Hi everyone,
I enjoyed teaching my first lesson this week on the Sonnet. It was scary, exciting, humbling and enlightening. I was glad to have some great classmates to share it with! Please share your thoughts!
Kyla
Hey Kyla, Awesome job on your first lesson. By the way, I really enjoyed the topic you chose. The Shakespearean Sonnet can be a pain to learn and to teach but you tackled it very nicely. Sonnet 18 was a great sonnet to give as model because it is one of Shakespeare's most popular ones. I also think you did an amazing job teaching every aspect of the Shakespearean Sonnet (rhyme scheme and iambic pentameter). Looking back, I think it was beneficial that you really broke down the iambic pentameter and made it easy to get. For the group activity, I enjoyed how you had us decipher what the sonnet meant . However, for the individual activity it was quite difficult to create an individual sonnet on the spot while still accounting for all of the conventions. I would've spent more time on an interactive group activity. Overall, you did an amazing job with your lesson. I admire the fact that you knew the material which contributes to a more effective lesson!
You are so right Alex. I realized while you guys were working on it that I had not attempted to write a line in Iambic pentameter myself! It was way too high of an expectation for such short notice/lesson. That gives me the idea that I should try out what I am asking my students to do. Then I will know what's appropriate and also how to help! Thanks for the feedback!
I really liked your way of interacting with the class during your lesson; you have a great teacher-student rapport. I also found that the level of detail you went into while we were doing the individual assignment was really helpful. When I realized that we were going to have to make up a few lines of our own sonnet, I instantly quaked with fear; there’s something about writing poetry that makes me feel very uncomfortable. When you really broke it down, went into more detail and clapped out the iambic pentameter, it made feel more at ease with the assignment. I felt like you actively “taught” us how to do it!
Alex probably knows better about this, but I actually thought that you could have used a different sonnet for your example. Because you went into so much detail when you were breaking it down, it might have been interesting to explore something more psychologically complicated, like maybe one of the Dark Lady sonnets. Teenagers are usually accustomed to turbulent relationships, so finding a sonnet that hints at something like that might be a great discussion-starter and a way to relate the material back to their lives.
I know you mentioned that you were nervous, but you seemed very comfortable from my perspective -- nice work!
Thanks Jean! Sonnet 18 is a classic, so it get used a lot so that's a great Idea to look for something that they can get deeper with! Thanks for the feedback!
Hey Kyla! I wanted to let you know that I really liked your lesson. It was very informative and you delivered the information very well. I particularly liked how you broke down Sonnet 18 as it is a favorite of mine when I read Shakespeare. I have to say that having us write a few lines of our own sonnet really made me appreciate all the effort Shakespeare put into his work as it was incredibly difficult. You kept me interested in your lesson. The only thing that threw me off was that you and Alex did the same lesson, which wasn't your fault as you both didn't know what each other would be teaching. I think as a safety measure it would be important to know, if you have a another English major in your group, what that person is thinking of teaching so you don't overlap (not that I minded as it felt like a reinforcer). Overall you did a very good job and I felt I learned a a lot. :D - Caroline
Hey Kyla,
ReplyDeleteAwesome job on your first lesson. By the way, I really enjoyed the topic you chose. The Shakespearean Sonnet can be a pain to learn and to teach but you tackled it very nicely. Sonnet 18 was a great sonnet to give as model because it is one of Shakespeare's most popular ones. I also think you did an amazing job teaching every aspect of the Shakespearean Sonnet (rhyme scheme and iambic pentameter). Looking back, I think it was beneficial that you really broke down the iambic pentameter and made it easy to get. For the group activity, I enjoyed how you had us decipher what the sonnet meant . However, for the individual activity it was quite difficult to create an individual sonnet on the spot while still accounting for all of the conventions. I would've spent more time on an interactive group activity. Overall, you did an amazing job with your lesson. I admire the fact that you knew the material which contributes to a more effective lesson!
You are so right Alex. I realized while you guys were working on it that I had not attempted to write a line in Iambic pentameter myself! It was way too high of an expectation for such short notice/lesson. That gives me the idea that I should try out what I am asking my students to do. Then I will know what's appropriate and also how to help! Thanks for the feedback!
DeleteKyla,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your way of interacting with the class during your lesson; you have a great teacher-student rapport. I also found that the level of detail you went into while we were doing the individual assignment was really helpful. When I realized that we were going to have to make up a few lines of our own sonnet, I instantly quaked with fear; there’s something about writing poetry that makes me feel very uncomfortable. When you really broke it down, went into more detail and clapped out the iambic pentameter, it made feel more at ease with the assignment. I felt like you actively “taught” us how to do it!
Alex probably knows better about this, but I actually thought that you could have used a different sonnet for your example. Because you went into so much detail when you were breaking it down, it might have been interesting to explore something more psychologically complicated, like maybe one of the Dark Lady sonnets. Teenagers are usually accustomed to turbulent relationships, so finding a sonnet that hints at something like that might be a great discussion-starter and a way to relate the material back to their lives.
I know you mentioned that you were nervous, but you seemed very comfortable from my perspective -- nice work!
Thanks Jean! Sonnet 18 is a classic, so it get used a lot so that's a great Idea to look for something that they can get deeper with! Thanks for the feedback!
DeleteHey Kyla!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to let you know that I really liked your lesson. It was very informative and you delivered the information very well. I particularly liked how you broke down Sonnet 18 as it is a favorite of mine when I read Shakespeare. I have to say that having us write a few lines of our own sonnet really made me appreciate all the effort Shakespeare put into his work as it was incredibly difficult. You kept me interested in your lesson.
The only thing that threw me off was that you and Alex did the same lesson, which wasn't your fault as you both didn't know what each other would be teaching. I think as a safety measure it would be important to know, if you have a another English major in your group, what that person is thinking of teaching so you don't overlap (not that I minded as it felt like a reinforcer). Overall you did a very good job and I felt I learned a a lot. :D
- Caroline