Thoughts on the importance of the Lesson Plan.

I think that the lesson plan is one of the most important aspects of a teacher’s job. It not only lays out what topics are going to be discussed in class in a day, and makes sure that all the topics are covered, but it keeps the teacher organized and ready to teach. I have been in a class were the teacher had little to no lesson plan, and no much was learned, due to the rough, broken up approach to presenting the material, all because not plan had not been made. Oppositely, a properly planned out lesson will be able to deliver the information, answer questions, and help gain a better sense of understanding on all the topics needed to be learned for the particular day.

My mother is a kindergarten teacher, and it is from her that I have developed much of my interest and knowledge in education. I can remember every weekend her meticulous planning out of the week ahead, day by day, hour by hour. She pinpointed what she needed to accomplish and how she wanted to accomplish it. Then during the week, she would sit each night and go over the previous day and the next day, and make changes accordingly to what was missed or what was changed from the original plan. Her example in this matter showed me a very important thing about education. That is, the importance of being adaptable. Keeping good track of one’s lesson plan will allow you to be adaptable to whatever comes up at school or at home that can impact the classroom teaching. If someone does not keep a good lesson pan, things will come up, throw the plan off track, and they will not recover fully, fall far behind in their lessons, or simply miss or skip important topics.

One of Murphy’s rules is, “Everything that can go wrong, will”. If a teacher keeps an open mind and a good, organized lesson plan, and with that idea in mind, they will be able to flex and not break when things do go wrong.

This I Believe about Education

I believe that teaching, at the high school level, is a vocation that goes far beyond the confines of the classroom. The personal relationships that are created between teacher and students involved education of both parties in book knowledge and life knowledge. My experiences with my high school teachers are ones that I will never forget. The impact that some of them had on my life not only enriched my education experience and brightened my life, but also helped me through some very tough times. Being able to feel almost more at home at my high school than at my house is an incredible thing.

Of coarse my home is my home, but during those four years, students spend more time in the school building or at school events than they do in their own home. So being able to foster an environment where the relationships with the teachers are so strong that a student feels so comfortable in school, I think, is very important.

A positive relationship with the student will also create a much more successful learning environment the classroom itself. If students are not dreading showing up to your class, then more can be accomplished in teaching each day. Similarly, school is more then just the book knowledge. Being able to teach one’s students life skills is an important job.
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This I Believe: Miracles most often come from the most unlikely places.

I still remember my last day of eighth grade like it was yesterday. A very sunny day, my whole class had a fun day to celebrate beginning to the rest of our academic life. There was all kinds of food to eat, and as a diabetic, I could eat as much of it as I wanted as long as I covered it with the right amount of insulin.

Instead of counting out what I ate and doing the shots accordingly like I should have done, I drew up one big shot, thinking I would cover everything I would eat throughout the morning. Not only did I cover for all the food I ate, but I probably did enough insulin to cover what my whole class might have eaten. Being a headstrong 13 year old boy, I did not even how much extra insulin I had done. But I did not even care, because nothing could hurt me, right?

I arrived home early from school that day because all the eighth graders got out a couple hours before everyone else, and I decided to surprise my Dad and mow the lawn without having to be asked to. During my yard work I began to feel shaky and weak, sure signs of a low blood sugar. This was not uncommon during yard work, but I decided to wait until I finished the job to go inside and get something bring my blood sugar up. Little did I know, I was falling into insulin shock, and moved closer to death every minute.

Being in insulin shock with a drastically low blood sugar for more than twenty minuets would result in death. After falling three times in the yard, I made it inside and passed out in the hallway outside my bedroom. I was now home alone, in insulin shock and passed out, with no way of bringing my self out of it to survive.

For reasons unknown to me still this day, my older sister and younger brother got home from school just as I passed out. By this time I had spent nearly fifteen minutes in shock. While my sister frantically called 911 and my Dad, my 8 year old brother, who on any other day of the year would be out with his friends playing on a beautiful Friday afternoon, took a juice box and force fed it into me, saving my life.

Once my blood sugar was at a normal level, I was perfectly healthy with no signs that I was minuets away from death. To this day, I realize that my younger brother being home to save my life was a miracle, and I might never understand why. But had it not been for the love of my little brother, I would not be here to tell this story.

This I belive, that miracels can come from unlikely sources. More than just the miracle of saving my life is the miracle of the love of family, and the unending love and special bond I have with Michael.

In My Life I learned that….

Laughter makes the world go round. Always get a laugh out of life. Smile with others and they will smile back.

It is important to spend time in your life everyday with your friends, who will always be there for you regardless of anything else. It is also important to love and appreciate your family, because no matter how crazy they might drive you, they will always be there for you, love you and support you.

Life flies at a pretty fast pace, don’t sit and let it run by. Live life the fullest, and have no fear. Don’t stand on the sidelines and then later in your life complain to The Coach that you never got to play.

Always respect others, and they will respect you.

Perfection is Boring. Don’t always run with the pack, be an individual!

Humility goes on long way in life. Never fear allowing someone inside during times of trouble. Always, always remember, you are never alone! You can’t take on life by yourself. In life, it’s not about how hard you get knocked down; it’s how strong you get up. The thrill of success is in the hard work to get there.

Life Is All About The People You Share It With. Live it.

Reflections on ED 100's visit to the Gilmour Academy Lower School

I really enjoyed our visit to the Gilmour Academy Lower School last week. The first impression I received was that it is a small, private school. It had a very warm atmosphere that was not intimidating or harsh in any way. The class sizes were much smaller than I expected though. I went to a private, Catholic grade school, and my class size was always about 45 to 50 kids per grade, about 25 per class.

The open air classrooms caught my attention. I had never really envisioned such an environment for a classroom, and I thought it was pretty interesting. I also noticed that in most the classrooms, the students were not tied to their seats during actual class time. They were freely moving about the room, but all the while still very attentive to the teacher and learning as well. This was also a new concept to me, because I never had such free reign during class time. The students were very well behaved during class and if the moving around got to noisy or interruptive, order was restored immediately when the teacher simply asked them to settle down a bit.

The students were also very involved in what they were doing in class. In the 4th grade humanities classroom, I observed the students preparing research papers on various topics. The papers were to be about four pages long. I figured that would warrant about 10 pages of research from online and books. These students however, had binders of information that to me looked like the research for a twenty page high school or university paper. It was pretty impressive. The amount of work the kids were doing and the level at which they were doing it was very impressive.

Overall, this visit strengthened my desire to continue in the field of education. I enjoyed spending time with the kids in the classroom, and observing the teachers in the various classrooms and subjects.

Disscussion Points from Drapers "Teaching From the Heart: Reflections, Encouragement, and Inspiration"

After reading part of Sharon M. Draper's "Teaching From the Heart: Reflections, Encouragement, and Inspiration", I have found a series of points I think are important for a young or up and coming teacher to consider.

First of all, Teaching is not merely a job, but a vocation with more importance than just getting paid to do something each day. As Draper states, "The touch of a teacher on the life of child truly does make a difference".

One point I found very important in reference to student teaching was the points on how to look, or dress code. I think it is important to look professional, and not too much like a college student. This will help gain respect from your class as the authority figure in the room. You can then later let your personalty connect with the kids at a more personal level.

I think it is important, as Draper sates, to think positively and be enthusiastic about what you are teaching, or else the student will be just as bored with it as you are. This includes having a good sense of humor in the class room and rolling with the punches in figuring out unexpected problems. "the ability to adjust and adapt is critical".

A question i would like to place for the rest of my class is does anyone else agree with the idea that teaching is a skill that requires practice, dedication an talent, or if one can just show up and do it?
I think the first is correct, and it does take much dedication to the class to teach effectively.


I think the reading had a lot of good insight for students in my similar situation, that is, just beginning our road to education.

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Test run Blog for Ed 100 class.