Instruction Adventures

Well let’s start at the beginning.  I have this opportunity to learn instruction from the ground and can’t say up because there is lateral movement not just up.  This post is going to focus on a couple activities that have occurred in the last 8-10 days within the construct on my internship.

My most significant insight has been in observation of a variety of professionals and how different each approaches the process of “being a teacher.”  I in a reflective mode see it as a vocation as in other fields where the participant or teacher must be fully aware of their being and their responsibility to the student at all times.  I must admit I wish there was more time for observation because I gain more insight the more exposure to teachers about the process, failures, and successes.

The most stressful times has been the demo done during the Monday meetings.  The first was a Scout tool demo done in the time constraints of 5 minutes…whew where did the time go and what do I cover?  Really felt under rapid fire and couldn’t remember what I said or if I covered what was needed.  The second demo was a active learning session(5 minutes again!!!!) for keywords.  That I felt was a big improvement over the first time and felt a little more comfortable.  The active part was a difficult process for me as I spent all weekend trying out various methods.  In the end used index cards.

The finale of this time frame was co-teaching with Karlie love her. Received great feedback from her on some definite areas of improvement and successes.  My portion was to cover Scout, so the practice 5-minute demos really help prepare me and provided prospective from observing Rob (fellow intern) to borrow some best practices.  I felt like I lost control of my time and didn’t get in-depth enough.  I can see that improvement is all that can happen.  I look forward to embodying, emulating, and learning what “teaching” actual means to me.