10/29

I'm glad I had a chance to do my first longer lesson in class. I liked trying to apply good teaching principles as I was preparing for the class, writing my lesson plan, and teaching in class. It was interesting to see the different focus I had compared to my missionary lesson plans. I've already improved a lot as a teacher.

I've also felt lately that I won't enjoy teaching in a classroom as much as I thought I would have. From observing other teachers and teaching on my own, I'm worried about it. I've been told that it's a lot different once you get your own classroom, and I hope so! I'd definitely like to try it out, at least for a while to see how I do.

It's been good to have this week to prepare for the STL teaching. I've been reading the Maraz book and it has some useful teaching techniques in it. I like how it cites studies on how students best learn. As I prepare to teach my STL I'll use things from that book for ideas.

This week had more convincing arguments against me wanting to be a teacher in a classroom. I went to the MMHS TV production class and I hated the way the class was run. The kids weren't engaged and didn't care about the teacher. If I did teach, I would have a much different atmosphere.

It's making me more excited for a Maker Space though! I can't wait to get that going.

Reflection 6

I like what we talked about regarding exponential learning this week. I really like this concept. It gave me a new view on learning and how I can learn more. It's helpful for me to think of learning as exponential.

It was good to see the teacher today too. I observed the TV Production class at Salem Hills High School. The teacher did a really good job. He was engaged with his students and you could tell he really cared about the class and what they were doing. Every day they have 2 class periods to produce the live school announcements on video. It was cool to see them come together. I like this teacher. I felt like he really tried to engage and connect with his students, and as a result, I can tell he's loving his job.

Another great week in 276. I'm getting more and more excited all the time about teaching. I have a million ideas about what I want to do with this degree, and this was solidified more this week. I've been wanting to pursue a tech shop in Utah county. I think there's a huge need for one. Just this week, an awesome opportunity opened up for that. I'm way excited. I also decided to work towards my endorsement in CS. I think this would be fun and that there are huge opportunities associated with that.

I also enjoyed observing the teacher, Mr. Anderson, on Tuesday. This is what I wrote:

This was an interesting experience, and different from the last teacher I observed. This teacher enjoyed his job, but seemed to be more negative about it than the last guy I observed. He taught his kids photoshop and I got to help them with it. I was surprised at how much I have already learned about it. I was able to answer most of the questions they asked me. He seemed to keep a calm, chill classroom and was very friendly with the students. I liked it. It made me think more about being an online teacher. I would love something like that.