Teaching Response: Lesson Three (March 14, 2007)

Today we focused on measuring angles. The thing that struck me the most about this lesson was the range of abilities among the students. A few students were able to finish the practice worksheet before we had even completed passing them out to the rest of the class. However, there were a number of students who needed to be walked through most of the problems and did not seem to have a strong grasp on the material at the end of the period. As a result, I found it difficult to juggle between the students and meet all of their needs. Everyone in the class seemed to be at a different point and it was hard for me to keep track of everything that was going on. I wanted to challenge the students who understood the concepts, but I always needed to provide others with constant one on one attention. One thing I found helpful was having students who had already finished their work assist someone who needed extra help. Not only did this force them to verbalize what they were doing, but it also allowed me to attend to the needs of more students. I was also glad that while we shortened the lesson to assure that we got through everything, we had a back-up plan in case we had extra time. We brought two extra practice worksheets for students and also had a planned activity that they could do if time allowed. Ms. A had mentioned that she thought we could spend a number of days exploring protractors and I had just assumed this was an exaggeration. After teaching two periods I know the majority of students would benefit from extra instruction. As a result, I think we are going to have to spend a large portion of time reviewing and practicing protractor use next class. I already know that if I were to teach this lesson again I would drastically cut-down on the amount of material. As soon as students start to grasp a concept we have to move onto the next thing. As a result, I do not think the students are developing a strong and in-depth understanding of the material.

Teaching Response: Lesson Two (March 14, 2007)

I went into this lesson a lot calmer than the first one because I had a better idea of what to expect. In addition, when planning for this lesson our experience from the first lesson helped both Kristin and I tremendously. We had a better idea of what to expect from each class (both in behavior and academic ability). As a result we made certain considerations when teaching. For example, we knew that we would have to spend more time reviewing with the first class and also provide them with more support during activities. We also began to understand that we would have to constantly reinforce the reward system to keep control of the second class. Even after making these considerations we still walked out of the classroom feeling that we had a long list of things we needed to work on.

Similar to the first lesson, we ended up running out of time and not being able to complete the activities. We thought we had factored in more than enough time but we never realized how much the little things add-up. Getting the students seated, having them get their homework out, passing out name-tags, and reminding the students to quiet down all ate into the amount of instruction we had expected to give. As a result, Kristin and I are going to try to start making the lessons shorter and bring extra work for the students finish early. This way we will guarantee that we have time to go over all the material and if we have more time we will have something productive for the students to do.

After our lesson we asked Ms. A if she had any suggestions on how we could have cut down on time and gotten through the whole lesson. She mentioned that we need to consider the ability of the students’ cutting skills. Ms. A explained that today students are so used to filling in bubbles on SOL tests and therefore many of them have not mastered their cutting skills. In the lower grades they no longer have as many opportunities to work with creative assignments and as a result they suffer in other areas. Although I knew that the SOLs took away from many creative aspects of the classroom, it never occurred to me that something like scissor skills would suffer.

Teaching Response: Lesson One (March 12, 2007)

The preparation and teaching of this lesson was eye opening for Kristin and me. You would think that after having creating lesson plans all year we would be pros by now. The preparation for this lesson turned out to be the most difficult and time consuming of all the lessons we have developed in the past. We now realize that creating an individual lesson is completely different than coming up with a whole unit. There was so much more we were required to consider and focus on than we had previously had to do. For example, among other things, we now have to consider the results on the pre-assessments and possible homework assignments when coming up with a lesson. I also feel more of a responsibility and obligation to the students and their success. If they do not understand the concept I think it reflects poorly on me. I know that they rely on this information for not only SOL testing, but also this knowledge is relevant to everyday activities.

As a result of these changes, Kristin and I over planned for today’s lesson. I think we were both so overwhelmed at the though of getting through a whole Geometry unit that we tried to pack too much into one lesson. For example, not only did plan on introducing and teaching the basic characteristic of geometric shapes, but we also planned an in-depth and time-consuming group activity. I think the particular activity that we planned could have been even more effective if we had more time. Knowing that we were crunched for time we did not spend as much time as we should have going over basic characteristics of the figures. In addition, students were rushed through the activity and encouraged to complete it quickly. Because of this pressure for time Kristin and I were unable to take time out during the activity to further explain some common confusions and to develop a more in-depth understanding of the similarities and differences among these geometric figures. In addition, I felt that one of the most important aspects of the lesson was a written reflection/response at the end. However, most groups hardly had time to even look over the prompts. As a result, I do not think the students were given as much closure to the lesson as they could have been provided with.

While we were both frustrated with aspects of our lesson I think the rest of the lessons will be a lot easier for us to create. We now have a better idea of how much time to allot to instruction and activities. After observing the group work we know what the students are capable of and how they work together. Using this information we have already been able to map out our next lesson. We know that we need to be realistic when creating lesson plans and referring back to this lesson will help us to continue improving and helping the students succeed.