FieldPost3: In the Heights

How can you be an effective teacher and adapt your lessons to the students you are teaching?

In Chapter 9 of Educational Foundations, Susan Ohanian discusses why it is virtually impossible to teach the same lesson twice. She says, "What counts is attitude and endeavor. That's why, even when we try, we often can't pass on a terrific lesson plan to a friend; we probably can't even save it for ourselves to use again next year."

I really enjoyed my experience at Heights High. I shadowed a 10th grade History class with Mr. Nitzel, who was a wonderful teacher. It was clear that he oversaw a diverse group of students, and that many of them learned in different ways. Mr. Nitzel's class was such a pleasure to observe because of the way he ran his class. He began class with a casual discussion of recent events in his life in order to connect with his students, which helped keep them centered and engaged. He then changed the conversation to a discussion of what each student thought was the biggest technology that impacted World War I. I liked this activity because each student had a different answer and reasons to back up their claims. This was nice because it helped students learn to draw conclusions based off of facts they had learned in class. After their discussion, Mr. Nitzel led the class in a Jeopardy review game for their test later that week. This was a good format for the students in his class because they learned best with interactive activities and discussions where they could bounce ideas off of one another. Towards the end of the class, Mr. Nitzel had the students draw connections between what they had learned from the section they were about to be tested on to what they were going to be learning about next. He ended the class with watching part of the movie Flyboys, and having the students fill out a worksheet and engage in conversation about how it related to the course material. I really liked that Mr. Nitzel had found a way to present and explain information in an interesting manner, while also involving the students in questioning and helping them come up with conclusions on their own. Overall, I think that Mr. Nitzel did a great job incorporating many different learning approaches, to allow each student learn and succeed in a way that best suited each individual.