Well I haven't been blogging because to be honest I completely forgot about it. So I guess I'm just going to make up for lost time by blogging a lot now!
To start I would like to reflect back on the past two and a half months or better yet the past 21 years. I would have to say that so far it Curriculum and Instruction I have probably learned more about teaching, myself, and art than in all my other classes combined. I have enjoyed the majority of my classes up until now, but simply reading about how to teach and actually having to get up in front of a class (or see people do so) is a humbling experience. I have learned more about scaffolding and facilitating meaningful discussion simply from watching all the presentations the past few weeks. I have also learned a great deal about how to handle a classroom by watching Aaron. I believe he is the first education teacher I have ever had who runs the classroom in a way they he also teaches us to do. It always seems counterproductive when I've had professors that talk about how boring power points can get or how group discussion is so important but they do exactly that. Even as a high school student I remember a science class where we literally read out of the text book aloud every class. I sat there every day and couldn't believe my teacher got paid for something that a 5th grader could be doing. It is a teachers job to inspire conversation because that is where the learning really happens.
I used to go into lessons ready to lecture, say what I had planned, demonstrate what to do, and let students have at it. Though it can be scary I now see so much value in allowing students to take the discussion with guidance from me. There is definitely a fine line between guiding and forcing the discussion in your direction though which I am working on. I think if the objectives of the lesson are properly lined up with the images and art making guiding becomes much easier.
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