This
week we have dipped our toes in the ocean of various search engines. I have to
say I used to be one of those stubborn people who had used mainly Google, but
after revealing this ocean I have started looking at the skill of “searching”
from a whole new perspective. The tools our teachers suggested not only help us
do a more refined search, but the search engines themselves give us new ideas
for our lessons. At first, I was impressed by Biography.com, but when I read
the inspiring ideas of my classmates for using other tools, I added many others
to my list of favourites. Actually, those ideas that were mentioned during the
discussion are priceless and I will certainly use that treasure in the future.
And I especially like the idea of making a Search List on Wiki.
The second task we had was related to behavioural objective
using the ABCD model. At first, I was a bit confused, so I patiently read the other
examples and they really helped me come up with my own objective. By the way,
in my country, when we write a lesson plan, we are supposed to create three
objectives: educational, pedagogical and functional and these three always
demand serious thinking,.
The second
week seemed to me more hectic than the previous one, but very fruitful. I have also described one of my classes and
learned a lot about the classes of other teachers. I have read the additional
resources and found Twurdy very convenient. It was also interesting to read
each other's comments on Nicenet. Our teachers did have a lot of work this
week, replying to our posts, giving advice, encouraging us and suggesting new
approaches.
Hi, Marija! I had the same feeling you aid about this week: it was very fruitful! I also got impressed with Biography.com. I hadn't given it much attention, but after seeing so many comments about it, it made me want to get a closer look into it. It really is amazing!
ReplyDeleteAbout the objectives, I was also a bt confused and also took my time reading our classmates objectives until things got a little clearer. It seems very interesting that you have to write three objectives for a lesson! That is a lot of work! Where i work, we write an objective for each lesson, but it is not so specific, it is more what we want students to be able to do by the end of the lesson.
Cheers!
Well this IS amazing. I was reading your blog and I have spotted the word 'fruitful' when my e-mail checker noticed me about a new comment on my blog. I don't know whether to believe in such a thing called telepathy, but it is funny :)
ReplyDeleteYes, as I mentioned we have to write three objectives for each lesson plus a lesson outcome, for example: 1. Introducing vocabulary related to home, rooms and furniture. 2. Stimulating positive attitude and emotions towards home. 3. Completing written exercises using new vocabulary. The expected outcome: After this lesson students will be able to name at least 10 new words related to home and use them actively. However, each of these objectives is usually written using several sentences, not only one, so as you said it is a lot of work! Actually, the most difficult part of my job is the administration. There are so many things to write that I think most of you wouldn't believe me.
Now back to reading your blog.
Cheers
By the way, a question for everyone, when you write a lesson plan, how long does it have to be, 1 page, 2 pages or how long is it on average? And do you have to print the lesson plans or you can have them on your computers? And is there a standard form for lesson plans for everyone at school or in your county or country?
ReplyDeleteIs the whole lesson plan in English or some parts of it may be or should be in your mother tongue?
Thanks
Hi Marija, to answer your question about how long it is when we write a lesson plan, actually we plan according to to the time we have. In my country, lesson are normally 35 to 40 minutes. If we have a double lesson than it's 80 minutes. And in our lesson plan we will have to include class, time, skills, theme, topic, behavioral objection, learning outcome, step for the lesson (what do you do and how would you carry out the activities) and lastly reflection on the lesson. Generally,these are the information which all teachers in my country must include in our daily lesson plan. 2 years ago the ministry tried to implement the use of files for our daily lesson plan but it didn't really work due to many reasons like printing of the lesson plan(some schools here don't even have electricity) and the recycle of lesson plans which many heads find that teachers were not doing their work. So like we always did, our daily lesson plan must be hand-written. For me, I write my lesson plan in English as I am teaching English. So for other teachers of other subjects, they would write in it in our national language; Bahasa Malaysia. However, for maths and science, teachers write their lesson plan in English as well as my government has implemented the teaching and learning of Maths and Science in English. I hope this gives you an idea how it works in my country.
DeleteOh ya! I love your blog by the way Marija! It's really attractive and interactive. I have a lot to learn about building blogs. This is my 1st time building a blog. So far it's been fun but I would like to learn more.
I find your post very interesting Aloy. Thank you for sharing. It gives me a lot of material for the discussion with my colleagues from school, about the situation at schools around the world. By the way, most of teachers here print their lesson plans if they want to. They can also have them hand-written of course if they choose to. I know a couple of schools here where the principals ask for the hand-written plans only and the reason is the same as in your country. I find that very frustrating, because it takes me a lot more time to write than to type. Fortunately, in my school we can print them. Some teachers in my country choose to carry with themselves only an electronic version of a lesson plan, on a USB flash memory if the principal allows it.
DeleteI am so glad you like my blog and your post inspired me to create a new page. You’ll find it on the top of the blog. I’m sure you’ll advance fast with your blogging skills and implement this wonderful tool in teaching.
Hello Marija!
DeleteWell, in the kind of school that I teach in, teachers keep track of what they do, but I don't think anyone actually writes down the whole lesson plan with objectives and so on. We have a yearly plan/syllabus and we already have enough work planning lessons and creating/adapting materials, so having the main ideas of the lesson on your notebook and in your head is good enough, I think. Students also know what to expect and what's expected of them, so everything is clear from the beginning.
When I was teaching in the UK we had to deal with a great amount of paperwork, but now that I can compare my experience in both countries, I'd said that lots of paperwork doesn't always mean better teaching.
We do write a lesson plan in English when we get observed, though. But there's no standard form.
I absolutely agree with you Patricia that lots of paperwork doesn't always mean better teaching and I certainly wish my Ministry of Education thought the same. I have to say I envy you, because writing an objective and the main ideas is in my opinion enough.
DeleteThanks for your comment!
I guess in Greece happens the same with Patricia's country... In the state schools, teachers normally don't prepare lesson plans, except maybe some notes they keep in order to remember what they will do in each class... I believe things in this course will be a bot different. I guess we will have to provide our instructors with a plan as they must be sure about what our project wil be about.
DeleteWell I think that the planning must be basic in what you expect to teach; the length is very relative, I mean it is not the same you teach in basic grade than for advanced one, about: “the standard lesson plans” In my scholar system (Mexico’s public schools) we got a general program we use to create our individual planning (each teacher) the only rule to observe is the general program.
ReplyDeleteWe are free to use the planning format we want as long as it could be easy to read and understand, and at last: in Mexico we plan in English not in Spanish. - I can’t tell why-
I hope it helps you.
Yes, thank you Poncho. I was just curious and this course is amazing because I can learn about your schools, too. We also have a general program and we can plan an individual lesson as we want to, but there are some obligatory parts of a form of a lesson plan. A funny thing is that at the univeristy we are being taught to write a lesson plan in English, but when we start working we have to switch to Serbian, or at least the general part of a lesson plan, because the principal and the school pedagogue usually don't know English and they occasionally check if we have all the lesson plans and sometimes give advice regarding the teaching.
ReplyDeleteThank you once again!