This week's class was different right from the start, in a good way. Like I've mentioned before, I am a firm believer in changing up the teaching style often, so that students who learn better with different teaching methods will all have the opportunity to excel. Before this week's class, we received an email titled "cell phones in class". I assumed that it was a scolding email for all the text messages sent in class, but when the email explained that they were needed for this week's class, I was intrigued.
I, for one, think it's really cool that we're taking into consideration the technological advancements of our generation -- not only is the use of cellphones in today's class a way of breaking down the boundaries of traditional teaching methods, but it also brings the two, often separated, worlds of learning and socializing together. In a way, being open to the "in" things for students bridges the gap between teacher and student without breaking the rule of 'teacher as an authority figure, not a friend'. I didn't feel that our prof was trying too hard to be "cool", nor that she trying to be our friend. It just showed that she was open-minded enough to involve something in the lesson that we're all familiar with, and I think it's great that we were able to make learning fun through means of technology.
During our skype chat with Lisa, I found myself second guessing myself, for the umpteenth time in the past 2 years, about what I really want to do after teacher's college. Coming into university and being admitted to the con. ed program, I saw myself standing in front of a class in 5 years, teaching music or french (or both!) in a mid-sized, Eastern Ontarian high school. But over the past 2-3 years, that ideal has changed. I've become more and more interested in special education and today's conversation with Lisa really has me seriously considering becoming a SERT. I love to learn, and I think that it would be a great way to further my learning in an area that interests me. Last year, while studying abroad in Scotland, I had the opportunity to travel to Ireland with a close friend and live with her aunt's family. There is where I met Niall, a boy with Down's Syndrome. I watched the interactions between him and his mom, Niamh, and I even got the opportunity to help him with some of his homework. It was challenging, especially because I have no formal training as to what methods work best, but it was very rewarding in the end. I can really see myself as a SERT or an EA, and after today's lesson, I know even more about it.
Speaking of teaching strategies, there were a good strategies brought up in class today regarding teaching students with learning disabilities that I found very interesting. One of the ones I really liked was this: When doing reading exercises in class, it can be very effective for the student to be given the sentence they will read out loud to the class ahead of time. That way, the student can memorize the sentence and read it successfully when they're called on in class. Not only will this include them in the class, but more importantly, it will give them some self-confidence, something that seems to be lacking in a lot of students with learning disabilities.
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