Discover and learn!

Today's lesson was so interesting, we got to observe a 5th grade science classroom. The teacher did a lot of really interesting things that i noticed that relate to the inquiry based lesson plan that we have talked about. Initially I noticed that she activated the students prior knowledge immediately. She used the lesson at hand to do this, she said does anyone know what a data point spread is. Of course the students did not know what it is because they have yet to go over it in class, but she made it a point to inform them they know what certain parts of it is. They know what data is and they probably have an idea of what spread means.

Once she talked about data and got their minds rolling on what they were going to be doing she did an activity, this activity worked in two ways, it introduced the students to the new material and hooked them into the lesson. She had on the board a data point spread, she first went over the number line and how it was set up. She talked about the spacing and how there should be even amounts of space between each. She also made sure the students understood where the numbers fell on this spread. for example there is 30    '     40 and she wanted the students to understand what the ' between the numbers stood for allowing them to understand you do not NEED the number to be represented to understand where that number falls. This led into engaging the students in an activity where they were asked to map certain data points, the students got to be hands on during this activity and it was really exciting for them. She went over the data points, using specific praise and academic feedback. This was a great chance for her to show students that they understand how to plot negative numbers along with positive ones.

The teacher was able to take a mistake that a student made to explain to students there thinking and why it is not correct. This constant feedback was great for students to hear so that they had a clear understanding of what to do for the lesson. 

The most influential parts of the lesson FEEDBACK, PRAISE, and when she had the students do something in their notebooks she walked around the room OBSERVING the students work to keep them on task and correcting their work. She really took time to break down all sections of the lesson so that they understood all concepts and all parts that they will be APPLYING and DISCOVERING.

In these pictures you can see praise, praise can be a statement or it can be as simple as a hand gesture. Just to let the student know they are on track!

 

Feedback is very important for teachers to do, this way the student knows not just if they are doing it right or wrong, but why. They can now make the connection between what they are doing and what is expected of them.

She also did something that stood out to me in a wonderful way, applied their math skills to science. She made the connection so that students can see how they do intertwine. This was wonderful, this teacher showed many great teacher skills that i will strive to have when i get older.

 Make connections not only to the students lives, but to other academics. This teacher did just that, connecting math to the science classroom!

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Connect

OUR TIME!!! now we had time to work with the students, it gave me time to prompt their understanding and to see what kind of alternative conceptions they have about science. I was able to put myself in their shoes and see where they came from, I also was able to help them without giving them the answer. This was sooo cool for me to be involved with, it showed me that i can initiate their thinking and get them on the right track without just giving them the answer. They were able to DISCOVER it on their own, which in turn will help them retain this knowledge more in the future.

This picture represents us and the students in the class, we both got to learn from this experience. The students learned by doing the actual activity and being hands on with data point spreads. The graduate students were able to work with students, doing it has given us more of an understanding of how students think.

During class we met in the library, it gave us a chance to review the lessons and how we are going to implement them in the classroom. I am very excited to get into the class and teach my lesson on kinds of chemical reactions. Going through the steps of the 5E lesson plan really broke down what i am expected to do with the students. I want to see if the experiment and activity that i come up with can influence their discovery and knowledge. I want to provide my students with the chance to apply the knowledge that they learned so that they can not only be excited about the work, but retain it!