I learned a lot through my teaching placement over the course of the semester, and, looking back, I may have learned more from the problems that inevitably popped up that from the lessons that went smoothly. I think the biggest lesson was about the way I relate to my students. As much as I'd like to be, I am not their friend. I have to learn to distance myself in order to maintain a professional role while still letting them know that I care about them and will be there for them. That has been a challenging lesson for me to learn, especially coming from a background where I have done A LOT of babysitting. As a babysitter, your job is to keep the kids safe and let them have a good time, and I think, without realizing it, I carried that perspective with me into my teaching placement. I started off measuring success by how interested the kids seemed or how much they were enjoying the lesson. I still think those things are important-- if kids are interested and engaged, they are more likely to pay attention and more likely to want to learn more. However, not every lesson can be or will be an activity that leaves students begging for more. I learned that success is measured by how well the students learning met my objectives for that lesson. Even though we talked about this in class, it took actually putting it all into practice for the understanding to sink in.
Another big thing I learned was the time that goes into many good lessons. It takes much more effort that I ever realized to sift through the information and make lessons that are interesting but not overwhelming for students, and to come up with activities that effectively reinforce the KUDs and formative assessments that reflect student learning. I also saw that new twists on old activities can make even the typically pointless activities I did as a kid into useful tools to reinforce learning.
A third big thing I observed was the way that time limits and curriculum influence teaching. While I see the benefits of standardized testing in creating a standard for all schools so that students ideally enter each grade with similar knowledge and understanding and can move forward together, the time limits and important facts that our students had to know became a driving force behind our curriculum, and sometimes drove other things out. In coming up with ideas for my lessons, I encountered a number of really great activities I would have loved to do, but based on our schedule and time restrictions, the activities were impractical-- they involved having students spend time studying and creating projects related to explorers, which just wasn't feasible. And I encountered similar issues related to the SOL content. Even when I found what appeared to be great resources, I found myself scouring them to make sure they covered the desired content, because I knew we didn't have time to stray too far from the SOLs. While I hope that in my own classroom, the pace will not be so frenetic (our teacher told us they usually spend at least 2-3 weeks on the content we taught in 5 lessons), I know that these aspects of teaching will continue to play a role in my life as a teacher.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
OUR FINAL LESSON!!!!!
This was the last of the 5 lessons we taught this semester, and we used it as a review of all four explorers before the summative assessment we had planned. M and I planned the basics of the lesson together, and then we split it up and each did the preparation for one of the parts. We planned to start off with a detective activity to tie into the rest of the unit. We decided to have four different boxes (one for each explorer), and to place them at each of the four table groups. Each box would be filled with clues about one explorer, and based on the clues (which came from the lessons we had taught), the students had to decide within their table groups which explorer the box belonged to and explain how they knew. I went to Michael's and bought some things (like fake flowers to represent Florida), printed related pictures offline, borrowed things like spices and silk scarves from my apartment, and created what appeared to be very old letters and documents using tea bags to make printer paper look yellow and a lighter to burn the edges. I was really excited about the activity, and it went really well. M and I walked around to the tables as the kids examined the contents of the boxes and helped them to think about why certain objects or pictures might be included, and we encouraged them to listen to each other's ideas. After each table finished one box, we moved the boxes and let them examine another until all of the groups had examined all four boxes. After that I reviewed the contents of the boxes with the class and asked the students to explain the various objects. Once we had gone through the boxes together, M introduced the Jeopardy review game she had created, and the students worked in teams with the others at their table-groups to answer the questions about the explorers and earn points. It went well overall, but because there were 5 categories and only 4 groups, and the questions went around in a circle, one group had an unfair advantage and the other groups complained. M's explanation that points aren't important quieted them down some, although they weren't entirely satisfied. However, they quickly forgot their annoyance when we handed out cupcakes as a goodbye treat. This was my favorite lesson that we taught. It showed that despite the rough patches of learning to teach, the students really did remember the things we had taught them, and it was fun for us as well as for the students. I am definitely storing this one away for the future!! :)
Christopher Newport Lesson......
When we came to class to do our science lesson last semester, the students were always REALLY excited to see us. They couldn't wait to see what we were going to teach them, which was really fun. I liked being the cool teacher that the students couldn't wait to see. This semester has been somewhat different. We weren't getting groans or anything, but with each explorer lesson, the students seemed less excited about us being there. With this lesson I wanted to fix that, so I put a lot of effort into making it interesting and fun, as well as educational for the students.
There is surprisingly little information about Christopher Newport himself. Most of the information seems to focus more on Jamestown than on Newport. So I tried to blend the two together in my lesson, which was probably a good thing anyway since probably the most important thing to know about Newport is that he founded Jamestown and that it was the first permanent English settlement. The kids had demonstrated on the preassessment that they knew very little about Christopher Newport, and since we only had an hour to teach about him, I settled on another direct instruction lesson. This time, though, I wanted to get the kids more involved, so I decided to have them imagine they were on the ship with Christopher Newport on his journey to found the new colony. They didn't seem to be getting into it at all, so when I passed out the "sea-biscuits"-- examples of the food sailors really ate (which are just flour and water baked for an hour), I totally lost them. The sea biscuits didn't taste good, which was the point of having the kids taste them and imagine eating that for four months, but instead of cementing an understanding of the life of a colonist travelling to america, I ended up with kids running to the trashcan to spit them out, asking if they coudl go get water to rinse out their mouths, one little girl who took a tiny nibble complaining about her stomach hurting, and one kid in the back continually asking for more. It was chaos. M said kids at one tablegroup were throwing them at eachother. This was definitely not a good start, and when we moved on to the online Jamestown simulation I had planned, things got worse. The kids could not settle down, and I kept tryign to yell over them to be quiet and raise their hands, but they ignored me. Instead of getting the idea I had hoped they would understand from the simulation, they focused on building the biggest fort and killing all the native americans. It was a disaster. As soon as I finished teaching and their teacher took charge, she lectured them for being so rude and had them sit silently until they had to leave for specials.
When I talked to her about it, she said that she has the same problem with this particular group of kids-- that they get overly excited with anything fun or different and that she has to be really strict with them. I definitely failed in that area. I realized later that I was kind of in babysitter mode, which is a much different kind of relationship. I wanted to be the nice one, so I tried to gain control without being strict or punishing them. But instead of listening, they walked all over me. That is definitely going to be a challenge for me, because it is not my natural inclination. I also felt better that at least the lesson itself wasn't a total bomb, it was more about my classroom management skills. Hopefully the next time I end up teaching a lesson on Newport or Jamestown, I will be much more capable of managing behavior since I've had this experience.
There is surprisingly little information about Christopher Newport himself. Most of the information seems to focus more on Jamestown than on Newport. So I tried to blend the two together in my lesson, which was probably a good thing anyway since probably the most important thing to know about Newport is that he founded Jamestown and that it was the first permanent English settlement. The kids had demonstrated on the preassessment that they knew very little about Christopher Newport, and since we only had an hour to teach about him, I settled on another direct instruction lesson. This time, though, I wanted to get the kids more involved, so I decided to have them imagine they were on the ship with Christopher Newport on his journey to found the new colony. They didn't seem to be getting into it at all, so when I passed out the "sea-biscuits"-- examples of the food sailors really ate (which are just flour and water baked for an hour), I totally lost them. The sea biscuits didn't taste good, which was the point of having the kids taste them and imagine eating that for four months, but instead of cementing an understanding of the life of a colonist travelling to america, I ended up with kids running to the trashcan to spit them out, asking if they coudl go get water to rinse out their mouths, one little girl who took a tiny nibble complaining about her stomach hurting, and one kid in the back continually asking for more. It was chaos. M said kids at one tablegroup were throwing them at eachother. This was definitely not a good start, and when we moved on to the online Jamestown simulation I had planned, things got worse. The kids could not settle down, and I kept tryign to yell over them to be quiet and raise their hands, but they ignored me. Instead of getting the idea I had hoped they would understand from the simulation, they focused on building the biggest fort and killing all the native americans. It was a disaster. As soon as I finished teaching and their teacher took charge, she lectured them for being so rude and had them sit silently until they had to leave for specials.
When I talked to her about it, she said that she has the same problem with this particular group of kids-- that they get overly excited with anything fun or different and that she has to be really strict with them. I definitely failed in that area. I realized later that I was kind of in babysitter mode, which is a much different kind of relationship. I wanted to be the nice one, so I tried to gain control without being strict or punishing them. But instead of listening, they walked all over me. That is definitely going to be a challenge for me, because it is not my natural inclination. I also felt better that at least the lesson itself wasn't a total bomb, it was more about my classroom management skills. Hopefully the next time I end up teaching a lesson on Newport or Jamestown, I will be much more capable of managing behavior since I've had this experience.
Jacques Cartier Lesson
Today was M's turn to teach again. She spent a lot of time trying to come up with good Jacques Cartier ideas/lessons, but she was really struggling, so she ended up adopting an idea we had thought about using for our final review lesson, and then we shifted our review lesson slightly.
M used the direct instruction model again, and, as an observer, I thought the kids looked really fidgety without the detective books to keep them attentive. However, our cooperating teacher said that is typical for them and that they really were paying attention. I guess it is unfair to expect third graders to sit completely still durgin a lesson. Maybe fidgetyness is something I need to get used to.
After she taught the lesson and traced Cartier's journey and the class helped locate where the Cartier icon should go on our timeline, the class completed a wordsearch about important terms related to Cartier. Maybe you are like me and your first impression when you hear "wordsearch" is to think "busywork," but M did a good job tying it to the lesson. The kids searched for the words, and then they discussed why those words were significant based on the things they had learned about Cartier. I had never seen a wordsearch used productively until this lesson. After they finished going over the wordsearch, M had them each write letters home (the part she adapted from our review lesson), pretending to be Jacques Cartier during one of his expeditions. While there were a few kids who didn't seem to get it (they would write things like "Dear__________, I miss you. It's cold in canada..."), some of the letters were really great and showed that the kids had been paying attention and could apply what they had learned to understand how Cartier might have felt.
The class had to leave early again (only slightly early this time), so M didn't get a chance to go over the explorer detective books with the class and had to leave the information with the cooperating teacher so she could go over it with them later. Even I learned some interesting facts from this lesson-- did you know the Iroquians taught Cartier how to cure scurvy using tree bark?
M used the direct instruction model again, and, as an observer, I thought the kids looked really fidgety without the detective books to keep them attentive. However, our cooperating teacher said that is typical for them and that they really were paying attention. I guess it is unfair to expect third graders to sit completely still durgin a lesson. Maybe fidgetyness is something I need to get used to.
After she taught the lesson and traced Cartier's journey and the class helped locate where the Cartier icon should go on our timeline, the class completed a wordsearch about important terms related to Cartier. Maybe you are like me and your first impression when you hear "wordsearch" is to think "busywork," but M did a good job tying it to the lesson. The kids searched for the words, and then they discussed why those words were significant based on the things they had learned about Cartier. I had never seen a wordsearch used productively until this lesson. After they finished going over the wordsearch, M had them each write letters home (the part she adapted from our review lesson), pretending to be Jacques Cartier during one of his expeditions. While there were a few kids who didn't seem to get it (they would write things like "Dear__________, I miss you. It's cold in canada..."), some of the letters were really great and showed that the kids had been paying attention and could apply what they had learned to understand how Cartier might have felt.
The class had to leave early again (only slightly early this time), so M didn't get a chance to go over the explorer detective books with the class and had to leave the information with the cooperating teacher so she could go over it with them later. Even I learned some interesting facts from this lesson-- did you know the Iroquians taught Cartier how to cure scurvy using tree bark?
Juan Ponce de Leon Lesson
This was my first lesson to teach for our unit. I think I must have spent a completely inordinate amount of time on it, considering. I really wanted it to be fun and engaging for the kids. There was a decent amount of info on Ponce de Leon online, but not a ton of good lesson plan ideas that were doable in one day. I found a really good poem that shared some of the important facts about his life in a fun way, and I found a "scavenger hunt" activity that had to be seriously modified, so that by the tiem I was done with it, it was more of a matching activity, and it had completely different facts included (the original definitely didn't reinforce the lesson I was teaching). I guess I basically took the idea and made my own version of it. But by the time I finally finished with it, it must have been 3 in the morning.
We got to school and M and I made copies of all our materials. And then I got ready to teach. I was really nervous. I thought it would start to get better with time, but so far it definitely hasn't. I chose to make my lesson direct instruction. That format seemed to definitely fit the best considering the time frame we had and the fact that the students were totally unfamiliar with the content. So, I quickly reviewed the Christopher Columbus info (kids had gotten slightly confused about the fact that although he was Italian, he was funded by Spain, so I made sure to emphasize that). Then I introduced Juan Ponce de Leon. One of our students, who is part hispanic, was really excited about the meanings behind his name (Leon= lion) and Florida, and I was glad I included the information about "florida" meaning "full of flowers." It was cool to see her get so excited. I was also really glad for my years of studying spanish-- I never thought that would tie into an elementary social studies lesson :).
We traced Ponce de Leon's journey on the large classroom map, and then we read the poem as a class, taking turns, which seemed to work well. After that we put Ponce de Leon's icon on the timeline, and I handed out the matching activity-- they were supposed to match the events in Ponce de Leon's journey to the corresponding picture. The events were numbered, so they could glue them in order into their social studies notebooks. They weren't as into it as I had hoped they'd be, given the time I put into it, but I guess it is somewhat similar to many of the activities they do in class. I realized that there were a couple of items on the matching sheet that were slightly confusing. For example, one of the clues said that Ponce de Leon discovered silver, but I had a picture of gold coins, which I had forgotten to change from the activity I found online. It wasn't a disaster or anything, and I jsut explained to them what it was supposed to be, but it did help me to improve the activity for the next time I use it.
M noticed that during my lesson, the students were more focused on filling in the blanks in their explorer detective books than they were in what I was saying. She thought that having the books in front of them during the lesson was too much of a distraction for the kids, so for our next lesson, I think we are not going to hand out the detective books until after the instruction. We'll see if that works better.
We got to school and M and I made copies of all our materials. And then I got ready to teach. I was really nervous. I thought it would start to get better with time, but so far it definitely hasn't. I chose to make my lesson direct instruction. That format seemed to definitely fit the best considering the time frame we had and the fact that the students were totally unfamiliar with the content. So, I quickly reviewed the Christopher Columbus info (kids had gotten slightly confused about the fact that although he was Italian, he was funded by Spain, so I made sure to emphasize that). Then I introduced Juan Ponce de Leon. One of our students, who is part hispanic, was really excited about the meanings behind his name (Leon= lion) and Florida, and I was glad I included the information about "florida" meaning "full of flowers." It was cool to see her get so excited. I was also really glad for my years of studying spanish-- I never thought that would tie into an elementary social studies lesson :).
We traced Ponce de Leon's journey on the large classroom map, and then we read the poem as a class, taking turns, which seemed to work well. After that we put Ponce de Leon's icon on the timeline, and I handed out the matching activity-- they were supposed to match the events in Ponce de Leon's journey to the corresponding picture. The events were numbered, so they could glue them in order into their social studies notebooks. They weren't as into it as I had hoped they'd be, given the time I put into it, but I guess it is somewhat similar to many of the activities they do in class. I realized that there were a couple of items on the matching sheet that were slightly confusing. For example, one of the clues said that Ponce de Leon discovered silver, but I had a picture of gold coins, which I had forgotten to change from the activity I found online. It wasn't a disaster or anything, and I jsut explained to them what it was supposed to be, but it did help me to improve the activity for the next time I use it.
M noticed that during my lesson, the students were more focused on filling in the blanks in their explorer detective books than they were in what I was saying. She thought that having the books in front of them during the lesson was too much of a distraction for the kids, so for our next lesson, I think we are not going to hand out the detective books until after the instruction. We'll see if that works better.
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