Time Flies....

Wow, it has been a month! I have no idea where the time goes, but it sure does fly when you are busy with three classes! Methods is continuing to be a huge learning experience with lots of new information being learned. Our latest adventure has been Direct Instruction. Remember all the countless hours you sat in class listening to your teacher lecture non-stop? Yup, that is direct instruction! And there is a point behind it! It is a great way to introduce a topic and promote automaticity! By repeating the basic information over and over again, you drill it into the students heads. It is actually a great way to introduce topics because it allows you as a teacher to deliver the information to students with no distractions. For example, I created my direct instruction lesson plan on Plants. I was sure to incorporate technology into my direct instruction plan. Just because you are delivering the basics, does not mean you can't have room for a little creativity! I incorporated using the SMARTboard by showing a picture of a plant.. Then slowly I showed each part of the plant and describe what the part's function is for. The students join in by repeating the parts of the plants and functions throughout the lessons.
Aside from my Direct Instruction lesson plan, I created a WebQuest. This allows the student to take the information they just learned and create a book on TikaTok. The students are on an adventure to prove that plants are living things. The students are split into groups and are assigned to research different aspects of plants. This Webquest is a great interactive lesson for students to get a hands on experience on learning. I hope that when I have my own classroom I am able to create tons of WebQuests on different topics because I believe in the students right to be creative.