Post 7: Time for Fun

I am slowly learning how important time management is in the classroom. I am working with a teacher preparing lessons for a project I am doing in his classroom. As I excitedly told him about my unit plan and gave some sample lesson plans, he told me I was boring.

At first, I was thinking that I was treating the students like adults by not trying to "entertain" them. But, if I'm an adult, then my experience in 276 has taught me that I need to be entertained a little. Three hours of direct instruction is difficult to get through and any sliver of "entertainment" is welcome.

The class I observed was 90 minutes of the teacher standing in front of the students and talking at them. I may have been able to handle it better if the information was interesting or pertinent to me, but as it was, I was struggling.

It's easier to learn the information and recite it to the students, than to incorporate multiple levels and dimensions of learning.

I am going back through my lesson plans to develop activities that teach or support the material. Wish me luck.