Today was the first day of my 2 day lesson. I got to Mrs. T's room a half hour before class started, which at first I thought would be too much time, but I definitely needed all of that time to set up the video camera and tripod, lay out all of the materials, and get my power point ready. I wanted to make sure that I had everything laid out at the tables and in the front of the room so that the students would have plenty of time to work. The entire drive to school I rehearsed exactly how I wanted to address the students when they first got into the room and I felt prepared and confident.
It was a very different feeling from last semester when I taught my lesson. I think because I was working with another person, I became dependent upon her because she was far more outgoing than me. I was so nervous last time that I didn't talk, wasn't animated, didn't have good body language and wasn't especially engage with the students. I think subconsciously I was relying on my partner because I knew there was someone to fall back on if I didn't do something right and the responsibility wouldn't all be on me. This time, I knew that everything was up to me and I didn't have anyone to rely on; I had no choice but to go into it being confident.
When the students came into the class I greeted them and asked them if they were excited for the lesson and they all were. I then made the mistake of asking if they were excited for the weekend, which only got them riled up and not focused because everyone wanted to talk about what they were going to do. I then introduced the project and made the focus of the introduction be distinguishing between what is 2D and what is 3D. A lot of the students already knew the difference but I gave them examples and continued to ask "is this 2D or 3D?" to make sure they really understood. From there, I said that the mural they were going to make was going to be 3D, so everything that they would add to it would have to jump off of the page. I then went through the power point and explained that the parts of salt water habitats that were in the power point would be what they were going to add to the mural.
I had made a small project sample with all of the parts that the students were going to add to their own murals. I gave a demonstration of how to make each of the parts, and asked if they had other ideas of how to make them. I explained that like they saw in the power point, coral, rocks and plants come in all shapes and sizes. That meant that they could try a bunch of different ideas and they would all be right, as long as they weren't flat. They would have to work together to make their murals and that made them excited.
Each seat at the table has an assigned color that Mrs. T has specific responsibilities for, so after I finished giving instructions I had the students get their materials. They had a little less than 25 minutes to work before it was time to clean up. I walked around while they worked and asked them how to tell me about what they were making, if something was 2D or 3D, and if 2D, what could they do to make it more 3D? At the end of class I had the same students who got the materials put them away and everyone cleaned up their tables. When everyone was cleaned up, quiet and sitting in their seats I let them line up at the door.
After the kids left, Mrs. T went over her observations and criticisms with me. She said that I was very engaged, the questions I asked them during the power point presentation and during work time were well thought out and helpful. The two main criticisms that she had for me were that I had asked the students if they were excited for the weekend, which got them off topic. She said that would have been a better thing to ask when they were lined up and ready to go to their next class. She said it was good to be engaged and talking with them, but I then had to spend time trying to get them to focus. The other thing she said I should remember for next time was that I had no closure. Before the students cleaned up I should have reviewed what we had talked about, what they learned, or went around and looked at what they had made during class and talking about their work. Instead, I just told them it was time to clean up and let them go.
Overall, I was exceptionally pleased with how the lesson went. The main objective I wanted them to grasp was distinguishing the difference between 2D and 3D and applying it to the sculpture mural. Some of the students understood it when I was explaining and demonstrating at the beginning of class, but when they were making the different parts of the salt water habitat, they were making 2D pieces. For the most part, everyone's pieces that they were adding were "popping" off the paper and the understood the difference.
No comments:
Post a Comment