Second Lesson Plan February 23

Today I was at my mentor site all day forshadowing my mentor teacher. I got to teach science about kinetic and potential energy and the different sources of energy. The lesson started off with a student reading the objectives off of the board. Then I moved to the anticipitory set when the students viewed a video on kinetic and potential energy. I introduced it and turned on the projector which was the teechnology source inside of my lesson plan. The input was reading the science lesson together. I called on students to read one by one. I made sure to walk around the room and follow along with the students as well. I did stumble a little bit when explaining some of the material, but I tried my very best to get the point across as clearly as possible. I made sure to ask if the  students had any questions. During the reading I asked questions at the end of each section. For the model, I told the students what I wanted the students to do with their whiteboard. There was a little confusion at first but it hardly distracted attention from the lesson and it allowed me to answer questions about what I wanted to see. We then moved to the guided practice of the trivia presentation and the students shared their answers with their partners. I made sure to explain the answer once it was shown. I remembered to read each question allowed as well. On the very last question, I had made a typo error so when the answer popped up it caused a ruccus. I got the students to settle down and I explained that it was the wrong answer and I was very happy that they picked up on it. Then I walked through their worksheet which was the independent practice and handed it out. I went around the room and helped those that needed assistance. In the conclusion, I asked the students what things that they encounter everyday that pertains too kinetic and potential energy. I was surprised at how enjoyable this was because the students were so excited to give me examples. I felt as though I had more confidence this time and I am very excited to report that the students really understood the concepts. My downfall I would have to say is attempting to expain things. I think to far ahead and then when I try to come back to my original thought it creates a block in my thinking. I need to slow down and think about what I am going to say before I say it. I have not heard what my mentor teacher thinks but I am very ready to find out and listen to what I should work on for next time.

Week 18

This week I did my all day lesson plan on Thursday. I was there all day and learned a lot. I graded a lot of papers, and got to know the kids a lot better. They were so excited! I learned that in the fourth grade, they are very inquisitive and want to learn about the world and why it is the way it is. I also discovered that the lights in the school are automatic. When someone moves into the room, the lights turn on. I had never seen this before so I thought that it was neat. Another thing that I learned was how much grading is involved as a teacher. I found it oddly relaxing though. I got to watch the kids in their english portion of the day too as well as a full math lesson. The English involved a video about sheltered animals and their job was to write a persuasive book to an audience so that they would adopt an animal. The math lesson was review about adding and subtracting fractions. I also taught science which is decribed in my 2nd lesson plan. On Friday, I read another science lesson with the kids. I tend to stumble a lot when I'm trying to describe the material. I'm hoping with time, that will get easier. The kids are very understanding and willing to listen if you mess up which takes a lot of pressure off of the shoulders. Afterward, they viewed a video walkthrough about the ecosystem and how to conserve energy. They really seem to enjoy the videos.

Week 17

Last week in my mentor class on Monday I was able to help some students with simplifying fractions. This was very cool because I was able to show the students some pretty neat tricks. I noticed that some kids needed more help with it than others. Math seems to be a very difficult subject for the students to get through. I wonder if they have as many problems with other subjects but in my experience math is typically the difficult subject. The worst thing that happened to me was when a student called out my name, the student got in a lot of trouble. Friday I did not go to my mentor sight due to the students not being there. Instead I went to a high school algebra class. The objective was written on the board and the main goal was to go over corrections on a test. The students also did bellwork for their anticipitory set. I am very excited for my lesson tomorrow. I am a little concerned about any problems I may have with the technology. However, I feel as though I am ready.

Week 16

This week in my mentor class I recieved my lesson objective. I am teaching potetial and kinetic energy and different sources for enery such as hydroelectric power, geothermal energy, and solar energy. My mentor teacher allowed me to see part of her science lesson one day and let me teach part of the lesson another day. I made sure to walk around the room and call on students to read to make sure they were on task. They also got to watch a study jams video to preview the material. This is a way I plan to incorporate technology. I also intend to incorporate technology through a power point trivia game that the whole class will do to help learn the material. I plan to have the students use their whiteboards to answer the questions so I can check for their work. When I was previewing a science lesson, I learned how to incorporate technology in a lesson, walk around the room while reading, and ask occasional questions and restate what the main points of the paragraphs are. I feel better about this lesson than I did with my previous lesson because I feel that there is not quite as much to remember. I am very excited to present this next week and I need to go over my lesson with my mentor teacher when I see her next. The only problem I think I may have is talking to fast when explaining things. I need to slow down and think a little more when I speak.

3rd and 4th grade observations (LTS)

Wow! The third and fourth grade classes are so different and yet they are only one grade level apart! The third grade class was fun. The students appeared to be a little more active and needed a little more attention. I noticed that the teacher seemed to stay up at the projector most the time when teaching, but moved around a lot when they were doing independent work. What I really liked about the classroom was that there was a board at the corner of the room that gave a list of class objectives for each subject. The set up was pretty similar though in regards to academic posters, desk setup, and student stations that have tissues and Germ X. The students were also really excited to see us. The fourth grade class seemed to be a little more mature and the environment seemed a little stricter. I felt as though it was a lot more structured. The teacher walked a lot around the room and kept everyone on task. There also appears to be a lot of repition in both classes. Additionally, they both use the Saxon math guided practice. It seems as though that is curricular at LTS. Overall, this was an amazing opportunity and I was very interested in observing the differences between the third and fourth grade.

Lesson Plan Reflection (January 26)

On January 26, I presented my first lesson plan of Education Professions 2. I presented quadrilaterals. I felt that it went really well despite the fact I was sick and it was difficult to speak loudly and clearly. I made sure I thanked the students when they were being quiet for me and explained what each shape was in the best possible way. I felt as though there was a little too much to take on though. All of the terms such as obtuse, acute, parallel, the shape names, and other terms seemed to be slightly overwhelming. I also needed to leave at 10:30 which made it hard since I had to leave right before the end of the independent practice. Another thing that my mentor teacher pointed out was that I needed to move around more so I could keep eyes on the students and make sure they were on task. I did feel as though the students met the objective and were able to identify the shapes. My mentor teacher really enjoyed the connect the dots idea and I thought that the tangram activity was fun and the kids enjoyed it as well. I made sure to go around and offer some help. Overall, I think it went really well and I am aware of the things I need to work on for future lesson plans. What an exciting day!

Week 15

Last week in my mentor class I did a lot of observing. My mentor teacher was really caught up on her work so I didn't need to do any grading or help in any way. The only thing I needed to do Monday was write the correct scores on the spelling tests. The class also got a new student. He seems to need a lot of help on what the class is doing and seems to be causing a lot of trouble. I noticed that she moved him up closer to the front for he was once in the very back. The school he used to go to didn't seem to be on the same curriculum as the fourth grade class at Liberty Traditional School. It really makes me wonder how different curriculums are at the different schools. I also learned that my mentor teacher had a student teacher last year and it didn't go well. She is still finding things that are disorganized. I remember last year my mentor teacher had a student teacher too. I wonder if all teacher's need to take on a student teacher at some point in time. The best thing that happened to me this week was watching the math lessons. The students are so involved! There was not really a bad part except she wasn't able to give me my lesson plan objective until Monday which is fine because I still have time.

Week 14

What an exciting week! I presented my first lesson plan this week! On monday I helped a student when the kids were all writing on their whiteboards. I love helping students so much! He even seemed to understand a little better when I helped him which was awesome! Unfortunately he has a lot of problems with division and multiplication tables which will make math that much harder. I have also come to realize that math is one of the harder subjects when it comes to teaching. On Thursday, I presented my lesson plan which is reflected upon in a different entry. On Friday, there was a substitute. On that day I helped a different student with math which was long division. He was doing ok but there seems to be confusion on where to put the numbers. It's something that is just going to take practice like all math. I had to correct myself twice when helping him though because I was not thinking straight in mathematical terms but I did catch them. It was a good teacher moment. We all make mistakes! The worst thing that happened this week was that I got sick. And on the day of my lesson plan! I got through it though. The best thing was helping out the students. It's so rewarding!