Academic Content:
What we can teach in the classroom is not up to us anymore. The school day is now based off the state test that is given at the end of each year. Although teachers collaborate or make their own lesson plans most of the time the lesson plans are given to you as well. Again these lesson plans are based off the state testing. Some of these lessons will "guide" you on how many days you may have to teach a certain lesson with little room to spare. I agree there should be certain things across the board that needs to be taught, but the option for a little creativity or giving your students more time on an area they might be struggling in is slim. This system is great for new teachers like me that might feel better with a little more guidance, but overall sometimes will not match up with the demands from the students.Technology in Lesson Planing:
Technology in lesson planning is great! The technology used to help enhance and share lesson planning is great too! In my experience, I have seen teams use the same set of lesson plans for everyone and either one team member or the team itself creates them. Other times the teams will split subjects and make lessons just for that subject and swap or they can each make their own. There so many great sources to use online as well to help complete or even make your lesson plans. Teachers pay teachers is a great website that teachers can use to download pre-made lessons or lesson ideas that coordinate with the grade level and standards. The internet opens up the doors for teachers to share their great lesson plans or ideas that really worked for them and maybe you as well.
Video in the Classroom:
Sometimes this can turn into a sticky subject for some people. Some beliefs might say unplug while you are school or embrace the technology-driven world. I think videos are a great add on and idea to implement in the classroom. In the ESE Pre-K classroom now we use videos of books we read like Goodnight Moon to deliver the story in more than one form. The teacher might read the book first then show the video that corresponds with it. It is a great way to keep the students attention without asking them to stare at just you for the duration of time. Videos are great for transition times too. It is a way to capture everyone's attention while the teacher or class regroups for the next activity or part of the day i.e, lunch, music, outside time. Videos can be used in many ways educationally and this generation is full of videos and watches them all the time, why should we fight how the future is living.
Resources:
Lyon, N. (2015, June 8). Copy of Explain Any Topic. Retrieved June 9, 2015, from https://prezi.com/vblxeumwtddn/copy-of-explain-any-topic/#
Maloy, Robert,Verock-O’Loughlin, Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
TeachersPayTeachers.com - An Open Marketplace for Original Lesson Plans and Other Teaching Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved June 9, 2015, from https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/
The state mandated testing has definitely changed the way most teachers teach and I fear it has taken away all creative license for the true meaning of "teach". Although I agree that the 'pre-made' lesson plans out there are helpful resources, I am opposed to the "you must use this or that" and I'm also not convinced that some teachers are using them as a crutch and are not able to modify them for their own student needs. Learning to create your own lesson plans - collaboratively or not - becomes an important center of what teachers do. I like your Prezi, but it was not embedded nor linked - I had to go to the resources and copy/paste the URL to get to it - most readers won't go to the trouble, which is why I've encouraged the embedding (not sure if you did on purpose or didn't know how to do otherwise?).
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