Proactive? What's that?

I can see through our discussion of differentiation that teachers need to foresee ways to differentiate, and that's not going to be easy for me. Chess requires thinking a move ahead, and I wish I were better at that. I see how good teachers can systematically collect information about their students and turn that information into a solution before the problem really emerges. I am not one of those!!! At least by nature. I tend to react to situations when they're bad, not foreseeing potential difficulties.

When the stakes are high -- that's the key. When the information is important enough, it should be as "proactive and deliberately planned as possible." Just looking into the future for my classes this fall, the stakes are going to be high for my seniors who will still struggle with writing. That's one group I will need to be proactive with. They will have to pass a writing competency to graduate and move themselves out of my class. I'm going to think of ways I can proactively differentiate for them in particular. It should yield some interesting results. Hopefully I'll be shouting 'check mate' this winter!

Direct Instruction

I believe the step which is most easily left out is stating the objectives. Maybe it's because we feel like we're ruining some sort of surprise for our students. Maybe it's because we feel like they won't listen to something so mundane. I'm not really sure. I personally have a hard time with this step as well. It doesn't come naturally to me. I have to force myself to do it, and when I do, I feel like it sounds forced and unnatural. I just need to remember that even if it sounds a little formal and stiff, learners would much rather have a short bit of formal than spend the whole lesson wondering what they are learning.
Students will be tortured when #3, presenting new material, is flat. It is the step that requires students to do three of their least favorite things in the whole wide world: sit down, shut up, and listen! I'm also a little weak in this area. My thoughts sometimes wander, and I'm a little dry without student interaction to liven me up!
Guided practice allows students to be their own person for a bit compared to the presenting phase. I say that the guided practice step requires the most creativity from the teacher. The sky's the limit for this step, and the more creative, the better.
I have been so thrilled to hear everybody's direct instruction. It's really been a great part of learning in this class for me. From Moana's haka to Jim's hard apple cider, we really get to learn and grow and examine teaching in a real way!

Classroom Community

Looking at everyone's blogs, I quickly came to the realization of how different we all are. We've all taught that student whose personality is larger than life who wants to keep taking over. As teachers, we're all innately like that in one area or another. It's what makes us good teachers, but that's got to be a little ugly for our own teachers when we're all together. A group of teachers is like a crazy mix of fruit salad: we all love teaching, so from watermelon to peaches, we all belong in the bowl. Keeping all of us in the same bowl, while preserving our uniqueness, might be more of a challenge than Dr. Peterson envisions at this point. But that is the aim of a classroom culture: preserving uniqueness of the individual while maintaining the functionality of a learning environment.

I see my role as being a contributor without taking over. I could be considered a kiwi. Don't laugh. My flavor is aromatic yet mellow enough that the facilitator knows I'm there and learning without getting too strong a flavor in her mouth. Whether kiwi or cantaloupe, we can validate each other and boost one another's self esteem through discussion. Corny, I know. Sorry about that, but as learners in this master's cohort, we all have different, unique flavors that we shouldn't try to hide because the melding of flavors is great, but we should never forget: we're all in the same bowl. Maybe next time I should try a boating analogy.

Teaching Snapshot

Dr. Peterson asked us if we would create a "teacher snapshot." I'm Lori, and I taught tenth and eleventh grade English for five years at a small high school here in Utah. I began teaching right out of college, and the lunch ladies kept trying to charge me the student price. Actually, the student price was cheaper, so I should have taken them up on that! I learned so much about teaching writing from a fabulous mentor, Lorraine Wallace, who now teaches in the English Department here at UVU. I learned that I was the kind of teacher who valued individual students and was flexible enough to let them use their creativity. I then took seven years away from public education to raise my family. Now, here I am, ready to begin again and start a new chapter in my life!