We officially had our last meeting tonight and I think it is safe to say that we are all ready to present our lessons. If for no other reason, it will be good to relieve all our anxiety! I know we have all said it, but I must say again how difficult it can be to plan. Take, for example, the time involved for individual lessons. That is really hard to predict. I personally keep thinking that there will be something that either goes very quickly and takes no time or else much more time than we thought. The other difficult issue in a long class period is the transitions between lessons. We all see teachers transition on a daily basis, and for the most part probably don't notice or think about a strategy on the part of the teacher. But now, when planning this, it is important to make transitions work. Doing lessons as a group makes the individual presentations many of us do in a typical class seem easy by comparison. Another thing I learned was the importance of a rubric. Dr. Shannon brought this to our attention last week in our planning. Until now, I never gave much thought to the planning and preparation that a teacher must put into developing the guidelines for a rubric and with that the expectations for grading. It also requires some math skills to make the numbers work. I realize teachers owe clear expectations and clear grading to the students, but haven't considered how they are part of the planning before a lesson ever takes place. I think I had better work on my skills for figuring percentages!
Overall, I think our group worked really well together. I know that I was surprised by the amount of time it takes to put things together, and I owe thanks to both Travis and Nicole for doing extra work when I was stumped by my lack of computer skills. Thanks guys! I know I also learned some computer skills by watching and asking questions-just another benefit to working together. I am looking forward to Wednesday night.
Arlen - Great job last night! It's not easy planning a 2.5 + hour lesson. There's so much to think about! I have also learned the value of a rubric this year. When I started teaching at HACC, the Dean recommended a few different build-your-own rubric sites. I never paid much attention to rubrics as a student, but they're very helpful for me as a teacher! They can be a little limiting though.
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