Failure to Learn

My first teaching experience in classroom was very challenging and rewarding, I have dealt
with issues that were hard to foresee from my formal training. I spent a lot of time preparing
each lesson plan. I worked hard to research different ways to present the information for
each lesson. I looked for activities that my students would enjoy, and I made sure that I had
all of the materials and other things that I needed before class started. Even then, there
were always things that would go wrong. I learned that every classroom has their own
characteristics, so we cannot make one lesson plan for all classes, there have to be
different when it comes to students approach.

I have found myself so nervous about screwing something up. I expected to always plan the
perfect lesson, explain everything perfectly, and have everything go smoothly and as
planned. Finding a teaching mentor is always a good idea. As I talked to other teachers
about lessons that I was working on, they had plenty of suggestions for activities that I could
use. I loved getting ideas for tried and true activities for my students, but I also enjoyed the
tips and ideas that they could provide to help me grow as a teacher.

Instead of using an effective teaching method to teach, I used to transfer the lesson using a
conventional way, where students got easy to feel bored and easy to lose their attention.
Now, I understand that attracting students to be attention is a must, even more attract them
to think. What I found was that student teaching was the perfect time to think outside of the
box and try different things. This is my responsibility to teach them about how to think, by
giving them simple routine (MYST Routine) such as See, Wonder, and Think. I considered
that there are key principles that I need to know – Connect, Extend, and Challenge.
Which is described various techniques and routines. The routine not only refers to one of
several ways of how to think about thinking, but also helps students make connections
between new ideas and prior knowledge. From this, students, undoubtedly, could build their
thinking capacity and me also as a teacher.

I have learned the importance of giving feedback to students. I have never to think that
feedback is essential for student`s performance. I used to grading students based on their
performance only. I never think that some students have different style to learn or to accept
about what they have learned in classroom. This becomes homework for teachers to think
and implement for future teaching. Moreover, I have learned that opening up to approaches
and styles that I am not particularly used to is beneficial to help me learn more ways that I
can help my students and to also learn more about what I like and dislike as a teacher.

What I learned from the lectures, I realized that students engaged in education activities
because they want to change, they want to grow academically and behaviorally. So, my job
as a teacher should provide the best education as possible for them, by creating good
learning activities not only in the classroom, but also outside classroom. I might be failed at
the beginning of my teaching, or I might be felt down. That is normal, what I do I have to
wake up, try it again. Failing sometimes is better way to learn.
Taking consideration into account, Student teaching was a great experience. It had its ups
and downs, but I became a better teacher by working to make the most of my experience
and looking for opportunities to learn. My expectation for my future teaching is that I have to
be more prepared and ready toward the challenge that I would probably face. To anticipate,
I must learn student behavior and their capabilities. Besides, the most important is in the
learning process, where how could I attract student attention, so I could engage them how
to think skillfully, creative, and independent. Furthermore, in making lesson plan I have to
consider toward the learning method and technique that I want to apply in the classroom,
thus the learning process could not only run effectively but also could achieve the lesson
goals.