In planning for this lesson as well as the presentation portion of the assignment, I tried to focus on the content of the lesson. By sitting down and figuring out my topic and establishing clear objectives from the get-go, I felt as if it allowed me to have a clearer sense of the steps to be completed in the lesson. However, while I felt confident in the lesson I presented there were still a few areas that could strengthen the lesson outcome in terms of student retention of the information. The three areas that I think could have been more targeted were the areas of formative assessments, the content strategies organizer, and the closure activity of the lesson. By improving these areas, the lesson would further enhance student opportunities for understanding and growth; the more opportunities students have to work with this information in the I-We-You strategy, the more likely they are to retain the knowledge.
As discussed in class, formative assessments are the ways in which a teacher is able to measure during a lesson whether students are understanding and retaining the material that is being presented. In the case of my presentation, there were a couple of good opportunities for me to walk around and listen in on student discussions about the food chain. However, looking back, I think it is necessary to find a way to gauge the whole class in terms of understanding the material. A walk around the room can provide information, but does not always provide insight to all of the students who are having difficulty. A better example of a formative assessment in this case might have been that of an individual activity at the end to determine student understanding, such as an exit slip. By seeing what each student in the class knows about food chains based on the material covered in class, the teacher is able to more targeted in helping to scaffold and support the students further based on individual needs.
The second area I really think could have been improved in the overall lesson was the way I approached the content strategies organizer. While I thought about what the students should have already learned when approaching this lesson, I did not factor it in when creating my lesson plan; the only method of assessing prior knowledge that I used in this lesson was the discussion/short video clip about where food comes from. While this provided a basis for discussion and thought, it did not provide the most solid insight into what each student had previously learned. If I had done a K-W-L chart at the beginning, I could have had a better idea of where the best starting point would be for the class. I also think this assess to prior knowledge would help with the content strategies organizer as the teacher works to assist and challenge students in the classroom. Without recognizing the level of each student's understanding of the material, the teacher may have a difficult time providing instructional modifications that could further boost student growth in the subject area.
The closure activity was yet another area that could have been more strategic. In order to ensure that students maintain the knowledge learned from this lesson/unit, it is important to go back and reinforce the key concepts that were introduced during the lesson. While students worked to complete a food chain and label all of the parts, there was no review of the actual terms discussed. If a student was having trouble identifying a producer from a consumer, a quick review of the answers to the food chain activity will not help to reinforce the information. Instead, it is necessary to not only review the food chain activity but have students explain why the living thing is the producer or the consumer in the example (What evidence is provided that leads one to believe it is a producer?). Overall, by completing the closure activity in this way, the teacher could have a better idea of the where students stand with understanding the terms that have been introduced. The teacher would also have a better idea of where to begin with the next lesson on food chains (if students still struggling with terms, come back and reinforce terms before covering the next lesson).
Overall, there are many takeaways from this lesson. By doing this presentation, I gained a better understanding of all of the areas that need to be considered when creating a lesson using technology. In going forward, I will continue to work on these areas so that the overall lesson can be stronger and allow for a higher rate of retention.
No comments:
Post a Comment