Leading Tomorrow's Leaders
During Teacher Assisting
I am in the business of teaching the leaders of tomorrow, and to do so I must be a good leader. The U.S. pedagogy for teaching places modeling high on the priority list meaning I must model how to be a good leader. I can't assure that students see a good model of leadership every year, but I work to be a good leader whenever I am with students. What makes a leader into a good leader you may ask? To which I would say, a good leader leads his followers based on what they need, not simply based on the leaders wants and needs. Thus as a teacher, I plan to lead according to what my students need most and according to what learning is about, not what teaching is about.
During this semester of teacher assisting I created a project that focuses on one topic but allows the students to use many different genres to learn about the topic. This is called a multi-genre project, and this one is focused on linear relationships. Every student has a different way of learning best and using multiple genres allows for a wide spread of these learning styles to be addressed. The biggest advantage to this project is getting the students to use something other than a textbook. So many teachers use the textbook, and only the textbook, to teach but I can use my knowledge of math and the community to find relevant genres elsewhere. This project also includes a research component which allows students to communicate their ideas. To further fostering this communication and collaboration I have included a lesson plan where students discover a linear relationship from a news article or other media and work together to teach other students the techniques they used. I have tried a simpler version of this lesson plan and the students loved the choices they had to make and the effective communication skills they were allowed to learn and present.
INTASC Standards Addressed
Standard #6: The teacher uses knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.
Standard#7:The teacher plans instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students,the community, and curriculum goals.
Standard #6: The teacher uses knowledge of effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.
Standard#7:The teacher plans instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students,the community, and curriculum goals.