MSU Teaching Standard 4 & 5:
Organizes Space, Time, and Interaction
Description of Standard: "Good teachers create classroom environments that are conducive to learning. English teachers should provide a safe and inclusive environment for interaction that promotes intellectual engagement and opportunities for all students to grapple with significant questions in the discipline. English teachers recognize that discourse is the engine that drives learning. Classroom interaction is a result of planning wisely, with the intersection of students and content in mind. This involves staying focused on relevant information and activities, and warrants attention to the physical classroom environment, the use of time, and the purposeful use of appropriate technology."
Effective teaching requires a great deal of planning, organization, and structure; without a solid foundation, even the best lesson plan will not have the "ground" to stand on, and in turn may (and more than likely will) fall apart. Providing students with a clear, established plan, as well as the space and means to do so is extremely essential to maintaining a productive, embracing learning enviornment. The artifacts below represent just a few of the ways in which I worked to establish classroom routines, use classroom space to my advantage, and employ appropriate technologies in my classroom over the course of my internship year.
Classroom Arrangement
Pictured above is the "horseshoe" style classroom arrangement my mentor and I decided to organize our classroom in over the course of my internship year. This setup truly allowed for meaningful, student-centered large-group discussions to take place and flourish, as students faced one another, rather than merely their instructor. Thus, this seating arrangement supported my collaborative, dialogic teaching philosophy and objective to position myself as a "faciliteacher"--an active, yet equal participant-- rather than an authoritarian in my classroom. Moreover, as an educator who fervently believes in establishing an engaging presence in her classroom, I strongly feel as though this organization gave me the opportunity to use my classroom space to my full advantage, as I was able to circulate around the room very easily by arranging my students' desks in this way.
Daily Agenda
In order to clearly communicate my classroom objectives on a daily basis, I projected an agenda for my students. As evidenced above, these agendas detailed our lesson focus for the day, as well as the topics covered the day prior. This allowed for daily "housekeeping" (i.e. distributing work to those who were absent) to run smoothly and for my daily expectations to be evident to my students.
Tone and 'Tude in Music: An Introductory to Poetry Lesson Plan
This lesson encompasses the ways in which I used technology in deliberate, effective ways in my classroom. More specifically, in an effort to expand upon students' perspectives of poetry's role in their daily lives, this activity required students to use iPads to collaboratively research songs that corresponded with their group's assigned emotion (sadness, happiness, anger, guilt, etc.). In this way, students used technology productively to analyze music and consider its poetic elements and to in turn teach one another through the use of this technology.
Author Videos
An author's life experiences undoubtedly influences their work. Thus, on the same token, learning about an author's life experiences can and ultimately significantly should influence the way we, as readers, interpret their work. Therefore, in standing firm in this belief, and in order to provide my students with essential and relevant background information about the authors we explored in my ENG 10 class in engaging ways, I created PhotoPeach videos (an incredible and user friendly online program, similar to iMovie) aimed to invigorate students to recall and discuss these pivotal aspects of authors' lives.
Access these videos by clicking the hyperlinks below:
William Faulkner PhotoPeach Video
Stephen Crane PhotoPeach Video
Willa Cather PhotoPeach Video
Access these videos by clicking the hyperlinks below:
William Faulkner PhotoPeach Video
Stephen Crane PhotoPeach Video
Willa Cather PhotoPeach Video