WARNING: This may be too "cool" for you!

If you were to watch my video on my teaching for our Problem Solving Approach Lab you might find me saying "cool" far too many times! I enjoyed this lab and feel much more confident about implementing this strategy into my lessons; however, this lesson brought forth some annoying habits that I personally deal with as a teacher. One of them is saying "cool." From my previous labs I noticed that I used filler words such as "um" and "like." For some reason this week the word was "cool" (I don't think this is technically considered a filler word but I take pride in making it one).

I very much dislike watching and hearing myself speak. It's like a weird deja vou moment when watching our videos and it's the realization that all this time you sound nothing like you thought you did in real life. It's kind of a disappointment. Despite the creepy feeling when watching my video, these videos have been extremely helpful in allowing me to see my strengths and my weaknesses. We have been videoed for about four weeks now and it has been super awesome being able to watch my personal improvements since week one. Although we have gained many skills these past four weeks, I am still by no means a professional. From my video I realized that I am starting to use other filler words like "cool" and that I still am talking really fast. As I gather these observations I try to improve them for my next lab.

One aspect of my teaching that I don't believe has improved much (but I am trying!) is talking to fast. For those of you who don't know me I love to talk and I can sometimes be eccentric. Most of the time this isn't a problem; however, I notice that I sometimes fly through an important part of my lesson without checking for understanding. My reviews often say "you are very motivating and engaging but slow down a bit." The "a bit" part I think is just added to the end to make the feedback not sound so harsh or to make me feel better about myself, when in reality I should be slowing down "a lot." This may sound cheesy but sometimes I get really excitement about my content or lesson and I am ready to just dive into the material that I don't even realize how fast I am talking or explaining something. Talking fast is one thing I realize still needs improvement.

On the flip side there many positive aspects that I think I have been improving on. One skill that would be hard to develop without designing a lesson plan and teaching it in front of a class is pacing. This is one skill that was hard to even understand at first; however, now putting it into practice I have been able to pay close attention to how I utilize pacing. I think it's important that we realize both the improvements and the needs improvement aspects of our labs. Both focuses help to improve our teacher effectiveness.

Overall, this lab was based on the problem solving approach and I feel much more confident about utilizing this technique in the classroom. It provided some great insight to how students develop a higher order of thinking. Often times after a lesson I worry that my students gained information but didn't see the skills they were to be gaining. This strategy allows you to directly see a skill that is being developed in students. I get really excited when I see this outcome. After watching my other peers in my class present I realized how engaging and thought provoking this strategy can be.   I can't wait to test it out and use this teaching technique during my student teaching experience in the spring.