Clinical Lesson

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.