01-13-09

Write reflectively on some aspect of teaching and learning that you have recently experienced.

As I read the first chapter of Because Teaching Matters, I thought a lot about my field experience from my first semester in the teaching program. My partner and I spent 3 weeks in a 4th grade classroom teaching about mountain men. This was part of their social studies curriculum. However, the amount of material and instruction given in the state core standard came out to about 3 sentences. I was very nervous to spend 3 weeks teaching about mountain men, when the state curriculum provided me with only 3 sentences of information. I learned first hand about commitment #2: Using the Curriculum Responsibly. We had to research and learn all about mountain men. Then we had to decide what we wanted to focus on. We also had to create challenging lessons that engaged the students. This turned out to be very demanding. Who knew all that work could result from 3 short sentences of the state curriculum? It is true that you will be provided with the "ingredients" for teaching but it is up to you to create the "recipe". From my short field experience I did learn that teaching does require many commitments and none of which you can do half-heartily.