Capture/Reflection 9 - 11/9/2010

I reflection of class this last week, or actually moreso of today, I got thinking a bit about colaboration and cooperation. Now our group of eight seemed to have a hard time with such a thing. We began on the right track with brainstorming out ideas of things we can teach and things we would like to teach. That was easy because we had a lot of options, but when it came to finally decideing between our gathered thoughts and ideas it was a little more difficult. We had a difficult time deciding at first on the dates of history we wanted to cover, then our objective, then who does what... Either way it was a learning experience. The reason I am reflecting on such an experience is because to me it was another example of how we are all so differet, not only in our interests, but also in our teaching styles. Some of us wanted to really hone in on activities and hands on learning styles while others were so worried about state core testing that I believe they were losing sight of how we ought to really try and teach. I mention such an example not because it's not important that we focus preparing our students for such tests, but because we ought not to let such tests tell us how we need to teach. Also, another thought I had was on the colaboration and cooperation that district or state commitees must have in order to develope curriculums. What kind of disputes do they hae on what's important and not important? How do they come to an agreement and understanding with eachother? This was and will always be a lesson to learn as I become a teacher because each district and every state may vary.