Module 3 Journal Entry
Since I started my teaching profession back in 2006, I never ceased making lesson plans. But I have to admit that there was a point during my early years in the profession when I fell into the trap of passing a plan just to meet the requirement. I found that making a lesson plan was too time-consuming that it took the time off other duties I deemed more important to do. Years passed when I finally developed the skill of managing my activities, I already learned how valuable lesson planning can be. I even consider it now as a great factor in managing a class. If a teacher is prepared, everything falls right into place, the student’s behavior, their success in learning and even the teacher’s patience towards the students become better.
I could just imagine what happens if a teacher comes to a class with lesson plan haphazardly done, having no concrete plan at all. I could imagine the feeling of helplessness taking over, thinking right on the spot of the next activity for the kids to be busy with while waiting eagerly for the bell to ring. Only a rookie would have done so for an experienced teacher should know better. No lesson would go well if one doesn’t have a plan, may it be written on paper or memorized by heart. For a teacher not having a plan is like being a director, directing a movie without a plot, much less a script. That is how I deem lesson planning is essential in the life of a teacher.
During the preparations for the PAASCU accreditation in the school I’m teaching in, there was a debate about the best lesson plan format to use. Perhaps the accreditors would not care so much about the format. Now I realize that the important thing is for the lesson plan to have all the essential elements to take the students with you in the process of learning. I also realized why I always have painstaking experiences when making my lesson plans. It was because I always make it a point, although I lack awareness of it for a long time, to have a motivating lesson opening through creative, out-of-the-box ideas, develop activities that will let the students explore, have guided practice and various formative assessments to track learning and evaluate the teaching process. Through reflective thinking, I become aware of the part where I need to improve which is on properly closing the lesson. I usually take so much time in implementing the activities that I don’t give much priority on the lesson closure. Now I know I need to work on this to properly allocate sufficient time for each part of the lesson and plan my pacing so each part is given the right priority.
Inquiry-based learning, problem-based teaching and STS provide effective models in teaching science. As I assess my teaching practices, I learn that I usually engage in the first two approaches but never tried the last one. Perhaps it is because STS is quite challenging to prepare as well as to implement and I never experienced observing a class or even studying a lesson plan that follow the guidelines of STS. I have yet to study further on this approach before being fully ready to try it.
Although aside from these, I tried a lot of strategies to help students learn. Since I started in the lower primary levels, my main goal was for them to love science because I believe that in doing so, they will develop an intrinsic motivation to study it further. I often encounter students, not necessarily within my class, hating the subject because they find it very difficult. I could relate with those students because back in high school, I also found science, specifically chemistry and physics, very challenging. As an educator, I am of opinion that this happens when a teacher focuses so much on delivering content rather than teaching the process. This is a big problem with which teachers could not do away because of pressures of finishing the course guide, preparing for external examinations. That is why I find the principles of teaching science that I encountered in this module very helpful in guiding me in planning and designing my science lessons and to make critical and scientific thinking my goal for my students to achieve.
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