Post 12
November 12, 2012
Brown Chapters 9-13
Kumar chapter 13
In
Kumar’s chapter 13, Monitoring Teaching
Acts, he states that one of the most important aspects of learning to
theorize from practice is knowing how to monitor one’s own teaching acts. To do this, he explains that teachers can use
the pedagogic framework of self-observation, self-analysis, and self-evaluating
one’s teaching acts. First, we should classify
classroom observation models into two types: product-oriented, and
process-orientated.
Product
orientated models are based on the assumption that a description of teacher
behavior is necessary in order to build a classroom behavior profile of the
teacher. They use a finite set of
preselected and predetermined categories.
In my ENG 346 class, we are learning about classroom observation but
when teachers observe and analyze the students, not themselves. I presented last week on the different types
of classroom observation, such as annotated notes and rating scales. Annotated notes are open-ended question notes
and can be formatted on the go. Rating
scales have yes/no answers or placing a student on a continuum based on their
skills of the learning objectives. The
rating scales of the students can help teacher evaluate themselves in the sense
of how their students are performing. If
many of the students are not where they are supposed to be, a teacher needs to
consult some of the annotated notes he or she has taken to determine where he
or she is failing in instruction. The
annotated notes can consist of student engagement, student participation, and
student interaction as well as any other non-predetermined categories.
Process-orientated
models are based on the assumption that an interpretation of classroom
activities necessary in order to understand classroom processes and
practices. They focus on classroom input
as well as interaction. They attempt to
describe and account for individual behavior and then treat classroom
participants as individuals rather than as a collective mass.
In
Brown’s chapter 9, Curriculum Design, he
discusses and poses the question, how is a curriculum “born”? Brown says that Kumar’s “pedagogy of
particularity” is highly relevant because no one would dream of planning a
lesson in a vacuum, or assuming that lessons are not embedded in a much larger
picture.
One
of the first steps in course design is an analysis of the setting, the
audience, and most importantly, the needs of the students, which is known as a
situation analysis. I believe that this
is the most important starting point a teacher should analyze. Even if you are teaching the same level of
students year after year, things change.
Even over a short period of time.
I am sure during the internet boom of the 90’s and 00’s, teachers had
drastic changes in the needs of their students.
The factors to consider are the educational settings, class
characteristics, faculty characteristics, governance of course content, and
assessment and evaluation requirements.
Teachers should also problematize things that can happen within their
classroom so that they can be prepared to handle whatever circumstances that
may come about.
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