Where does time go? Every year I feel like time is always a huge issue when it comes to lesson design. The amount of standards that I need to cover and the amount of time that I have, never seem to coincide with the types of lessons that I'd like to teach.
Now in my eighth year of teaching, I tend to be a tad more lax when it comes to the pacing guide (mostly because I now know what the students have background knowledge about), but there are always some units that test the time table. I've most recently been teaching a unit on geometry. The students have had a lot of fun seeing how these concepts relate to their everyday world.We've also made lines, angles, shapes, and solids with various materials. This kind of teaching takes a lot more time than a worksheet, but is also more meaningful for the students.
I've also seen this lack of time come into play when I am teaching the students a new type of software. Although, my students quickly catch onto the tools, they also are fascinated with the seemingly never ending design functions. If there is a substantial amount of time (2 weeks) in between these lessons, I typically have to go back and review. Although, I know that playing the "what if" game won't get me very far; I still wonder how different my classroom might be if I had access to half a class set of laptops every day.
As I finish this last semester my goals for my classroom are to find ways to incorporate fun, meaningful learning; while also trying to meet those guidelines that tell me when I should be done teaching a unit.
I like the goal! I feel the same way. No time, more stuff to teach, and all of those so called learning moments are celebrated quickly and then we have to move on to the next thing. I would rather take the pulse of the class and run with it in whatever direction it goes always referencing the subject that they are in. To me, I think I would have so many more kids into the material because my passion and their collective interest would come together.
ReplyDelete