Some of the things I liked best about this lesson was the choral repetition that the teachers led the students in. In a direct instruction lesson, there is a lot of information being thrown at the students. By asking the class to chorally repeat key terms, and people, it helps to "stick" this name into their head. In addition, it provides a break from the instruction of the lesson for students to participate. Although out of the three lesson types direct instruction usually requires the least amount of student participation, it certainly helps. I also liked that a lot of different information was presented in a brisk, but comfortable pace. Additionally, in a number of the activities throughout the lesson, the teachers probed students for further explanations by asking questions. For example during the true/false activity, the teachers allowed the students to come to the board to pick an answer, and afterwards asked them why they chose it, or could explain why it was the correct answer. I thought this was fantastic because even though the child coming to the board might know the answer, the rest of the class might not. Be explain ing their own reasoning for choosing the answer, it may help other members of the class, while challenging the student for deeper understanding. 
There were also some things that I would have liked to change. During the true / false activity, instead of asking the student to come to the board to answer the questions, it is better to first get the answer from the student. By doing this, the teacher can check with the rest of the class to see if they agree; if they do, the student may continue to the board and choose the answer, if not then it allows communication, and discussion amongst classmates. Aside from this, I only can pick out minor things to change.
I thought group #3's first lesson went very well and I am excited to see what else the can bring to the classroom in our upcoming classes.
Hello! First off, I just wanted to thank you for saying that our group did a great job teaching. Your suggestions for making our lesson better was also very helpful. I agree with you when you said that for the true and false activity, students should have said the answer first, made sure the rest of the class agreed, and then come up to the Smart board and drag the sentence into either the true or false vortex slot. To be honest, if you had not made that suggestion, I would not have thought of that. Doing it that way would have probably been easier and kept everything going in an organized and timely fashion. It also would have increased student understanding. For future lessons I will keep these in mind! :]
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I know that you viewed the inquiry, but only one member of the class got to view the cooperative. I wish that you and the other members of the class got to view the class on Friday because our lesson was fun and I think you would have enjoyed it! As I am sure you already know, students were split up into groups of 4 and were given a topic such as George Washington or Paul Revere. Group had an opportunity to make posters based on their topic, rehearse lines for their script, and perform their scrips at the end of the lesson. I hope that you and the rest of the class get to view the video! It was the one lesson I really enjoyed teaching, and I got to lead that lesson which was exciting.
I am looking forward to your lesson and to seeing what group 4 has come up with! If I could offer you some advice it would be do not be afraid of making mistakes. That was my problem and my anxiety was prevalent, especially during the first two lessons.
Good luck! :]
Thanks Patricia. And don't mention it! I thought this was a very good lesson, and I wish I could have seen the changes you, and your group made for the cooperative lesson.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm glad that you think my comments were helpful because that's what I was trying to do. It's not a lot of fun to give people criticism, but it's what we need to become better teachers, or anything for that matter.
So when you make comments about my lesson, tear me apart! I want to hear all of your criticism!