Monday, March 12, 2007

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.

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