Mistakes of Others & Assuming Too Much

Among the many perks of being the youngest in a family of five boys, one in particular that has really come in handy is me being able to learn from the mistakes of my older brothers. Lets just say I’ve learned a lot over the past 28 years as I’ve observed them living their lives. I bring this up because of the many benefits of watching fellow students teach. And there has been several instances where I’ve thought to myself ‘I’m glad I wasn’t assigned to go first’.
Geoff allows us to give constructive criticism after each of us teaches, and its all good feedback such as:
• We need to be aware of lesson content – making sure that the things we share, videos and pictures we show are appropriate for all views. And if it is questionable, but justified, give a good disclaimer before showing or sharing.
• Having students read things during the lesson – call on them, instead of asking for volunteers. This speeds things up, keeps you in control of the classroom instruction, and helps students who may not be paying attention get back on track.
• Why are you teaching me this? – Make the students aware of why you are teaching something, your reasons, real world application, whatever it is make sure they know the purpose.
I had the opportunity to take the TSA’s as well, I use the word ‘opportunity because now that I’ve had the experience I look at it as such. At first I honestly thought it was pointless and dumb and I guess it might be for some people, for me, it was very useful. I learned some things, I might have had to figure it out right there on the spot but I learned nonetheless. I also realized that I need to learn more about Excel.
Thankfully I passed all the tests, but there were some who didn’t pass all of them. We as teachers can’t assume. We can’t assume that something is common knowledge and then brush over a subject quickly. All of us learn at different speeds, on different levels and in different ways. We need to take into account those students that might not know or understand Microsoft Word and not treat them as a special case but merely as a student that needs the help learning a new subject, and that’s it. The different things we were tested on for the TSA’s are important things for us to know as teachers. We should be proficient in those areas since we use them so much. So not only was it an opportunity but it was an eye opener.