Teaching my First Reading Lesson

Today I was at Charleston Development Academy again with the third graders. I noticed out in the hallway, before walking up the stairs to the 2nd floor, that there is a bulletine board that has tips for parents and how they can be involved with their child or children and what they are doing in school. I never noticed this before but I thought it was really neat becuase we are always discussing in class how important parent involvement, support, and interest are in their child's academic success. I also noticed how much text there is both in and outside of the classroom and that it is very culturally appropriate with a lot related to African American Heritage.

I also had a chance to teach a reading lesson this morning. I think it went okay, however, I felt like my writing lesson was the stronger of the two. I feel like I don't have much practice reading aloud recently (not since high school) and I think I will need to work on this. Next semester I think my public speaking course will help me to improve on this. I think that the secong paragraph I read, of the two that they illustrated from, was too long and as suggested to me, I agree that the vocabulary was probably hard to understand and follow. I think my point would have been much better addressed with a shorter abreviated lesson, that was more focused and clear. In fact, I think this will be my challenge throughout learning to teach... that is staying on topic and being clear and precise in what I teach. This means shortening lessons, timing myself, and figure what is and is not important to teach. I think my lesson would have worked out much better if I had focused on this and I think it can be reworked to be better. I also think I still need to work on controlling the students' behavior and getting their attention.

Overall, I think I learned more today than I have in previous days at our field experience, which is a good thing obviously. I felt a little more pressure being observed but it is such a help to get that feedback! Next Monday will be mmy last day in the 3rd grade class and I look forward to another day to observe and reflect.