it calmly. That way when students encountered similar problems they would be able to relax and take it step by step until they were successful. I had printed out the worksheet document with a different server, but had tried in the lab we were in, so the step I had written down were accurate.
When I went to instruct my learner how to print a document from the WebQuest I noticed that the instructions did not correlate to the options on the screen. I was a bit confused at this since I had written the instructions step by step from the same computer just a few weeks earlier. Upon further investigation, I discovered that I had opened the WebQuest with Internet Explorer instead of Mozilla which was the program that the instructions were written for. Once I reopened the WebQuest in Mozilla, the steps worked beautifully and my learner was able to successfully print the document.
The next time that I teach this lesson I will double check to make sure that I am using the program that the instructions were written for. I would also probably rewrite the instruction to reflect the Internet Explorer prompts since that is the program that I am most familiar with and use most of the time.
Working with the learner one on one to print was effective in this situation, but if it was necessary for the whole class to learn the process it would make more sense to model using a document camera at the front of the class, just as you do for us. This would enable students to complete the mini lesson individually and still have the benefit of completing each step as it was being modeled.
The process of teaching Brittany the mini lesson went smoothly. She is a quick learner and followed the directions with ease, as she is already an expert. If I was teaching this to a class, I think it's important for me to model it using an ELMO and projector if possible, slow down while talking and remember wait time while clicking through the steps.
16 comments:
What went well in the teaching was that I was able to assist my learner in successfully printing my worksheet. As an instructor next time I would complete the process myself before I have the student perform the operation-perhaps even modeling it for them as a class.
Brooke
The process of teaching the technical skill of saving a document to the desktop went smoothly and efficiently. The learner followed the steps without any problems and in a timely manner. Because the learner is more tech savy, I must remember that this process will most likely take much longer with fifth grade students. If I am teaching this skill to students younger than third grade or who are less tech savy, I would think about shortening the directions to fewer steps to prevent confusion. While it is much easier to teach a skill while looking at it and completing a task yourself, it is important to take notice to how many steps you must take and not forgetting them when teaching the skill to a class.
Writing out the process and teaching this skill has tought me how important it is to be extremely thorough, clear, and detailed, practice with the equipment before teaching the skill, and ensure the browser works with the directions provided. And while I see no problems arising, I must be prepared to explain the process in a different way if need be.
Brittany Osborne
Today I taught a mini lesson on how to save a document from the internet onto the student's computer. I think the lesson went very well. I modelled the task for Brittany beforehand and that really helped. For future mini lessons in technology, I need to remember to practice on the equipment beforehand and also make sure to write steps (instruction) as short and simple as possible so students don't get lost or confused. I also need to remember to slow down and make sure I'm giving students enough time to complete the task.
Teaching this lesson has reminded me I need to be very clear in directions and also very thorough. I need to be as familiar as possible with the equipment being used so I can help my students when they get confused or if something doesn't go right with the technology.
Leah Meyer
I believe my teaching went well as the student appeared to easily follow the steps to saving a worksheet appropriately and was able to save it to the F: Drive in her name. The change I would make would be to next time give my learner a hard copy of the the process needed to save in order to reference if she had any problems with following the steps of the saving process.
-Darren
The pace of my mini-lesson was nice and smooth. It was easy to make sure my students were keeping up because there was only one student, who happens to be an adult that knows how to print from a computer. One thing that I learned was that the pop-ups that you get will vary depending on what browser you are using (MS Internet Explorer vs. Mozilla). I had to change the instructions on my T-Process page and upload the webquest again with the new corrected instructions. In thinking about teaching this lesson to a classroom full of students, I think the most important thing would be to make sure that everyone is able to keep up will all of the steps in the lesson. It will also be important to have a good knowledge of the technical abilities of the students.
Greg
My lesson went fine and I was very thorough in my printing directions for my mini lesson until it came time for Monica to actually print the worksheet in this computer lab because the printer hookup added an extra step in my process that I did not have in my lesson. I originally did my printer lesson in the education computer lab and the set up was different. What I learned from this is you can teach as best as you up to a certain point then sometimes glitches come up that are unexpected and you have to be flexible and go another route. Monica felt that she was able to follow my instructions clearly and had no problems understanding how to print the document. It is obvious how important it is to give clear, percise instructions when working with anyone, not just kids.
Kristine
I feel that the lesson I taught was a bit more complicated than what everyone was teaching to each other today. Whoops! I wanted to focus on looking at the credibility of sources found through search engines online. This is a helpful skill to use to complete my webquest however, so I think that its a necessary lesson to have in order to successfully complete my webquest.
-Jenny
I think my learner followed along well with my assitance, but using the computer in a differnt lab then where I planned my lesson did cause some glitches in my original plan. I was able to quickly change my plan and have her complete the student successfully, but I will have to modify this in my t-process folder.
If I was teching this for a class of students a projection of what I am doing would be helpful, along with printed directions.
Luisa
I thought the mini-lesson went well – Kristine saved the worksheet without any complications. Kristine thought my instructions were clear and well sequenced, and that the instructional pace was very appropriate for a 6th grader. Although the saving process went well, I would change two things in my T-process page:
1. Mention the fact that F is not the only drive that can be a thumb drive (on Kristine’s computer it was drive G).
2. Mention the fact that My Computer is not the only location that might show up in the save location menu (on Kristine’s computer it was My Documents). Explain that if the box does not point to the thumb drive, students still need to click on the down arrow to open the drop down menu.
I was thinking that it would be a good idea to have the instructions available on a big screen (projector/transparency/document camera), as well as those available on individual computers.
As always, practicing the skill on the classroom computers helps prepare you for the actual teaching, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that complications cannot or will not arise.
Monica.
The teaching went well and I felt that the instructions that I gave were clear and provided enough information for the learner to be successful in completing the technical skill. Next time I think that it would be beneficial to demonstrate the skill to my learner fist, and then provide them with step by step instructions. Overall I feel that teaching the technical skill was successful and my learner was able to accomplish my technical skill.
Jenese
The process of teaching a technical skill went smoothly, once I worked out the kinks! I wrote my directions, after using my computer at home, but found out that it was different than the process I wanted the students to do in the classroom. I made a few changes to the lesson, and everything else went well! Something I must remember is to be clear and simple with the instructions, especially when working with kids that are fairly "new" to the technology.
Erika Wilson
My target for my lesson was to teach Tara how to generate a friendly letter using a software program called "Read, Think, Write." The lesson went smoothly. Tara was very good at following my directions. Together we decided that I should correct my original intent to have the students type their rough and final drafts. Now, I will just have them type their final draft, only. I really like the idea of a peer review because it helps me see things I might quietly assume in my head and it also affords the back and forth of ideas from teacher to student and student to teacher. In a class situation, listening to what my student's are saying and what they are learning is also very valueable feedback.
Kim Rosendale
I think my teaching went fairly well. I taught the technical skill of saving a document. Although it is a fairly simple task, next time I would like to model on some type of overhead projection. I think when that would be much more effective when teaching it to a much larger audience. I saw my mentor teacher do it that way and it worked well. At the end, I would also show the students how to retrieve the saved document.
Printing the worksheet from the process page went well. The learner followed the directions and was successful in printing out the document. The learner had taught me a similar lesson but had used a different server so the steps were somewhat different which was a surprise. In the future when a surprise occurs like this I would let the students know that it was different than I thought it was and work through it calmly. That way when students encountered similar problems they would be able to relax and take it step by step until they were successful. I had printed out the worksheet document with a different server, but had tried in the lab we were in, so the step I had written down were accurate.
Trisha Kasper
When I went to instruct my learner how to print a document from the WebQuest I noticed that the instructions did not correlate to the options on the screen. I was a bit confused at this since I had written the instructions step by step from the same computer just a few weeks earlier. Upon further investigation, I discovered that I had opened the WebQuest with Internet Explorer instead of Mozilla which was the program that the instructions were written for. Once I reopened the WebQuest in Mozilla, the steps worked beautifully and my learner was able to successfully print the document.
The next time that I teach this lesson I will double check to make sure that I am using the program that the instructions were written for. I would also probably rewrite the instruction to reflect the Internet Explorer prompts since that is the program that I am most familiar with and use most of the time.
Working with the learner one on one to print was effective in this situation, but if it was necessary for the whole class to learn the process it would make more sense to model using a document camera at the front of the class, just as you do for us. This would enable students to complete the mini lesson individually and still have the benefit of completing each step as it was being modeled.
Julie Ciarlo
The process of teaching Brittany the mini lesson went smoothly. She is a quick learner and followed the directions with ease, as she is already an expert. If I was teaching this to a class, I think it's important for me to model it using an ELMO and projector if possible, slow down while talking and remember wait time while clicking through the steps.
Erica Nicewonger
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