Blog 13

Week 13 of Education 250 is here and it is so hard to believe that we are down to our last few classes together. I have gained such a breadth of knowledge in such a short amount of time! When I look back and reflect on this class, I know I have learned so much but in the big picture, I have only scratched the surface on all that I must know to be the best teacher I can be. We have begun sharing lesson plans with our classmates and presenting them. I was extremely nervous about this because I know how harshly my teachers can grade and I wanted to follow the 6 point lesson technique as best as I could and be engaging and creative at the same time. It was very difficult but I'm not too worried because I know it was only my first time and I will have 100s more to write in the future. After looking at feedback from Dr.Clark I realized many many things that I did wrong and what I need to improve when revising this lesson plan. I appreciated the compliments also given by my professor, but those were much harder to come by. I have lots of work to do!

While watching other lesson plans I really realized how important it is for teacher to actively keep their students engaged and interacting. The younger the students, the more vital this becomes. The speed answer games like Kahoot and such were really good uses of technology and I will surely use games like that online in my future classroom.

Good lesson plans require hard effort and patient planning. They cannot be rushed or disorganized! I can get a brief glance at this when I have been observing my peers lessons.

"it’s no secret that the face of education has changed dramatically over the past ten years or so. Teachers across the country are working hard to equip children with the skills needed for success in the 21st century world. In addition to instilling in students the flexibility to readily adapt to changing technologies, teachers must foster learning environments that encourage critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, communication, collaboration, global awareness, and social responsibility. Listed below are six strategies early childhood teachers are currently using in classrooms to prepare kids for the boundless future ahead."

This all connects to the NCTOS because that is the basis that all their standards lay on. Incorporating everything needed so that the student learns everything necessary in that specific lesson. 

To connect with these the kids in our future classrooms, teachers must learn to speak their language and become conversant with the technology that comes so naturally to the young.
This is how we can be successful teachers in the 21st century!

Source: http://www.earlychildhoodteacher.org/blog/six-strategies-for-21st-century-early-childhood-teachers/