week+3

Read the following power point carefully, and then answer the questions in assignment 3





After reading your reflections from the last class, I can summarize several points that have been raised frequently by the mentor teachers (from three sessions of political science, sociology and geography): 1. Time management is crucial in preparing good lessons. It helps you in classroom management as well as achieving the lesson learning goals. Therefore, I always recommend deciding how long you want to spend for each activity, and of course you can ask the teacher in the school in order to get another professional perspective with respect to this point. 2. Using technology in the Geography class is very recommended. For example, one student mentioned that he planned to use the Google Earth in his class activity. This method will make the class more interactive and the pictures in the textbook more realistic and lively. 3. Sometimes you need to have students work in small groups before you ask them to discuss an issue in the whole class. In fact, this activity (the small group working) may encourage shy kids and let them feel more confident in sharing their ideas in the larger class. 4. Be aware that you explain the instruction for any class activity very clearly. In addition, you need to consider bringing many examples that demonstrate the topic you teach in the class. 5. It is important to recognize that a lesson cannot be separated from previous lessons. This emphasizes the importance of unit planning, and that effective teachers see the whole picture of the curriculum. 6. Taking notes is another skill that you need to consider in your teaching. This skill can be developed over time. It makes students feel more responsible about his- her studying, and helps him distinct between the important and less important points in the curriculum. 7. Giving homework to all students is very important since there is a clear positive correlation (in the research) between doing homework and students’ achievement. In addition, homework can be used as another assessment tool in the class, and it helps you figure out where students stand with respect to the subject matter. 8. Story –telling can be a powerful strategy in your teaching. That is, it helps a teacher to get students’ attention, and to make a connection between subject matter and students’ lives. A short discussion after telling the story is required to help kids see the relationship between the story and the topic of the class. 9. When you ask students to work on a classroom assignment, you need to walk around and to observe what they are doing. In fact, this is one way of supporting students’ learning, giving them a helpful advice, observing and assessing their progress, and delivering encouragement words. 10. Differentiating instruction is one of the hardest things to do in the class. In order to master this skill you need to spend more time in the class, to know students and their funds of knowledge, their needs, interests, and to connect all these points into one lesson. 11. Making a connection between the students’ lives and the subject matter is very important in all subject matters. Perhaps, political science teachers find this issue easier since they can use a lot of external materials for this purpose. For example, they can use current events from the news and local newspapers to show that civics is everywhere, and that it is strongly related to peoples’ lives. In addition, talking about real life situations can be used to encourage critical thinking, and it is a good idea for warming up activity. 12. Many social studies teachers agree that summarizing the lesson at the end of the class is extremely important because it helps students see the connection between the different ideas discussed in the class, and to understand the main points of the lesson. 13. Sometimes, you need to consider rewriting and rewording some primary sources and maybe old documents into an understandable language that fits students’ age and their needs.


 * Student's name || assignment 3 ||
 * Kayleigh Wallace || [[file:Wallace Minor Lab Week 3.docx]] ||
 * Kelly Adsit || [[file:KellyAdsitMinorLabAssign3.docx]] ||
 * Brian Field || [[file:Brian Field Week 3.docx]] ||
 * Bob Poelking || [[file:Poelking_PLSLab_lesson3.docx]] ||
 * Kelley Linhart || [[file:PLSminor-#3.docx]] ||
 * Zach Bradley || [[file:ZachBradley_Week3_Minor.docx]] ||
 * Matt Hokanson || [[file:Hokanson-Minor Lab Week 3.docx]] ||
 * Dominique || [[file:polisci assign3.docx]] ||
 * Lauren Jasinski || [[file:Jasinski.MinorLab.Week3.doc]] ||
 * Vinnie Lindquist || [[file:Lindquist.PLS-Lab.Assignment3.doc]] ||
 * Danielle Kello || [[file:Minor Lab- Assignment 3.docx]] ||