Introduction to Lesson Planning

Lesson Planning is an important part of creating an organized and positive learning environment, I will use the following 5 components of lesson planning to increase the efficiency of my instruction in the future.

 Creating a Positive Classroom Climate or Learning Environment

I enjoy using humour as a teaching tool in the classroom, when my students are laughing at something funny I say or do they are using their imagination and it breaks the monotony of a boring lecture. Humber, the Centre for Teaching and learning is a great resource website for finding tips on creating a positive learning environment using laughter. The site provides tips on what to do and not do when attempting to use humour to enhance classroom learning.

http://www.humber.ca/centreforteachingandlearning/instructional-strategies/teaching-methods/course-development-tools/creating-a-positive-learning-environment.html

Considering Motivation and Motivational Techniques

Teachthought.com has produced an article on ways to improve student motivation. I selected this resource because it provides me with 21 different ways on how I as an educator can encourage student motivation. Until I stumbled on this article I never realized that I as an educator have a very big role in creating a classroom environment where my students feel motivated to learn. While in class I can use some of these methods to encourage my students and keep them interested in their chosen course.

http://www.teachthought.com/teaching/21-simple-ideas-to-improve-student-motivatio/

Selecting Instructional Processes & Strategies

Implementing and selecting instructional processes and strategies requires a great deal of planning and resources. A Video by Olsen (2013), mentions what kind of skills an instructor must hone in order to accommodate students with various learning styles and abilities. This video focuses on the importance of preparation and various teaching skills (ie. Providing effective feedback, behaviour management skills, etc.) to ensure a positive learning environment. This is a great video to refer to for an instructor of a classroom of low motivated and struggling students.

“Preparing Teachers to Implement Effective Instructional Strategies”  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUdb7w8Ao_4

Media and Learning Aids

I chose the article “Wired for teaching” by Rogers (2013), as a resource because it discusses the benefits and hinderences of using social media (blog, facebook, wikis) in the classroom. Social media is widely used as a teaching aid in the present (this course!) and will no doubt be used in the future. I as an educator need to be well aware of the possible risks and negative aspects (ie. Loss of privacy) as well as benefits (creating better learning environment) to using social media in the classrooms.

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/21/more-professors-using-social-media-teaching-tools

Lesson Planning Approaches, Tips, Techniques and Tools

As a clinical instructor who is not based in the classroom I find making lesson plans to be a painstaking process. The “New teachers guide to creating lesson plans” by Murray (2002) is a great resource article which provides tips on how to make an interesting and useful daily lesson plan. This resource will come in handy when I will be doing classroom based teaching.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/new-teachers-guide-creating-lesson-plans

Trends and Roles

ARTICLE

http://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/cjsae/article/view/969/959
Adamuti-trache, M., & Sweet, R. (n.d.). Articles ADULT IMMIGRANTSʼ ’ PARTICIPATION IN CANADIAN EDUCATION AND TRAINING 1. Retrieved from http://journals.msvu.ca/index.php/cjsae/article/view/969/959

ARTICLE

English as a second language
Olson, M. (2012). ENGLISH-AS-A-SECOND LANGUAGE (ESL) NURSING STUDENT SUCCESS: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE. Journal Of Cultural Diversity, 19(1), 26-32., 19(1). Retrieved from http://cclsw2.vcc.ca:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=74246807&site=ehost-live

NEW INSIGHTS:
What new insights have you gained in terms of the variety of roles that adult educators play?
The two articles that were chosen for this assignment have one important thing in common, both of them focus on difficulties that new immigrants face while attempting to get an education in Canada or any other foreign country.
These difficulties may include factors such as:

• -The lack of knowledge of the language
• -The lack of time to go to school as financial constraints are usually great after moving to a new country (need to focus on working so that the family can have food on the table)
• -Poor educational background (Illiteracy, low grade level literacy).
• -Cultural factors (Woman is to stay at home raising children).

 Understanding these important factors that new immigrants face is KEY for adult educators.Flexibility is another important quality an adult educator should foster. ‘Immigrant adult learners’ differ in some ways from the established profile of the ‘Canadian adult Learner’. Factors such as previous educational background, financial resources, and language proficiency should all be considered when teaching Immigrant adult learners ( Adamuti-trache & Sweet, 2010).

TRENDS:
What are some of the Trends in your field? How are you preparing to address these trends?
I have chosen this topic for discussion because I am myself an Immigrant and had seen my parents struggle through taking ESL courses while looking for work and eventually going back school to acquire skills for a new career.
In my work as a Clinical Instructor in the Continuing Care department at Vancouver Community College, I am faced with Immigrant adult learners on a very frequent basis. In fact, most of my students are immigrants from all over the world. These students come from very different educational and financial backgrounds and their English language proficiency varies.                                                                                                                                 Knowing this, I , as an educator need to be very flexible and understanding of circumstances, yet cautious enough to make sure that my students understand what I am instructing and are safe during practice. This can be very challenging. On many occasions I have dealt with students who nod to everything I say in the beginning and then later on in the day I would learn that this person has a very hard time understanding my instructions because of their lack of knowledge of the English language.                                                              At times I don’t feel like an instructor, rather I am an investigator, trying to understand what level each learner is at. Even though this concept of an ‘investigator’ seems comic at first, it is, in my opinion, a perfect word to describe an adult educator. All Educators do some sort of research and investigating to determine what sort of help each student will need to achieve their goal. When working with Immigrant adult learners, an adult educator needs to gather lots of data about the learners, starting with how well do the learners understand the language and what sort of education (if any) they had in the past.

WEB CONFERENCE:                                                                                                  Reflect on the Web-Conference experience. How was it? What was one thing that you learned?                                                                                                                                                The web conference experience was interesting.My first web partner ended up disappearing on me, and after a few weeks of emailing this person and not hearing back from them I got a bit anxious and asked for a new partner. I knew that everything will be OK in the end but it was a bit concerning knowing that your grade may be depending on an unreliable person.                                                                                                            My new web partner was great and accountable and in a similar profession as myself. we had a few interesting chats during our sessions. Web Conferences provide for some really good networking with people that you would not have had the opportunity to talk to otherwise.                                                                                                                          What I had learned from doing the web conferences, is that, wait for it……                                              I am an adult educator who is also an adult learner trying to connect                                with another adult educator who is also an adult learner.                              The web conference is a good option for ‘adult educators’ who are working full time to connect on their own time. It is also good for ‘Adult learners’ to connect and discuss any questions they may have about the assignments and share their ideas with each other while allowing for flexibility.

 

 

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