Week 2 Journal
Dr. Byers,
Bloom’s Taxonomies
Now that I have learned about Bloom’s original cognitive taxonomies, it is interesting to see just how much they are used. It is funny how things like objectives can go un-noticed until we become aware of them, and now I see them everywhere. It seems like I have heard the term subjective used a lot more also. When I am looking at things, I asked myself if I am using subjective or objective thinking.
I thoroughly enjoyed this week’s assignment because it made me feel like a real teacher planning for a real class. During the thought process of putting my objectives together I thought about how I would do things in a real classroom. I imagined the students I would have and what their learning styles would be. It was actually kind of fun.
The more I practice writing objectives the more I understand the process, and the faster I become. The first time we ever wrote objectives in this program, I think I spent four hours just trying to find out what verbs I am supposed to use. I think laying it all out one piece at a time and seeing what learning styles would benefit from the activities, made me realize I was doing something right. When every learning style can benefit from an activity I feel like that is a success. It served as a check list for me to see that I was effectively accommodating all learning styles.
I am concerned with knowing how many objectives to write. Too little and I may not cover everything, and too many I risk overloading my students. How do we know where to draw the line? Some classes I have taken in college only had a few objectives, while others went on for pages. When they get to be that lengthy I do feel overwhelmed as a learner.
I know that when writing objectives we don’t have to think about every single thing we are going to teach and they are going to learn throughout an entire course. I understand we need to think about the most important things and highlight those. Of course each class will be different because of its content and subject. I was wondering if you used guidelines for this or if you just took it each class at a time?
I do like how you keep a lot of information in the syllabus consistent. I think that really helps in tying everything together. Also, once I become accustom to your style, outline, and requirements it makes it easier to focus on the assignments. After the first two classes I had the power point requirements memorized along with the rubric for peer replies, submitting posts, and emailing our instructor. It is nice to know that even though we change classes and subjects, the bones of the syllabus remain the same.
In the world of teaching, how do you manage/balance your time? Do you find it more difficult or easier? It is still unclear to me if I will go on to teach high school or college students. Either way I am concerned about how I will manage my time, and how much free time I have. For example, do you spend every night and every weekend grading papers? Do you spend all summer planning for the next round of students, or teaching summer classes? Have you ever coached any sports or organizations, and if so did you find yourself overwhelmed?
If I remember correctly from your biography you and your wife have a big family. Twelve kids right? Okay, maybe not that meaning, although some days it probably feels like twelve. You have six kids and you home school them! How on Earth do you do it? I am sure I am not the first one to ever ask you this question, but really how do you do it? God Bless your wife! I can imagine what her days are like. As you know, I am getting married next fall and we are hoping to start a family right away. As someone who has been there done that and has the t-shirt to prove it, do you have any advice?
Thank you, Sam
