This week our focus was on classroom management, science process skill, and lesson conclusion. We did better on some aspects than others, but overall the lesson was a big success.
When it came to classroom management, our cooperating teacher took the lead. There may have been some miscommunication and she thought this was what we wanted. Since we are guests in the classroom, Paige and I felt uncomfortable being assertive and taking over, so we just went with the flow. This is not the only method of classroom management, and we did do well in other aspects; we had all of our materials ready to go, we helped the children with smooth transitions, and we circulated the room and answered every question. I don't think it was a complete failure.
The next focus point was the process skill. We focused on collecting data and this went absolutely great! The students were really excited to look at their caterpillars with their hand lenses and write down all of their observations.
Finally, we emphasized our conclusion. We fell flat last week with this aspect, so Paige made sure that it got done today. We told the kids that they could continue to make observations every day while we are not there and they can tell us all about it next week! Even though today didn't go exactly as planned, I think Paige and I did a really great job and hopefully it will be even better next week!
It sounds like in spite of the unexpected, you and Paige did a great job working with the teacher's classroom management routines. It also sounds like the students were very receptive to your lesson and did well using their observation skills when looking at the caterpillars! I also like how you took something you felt didn't go as planned last week (lesson conclusion) and you made sure to address and improve upon it this week. You and Paige make a great team!
ReplyDeleteAlisha,
ReplyDeleteI love your picture of the little boy! When we told our students that they were getting their own caterpillars, I can't tell you how many of them made that exact face! Being guests in a classroom definitely makes it difficult sometimes, I wasn't there for your lesson but I doubt it was a failure! It can be hard to know what our role in while we're in the classrooms I feel like the students are always very excited to use the hand lenses, they'll look for any excuse! I don't think lesson plans every go exactly as they should..and this isn't a bad thing! Sometimes we need to adjust what we had planned and it works out better. Next week will be great!