21

Okay, that experience teaching on Thursday was really cool. I think that because we were the second group to teach and that we were able to observe the behavior of the students prior, we were able to create and modify our lesson plan to best suit the class. I think that this was a real plus for our group and made me realize the importance of communication with the students on their level and mine, as a teacher. I was satisfied with the way that our group executed this teaching assignment; of course there is always room for improvement, but that is why we are students. I think it was a good thing to have an attention getter with the familiar media clips at the beginning of class. I think it was a sure connection with the attention of the students, they being at the junior high age. I think it set a precedent. One thing that I would seriously consider taking out of our performance was the issue of discipline. I know that I carried on about it in my previous blog entry because I was negatively observing the students while the first group was teaching. I noticed, however, that the students responded boldly to discipline. When we were handing out candy and the students were excited, one of us spoke out loudly, telling them to be quiet, which was done in a demeaning voice I think. I noticed the immediate response of the students; it wasn't positive. I think that having parameters and class discipline is good to a degree, but I must remember that it will always have an impacting impression on the students. So, if I decide to include it in my classroom, I think it must be done fairly and respectfully and in a teaching way. I think discipline can be a great teaching moment instead of a negative connotation. It might even be able to be fun or funny. Who knows, but I do know that our form of it was not good in our situation; we lost the excitement, enthusiasm, and attention of the students.