After reading about Bereiter and Engelmann's views of education and the application of the Distar method, I thought about Journal 5.4. If I were a child in David's class, I think I would want more. Although it is a method for teaching, all the activities that the three groups of children were working on seemed rather boring. I will always support the idea of having students work together in groups, but these students werent really working together. One group was wearing headphones, the others were writing in their workbooks. Those were working with David were simply making a sound when prompted. I think there are many more engaging and interesting ways to teach young children. If I were George I would feel bored, and if I were Melaney I would feel hopeless. I understand the idea, but the Distar method is not one I would use.
On a second note, I taught my first lesson today in the classroom. It didn't quite go like it went in my dreams! I think the main issue was the kids being a little rowdy because they have someone new teaching them. They enjoyed pointing things out whenever I did them a little differently than Ms. Johnson. My lesson was on rhymes and their assessment was to complete the poem "Roses are red, Violets are blue". They came up with "Green is goo, and so are you". Oops...I was hoping it would be something a little more related to V-day. But all in all they got the point and were able to make Valentine's that they could bring home. It was a great learning experience and I can't wait for the next one.
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I completly agree.
ReplyDeleteGroup work is very beneficial for students, but only if it is put together in a manner that will actually work as group work.
So exciting that you already taught!
They may have come up with a crazy rhyme, but at least "blue" and "you" rhyme! Haha.
Maybe you could ask Ms. Johnson for tips on the little things she does with the students that are unique to her.
Good Luck with your lesson on Tuesday!
I completly agree with you. If I was George I would be bored too. That is one of the cons for using small group direct instruction. You have to fellow the script and everyone stays on the same level.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you enjoyed teaching your first lesson. You have to keep reminding the students that you are not Mrs. Johnson.
Good Luck on future lessons!