The Classroom environment
Reflection
This is my final internship. The last portion of my journey to becoming a teacher. I conducted my first formal observation with the same students I had interned with the previous semester. Things were different now, however. My CT had given me full access to the curriculum and the freedom to teach how I wanted to, so I stepped into my role as a full-time teacher easily. I was excited and exhausted my first few weeks. I wasn’t as nervous as I should have been, because I felt I knew my students well by this point. But for my first formal observation, I was nervous. I wondered if everything I had taught and how I taught was all wrong, and if my confidence in teaching my students was misplaced. I wrote my lesson plan and planned to follow it exactly as it was written. Of course, that never ends up happening. Something is always altered, it seems. I had the impression after my lesson on the basics of the inner and outer planets, that my students did not really grasp the concept I was trying to teach them (FEAP 3d). I used the 5 E’s to teach my lesson, so much of the learning was going to be completed in a more self-discovery format in the Explore phase of the lesson. Luckily, I recorded the lesson and was able to review and reflect on my lesson afterwards.
As I hesitantly watched my video to see where I made my mistakes, I was surprised at just how well the lesson actually went! My students worked in groups very well and there were minimal instances of disruptive behaviors. The classroom was not as chaotic as I originally thought it was (FEAP 2b). I was impressed at how comfortable my students were with my instruction. I recorded several instances when I was able to manage classroom procedures (Domain 2c) and establish a culture for learning (Domain 2b).
I believe that I was able to create an environment of respect and rapport (Domain 2A) throughout the entire lesson, which was evident when I reviewed the video. The physical space in the classroom (Domain 2E) allowed for ease of walking around to monitor students and groups without any interruption to the other students.
Overall, I was pleased with my lesson. As usual, there are always things that I can improve on. I wish I would have set timers to ensure my lesson went as planned. I should have practiced the hands-on portion of the activity to create the intended concept I wanted to teach. And I always wish I had more time to teach. But I feel very comfortable watching myself back on the video. Much more than I have in the past. I tend to think that my increased comfort has rubbed off on my students and they feel very comfortable with me also, which is a great feeling.
Analysis
Based on what happened in this lesson, I would like to explore methods of teaching math using the 5E’s of instruction. I have had so much success with this method of teaching, especially as I continue to learn how to teach it better. My students attained unusually high scores on their science test after I s taught the entire science unit using the 5 E’s (FEAP 3g). I would like to think that teaching using that method of instruction attributed to their success (FEAPs 5a & 5b). My inquiry is geared specifically towards teaching math while gaining conceptual understanding of the content, but I am curious as to how I may be able to have the students explore the concepts on their own before I can explain and elaborate. I may dive deeper into this analysis of instruction, but I am hesitant because 5th grade math concepts have been so difficult for me to learn up to this point.
As far as this observation is concerned, however, I am quite pleased with the outcome of student assessment scores. After reviewing the students self-assess their knowledge of the content they learned as “understood the content very well”, along with their unit assessment scores which averaged 87%, I feel the 5 E’s method of teaching has helped my class become more engaged, which has helped them learn more effectively (FEAPs 4a & 4c). I am eager to see if my analysis is correct
video_reflection_cycle_1.docx |