Week 15 Response

I used to be a Secondary Teacher Education major, so I've spent a good amount of time talking about lesson planning--everything from how to format it to how to implement it (and roll with the punches when it doesn't quite go as planned).  The C&I department at ISU also attempts to instill the value of self reflection in every teacher candidate.  Kuma's chapter reiterates this aspect of lesson planning and instruction and provides examples of how to effectively assess one's own methods and materials in the classroom.

There were three topics that really stuck out to me, namely a) teacher intention and learner interpretation (289); b) observational practices; and c) learning opportunities.  From my own teaching experience, I have seen the mismatch between what I want to transmit to the students--in terms of content, attitude, perspective, or instructions--and what they actually glean from it.  I find this to be one of the most frustrating aspects of teaching; misunderstanding is rampant in educational (and non-educational) settings.  As human beings, we are subjective and biased.  Sometimes we are trapped in our own mentalities and mindsets, and it is extremely difficult to separate these from those of our students.  This happens a lot in daily interaction, when we make illogical jumps in conversation--or at least 'illogical' to the listener, not to us, because it made sense to us when we said it.  I think the same thing often happens in the classroom but to a broader extent.

That's why it's important to be self-reflective and be observed by someone else.  The "team" approach, characterized by the M&M Model (292) in which coworkers observe fellow teachers, really appeals to me.  It reminds me of a tactic that would likely be used in the middle school setting, where interdisciplinary learning is emphasized and cooperation among "teams" of learners and teachers is prioritized.  There are many benefits to such observational practices, and I think they should be implemented by more educators.  Teachers can gain more insight into their own biases and instructional practices by having an outside perspective.  It helps them to be as objective as possible in regards to their own teaching.

These biases and mismatches between the teacher and the student can many times lead to missed learning opportunities (300).  As teachers, we often feel restricted by our own lesson plans and forget to capitalize on naturally occurring learning opportunities presented by the students themselves; we are distracted by our own learning objectives.  Observation helps us become more aware of these learning opportunities, and hopefully make use of them in the future, through discussion with a peer and with the students as well.  We like to believe, or we try to convince ourselves, that the classroom is the realm of the teacher and is perfectly under control.  In reality, we must recognize the cues of our students and adapt our instruction to best meet their needs and their curiosities--after all, isn't this what learning really is?