 |
| Screenshot of Smart Board Slide |
On November 12, 2014, I taught a science
lesson at my clinical site. Since it was the first lesson of the new unit, I
did a vocabulary lesson. I started the lesson with a Brain Pop video that
explained the food chain and then proceeded to pull up a Smart Board activity
slide. On the slide was six pictures covering up vocabulary words. As a class,
we recalled the vocabulary words from the chapter and the students brainstormed
which picture belonged to which word. After the words were revealed, we came up
with our own definitions for the vocabulary words. After all vocabulary words
were defined, I did a brief overview and reminded them that they would be
learning more about each of the words in the days to come.
This
lesson was one of the most difficult lessons I have taught thus far. As
mentioned in a previous blog post, I was not very interested in science
throughout my elementary, junior, and high school years. Although I tried to
not let my feelings towards science impact my teaching, I feel that it might
have. Although I may not have exhibited the excitement that would have been
ideal for the students, I think that a strength of my lesson was level of
engagement of the students. The students enjoyed the Brain Pop video and seemed
to enjoy the “guessing game” aspect of the Smart activity. The students
demonstrated this in a not so great way. Some of them had trouble with calling
out and talking over their classmates during the activity. Although these are
not behaviors that are acceptable, they did show me that the students were excited
to participate and were engaged.
Another
strength that my lesson had was that it gave students the opportunity to
explore the concepts outside of the textbook. Too often the students are
learning about science only through the pages in their textbook and aren’t able
to actively apply what they read. The activity that I developed used the
knowledge that they had read about and encouraged them to think deeper about
it. By creating their own definitions, they have to really understand the
concepts. There were a few words that we needed to talk through before they
could define it, but in the end they were able to develop a definition—which shows
me that they were conceptualizing. I was able to use this, as well as the
participation in the discussion to gauge their knowledge throughout the lesson
and adapt it accordingly.
As
my lesson unfolded I realized that my thoughts on what the students would and
would not know was not accurate. Concepts that I thought they would know and
understand they didn’t and concepts that I thought they would not know or
understand they did. Unfortunately, I did not have all of the content knowledge
to answer some of the questions that they proposed to me. I was fully prepared
to teach about the vocabulary words; however, I was not prepared for in depth
examination of them. This was a major area of weakness within the lesson. Not
only was I not able to answer some questions, but I also wasn’t sure how to
handle the situation. After talking with my CT, I realized that it is ok to
admit when you don’t know something, but to also introduce methods to find out
the answers. I missed a great opportunity to explore our resources in the
classroom because I was not sure how to address the fact that I didn’t know how
to answer student questions. If I could improve this area, I would take the
chance to show students (a) that everybody is a learner, even teachers and (b)
that there are many different resources we can use to find out information. Although
doing this would alter the lesson, it would show flexibility and cater to the
students, as opposed to focusing on finishing the lesson the way it was
planned.
Another
area of weakness during my lesson was the classroom management. Students were
not respecting their fellow classmates or myself. By calling out and
continuously talking over others, it shows that they don’t care about what
others have to say. My method for combating these behaviors during the lesson
was to ignore the student(s) who continued to talk without being called on. As
a result, the student began to talk louder. My intention was for the student to
realize that I would not address them until they responded to my prompts in the
correct manner (by raising their hand and waiting to be called on). I also had
a small number of students who were distracted by other items nearby. To grasp
their attention I would call on them when asking a question or incorporate
their name into a statement like “Mackenzie, our class definition of consumers
sounds really great!”. This strategy seemed to work in the moment, but I don’t’
think it really helped those students understand the material. Although my
management didn’t work out the best of ways, I did learn that it is fine to
stop a lesson to regain control. Unfortunately, it was after my lesson that I
had this realization. During my lesson I continued to try to manage the
classroom, but it was definitely a struggle. I think that some students got out
of control, but the majority demonstrated self-control and appropriate
behavior.
If
I were to teach this lesson all over again, I would focus more on learning
about the different concepts ahead of time so that I could answer the questions
that students have. I would also have a backup plan in case the students’ behavior
is out of control. Overall, I believe that my activities within the lesson were
well-developed and engaging. They interested students and got them to apply
their knowledge and think deeper about the content. If I had more time for the
science lesson, I would have tried to incorporate another activity for them to
do in small groups. This would have given me an opportunity to hone in on each
student’s current knowledge and assist on a more individual level.
Exceeds: I included screenshots in my lesson plan, saved the Smart Board activity for my CT to use in the future if she desires, and I wrote over the required word count.
