- Scaffolding and Modeling - After a few rather disastrous group activities last week, I decided to proceed with caution into it once again. This time, however, I made sure to model exactly what would happen in the group work before even assigning the groups. We worked through several examples of writing attributes and collecting data as a class before letting them work alone.
- Writing Lists/Agendas on the Chalkboard - I have a lot of very visual learners in my classroom, many of whom have a lot of difficulty staying on task. I've found that by writing a step-by-step guide of what will happen in independent or group work, really helps them to stay on task. It also is a great directive for any other students who are confused or off-task. A simple point to the board works wonders with several of my students.
- Students Enjoyed Communication - The students really enjoyed talking to their classmates about their likes and dislikes, or backgrounds. They seemed to take it as a bonding experience.
At the conclusion of this lesson, I gave the students a chance to fill out one of my "engagement" surveys. As part of my Professional Growth Plan, I am trying to create engaging lessons for students, and part of that process includes actually asking them what they thought. The results of this survey were not particularly surprising but I thought I'd share a few with you.
Things that need to change for next time:- Use a Class List for Collecting Data - Many of the students were quite upset that they couldn't keep track of who they had collected data from and who they had not. As one of my students mentioned in their survey, it was a "gunshow of kids" (I've chosen to interpret this as "gong show" because I'm not sure how to prevent a gunshow from happening, perhaps students should only be allowed to wear long-sleeved shirts? :D)
- Clear Expectations and Information - Many students mentioned in the survey that they found the classroom too loud. To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised by the noise level, as I found it very manageable. After discussing this comment with my TA, she advised be to be clear with expectations about noise levels and such. If students know ahead of time that they should expect a noisier class, they will be better prepared for it.
Thanks for taking the time to read my reflections! Here's a copy of my lesson plan from today's lesson.
- Use a Class List for Collecting Data - Many of the students were quite upset that they couldn't keep track of who they had collected data from and who they had not. As one of my students mentioned in their survey, it was a "gunshow of kids" (I've chosen to interpret this as "gong show" because I'm not sure how to prevent a gunshow from happening, perhaps students should only be allowed to wear long-sleeved shirts? :D)