An aspect of my lesson that went differently than I had planned was that I encouraged students to tape the parts of their seed down after observing them. This is something I had not originally planned for the students to do, but I felt as if It would be a good reference when reflecting back on their lab to actually see exactly what part of the seed we were discussing in the lab. This is something we did when dissecting flowers and I felt as if it was helpful to their learning so I reflected the same concept onto this lab. This is something that will aid them in their studying for the unit test. Something that surprised me in my lesson is that many students were making connections to previous background knowledge. This is not background knowledge I expected. It is not something they acquired from our classroom but rather their third grade classroom or something they have seen or heard at home. For example; when reflecting on the video recording of my lesson, one of my students expressed at 8 minutes and 10 seconds into the lesson that "all seeds have these parts." This allowed for me to make a connection and it was pleasantly surprising that one of my students brought reminded me.
If I were to teach this lesson again to the same group of students, I would have incorporated more higher order thinking questions to push them to think further into the content. The entire lesson was a student/ teacher discussion that guided their thinking in the appropriate direction for their learning and the content being addressed. However, when providing students with questionings that encourage them to think even more critically, it helps them to build an even better and stronger foundation of the content.
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My students were very engaged and collaborative when participating in this lesson that was introducing area. My students were expected to utilize a formula to find the area of a rectangle and this was clearly stated before beginning the lesson as well as displayed on the board for my students to see. I began by engaging my students in an "explore" question in which they were not given any information regarding area and they had to collaborate in partners or groups of three to make sense of the problem. Based on observation of discussion as well as self assessment after completing the engagement activity, I placed students into differentiated groups for their interactive instructional time. When circulating the room and engaging in discussion with all students, I collected data in regards to whether they were a 1, 2, 3, or 4 regarding the content being addressed. I recorded this data on an assessment sheet which had three checkpoints on it. It is shown below. I knew my students were learning throughout the lesson by engaging in discussion with my students and checking in with my students throughout the lesson. When re-watching my video recording of my lesson, these checkpoints were made at 12 minutes into the lesson, 36 minutes into the lesson, and finally 47 minutes into the lesson. When I began the lesson and my students were participating in the engagement activity, 68% of my students were at a level 3 or 4. At the ending of the lesson, I provided an exit ticket (assessment) which directly correlated with the objective in which students had to to uilize the formula to find the length and width of a rectangle when given an area. At this point in the lesson (the final checkpoint) 17 of my 19 students got this question correct which concluded my lesson with an 89% mastery percentage. By engaging in this lesson I learned the importance and effectiveness of peer to peer collaboration. Although my instruction initially guided my students thinking, it was very apparent in this lesson how the students content knowledge grew and developed when working collaboratively to make sense of what was being taught, as well as practice the content. Student to students discussion can often times be more effective than teacher instruction because students can explain their thinking in a different way which might be more helpful to some students and their learning. This is difficult for teachers to let go of the "control" in a sense to allow for peer to peer learning and exploration. Especially for myself in the sense that I want to utilize our learning time wisely and provide students with the help they need to develop their content knowledge; however sometimes a students content knowledge can grow and develop even more when given the opportunity to struggle a bit and collaborate with their peers. A goal of mine moving forward is to plan more lessons like this one; a lesson that promote collaboration, peer to peer learning, and challenging exploration of content.
This was a challenging lesson for my students. Although my students were very confident in finding the remainders to the division problem presented in the word problem, interpreting the remainder in how they should use it was a challenge. This lesson encouraged my students to think very critically about what is being asked and how does it make sense to their answer which all contained remainders. Something that went differently than what I had planned is that most students could not make sense of what the question was asking. This is something I had originally thought would come easy to the students. Although the cheat sheet seemed to be very useful, it provided students with clues as to what to look for in the question when deciding what to do with the remainder. This si something I could refer students to when they were asking me questions and encouraged them to problem solve and "think through the problem." If i were to teach this again, I probably would have grouped my students a little differently. Rather than letting my students pick their partners, I could have grouped them based on there ability level. Based on the bellwork I could have grouped stronger students with lower students, this would have made the lesson more effective and time efficient.
Something that surprised me is that although my students struggled at first, 10 minutes and 20 seconds into the lesson (based on my video recording) my students began to catch on and really utilize their chart to make sense of what was being asked. When beginning the lesson many of my students were struggling and i neglected to answer their questions even though I wanted to help them. However by not answering their questions I felt as if their struggling encouraged them to problem solve and made them stronger with the content. After struggling for the first 10 minutes, majority of the class began to get it! Overall I felt as if my Math lesson in my fourth grade classroom regarding multistep division problems was a success. Something that went differently than what I had originally planned is that most of my students had difficulties dividing correctly. My lesson plan required students to have already mastered dividing two digit numbers by a digit number. A few of my students were still struggling with this concept. This is something I have ran into often in this unit of division and after collaborating with my colleagues this seemed to be a common issue in the other classrooms; many of the fourth graders are struggling with division still. This allowed for me to recognize that my students needed more practice dividing. If I were to teach this again knowing what I know, I would have set up my lesson a bit differently. I would have differentiated my students a little differently in which one group of students would spend the class time engaged in a reteach and I would slowly release students into their groups to participate in the multi step word problems. This would have provided that time for my students to practice what they needed to practice as well as encouraged my students with more confidence in division, which would have aided their multistep word problem skills.
An instance that surprised me when re-watching my observation was when one student at 3 minutes and 10 seconds into my lesson was able to identify that we were talking about partial quotients when solving the division problem present in the homework. This is not something we had discussed just yet in the unit but many students were making those connections already when reflecting back on the multiplication unit we taught the previous week. The recognized "partial quotients" when remembering how they used "partial products" to engage in solving a multiplication problem. This was an instance in which I was able to see my students make connections and show case their strengths and knowledge. At the ending of my lesson I provided each student with a sticky note in which they were encouraged to write down any questions they might still have regarding division and multistep problems. When moving forward in the unit, I reflected on my lesson and my students exit tickets in order to plan the next day according to the my students needs. For example, the next day we spent class time allowing the students to engage in "centers" where they could focus on the areas of division they were still struggling with in order to become stronger. Below are examples of a few exit tickets my students filled out. Part A: TAKING ACTION AS A TEACHER- TELLING YOUR TEACHING STORY During my time in my internship math and science fourth grade classroom, I noticed my students caught on very quickly to multiplication. However, in continuing into the following unit of division my students were struggling much more than what I had anticipated. This was a struggle I was not prepared for when initially beginning the unit. I felt like the only way I could aid my student further would be to self reflect on my lesson and the effectiveness. I began reflecting on my instruction. For example, modeling my thinking in front of the class did not seem to be very effective. In continuing I began incorporating more group work so that my student could possibly learn from one another instead. This did not seem any more helpful. I was at a loss of how to aid my students further so I began incorporating an exit ticket at the end of each lesson. This helped me plan my instruction of exactly what I needed to go over instead of providing a reteach of the lesson the previous day. These exit tickets in which the students were providing me with questions appeared to be the most effective for my students needs. I began pulling the students who had specific questions as well as planning ways I can incorporate the most popular questions in my lesson. My students began to feel more confident and have a better understanding of division, also my lessons became less frustrating and more fun. My students also enjoyed writing notes to me because they felt better when I addressed their comments and concerns. Part B: REFLECTING ON LEARNING- FORMATIVE DATA Collection analysis
The most powerful piece of data I collected connected to my inquiry was the exit tickets in which my students provided me with their questions after a lesson. This helped my inquiry really develop because it allowed for me to utilize questioning in a way that is different from what I had ran into when researching for literature. I did not have an understanding of how impactful student questioning the instructor can be effective to my instructional time and my students needs. By receiving the student feedback in the form of a question, I was able to better understand my students needs. I believe this learning was important to my inquiry because by taking questions from my students it allowed for me to utilize questioning in a different way to better my instruction. Based on my data collection, I plan to incorporate more exit tickets to receive students feedback in the form of a question. Based on the data I collected, I wonder if organized questioning can be useful during my instruction rather than after in the form of an exit ticket? Part A: TAKING ACTION AS A TEACHER- TELLING YOUR TEACHING STORY This week I decided to switch subject areas in regards to the data that I collected towards my inquiry. Although math has been a predominant area in which I engaged in questioning in order to enhance my lesson, I decided to engage in questions to impact my science lesson in a positive way. In my classroom we were learning about the different kinds of minerals and their individual properties. We were learning about properties such as luster, streak, and cleavage. When engaged in a whole class discussion prior to the engagement activity we were making connections in regards to the mineral Pyrite. I explained that often times this mineral was thought to be "fools gold" because in the 1800's they originally thought that Pyrite was gold and later made the discovery it was not. I had students "turn and talk" to a partner about it. After the engagement activity where students were utilizing the properties they observed to classify minerals, I decided to ask a "HOT" question as an exit ticket. I asked students; "in what way could they have discovered that this "fools gold" a.k.a Pyrite was not actually gold? Many students were very engaged in this question because they could make connectionist their engagement activity they had just participated in, in order to reflect on the discussion beginning the lesson. They were all very eager to reflect and make their own connections to the higher order thinking question in which they had to apply knowledge. Part B: REFLECTING ON LEARNING- FORMATIVE DATA Collection analysis
It was interesting to see the ways in which students responded to a higher order thinking question regarding science rather than math. This was a different experience for myself because I was able to engage my students in a different type of question. Also, it was positive for the students because they were able to make connections, reflect, and promote question in their science classroom. The area in which I made the most discovery in regards to my inquiry was asking a higher order thinking question after a lesson regarding content that was addressed before beginning the lesson. This gave them time to make connections throughout their activity, and answer a questions by analyzing their activity and making sense of their thinking. This different from the type of question I partook in last week because I did not provide any information prior to the lesson that would aid them in their answer, but rather just encourage them to think critically utilizing the information taught in the lesson. I felt like this question engaged my students to a different level and encouraged them to make connections. I noticed many of the students stayed after class to finish their lengthy responses to the question asked. Also, 90 percent of my students justified their answers appropriately with experience they had during the lesson. This data proved that it allowed for my students to reflect on the lesson, and that engaging in my students in a higher order thinking question following a science lesson was helpful to their learning. As a teacher, this is definitely the type of questioning in the form of an exit ticket that I will continue in my internship as well as in my future classroom. Based on the data I collected, this questioning was a positive for my classroom, my students, and their learning. Part A: TAKING ACTION AS A TEACHER, TELLING YOUR TEACHING STORY In continuing in my inquiry this week, questioning played a big role in the lessons and how I planned my instruction for the following day. In collaborating with my CT, I found that often times peer to peer question plays a very important role in the development of a lesson. Many times, an instructor can get caught up in asking and answering the questions solely themselves because as an instructor we know the answer and can provide the "correct" answer for the students where as we do not always trust the students to answer one another. When beginning this week I decided to put some faith into my students to answer each others questions and aid each other in their learning. As I circulated the room during our math lessons this week, I listened for opportunities of students asking critical thinking questions that they came up with themselves. In order to encourage their questioning, when a student would ask myself or another instructor in the classroom a questions, we would tell them to "ask three before you ask me." Sometimes the students would get frustrated at first. However when going back to their groups, it sparked great discussions among the group members. It was interesting and I believe beneficial for the students to listen to the way their peer would explain the question that they had originally asked me. A wonderful surprise was that majority of the students answered correctly, and if one of the groups members provided a "wrong" answer, another group member would correct them. In order to correct them, they had to think critically about the question and make sense of the original students answer. It also provided the opportunity to address misconceptions with one another when coming to a correct conclusion to a question. Part B: REFLECTING ON LEARNING
When circulating the classroom I took mental notes of questions that I wanted to ask the whole class at the conclusion of the lesson or beginning the lesson for the next day. Often times, the questions being asked were things that all students in the classroom should address or think critically about in order to better their thinking of the concept being taught. After writing down a few helpful questions that I heard peers asking peers, I began asking them and allowed for students to put their sticky note under the yes or no section on the board. This sparked discussion among peers because they saw their peers putting their own stick notes under yes and under no and they confronted those students as to why they came to that conclusion. This was important to my inquiry because I did not provide the students with the answer that day. I neglected to actually answer the question that required a higher order of thinking, and I noticed that many of the students were still discussing the answer with one another on the playground later. I left the sticky notes on the board until the next day; it was interesting that most students asked me if they could change their answer. I allowed them to do so,and decide to call on those friends to explain their thinking as to why they came to the answer they did. This was a way in which questioning aided my lesson; not only questioning but peer questioning. It was also helpful that as an instructor I decided to not answer the question which was difficult, but it allowed for students to critically think for a longer period of time as well as share their conclusions and make sense of the question together. After taking this action, I will incorporate more peer questions in my lesson as well as provide wait time in between giving students a question and answering a question. Based on the data I collected, I wonder how my students would respond if I had one student a day ask a question at the conclusion of each lesson? I wonder if it would be just as helpful? My current wondering in my fourth grade math and science classroom is how questioning can affect the students learning, the effectiveness of a lesson, and how it can promote success in the classroom? In continuing my inquiry in my classroom this week I explored how a HOT question can encourage students to think critically and expand their thinking outside of the curriculum. I have also stayed true to the curriculum and the content that the students are expected to know when constructing my questions in a lesson. My students were practicing multiplication strategies in their math unit. One of these strategies was regrouping when solving a multiplication problem. I had planned to provide a HOT question as an exit ticket to the lesson. This HOT question required the students to not just simply solve a multiplication problem utilizing the strategy regrouping, but rather fill in the missing blanks of a problem that is already solved using regrouping. Students responded really well and really enjoyed this because they felt as if they had the knowledge to solve this problem, they just needed to think deeper into their knowledge. They felt as if they were being challenged which encouraged them to problem solve which can aid them in math during this content as well as future contents. This is the HOT question exit ticket provided: The ways in which I collected data this week were exit tickets that addressed a higher order thinking question regarding the content being taught in math. This allowed for me to see if a higher order thinking question effective student learning of the content in a positive or negative way. This can aid my future teaching practice by seeing where my students thinking leads in regards to a higher order thinking question and if it effective their learning towards the content in a positive way.
In correlation to my inquiry I learned the importance of including higher oder thinking questions in my instruction. This does not have to take up a lot of the lesson time but rather a few minutes at the end of the lesson to "challenge" and "deepen" my students understanding. I believe this learning was important to my inquiry because prior to including HOT questions in my lessons, I felt as if only curriculmn based questions was relevant to a students learning. However, HOT questions can improve a students understanding of the content as well as improve their life long learning strategies as problem solvers and critical thinkers. I was very reluctant in giving out this HOT question because I felt as if some students was still struggling with the content and also because it is not a skill they needed to master, they merely needed to know how to solve using regrouping so I did not want to waste time with a HOT question. However, this HOT question did not take more than a few minutes. Also, most students got it correct and it sparked discussion among peers as to why they got the answer they did and why it made sense. It made the content more interesting for the students by incorporating this HOT question as well as surprised me in regards to how many students got it correct. Based on the data I collected, I wonder how I can incorporate HOT questions in my instruction in other ways? Something that had happened that was implemented differently that I had planned was that many of the students during the activity were doing the math in their heads before organizing the digits in order to beat their partner in the activity. This is something that only my high level students began to catch on to. I also noticed if a higher level student was paired with a lower level student, the lower level student would not catch on to their "cheating" or "mental math" strategy in the activity.
If I were to teach this lesson again, I probably would have grouped the students strategically. For example, if a specific student was struggling with an aspect of the lesson, I would have paired them with a student that has a strong understanding of that aspect. This would allow for the students to teach one another utilizing conversation that is familiar to themselves and their peers. I initially did this activity in order to give my students a "break" from the regular curriculum and testing. It was an opportunity for them to have fun while also practicing the lesson from the previous day. It surprised me how effective this lesson was in regards to a "re-teach." Students were very engaged, wanting to "win" and learning from one another to expand their knowledge on the topic. A particular instance that comes to mind was when I paired myself with a student in the class. He is considered a unique thinker in our classroom because often times he comes to the correct answer but does not use the strategy we are encouraging. This is the first student I noticed that began to do mental math to "cheat" and I couldn't help but be happy he was cheating because mental math is an important concept in this chapter. Something that was implemented differently than I had planned was that most students knew how to regroup in regards to a multiplication problem. This was something the students had been exposed to in a previous grade level and most students had a pretty good understanding. This made my lesson more complicated because we are currently learning different strategies for multiplication and the lesson encouraged the students to learn the strategy of using partial products when multiplying rather than re grouping. Most students were implementing a strategy that they felt comfortable with and were familiar with and were less willing to use the strategy being taught because they felt as if they received the same answer so "why did it matter."
If i were to teach this lesson again I would address and applaud the students for knowing how to regroup but encourage them to show me in a different way. I would also review the term partial products before allowing the students to explore the lesson with their peers. The curriculum encourages instructors to allow the students to explore and make sense of their thinking before teaching the topic. However, i felt as if it would have aided my students in their exploration had we broken down the term partial products. It surprised me that most of my students understood how to regroup. This made the following lesson very easy but it definitely did surprise me for the lesson in my observation. However, it also provided my students with the opportunity of making connections of what they know about regrouping in regards to partial products and how could regrouping help them understand partial products. |
AuthorMy name is Ashley and I am currently a level 3 intern in the Elementary Education program in the College of Ed. Please feel free to read through my blogs about my experiences and learning in my internship classroom! :) Archives
April 2017
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