Learning Journal

Takeaways

1. Be Flexible
Learning how to be flexible was, by far, my greatest takeaway. Our team came up with a plan after meeting the students only to have that plan completely changed the day before we went to implement it. We had to regather our thoughts and come up with something new for the class, based on the restrictions the teacher gave us. There were also several occasions where the teacher canceled on us so we had to use the time we had very wisely and efficiently.

2. Be Prepared
We assigned a task for the students to complete at home, however, when we went back to help them blog about this task, none of the students had completed it. This was very frustrating, but it was comforting that we had a back up plan for the day.

3. Be Enthusiastic
With all of the issues we dealt with this semester, it was important to stay positive and enthusiastic. Students know when something is wrong, so we had to make sure we kept a smile on our face! It was also important to keep a positive attitude with the teacher, even when they changed plans on us. I never know where I could end up teaching, so I always want to build positive relationships.

4. Integrate technology as much as possible!!
The students loved working with the computers. I was surprised, though, that many of the students did not know how to type well. This is a key skill for people in today's society so I believe students should have multiple opportunities to use technology per day.

Suggestions
1. Set higher expectations with teachers
It seems as if there were a lot of problems with the teachers at P.K. Younge. I know you communicated well with them, but maybe they did not understand how important this was. Since it was the first semester, hopefully it was a learning experience for them and they will better understand the process in the fall!

2. Teach us more
I did enjoy the layout of the class. However, I would have liked to learn a little more content in the area of technology. It would have been cool to learn about tools and resources we could use as future teachers.

3. Have a group meeting with ALL teachers and ALL students
This could potentially help with confusion at the beginning of the semester and would also have everyone in the same mindset.

4. Higher expectations for us
Sometimes I was a little uncertain what was expected of me. It would have been helpful to have a little more feedback to see how I was doing/how I could improve throughout the course.