see different ways to help students think about the main goal of the lesson. In each case the
specific content area came second to the goal of getting us involved in the discussion.
What also struck me as very interesting was Alan’s use of humor. I don’t remember
classes in high school being so much fun. I also don’t remember being taught concepts like
“duality” in science or “equality” in math. Important concepts like these were usually re-
served for English classes—which may be part of the reason I chose to be an English major. I
find lessons that engage students in discussion of the big issues by presenting smaller exam-
ples for examination are the most interesting. I suspect other people do too.
The props Alan used in class (like passing melting ice around the class to illustrate the
duality of being) were very creative. “Is water a solid, a liquid or a gas?” The liveliness that
the props added to the lesson helped keep me interested in what was going on and helped
me better understand the concepts being introduced. Later when we evaluated the mini-
lessons, we compared the props to the metaphors in a poem.
Excerpt D: I thought I was prepared before I got up.
Tonight we started doing our own mini-lessons with the class. One of the math students
went first and he did very well. I was actually interested in what he was teaching. After his
lesson we discussed ways to connect math to the lives of students so it is not taught in a vac-
uum. We also spoke about the idea of multiple intelligences. Different students can look at
the same problem and think about it in different ways.
Then it was my turn. I thought I was prepared before I got up, but in retrospect, I don’t
feel I was. I had a good idea, but I didn’t get it across clearly at all. I also found myself stand-
ing behind the desk too much and not connecting with the “students.” Part of the problem
was that I was very nervous, much more than I had expected to be.
After the mini-lesson, the entire class discussed how it went. At first, I was upset with the
criticism, but very quickly I realized that I need it in order to improve. We discussed ways to
make the lesson better, and then I got a chance to do the same lesson again. I was happy
that Alan and the class didn’t feel my ego was too fragile for them to openly raise their ques-
tions and that I got to do my lesson a second time in front of the class. Next time, I will work
on laying out my plan better and will try to have everything clearer in my head.
Excerpt E: I was getting rebellious... pretending to be her student.
Tonight we worked on writing lesson plans. They are our strategies for teaching. We started
looking at a two-week long unit, broke it down into daily lessons, and then broke the lessons
down into shorter activities and questions. The idea of starting with a broad picture and
then finding smaller building blocks we can use to convey understanding to students seems
very logical and should help me to plan my lessons. I feel that better organization is one
thing that will make a big difference in my next presentation to a class.
I want to comment on some of the mini-lessons people did in class tonight. Donnie was
great. She spoke slowly and clearly and I never once had that uneasy feeling I get when I’m
not sure where a lesson is going. However, the next mini-lesson made me feel like I was in
sixth grade again. The teacher spoke clearly and made her points, but I would have been
afraid of her as a student. During the fifteen minute mini-lesson, I was getting rebellious sit-
ting in my chair pretending to be her student. I used to think I wanted to be the kind of
teacher students respected with an ounce of fear. But I am starting to see that this isn’t nec-
essarily the most effective way to teach.
GOALS 27