[Used with permission]

This paper is a reflection of the first lesson that I have ever taught in an actual classroom. The reason I am reflecting on the first lesson instead of the second lesson that I taught is because I videotaped the first one, therefore I have been able to critique myself better. My apprenticeship is in an eighth grade Earth Science class at Woodland Middle School.

My actual lesson plan was decent, but could have been much more complete. I wrote this lesson during the earlier in the semester so it does not follow any specific lesson plan outline. I spent time researching the WWW looking at other lesson plans, and followed a form of many that I saw. I spent many hours writing the lesson that ended up lasting for less than 50 minutes. The lesson plan included an overview of what that class period was going to entail and objectives for the lesson. The plan included the materials needed and outlined the procedure specifically. The lesson plan also included many highlighted or bold statements that I could refer to easily. I used this lesson plan to guide myself and keep the lesson organized. The lesson plan also included how the students were to be assessed.

As I think about the lesson plan now, I think I would make many changes. First off, I did not have an estimated time for the lesson. I thought I would for sure take the whole class period and I was way off. Also, my objectives are not really that good. I only had two objectives and both were at the knowledge level. I did not have objectives that every student would meet, that some would meet, and that a few would meet. I personally think that it is quite important to do this for many reasons. Most importantly, during my lesson many students were done quickly and I did not have anything else for them to do. I wrote the lesson for one specific type of student, I did not think of all possibilities. I should have had an objective that was at the understanding level and also had an activity to go along with it.

The organization of my lesson was good. The lesson began with an overhead of the Geologic Rock Cycle. I was determined to use some sort of technology during my lesson, and this was about the best Woodland had to offer. The overhead worked well as a visual and also got the students interested. The overhead was an animated version of the rock cycle; it did not look like the traditional scientific one. After the class and I discussed the rock cycle, I gave an introduction to the three basic rock types, sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. During this brief lecture, I made sure to include the students. The students were involved, answering questions, asking questions, and being attentive. The next step was to hand out various rock samples to each student. I borrowed about 20 igneous rocks from the Geology Department at UMD. Each student had a hand sample and was to answer questions on a worksheet. This was how the lesson was organized, and it seemed to be the best way to go about the subject. I figured it would make the most sense to start with the rock cycle, which explains the various processes rocks can go through, and then onto discussing rocks, and lastly to looking and studying actual hand samples.

In the lesson introduction I began by stating what we were going to do for the class period. Since I did not teach the previous day, I did not discuss what we did yesterday. I probably should have talked to my cooperating teacher and asked her what she went over on the previous day. If I were to take over someone’s class in the future I would definitely do that. Not only does it bring the students back into what they learned the previous day, but also it shows the students that I am involved in their class and I know what is going on. I told the class that we would first go over the rock cycle, then talk about the three main types of rocks, and then we would look at hand samples of rocks and complete a worksheet. The students knew from the beginning of the class what we were going to do. They knew what was expected of them during the class period, which allowed them to take notes or listen carefully to the lecture so they would have an easier time with the worksheet later in the period. I think the introduction went very well.

My transitions were definitely not as smooth as they could have been. The biggest reason for this was that I was nervous, so I jumped around more than I should have or wanted to. The subject matter alone gave me a perfect opportunity to have great transitions. The rock cycle works right into the types of rocks. After discussing the rocks the lab could have been introduced easily. I found myself talking about one rock and then bluntly becoming silent until I started talking about the next rock. I think it was planned in a manner to have good transitions, I just did not execute.

I think some of my questioning techniques were good, and some were bad. I will explain. I did have some questions that I knew I was going to ask. I should have had these on my lesson plan, but I did not. The first question that I asked was why the rock cycle is considered a cycle. I think this is a good question because it demands thought. It is not a yes or no answer. When the first student gave an answer, I praised him for sharing, even though his answer was not as thorough as I was looking for. I stated his answer so the whole class could hear it, and then asked if anyone could build on his answer. After it was answered completely, three different students had shared. I did not tell the first student that he was wrong, but instead asked another student to build on what he had said. That is one thing I have learned, to praise students for sharing.

I also used some techniques that were not so useful. I asked a question about the texture of an igneous rock, which had only two answers, intrusive or extrusive. What I should have done was told the students that it was an extrusive rock, for example, and have the students tell me why it is considered extrusive and how it formed in the way that it did. Asking the question this way ensures me that whoever answers the question has an understanding of the process, not just a good guess between extrusive and intrusive. For the most part I tried really hard to ask questions that required thought and/or lead to a discussion. I tried very hard to stay away from questions that would lead to yes or no answers.

Classroom management was really not a problem for me. I realize it will be a problem someday in some school, but I did not have to deal with any issues. My cooperating teacher has unbelievable classroom management, which sets the tone. She really does not put up with any misbehaving in the classroom, and from what I observed she never really had to. I think students know which classes that they can goof around in and which classes they cannot goof around in. The students really responded to me. I am sure most times that they have a student teacher or volunteer they are quite excited for a change. The students were actually quite excited for me to teach a lesson and they did not give me any slack. They all stayed on task and asked questions. It was really quite nice to not have to deal with any problems.

My body language was pretty non-existent. I did not realize this until I watched the video tape of myself, but when I did I was amazed at how much I didn’t use my hands or arms while lecturing. As we talked about in class today, it is a good idea to open your hand and invite someone to share, instead of pointing a finger. During the first part of my lesson I was mainly in front of the class lecturing about the rock cycle and rocks, so I did not move around much at all. I actually moved out of the camera range a few times but not too often. While the students were doing the worksheet and looking at the rocks, I moved around the whole time. I was constantly talking to students and trying to kneel down and be on the same level. I think I am pretty good at moving around the classroom but I definitely need to focus on body language. I need to talk with my hands more. When I think of any good teacher that I have right now, I can visualize each one of them using their hands quite a bit.

The effectiveness of my closure was good due to advice from my cooperating teacher. I was not going to go over the worksheet that I gave the in class. I was just going to use it for my own personally benefit to see what each of them learned. Instead, I went over the worksheet in class. This was a very good closure to the lesson because I got different students involved during this than the students that were involved in the beginning of class. We went through the whole worksheet, and a different student read and answered each question. We also talked about each question and I made sure that everyone understood the main point. I am glad my cooperating teacher gave me advice on this, or my lesson would have had no closure. I think it is very important to have closure to the lesson so the students can wrap up what they learned that day. If you just leave everything hanging out there, chances are that the students will not remember anything.

I think for the most part I used good teaching strategies. One thing that I tried to do was to relate the lesson to their lives. Sometimes this is hard with Earth Science because a lot of the time the topics involve something that happened millions of years ago. One thing that I did was referred to the North Shore many times. All of the samples that I brought in were rocks that could be found on the North Shore. Granite, gabbro, basalt, and rhyolites for example. This was good because now the students are learning about something in their environment, something that they could talk to their parents about. I thought this also might be an elaboration tool. I figured that many of the students have probably learned a little bit about the North Shore from past experience. I also used analogies when discussing the rock cycle. We talked about how every rock does not have to go through every process, the cycle just states that it can happen. The analogy was about the water cycle, in which the students were more familiar.

My enthusiasm and ability to capture the student’s attention was great. Aside from the fact that I did not use my hands and arms enough, I was quite excited to teach. I was pretty confident teaching the lesson because I planned it out well, and I know the subject matter. I was confident that I would be able to answer questions that arose, I was confident that the students would understand the lesson, and I was confident that they would enjoy it also. Like I stated earlier, the students were very excited to have a new person teaching a lesson. I was the same way when I was that age. What I have to realize as a student of the profession is that students will not always show that enthusiasm in a lesson. I need to have attention getters, I need to relate the topic to their life, I need to use analogies, and I need to get the students involved.

One main aspect of this lesson that shocked me was how fast it went. I know we have been told this from day one, but I guess I needed to go through it an experience it for myself. Also, I was quite surprised I the amount of questions that the students asked. I think if you get them interested from the beginning, many of them really do want to understand the concept. Many students really do want to understand.

Overall what I learned is pretty much summed up in the previous six pages. I am a firm believer in learning through experience, so this kind of stuff is perfect for me. It is easy to think you understand a concept until you try to apply it yourself. It is real life. Everything happens so much faster in the classroom than it does when planning. I learned that overhead projections can work. I learned that letting students feel, touch, and hold rocks is worth my time and effort to get the materials. I learned that students are curious. I learned that I do not talk with my hands enough. I learned that it is very important to have closure to a lesson, and I am grateful that my teacher reminded me. We can learn about theory, we can learn different strategies, we can learn questioning techniques, but until we can be in the real classroom and have the ability to apply what we have learned, it does not mean anything. Ultimately, I learned that the more experience that I get, the better teacher I will be, and I am determined to do so.