I have the privilege of observing three classes, two 12th grade classes and one 11th grade class. The three classes have a mix of Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic students. Many of the students are at an 8th grade reading level. They are not familiar with common vocabulary words and struggle to comprehend material. They also have trouble following directions. I know that I will need to encourage understanding by explaining my directions. I will make sure that I write directions on the board as well as repeat them in a variety of ways. I will also try to simplify my written directions so that they are easily comprehensible.
It is important that I teach vocabulary in class. I will pull vocabulary words from the class literature and use it as part of my curriculum. By giving students an opportunity to study vocabulary in context, I will increase their understanding of the words. And having students study the vocabulary words of a text also supports their own comprehension of the material. I believe that covering vocabulary words as a separate part of my curriculum will support the academic needs of my students.
One of my favorite elements of teaching literature is class discussion. I think it is important for students to be able to discuss their impressions of texts with other students. Class discussions enhance student understanding and contribute to better comprehension. However, many of the students in my classes are unwilling to participate in class. It will be difficult for me to elicit thoughtful responses from students if they do not wish to contribute in class. Promoting class discussions is very hard when people do not want talk. My goal is to foster good discussions in my classes. I hope that through my instruction of texts, students will understand enough about the material to contribute thoughtful responses in class discussions. I want to create a safe environment in which the students feel comfortable. In order to create the safe environment I will not let students talk out of turn or laugh at other people's comments. I will present rules of discussion that include acknowledging other people's opinions and respecting the rights of others to speak in turn. I hope that this will reduce anxiety in students about commenting in class.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Your thoughts on directions is so important to getting started down the right path with your students. I need to make sure that I constantly remind myself to write directions on the board and repeat them verbally as well. As for the class participation, maybe consider playing around with extrinsic rewards, something to hand out for participation, and see if that helps at all. If it doesn't no harm, no foul.
I agree with Craig and you about giving detailed instructions and especially writing them on the board. I also am having trouble with my students vocabulary skills and I like your idea of covering vocabulary as a separate part of your lesson. In my class, we are having them make their own flash cards by cutting and words with definitions. It gives them a different way of dealing with the words rather than just writing out the definitions. Class participation is a difficult task to handle in my class as well. Try bribing them with food or candy!
I agree with craig about the reward system. A lot of times older students may know the answer of indeed have a comment yet is unwilling to share because of what their peers may say or think. If you set up a system of respecting the thoughts, ideas and beliefs of others as well as providing the students with an extrinsic reward for participation you could see a huge improvement in participation. Another thought, however, the students may not participate because they may not always understand what is being asked or said during a discussion. It may be embarassing to most of the students to have to ask questions to clarify what is being discussed.
Post a Comment