Tips from the Field Experience

Visual Aids Use visuals whenever possible. It’s most effective for hook activities. Check out books from the library. Use used calendar pictures. Use OHP. Prepare a PowerPoint slide show. Grab YouTube videos to your disc, if possible.

Questions and Feedback Prepare to ask relevant questions. Connect learning/ questions to students’ prior experiences. Provide (positive) feedback. Repeat and rephrase students’ responses. Encourage your students to speak louder. Stay focused and avoid being sidetracked by irrelevant questions.

Vocabulary Words Identify and teach vocabulary words in your lesson for EVERY subject. Make vocabulary learning more obvious in your lesson. Use strategies such as those described in “Taking delight in words.” Apply new vocabulary in the sentence and paragraph level.

A little about Classroom Management Don’t shush your students: (It’s disrespectful. It shows you don’t have other strategies.) Call individual’s name to get their attention. Don’t call them “guys”. Ask the team leaders to control their group’s behavior. Use signal system. Use positive feedback: I see table one sitting quietly.

Surprise, Surprise Be ready for surprise tasks that may come up. Pack a lot of small tasks that you can use. You are asked to change thelesson and you are given only ten minutes to prepare. Don’t panic. Pick a few key concepts and strategize how to engage your students in learning.

Dealing with Special Students Be ready to deal with ill-prepared students. (Isolate students, provide more help, allow more time, give different learning tasks, assign a helping pal, and use other support: parents, library, resource teachers, technological resources, etc.) A new student who should be retained to the previous grade has serious behavior issues. Document what you have done.

Protect Yourself Avoid gossips. Talk about positive things. Focus on your work and try your best. Volunteer but don’t promise too much, too fast. Watch and meet the deadlines. Stay organized. Make a list. Document things. Have backup plans for everything you plan to do. Develop good rapport with others. Take criticism nicely. The coop teacher disappears. Contact the principal’s office for backups. Get a sub certificate.

Taking Control of Activities Don’t release your students or hand out paper packets before you finish your instructions/ directions. Plan how to wrap up your activities. Make arrangement for the centers.

Simplify Tasks for Students Give simple and clear instructions. Prepare to provide simple modeling, demos, or mock-up exercises for the activities that you want to engage students to do. Provide steps and put on the board. Train students to follow instructions.

Make Assessments Formative assessment: Assess your students’ performance as you go. Make adjustments accordingly. Ask questions. The summative assessment, or assignment should provide you a means to assess what students have learned. Tie the assessment to the objectives.

How sound are your objectives? Make your objectives measurable. Students will be able to: Understand/ correctly describe/ explain/ answer questions about/ solve problems Tie your instructional activities and assessment closely to your objectives.

Big Ideas Pick some big ideas to teach. Stay focused. Avoid being ambitious. (Don’t bite off more than you can chew.) Go in depth instead of breadth under the time constraint. Use different materials, tasks, activities, questions to expand the learning of the ideas.

Get People Involved Assign individual students to prepare presentations for show and tell. Get parents involved. Collaborate with another teacher. Invite guest speakers. Consider possible community service. Involve the school principal.