Michael Farina is veteran GWTeach student. He is currently taking GTCH 3103: Project-Based Learning, in which GWTeach students teach a content unit throughout the month of November in actual DCPS high schools. For his unit, Michael will be teaching 9th grade Biology at the School Without Walls High School (SWW). He plans to teach the topic of biological molecules by prompting his students to research and develop evidence-based nutrition recommendations, which are to be displayed in the GWU Milken School of Public Health.
However, Michael has not always felt this ready to teach. By taking prerequisite GWTeach courses, Michael has been preparing to teach a content unit since his freshman year.
“I was interested in education and learned about GWTeach before coming to GWU,” Michael recalls. “I saw that GWTeach offered classes that allowed me to teach in a real classroom, so I signed up for Step 1 in my first semester and have been with the program ever since.”
Though this is Michael’s first time teaching a whole unit plan, it is not his first-time teaching in a virtual setting. Last semester, Michael made the transition to distance learning while taking GTCH 3102: Classroom Interactions.
“At first it was overwhelming to think of how to implement engaging lessons over a virtual platform, especially when many schools initially asked that we deliver instruction asynchronously,” states Michael. “It definitely was more difficult to gauge my students’ understanding of the content material, or even just to know how they were doing.”
As many schools have adopted distance learning, Michael has become much more familiar with the dynamics of a virtual classroom. He hopes to use his own experiences as a GWU student engaging in virtual learning to his advantage when teaching students at the School Without Walls High School.
“Now that I am more familiar with virtual classrooms through experiencing them myself, I am much more confident,” said Michael. “Teaching virtually has helped me learn about more collaborative online resources that we all can use going forward to highlight in person instruction after the pandemic. I also think it has required students to be more organized and self-directed in order to succeed, which are necessary skills for them to learn for college and professional life.”
Despite not being able to see his students face to face, Michael still works to ensure he connects with each and every one of his students. This semester, Michael’s goal for his virtual classroom is to help students connect with each other as well.
“My favorite moment teaching online so far has been creating an engaging lesson for students on transcription and translation, at the beginning of the pandemic when students were still adjusting to life in quarantine. Students seemed to value, as much as they could, the activities that I had planned for them and appreciated my feedback,” Michael states. “They really enjoyed hearing from me while socially distanced. I look forward to connecting with students online this semester, and I hope the Project-Based Learning model will encourage them to get to know each other as well!”
Interested in GWTeach courses? Check out which GWTeach courses are being offered in Spring 2021!
- GTCH 1001 – Step 1: Inquiry Approaches to Teaching
- W 8:00AM - 9:15AM | 18024
- W 11:10AM – 12:25 PM | 18025
- GTCH 1002 – Step 2: Inquiry-Based Lesson Design
- T 8:00AM – 9:15AM | 18026
- GTCH 1003 – Step 1 & Step 2 Hybrid
- TR 9:35AM – 10:50AM | 18027
- Fulfills Oral Communication GPAC requirement
- TR 9:35AM – 10:50AM | 18027
- GTCH 3101 – Knowing and Learning
- MW 3:45PM – 5:00PM | 17442
- Fulfills Oral Communication GPAC requirement
- MW 3:45PM – 5:00PM | 17442
- GTCH 3102 – Classroom Interactions
- W 12:45PM – 3:15PM | 14038
- GTCH 3201W – Perspectives on Math and Science
- W 7:10PM – 9:40PM | 17443
- Fulfills WID requirement
- W 7:10PM – 9:40PM | 17443
- GTCH 4000 – Apprentice Teaching
- W 3:30PM – 6:00PM | 18028