I have enjoyed the class and believe I would have no trouble teaching The Great Gatsby. This class has helped me learn theories and more about YA lit. I like the idea of pairing the classics with YA lit. I think sometimes when students read classic literature they get confused, but if they can read books more relatable they will break the barrier and make the connections. For me, I want to make texts relatable for the students. The textbook helped break teaching literature apart. Many of the lessons and ideas Jago presented in the book can be intertwined with multiple texts. I like this idea because each year you can just switch the lessons with texts and save prep time! I really enjoyed Chapter 3 because I always wondered how these books were chosen. This chapter allowed me to understand the criteria, and it helped me start to think how I would pick my own books for my classroom. In addition, there was a booklist, which is my life goal to read.
The lesson plans that we presented really helped me realize the amount of time spent of prep. In addition, time management. For many of us, the classes are only going to be on average fifty minutes. Going to Firestone also opened my eyes. I was glad we went, so we could get more time with students. However, it was amazing how many things I wished I could change. The experience we had at Firestone, I know for me personally, it helped me learn what not to do in the classroom.
I have also added Jago's list on my "to read" list.
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I think this is a valuable lesson. When I was at McKinley, I got to experience three distinct teaching styles and classroom environments. I loved two of them but the third was definitely a "what not to do" experience. At this point, I feel like I'm starving for more observation, even the bad ones! Seeing how things go wrong can help a lot in figuring out how to make it right.
I agree with a lot of your comments here. I really liked Jago's book, despite feeling like she was a bit harsh when I started reading it. I also felt I learned "What not to do" at Firestone, but I think this is just as valuable as observing good teaching. Overall, this semester has made me more anxious to get into the classroom and put into practice the things I have learned.
ReplyDeleteI agree that I liked Jago's book and I feel that there is a lot of valuable information to still be learned from Jago. I think if I were to meet her in person that I would be scared to meet her. Firestone was definitely a good experience that helped prepare us for the classroom and I am so excited to be in it this fall.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you I think that Jago had a lot of great ideas that could be used for more than one text. I also agree that this class helped me learn a lot about time management with all of the lesson plans we did.
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