Fundamentals of Teaching

eClass Assignments Week Two:

    This week is all about the fundamentals of teaching. We began our week with a cartoon we were asked to analyze and reflect on. 

    When I look at this comic, I laugh to myself! I think it is funny for multiple reasons. For starters, this is definitely a relatively recent made comic, probably made in the past ten years, due to the student referring to his phone for an answer. I think it is funny how he mentions Twitter and how the teacher should be following him. Social media is so huge nowadays and it seems as if people post everything they do on various platforms for their followers to see. I think this comic is also funny because this teacher definitely looks like a tenured, older teacher who still uses the same writing prompts and ice-breaker discussions. I think it is important to get creative in the way in which you ask basic questions, like "What did you do this summer?," so more students are engaged, intrigued, and creative in their responses. I think if the teacher introduced this prompt in a more exciting way, the student would not be hesitant in writing and would not refer to his activities he shared over social media. 

Four Models of Teaching Article:

    There are four main models of teaching that I read about and learned more about through the article, Models of Teaching. I had a pretty good grasp on the different teaching models, but this article was definitely a good refresher and had some excellent points, examples, and information included. I also learned more in-depth about the numerous strategies and methods used in teaching and education.

    The four models of teaching include social interactive, information processing, personal, and behavioral. Instructional models are the overarching umbrella of instruction. Under the models includes, strategies, methods, and skills. Instructional models are the "broadest level of...practices." Instructional strategies determine the way in which a teacher approaches learning objectives. Different strategies include, direct, indirect, interactive, experiential, and independent study. Instructional methods include the most "specific ways of creating learning environments." Methods are chosen to effectively meet the needs of students and teachers, while achieving the educational goal. Different methods include, inquiry, simulation, lecture, case studies, cooperative learning, learning contracts, focused imaging, and debate. Instructional skills are instructional behavior techniques. These skills include, planning, evaluating, presenting, questioning, direction-giving, and demonstrating.  

    I feel as though instructional methods are the most discussed and reflected upon when learning about them and education as a whole. I also really enjoy learning more about these instructional methods because the more you learn and practice them, the better teacher you become, as you must implement all different kinds of methods to your students. As noted before, instructional methods include direct instruction, indirect instruction, interactive instruction, independent study, and experiential learning. Direct instruction examples include, mastery lecture, demonstrations, explicit teaching, and drill and practice. Indirect instruction examples include, case studies, problem solving, reading for meaning, and concept mapping. Interactive instruction examples include, debate, role playing, laboratory groups, and brainstorming. Independent study examples include, essays, reports, homework, and research projects. Lastly, experiential learning examples include, field trips, simulations, model building, and surveys. 

    I think it is incredibly important for a teacher to become familiar and confident in all five instructional methods. No child learns the same way, so if a teacher is able to effectively relay information and material in all five different methods, the students will do significantly better than if the teacher was just teaching in one method. In elementary school, I benefitted the most from interactive instruction and experiential learning. I think this is because as a young child, I enjoyed social and hands-on interaction, which is highlighted in both interactive and experiential methods. 

Videos:

1. What does a social studies inquiry lesson look like?
• Students analyze historical evidence to form and test hypotheses about past events
• Students review documents to answer and support the central question posed by the teacher
• After testing hypotheses, students are asked to answer the central question using evidence
2. How is the cooperative learning lesson different?
• Students of all different backgrounds, ethnicities, etc. collaborate on finding the answer to the central question
• Students gain interpersonal and small group skills
• Students use group processing
3. View the video and explain what model this lesson fits and what type of lesson it represents:
• This lesson follows a social interactive teaching model
• This lesson used interactive instructional strategies through cooperative learning and group processing

    

Evaluating a Social Studies Lesson:

    I chose the Earth Day Lesson to analyze and evaluate. This lesson plan follows a behavioral teaching method. The lesson plan uses direct instruction, indirect instruction, interactive instruction, experiential learning, and independent study. The lesson plan uses direct instruction by posing didactic questions to students. Posing questions is a great way for a teacher to gage a student's understanding of a topic. In this lesson plan, students were asked "When and where did Earth Day begin?" By using didactic questions, students are able to recall information and incorporate prior knowledge and learning experiences. According to "Approaches to Instruction," questions are used for various ways in the classroom. For example, some purposes may include, "assessing learning, developing understanding..., facilitating critical thinking...," and so much more. 

    This lesson plan also uses indirect instruction through reading for meaning. The students were asked to read "Five Reasons Why You Should LOVE Earth," then respond to the questions. Reading for meaning emphasizes the idea of creative thinking. "Approaches to Instruction" explains that "creative thinking involves a process of locating previously unknown or unrecognized situations and understanding them." When a student reads for meaning, they are critically thinking about the topic at hand. 

    This lesson plan uses another method of instruction through interactive instruction. The students were asked to brainstorm and jot down five ways we can save the Earth. Brainstorming is "based upon the belief that when a great number of ideas are generated, the chances of uncovering a good idea or solution are increased" (Approaches to Instruction). Students benefit greatly from brainstorming, as they are given time to creatively think outside the box and generate novel ideas and opinions.

    Continuing, this lesson plan uses experiential learning through simulations from a game included online. Students experienced experiential learning from a website game which led the student through various activities and ended with questions. Throughout the game, students were given novel information about the Earth and energy sources. Experiential learning can be "activity oriented," which is exactly the way in which this website game was presented (Approaches to Instruction). 

    Lastly, this lesson plan uses independent study through computer assisted instruction. The teacher provided two videos for the students to view independently, and the students then answered linked questions independently. Independent study "[fosters] the development of individual student initiative, self-reliance, and self-improvement" (Approaches to Instruction). This element of the lesson plan allows the student to move at their own pace, while effectively using technology to support their studies. The questions were to be answered on Wonderopolis, which is an effective tool in allowing students to have choice in picking questions to answer. 

    This lesson plan is extremely engaging and has high pedagogical value. This lesson plan uses more than five websites and resources for students to further their knowledge on the Earth and Earth Day. By using so many different resources in different formats, multiple students are able to excel and engage in the assignment. It is so important to present lesson plans in various formats and using multiple resources because it gives all students an opportunity to learn the information that is being taught in a way that makes sense to them. 

Source: Adapted from Models of teaching (6th ed.) by B. R. Joyce, M. Weil, & E. Calhoun, 2000. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.