*Week 3*
Lesson Reflection
Lesson Topic: Writing
Taught: How to write a strong and complete sentence.
What went well: There were several things that went well! Since the students enjoyed the video from my first observed lesson, I decided to find another one that fit the objective for this lesson. It was interactive and imaginative and really outlined some key information that the students needed to assist them with their learning. No surprised here, the kids loved this video as well!! They were very focused in on this little piece of technology the entire time. Another thing that went well during this lesson was how smoothly the partner activity went. I learned from my last lesson that it would be better to preset the partners/groups and not just let them pick their own. This made the transitions quicker and also left little to no time for disruptions/off task behavior. Lastly, we worked very hard to reinforce positive behavior which proved to be helpful. One of our students, who can easily get off task and seek out attention, stayed completely focused and on top of all the activities during the lesson. We absolutely LOVED watching him participate and stay actively engaged.
What did not go as planned: During some of our discussions through the lesson I noticed that I had the same few students always answering/participating. I tried to make sure to call on others as well (even if they didn't raise their hand). I know that not every child will be "all in" during every lesson, but I also want to see more students participating than just a few. I also learned that even though our students work well in pairs/groups, they still all want to do whatever the task is. For example, if the task is to think with your partner about a complete sentence and then write it out, they both will want to write out the answer. I used one mini whiteboard per pair, which led to discussions about who was going to actually be the writer.
How to change for subsequent lessons: For future lessons I know to create tasks/assessments so that they can still work in pairs or groups for the thinking part, but everyone will participate in the actual execution part. This means, if they are collaborating about something with their partner, I will make sure each student has a mini whiteboard to actually write down the answer/response. I also plan to pay more attention to the students who may not seem as engaged based on their participation and find more creative ways to "draw them in".
It has been a wonderful couple weeks with these kids and I am learning so much through them. Everyday it seems like I am learning a new strategies or strengthening some other area of focus. I am so grateful to have such a lively, helpful, and caring group of kids. I look forward to the next 7 days with them and seeing how much more they are able to grow!
Cheers!
Mallary
They really liked the video you showed them. I thought it was very effective that you went over the expectations before you showed the video. One idea for getting everyone to answer a question is to give each student some kind of token. Tell them that you are going to ask a question and let everyone think about it first. Give some "think time" and then ask who would like to answer it. Once they answer it, they have to give you their token. Only the ones left with tokens are allowed to answer the questions.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great lesson! We had a similar experience in our classroom, when we realized that it isn't always the most efficient idea to allow the students to pick their own partners. I love the control that this gives the students, and that it gives them some choice and authority over their learning, but I think our class would have benefited from an explicit mini lesson on how to pick a partner before we used this as an effective tool in our classroom.(AG)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like an awesome lesson for the kids. I always love to start lessons with videos. It seems like this works for any age of kids. All students love technology! Also, I think picking the partner ahead of time is a good idea. I usually do that for older kids so no one gets their feelings hurt. I could see how it would waste time for the young ones. I think it's great news that both partners wanted to write on the board. That means that they were engaged and interested in the lesson. That is awesome!
ReplyDeleteThis was a great lesson! The video was engaging for students, and definitely helped them develop their understanding of complete sentences. The students did an excellent job with the partner work. It has been exciting to see the students writing complete sentences in their writing pieces as a result of your lesson. Good work!
ReplyDeleteEngagement is such a huge part of effective lessons! I love how you capitalized on your students' interests in technology and tried to capture their attention and imagination with the video. That's such a great way to hook the kids. I also love your use of whiteboards. It added an interactive piece, lead to student cooperation and collaboration, and added to student motivation. Awesome job!
ReplyDelete