As I was teaching the very first lesson in my TWS, there were several things that went differently than I had planned. First, as I was teaching, I introduced the students to the term mass, and was surprised at the responses that I got from students. When I asked what they thought it meant, several students referred to a Bill Nye movie that they had seen, and gave a very close definition of mass. I had planned on doing a discussion of these terms, but the students' responses made me realize that I needed to move it in a different direction. I still discussed the same things, but I could see that the students did not need me to spend quite so much time on this since they already knew some things about it.
Also, as I was teaching, I left out several aspects of the lesson that I had planned to include. There was supposed to have been a discussion about why we weigh, and what it means when something is light and when it is heavy. These discussions would have been helpful to the students in understanding my essential question. Also, it would have helped those who didn't understand already to discover that heavy and light relate to each other. This would have helped the English Language Learners in my class. However, I, in looking at my lesson plan, missed that portion of the lesson, and forgot to have it.
Also, when I was having the student discuss the scales that they had looked at in their groups, I realized that we were starting to run out of time, and the final portion of the lesson was one that needed to happen. I ended up rushing through this section of my lesson. I think this was okay, because the students still got the information they needed, but I would have liked to have spent a little more time on it.
Overall, I felt good about this lesson. I would have liked to spend a little more time on it, but I only had an hour. In the future, I think I might give these concepts more time. Also, I should have included the conversations that would have supported my essential question. It would have helped the students understand why we were doing what we were doing. I did end up having it later in the unit, but it should have been in this first lesson. However, I do think I was clear in sharing my purpose for the activities that the students were doing, and what they were to be thinking about as they did them. I also feel that the students gained experience with the things that I wanted them to experience. Overall, I felt that this lesson was a large improvement from the previous math lessons I had taught.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Reflections on my TWS
So I have finished teaching all of the lessons for my TWS. The only thing that is left is the post-assessment, which the students will be taking tomorrow morning. I am very relieved to be finished with it.
Overall, it went well. There were a few things that I missed during specific lessons as I was teaching. I forgot to include certain conversations that were needed. Eventually, I did go back to them and have them, but they should have been earlier. However, I believe the students have been mostly successful with all of my learning goals. According to my formative assessment data, the students have mostly been performing well.
I tested out the GLAD attention getter strategy. I really love this. The students are now able to define mass and weight, and it was a convenient way for my to get their attention. I have tried several different attention getters this quarter, and so far, this is the one that works best for me. I feel like we are accomplishing something while I am getting their attention, and the kids are engaged in it. Also, it ensures that all students have their hands free and have a few seconds to really give me their full attention. I really love this strategy, and will continue to use it in my classroom.
Also, after talking with Carole and Joanne about the things that I am forgetting to touch on in my lesson plans, it was decided that I should start making a checklist/outline of things to cover that I had written about. The "big ideas" of the plan. I hadn't started this until my last lesson, but it was incredibly helpful to me. As I was teaching my lesson, I was just able to look at the list, and see if I had forgotten anything, and then, if I had, I could go back and talk about it. It was much more helpful to me than trying to read through my seven page lesson plan, and try to figure out where I was and what I might have missed. Lesson plans are great, but, like with our phone calls home, students don't always respond in the way that we think they will, so having it scripted out is helpful in planning, but confuses me as I am trying to teach. Having an ouline is much easier for me to follow. I will continue to distill my plans into an outline, since it is so helpful to me. (On a side note, I do think the Literacy format that we have learned, with the Who, what, when, where, why, I do, we do, you do elements, helps me to focus on what is important a little more.)
One issue that has kind of been a challenge still is timing. It always seems to take me longer to teach than I want it to, and it takes the students longer to do the activities that I plan for. I think that I need to become more concise with what I want to cover, and also, I think that getting to know how quickly kids learn things will help me with this.
There are still some minor things that I need to work on at times. I feel that I really need to stop side talk as soon as it starts happening. I am much better at this than I used to be, but I need to keep working on it. Sometimes, I feel like it would be a bigger distraction to address it than the chatter is, but it doesn't take long for that to escalate, and I don't want the class to be out of control.
One issue that came up that gave me some food for thought was, how do I get assessment data using interviews and anecdotal notes while students are working with others? With one group in particular, I chose a student for my sample, and each time I would ask her a question, another student in her group would blurt out the answer. It is great that he knows that, but how can I help him to support his group without just telling them what they need to know?
Also, how can I be more efficient with my conferring, so I provide help to all of the students who need it, rather than just a few?
Overall, it went well. There were a few things that I missed during specific lessons as I was teaching. I forgot to include certain conversations that were needed. Eventually, I did go back to them and have them, but they should have been earlier. However, I believe the students have been mostly successful with all of my learning goals. According to my formative assessment data, the students have mostly been performing well.
I tested out the GLAD attention getter strategy. I really love this. The students are now able to define mass and weight, and it was a convenient way for my to get their attention. I have tried several different attention getters this quarter, and so far, this is the one that works best for me. I feel like we are accomplishing something while I am getting their attention, and the kids are engaged in it. Also, it ensures that all students have their hands free and have a few seconds to really give me their full attention. I really love this strategy, and will continue to use it in my classroom.
Also, after talking with Carole and Joanne about the things that I am forgetting to touch on in my lesson plans, it was decided that I should start making a checklist/outline of things to cover that I had written about. The "big ideas" of the plan. I hadn't started this until my last lesson, but it was incredibly helpful to me. As I was teaching my lesson, I was just able to look at the list, and see if I had forgotten anything, and then, if I had, I could go back and talk about it. It was much more helpful to me than trying to read through my seven page lesson plan, and try to figure out where I was and what I might have missed. Lesson plans are great, but, like with our phone calls home, students don't always respond in the way that we think they will, so having it scripted out is helpful in planning, but confuses me as I am trying to teach. Having an ouline is much easier for me to follow. I will continue to distill my plans into an outline, since it is so helpful to me. (On a side note, I do think the Literacy format that we have learned, with the Who, what, when, where, why, I do, we do, you do elements, helps me to focus on what is important a little more.)
One issue that has kind of been a challenge still is timing. It always seems to take me longer to teach than I want it to, and it takes the students longer to do the activities that I plan for. I think that I need to become more concise with what I want to cover, and also, I think that getting to know how quickly kids learn things will help me with this.
There are still some minor things that I need to work on at times. I feel that I really need to stop side talk as soon as it starts happening. I am much better at this than I used to be, but I need to keep working on it. Sometimes, I feel like it would be a bigger distraction to address it than the chatter is, but it doesn't take long for that to escalate, and I don't want the class to be out of control.
One issue that came up that gave me some food for thought was, how do I get assessment data using interviews and anecdotal notes while students are working with others? With one group in particular, I chose a student for my sample, and each time I would ask her a question, another student in her group would blurt out the answer. It is great that he knows that, but how can I help him to support his group without just telling them what they need to know?
Also, how can I be more efficient with my conferring, so I provide help to all of the students who need it, rather than just a few?
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