assigned reading response

The reading MaryAnn handed out last week detailed the different ways to begin a lesson. I think this reading was interesting but perhaps would have been more useful earlier in the semester. From it we can gain awareness of particular styles of teaching to be watching for. It would have made for interesting class discussion to bring up how the teachers at each respective site began their discussions and introductions of their lesson to the class. I think this introduction also effects the direction in which the lesson follows.

In the example, the teacher was encouraging his students to think it through out loud, then following up with the inclusion of the rest of the class and a follow up activity. When I was reading it seemed as if the two students involved in the discussion really began to understand the information, but when he called on another student, she had not grasped the concept as thoroughly. I got sidetracked thinking of the classroom dynamic that was following this discussion as well. Were the two students he involved faster learners than the rest, or had he chosen them because they tended to lose focus? If there is one thing that I have learned through these field experiences, it is that classroom dynamic plays a huge part in how a lesson can and is directed and delivered.