I have learned that I would not enjoy being an interpreter if it meant doing the same thing every day again and again. I would not be able to teach farm craft every single day. As it is I am already getting bored with it. This week was nice being able to switch things up with the high school group on Thursday and then observing geology on Friday. I look forward to when I get to teach Autumn Adventures. The thing about farm craft is that nothing really changes from day to day. Depending on the grade and the group some of what I say may change, but for the most part it is the same script each day.
One big difference between teaching in the class and doing this are the thank yous. Most of the time as a teacher you do not get much recognition for what you do until the end of the year. This gig provides daily thank yous and recognition. It feels good.
After reading the article on effective questioning I would like to add that I was recently in a teaching situation and I did not make use of divergent questioning. I asked very basic questions and even gave away answers at time. I would like to add that Matt did a very good job at asking good questions and not simply giving the answer away. Point is that when crunched for time I buckled and gave in to the fear of students not knowing or worse not wanting to know. Bummer.
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Even though its getting old. I still find myself enthusiastic about teaching it for some reason or another.
ReplyDeleteBefore starting the program, I thought that the repetitiveness would get to me as well - especially combined with the drain from the kids. But I've been pleasantly surprised: every day is different in its own ways, and knowing the script allows me to move quick on my feet without feeling off track. I especially like seeing what special teaching moments may come from each group, and learning the nuances of teaching different ages and groups.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, I definitely understand where you're coming from, and I'm sure the repetitiveness would be getting to me a lot more right now if I didn't have this research project, work at Spring Arbor, writing grad schools, and other stuff providing a balance from day to day.
Although, I do know for sure that I would never be able to handle the station based programming (instead of guide based). Doing the same script every twenty minutes for a couple hours would drive me loco.
First Off-
ReplyDeleteTHANKS for the props!
Questioning is hardwork - exhausting really
It's different than teaching school:
Farmcraft - same stuff, different students
Classroom - different stuff, same students
The days are unique in their own ways, but still the similarities are obvious!