November 29. 2018
After a couple weeks of observation, interaction, and prepping it was time to teach. Mr. B and I co-planned a lesson for his Fish and Wildlife class covering large mammals. It was odd taking control of a class that I have only been a part of for a couple weeks, but I guess that's what substitute teachers do. The class had begun the unit on large mammals a couple days earlier so they had some prior knowledge that I was working with and that I was building on. Today I had students read a current article from the DNR which could be found on their website here and as these photos show, students created a poster about what they read and they shared with the class. Lucky for me it was two classes of Fish and Wildlife so I could change things from the first go through for the second class.
Here's what I learned from this experience:
- Students take a lot more time than planned
- Give very clear concise directions
- Limit materials able to be used
- Direct student focus toward goal
- Be able to refocus and push students
- Manage distractions or lack of effort
- Challenge students to demonstrate their learning
Below are a few products that the students made. Many students focused more on the art more than the info but even the ones that have great info look amazing. Overall the lesson went well and I didn't have to lecture too much and let students lead their own learning. The products had a range and if I created a rubric I would have been able to grade them but this was an opportunity for student growth and creativity, just like my own.
Great takeaways Matt! You are so right when it comes to the amount of time students need on activities and the clear instructions that are needed. This lesson sounds like a great way to create a student- centered environment! I am curious what changes you made between the two classes?
ReplyDeleteWell the second class was 15 minutes shorter so instruction was much more concise and I challenged the students to complete the poster quicker so that also meant students reading the article so that was a challenge. As the picture above it did work out and there was definitely the range of products so it works great for assessment and examples for next time.
DeleteMatt, it sounds like being able to teach two classes was a great way for you to make changes to help with your instruction! As teachers, we have to be able to quickly learn what went well and what didn't.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had some effective lessons and were able to reflect upon and learn from your experiences. One point you brought up was the importance of having clear directions, which I completely agree. During my time facilitating with FFA we spend a lot of time working on "direction sets" to ensure they are clear and concise. I wish we would spend more time focusing on directions in our education during college because, as you said, they are important in ensuring our students understand our expectations. I am curious what you learned about direction giving and how you were able to enhance your direction set from the first class to the second? Providing directions is definitely a skill. Like all other skills, it takes practice to become better!
ReplyDeleteMatt,
ReplyDeleteAwesome post! Can I get some *snaps* for that point about students taking a longer time than planned to do activities? I had so much stuff planned out to do for my edTPA lite and I barely got through half of it. At the end of the class, Mr. Lindeman and I talked and he said that sometimes the problem with young/new teachers is that they have such a big passion for teaching but sometimes forget that they're teaching high school students and have too much "stuff" to teach about and the time constraints can get in the way of finishing the lesson, or even getting to the point in the mix of all the information being taught. Sometimes just sitting down with the students and having a more relaxed conversation about a given topic can have a greater learning retention then having them do a bunch of other activities in a short amount of time.
You sound like you had fun teaching, even with some bumps. Keep it up!
Katie
Matt -
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you were able to learn a lot by leading this lesson, especially because you were able to do it twice. All of the things you listed are things I've found to be true in my own experience, as well. I appreciate that you were able to let the students lead their own learning - whenever I was given that opportunity as a student, I was more easily able to engage with the lesson and make connections to other things I'd learned. I would be curious to know what you mean when you say to limit materials available to students. Were students overwhelmed or distracted by too many resources in their research? Did they have too many options for art supplies in making their posters? Were you able to remedy that situation the second time around, and if so, how?
- Audrey
Matt,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had a good day during your co-lead! also had the opportunity to do the lesson twice and learned so much more by doing that! I think it is crazy and awesome that from that lesson you came up with such a great list of the things you learned and gathered from your interaction. I too have found many of these things to also be true in my situation.
I just have a couple questions:
What do you mean by limit materials?
How would you manage distractions or lack of effort? Same or different ways?