I know that I love to teach.
I know this because I got bronchitis during week 3, and I still WANTED to come to school.
However, teaching with bronchitis is extremely difficult. Everything seems so much louder... and my voice is so much softer... and I can't quite concentrate and can't quite focus... And then there's the coughing...
Good thing I'm feeling better now. Bring on Week 4!
On a side note, I want to talk about "think, pair, share" and how much I love this teaching strategy.
It's so simple; introduce a new idea/concept to a classroom of students (works best if they are seated together at the front), have them think about the concept/idea on their own, find their closest classmate (elbow partner) and share that idea with them. I find it works best in a 2-5 minute time span. This 3 minute break in the lesson provides time for self-reflection of the material and peer-to-peer learning! You can also use strategic seating to have lower-higher kids work together or same-level kids work together. I am learning so much about different teaching strategies. Think, Pair, Share is definitely a favourite.
Glad to hear you're feeling better for the final week, Viv!
ReplyDeleteAh yeeeeah, T, P, S! (Think Pair Share). It really is a great strategy. In addition to all the benefits you mentioned, it also allows any shy or quiet students in the class to bounce ideas off their peer before sharing it with the whole class.
Totally agree about the think, pair, share! It also gives those students who are burning with anticipation wanting to say something with their hand raised, urgently shaking, to get out what it is they want to say to someone close to them if they don't get a chance to share it with the whole class. It's a great way of including everyone in the class too, like Patrick said!
ReplyDeleteHope your last week was great Vivian :) see you soon!
I have also found that it can yield more fruitful discusion. I have found that a lot of students will have a really great idea but are hesitant to voice it because they aren't sure if it's right or doesn't make sense or they're just afraid it might sound stupid. Giving them an opportunity in the class to use a different student as a sounding board before bringing their idea to the class is invaluable.
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