03-23-2015

Today was a sort of integration of the things we have learned in PT 138. We spent the whole day making and ironing out our instructional design for our teaching fieldwork. This blog entry is not so much about what I learned (because that can be evaluated from the instructional design I submitted) as it is about what I have come to appreciate.

I didn’t know teaching was this hard. I have quite a lot of experience with teachers but I have only seen the implementation part of teaching. I know that teachers need a lesson plan before going to class but I didn’t realize how tedious planning for a teaching session is. There are so many things to consider in order to adequately cater to the needs of the learner. An instructional design has four parts, namely, objective, content, resources and objectives. For me, the hardest part was making the objectives. This is a crucial step because the whole instructional design and consequently the teaching-learning activity will largely depend on the objectives set. Every word in the objective must be well-thought. Even just the verb used can indicate the domain and level of learning you want the learners to achieve by the end of the session. The objectives must be clear, attainable and measurable.  I often overlook the objectives when I’m listening to discussions and when I’m studying. But now, I promised myself that I would NEVER take the objective for granted.

The activity made me appreciate the effort teachers make in order to have a successful teaching-learning experience. It made me realize the importance of planning for the teaching session. It was my first time making an instructional design, and hopefully I would get better at it.