Lesson One Reflection
For my first clinical lesson I taught a lesson on making inferences. To begin the lesson I asked the students if authors always tell us everything we need to know about a book or do we sometimes have to guess and “read between the lines”. I then read the book The Wednesday Surprise by Eve Bunting to the class. While reading the book I paused on specific pages to ask the students questions that I had written about what was going on in the book thus far. These questions were on blue sticky notes in the book. The students had to write their answers to the questions on pink sticky notes and then share their answers with the rest of the class. In the book the little girl is teaching her grandma to read in order to surprise her dad on his birthday. However, most people assume the grandma is teaching the little girl to read. This book is a perfect illustration of how sometimes the inferences that are made are not correct. After reading the book to the class we then discussed both why authors don’t tell us everything in a story so that we have to make inferences and why our inferences are not always correct.
Overall, I think my lesson went well. I was extremely nervous that the students weren’t going to be interested or participate in the discussion and wouldn’t actually learn anything from the lesson. The students actively participated the entire time and were quick to answer every question I asked. I even noticed some students answering my questions that do not normally talk in class at all. The students all paid attention while I was reading the book as well, which is not usually very common with this class. I think the students were just so excited that I was teaching them and not just their regular teacher that they participated more.
The only thing that did not go well with my lesson was that none of the children inferred that the grandma was teaching the little girl to read. The entire lesson was based off of illustrating to the students that our inferences that we make are not always what the author makes it seem like. However, all of the students seemed to guess that the little girl and grandma were writing a book or a poem. I even had one student guess they were going to make paper mache. I basically had to tell the students that it looked like the grandma was teaching the little girl to read instead of them making that inference themselves. Then when we got towards the end and I asked what the students thought the surprise was going to be none of them guessed that the little girl was going to read to the dad, even though that was what I had already explained that it looked like was happening. This showed me that sometimes no matter how much you plan for your lesson you cannot plan on what the students are going to think, which is a very valuable thing to know as a teacher.
The one thing that my cooperating teacher told me to work on was that when I read the book I should walk around where the students are sitting, not just stand at the front of the class. This way, all of the students can see the pictures and will remain actively engaged. I’m used to classrooms that have a reading area where all of the students are sitting directly in front of me and I’m sitting in a chair in front of them. I had never read a book to a class where I was at the front of the room and them at their desks. This is a valuable lesson for me to learn because not every classroom is set up the same and I need to make sure to keep all of my students actively engaged and give each student an equal opportunity to learn.
Overall, I think my lesson went well. I was extremely nervous that the students weren’t going to be interested or participate in the discussion and wouldn’t actually learn anything from the lesson. The students actively participated the entire time and were quick to answer every question I asked. I even noticed some students answering my questions that do not normally talk in class at all. The students all paid attention while I was reading the book as well, which is not usually very common with this class. I think the students were just so excited that I was teaching them and not just their regular teacher that they participated more.
The only thing that did not go well with my lesson was that none of the children inferred that the grandma was teaching the little girl to read. The entire lesson was based off of illustrating to the students that our inferences that we make are not always what the author makes it seem like. However, all of the students seemed to guess that the little girl and grandma were writing a book or a poem. I even had one student guess they were going to make paper mache. I basically had to tell the students that it looked like the grandma was teaching the little girl to read instead of them making that inference themselves. Then when we got towards the end and I asked what the students thought the surprise was going to be none of them guessed that the little girl was going to read to the dad, even though that was what I had already explained that it looked like was happening. This showed me that sometimes no matter how much you plan for your lesson you cannot plan on what the students are going to think, which is a very valuable thing to know as a teacher.
The one thing that my cooperating teacher told me to work on was that when I read the book I should walk around where the students are sitting, not just stand at the front of the class. This way, all of the students can see the pictures and will remain actively engaged. I’m used to classrooms that have a reading area where all of the students are sitting directly in front of me and I’m sitting in a chair in front of them. I had never read a book to a class where I was at the front of the room and them at their desks. This is a valuable lesson for me to learn because not every classroom is set up the same and I need to make sure to keep all of my students actively engaged and give each student an equal opportunity to learn.
Lesson Two Reflection
For my second lesson I taught a science lesson on electricity. The students just started learning about electricity and have been doing a lot of hands on activities in order to learn about electricity and explore with electricity. I was a little nervous because this was the first time that a lesson would be starting with a lecture because all of the other times the students had played with the “Snaptricity” kits and then once they created the intended project the teacher had explained to them what it was that they had just created and demonstrated. We had a flip chart to explain what both series and parallel circuits were and the difference between the two. After giving the definitions of the two the students took turns coming up and identifying pictures of circuits as series or parallel circuits.
This class sometimes can get a little crazy so I was worried about whether or not the students would behave during the lesson or would be running around and talking to each other like they usually do during lessons. However, I was pleasantly surprised because the students participated and listened throughout the entire lesson. I think the students were just so excited at the prospect of getting to play with the “Snaptricity” kits again that they wanted to make sure to behave so that they would get to use them.
After the flip chart the students broke up into the groups they had been in the day before to work on the kits again. I think it was a really good idea to have the students break into the same groups they had been in the day before because it saved time from the students having to try to figure out whom they are going to be working with. I told the students that once they were in their groups to come up and get a kit from me. In hindsight if I was doing this lesson again I would tell the students to get in their groups and I would bring the kits to them because way too much time was wasted with the students trying to come and get their kits. The students had so much fun using the kits and many of the groups came up with really creative ways to make their series circuits. I made the rule that the students had to use more than two pieces so that they wouldn’t just put the light bulb on the battery pack and watch it light up. I assumed most of the students would instead use two other pieces to just connect the battery and the light bulb on both sides. Instead, many of the students came up with more complex series circuits. Some of the students even created circuits that required a switch to work, which was way more than I expected.
Overall I think the lesson went really well. The one suggestion of what to do differently was to have the students turn and talk to a neighbor or partner about series and parallel circuits and the difference between the two in order to ensure that the students understood what we had just gone over. The one thing that stood out to me the most from this lesson is how much students learn when doing hands on activities. It was amazing the questions that the students would ask as well as the ideas that they would come up with. The students were coming up with things that I wouldn’t have even thought of! I now see that it’s important to have the students do some hands on activities, especially in science, because they have so much fun doing them.
This class sometimes can get a little crazy so I was worried about whether or not the students would behave during the lesson or would be running around and talking to each other like they usually do during lessons. However, I was pleasantly surprised because the students participated and listened throughout the entire lesson. I think the students were just so excited at the prospect of getting to play with the “Snaptricity” kits again that they wanted to make sure to behave so that they would get to use them.
After the flip chart the students broke up into the groups they had been in the day before to work on the kits again. I think it was a really good idea to have the students break into the same groups they had been in the day before because it saved time from the students having to try to figure out whom they are going to be working with. I told the students that once they were in their groups to come up and get a kit from me. In hindsight if I was doing this lesson again I would tell the students to get in their groups and I would bring the kits to them because way too much time was wasted with the students trying to come and get their kits. The students had so much fun using the kits and many of the groups came up with really creative ways to make their series circuits. I made the rule that the students had to use more than two pieces so that they wouldn’t just put the light bulb on the battery pack and watch it light up. I assumed most of the students would instead use two other pieces to just connect the battery and the light bulb on both sides. Instead, many of the students came up with more complex series circuits. Some of the students even created circuits that required a switch to work, which was way more than I expected.
Overall I think the lesson went really well. The one suggestion of what to do differently was to have the students turn and talk to a neighbor or partner about series and parallel circuits and the difference between the two in order to ensure that the students understood what we had just gone over. The one thing that stood out to me the most from this lesson is how much students learn when doing hands on activities. It was amazing the questions that the students would ask as well as the ideas that they would come up with. The students were coming up with things that I wouldn’t have even thought of! I now see that it’s important to have the students do some hands on activities, especially in science, because they have so much fun doing them.
Lesson Three Reflection
For my lesson the students were given a Drive-In menu to the St. Cloud Drive-In. This menu listed numerous different items that the students could choose to order from. Each student was given $35 to spend at the Drive-In. Once the students made their choices on what they wanted to order from the drive in they recorded them on the template given to them. The template listed columns asking for how much money the students started with, what items they ordered and how much each one cost, how much total money the students spent (they had to spend at least $20), how much change they will get back, how the student knows this, and where else they could use this kind of math. Each students first column should say that they started with $35. Their second columns will vary based on what they decided to order from the menu. In the third column the students have to add up how much each item they have chosen to buy and get the total amount of money they are spending. After calculating that the students must subtract their total from how much money they started with in order to find out how much change they will get back for the fourth column. The fifth column then asks them to check their work and prove how they know how much change they will be getting back. For the sixth and final column the students have to list other places that they could use this kind of math. Once the students correctly filled in their spreadsheet they got to use the computers or markers and paper to create a poster about their trip to the St. Cloud Drive-In including what they ordered and how much money they spent.
All of the students in the class met the objectives of the lesson. This activity served as a review for the students on multi-digit addition and subtraction so the students knew how to do the mathematical operations before starting the activity. Some students required help from friends or from me in making sure that their addition and subtraction were correct because when checking their work they got a different answer than they had started with. However, each student that struggled with checking their work was able to find their errors and correct their errors.
All of the students chose to make their posters on Microsoft Word and were pretty much given free range to create their poster however they want to use their creativity. Each student was given a rubric to guide their creation of the poster to ensure that they included everything they were supposed to. The students were not allowed to start working on their poster until their spreadsheet had been checked and marked as correct with all six columns filled in.
To improve the achievement of the students I would start with a whole class review of addition and subtraction with multi-digit numbers just to make sure that all of the students understood what was expected of them before starting the activity. Although the students in this class all met the objectives and understood what they were doing not all classes will be the same so it is important to make sure that all of the students understand the concepts before starting the activity.
This lesson was a review for the students so there wasn’t as much teaching as there was facilitating and helping. The students already knew the material so it was not a new concept being taught to them they were just being helped with the concept to ensure that they had mastered the material for the test. However, if I was going to teach this lesson again I would incorporate children’s literature in to the lesson before starting the activity. If I chose a children’s book that was culturally diverse that had the characters shopping somewhere or eating in a restaurant it would set up the activity as well as provide an opportunity for discussion on cultural diversity for the students.
I was always terrified of teaching math because I felt like it would be boring to teach because math classes had always been boring to me. I now see that there are so many activities and children’s literature that can be incorporated into mathematical instruction that can make it fun and exciting for the students. Many students struggle the most with math so using hands-on activities and literature gives the students an opportunity to learn the material in a different way that might interest them more. This course has helped open my eyes to the different ways that mathematical concepts can be taught and the different ways that math can be made fun, exciting, and hands-on. I am now looking forward to teaching mathematics because I have many different strategies that I can use now to engage my students and get them excited about math. Math is one of the most important subjects in elementary school because like my activity shows it is something that we use each and every day in the real world.
All of the students in the class met the objectives of the lesson. This activity served as a review for the students on multi-digit addition and subtraction so the students knew how to do the mathematical operations before starting the activity. Some students required help from friends or from me in making sure that their addition and subtraction were correct because when checking their work they got a different answer than they had started with. However, each student that struggled with checking their work was able to find their errors and correct their errors.
All of the students chose to make their posters on Microsoft Word and were pretty much given free range to create their poster however they want to use their creativity. Each student was given a rubric to guide their creation of the poster to ensure that they included everything they were supposed to. The students were not allowed to start working on their poster until their spreadsheet had been checked and marked as correct with all six columns filled in.
To improve the achievement of the students I would start with a whole class review of addition and subtraction with multi-digit numbers just to make sure that all of the students understood what was expected of them before starting the activity. Although the students in this class all met the objectives and understood what they were doing not all classes will be the same so it is important to make sure that all of the students understand the concepts before starting the activity.
This lesson was a review for the students so there wasn’t as much teaching as there was facilitating and helping. The students already knew the material so it was not a new concept being taught to them they were just being helped with the concept to ensure that they had mastered the material for the test. However, if I was going to teach this lesson again I would incorporate children’s literature in to the lesson before starting the activity. If I chose a children’s book that was culturally diverse that had the characters shopping somewhere or eating in a restaurant it would set up the activity as well as provide an opportunity for discussion on cultural diversity for the students.
I was always terrified of teaching math because I felt like it would be boring to teach because math classes had always been boring to me. I now see that there are so many activities and children’s literature that can be incorporated into mathematical instruction that can make it fun and exciting for the students. Many students struggle the most with math so using hands-on activities and literature gives the students an opportunity to learn the material in a different way that might interest them more. This course has helped open my eyes to the different ways that mathematical concepts can be taught and the different ways that math can be made fun, exciting, and hands-on. I am now looking forward to teaching mathematics because I have many different strategies that I can use now to engage my students and get them excited about math. Math is one of the most important subjects in elementary school because like my activity shows it is something that we use each and every day in the real world.