The countdown!

I can't believe that winter break is so soon! At this point with all of the things we have to do before then, it seems way too soon. Who would have known that it takes so much work to become a teacher? That said, I do feel like teaching has to be one of the more challenging professions. There are so aspects to being a good teacher. There is not just one right or effective way to teach, and that is one of the things that excites me about teaching. I am looking forward to seeing what kinds of lessons other teachers come up with, and whether they are ones that I can adapt for my classroom. The thing that I've been focusing on lately has been cooperative learning and encouraging student engagement. It seems like a lot of the students in my placement are wonderful students, but have a hard time staying engaged during the classes. It's very easy to blame students for getting off task, but I think this may be a way of letting the teacher know that he or she is not teaching in a way that encourages student involvement or learning. How can I get more students involved? How can I gauge student involvement? What methods are the best ones for students right now? These are all questions that I ask myself every tuesday and thursday.