The practitioner plans instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, the community, curriculum goals, and state curriculum models.
Monday - Sept. 16th: This was my first day teaching the class with my own lesson plan. We started class with an anticipatory set - physical vs. chemical change lab. The lab was set up with 9 stations and the students rotated with their lab partners. The students were instructed to hypothesis a physical or chemical change and then record their observations at each station. The lab lasted for the first 20 minutes of class and then we started our notes about physical vs. chemical change/properties. I demanded that the class get out their note packets that we started Friday and turn to the correct page, while we were waiting for all the students to get back to their seats after lab. During 1st and 2nd hour the students were on cue. During 3rd and 4th hour the students were not following the lesson as well. I had to make comments such as, “you should be writing this down on your note sheet,” “this is an important definition,” “be sure to write down the examples so it is easier to differentiate between physical and chemical change.” I only made these comments because some of the students in the front row were just watching me write the notes and not following along. This experience reiterated to me that I need to speak clearly of my expectations to the class. Another example was during the lab, I didn’t make it clear first hour that the students should be cleaning up after themselves at each station. I learned that lesson and adjusted my instructions appropriately during 2-4th hour. The students were very receptive and only once in awhile forgot to clear their station. After notetaking the students had about 10 minutes of class left so I assigned their homework and asked them to work on it during class. I learned that most students did not complete their homework from over the weekend and had much to do so I decided not to correct the homework until the following day, Tuesday. During 2-4th hour I demanded that the students complete the entire packet during the class period after note-taking. I learned this early in the day that some students claimed to have completed the entire packet, but only completed one worksheet because they had homework for another class. I made it so that the students needed to show me they completed their packet so that they could work on a different activity (homework for another class).
Tuesday - Sept. 17th: In chemistry today we completed a boiling ice lab. The students had a fun time with it because they were out of their seats again and socializing in their lab groups. The task was to collect 2-3 ice cubes in a beaker, record initial temp, place on a hot plate and stir the thermometer continuously. Taking readings every minute, recording melting and boiling points, and then recording for another 5 minutes after boiling temp. Once students were done with their lab 1-2 hour went to their seats to complete their lab. However in 3rd hour the students just started to socialize so I made it required that they complete their lab and said that I wanted it completed in class today, to keep them on task. This made it easier for the students in 4th hour to know my expectations upfront at the beginning of class and they responded well to it. So I’ve been trying to adjust my expectations from 2nd to 3rd hour. During FoS today the students took their plate tectonics retake exam and then we started the wattsville activity. The students had to look up vocabulary terms such as: Earthquake, Epicenter, Richter scale, Modified Mercalli Scale, Intensity, Isoseismal, etc. The students were provided with a Modified Mercalli Scale, a map of Wattsville, and a script that had 24 callers describe the effects they felt and where they felt them. Then the students had to rate each callers’ description using the Mercalli Scale and write the intensity level on the map. This activity was an individual activity for the students because they had too much social time with the map activity. The students whined when we said individual work, but I think it was interesting to learn how the students did on their own. Some were very productive, some distracted other people from their work and others were not able to focus. For example, Paul could not focus on his activity at all during the day. I think he had a hard time with understanding the assignment so I worked with him for 5 minutes and then I went to the next person. I learned that Kyle has trouble with understanding instructions, he didn’t get all of the details I said. I expected this activity to be done by the end of class but the students weren’t close. I decided they would have time tomorrow to complete their activity in class.
Wednesday - Sept. 18th: Today we discussed the boiling ice lab. I showed them a bar graph (student population’s favorite color) and asked what it was measuring. The students responded it was a poll. I explained how bar graphs are used to compare population interest. Then I asked why should we use a line graph? The students responded, “so we can see the change over time.” Then I showed them a line graph that had no axis labels, “what is this graph measuring?” The students couldn’t answer. I said, “I don’t know, I have numbers but they have no significance because I don’t know what it’s measuring.” Then I asked, “how could this graph be better?” The students responded with axis labels. Then I showed them another graph this one with axis labels, units, however the graph was on a small scale. I asked the students what was in parenthesis next to the axis labels, they responded with units and we talked about temperature, “You asked me yesterday which degrees celsius or fahrenheit you should measure in. Don’t you think the person who reads your graph is going to ask the same question?” The students all nodded their head. Then we discussed how it was hard to read the scale for the people in the back of the room. “How could we make this line graph more visually appealing?” The response was, “adjust the scale.” I had 1 or 2 students show me how they would adjust the scale. Then I showed them an appropriate line graph complete with a title. I asked the students to make sure their graphs resembled this graph and they made notes. Then we discussed possible error during their lab. I personally found this topic boring so I tried to make it interesting/exciting by walking around the room with my examples and provide them with some energy. I wanted to experiment and see if the students responded better when I was moving around or if I was at the front of the room taking notes on the SMARTboard. I think they responded better when I was moving around because they weren’t expecting it. Then we jumped into discussing states of matter: solids, liquids, gases and I handed out note packets. We took notes as a class on the smart board and I provided them with an analogy for each state of matter, that applied to them as a student. As a solid, “you are in your desk, not free moving, you’re not walking to get a kleenex or go to the bathroom, but maybe you are using your calculator like Shelton, or you drink a glass of water like Avery, or you comb your hair like Trey.” The students responded to my observations and giggled a bit, but the students that I mentioned lit up a bit. Then I explained, as a liquid picture yourself going to the cafeteria or your next class, you are free moving, however you can only move as fast as the person in front of you. You are confined to the hallway and you can’t just bump pass someone in front of you. You are a mannered particle. You’re better than that.” The students laughed at that analogy and they all nodded their heads in understanding so they continued to stay focused. Then I explained, “as a gas particle you are leaving school, you are no longer contained and you go to the parking lot and you disperse. You drive your car home, everyone goes their own separate ways.”
Thursday - Sept. 19th: For FoS I wanted to discuss the Wattsville activity but since the students didn’t complete all of it I wanted to test their understanding of the Modified Mercalli Scale. Each student had their own Mercalli Scale and I provided the students with images from the Japan earthquake/tsunami on the SMARTboard. As a class we decided what the intensity level was. When a student shouted out an intensity level they had to justify their reasoning. I felt this drove student participation and this class is very unmotivated however they are social butterflies. So this activity was a fun way to channel their social energy. After this presentation the students completed a seismogram activity where they had to identify the P and S waves and calculate the magnitude of the earthquake. The instructions were pretty explanatory and the students that finished first were very helpful when I asked for them to assist a fellow student that had a question, while I was helping other students. Today I passed back their plate tectonics retake quiz, some students did much better and some didn’t improve at all. If a student did not improve I instructed them to study their notes when they were done with the class period. Travis said he didn’t have his notes and I provided him with a copy, I didn’t want to provide him with an excuse to fail. He was very responsive and studied the notes I gave him.
Friday - Sept. 20th: Today in FoS, I planned to have a presentation for the students to learn and be involved. We took notes on Earthquakes, I provided them with a fill-in-the-blank note sheet. The students followed along during the presentation and were highly involved. I would ask the class questions and if they answered I would refer to their answers throughout the lesson. So for example, I asked what the epicenter was since we defined it on our notesheet about earthquakes. Then I had travis say it was under the surface and I had Issac say it was on the center of the earth. I asked Travis to explain further what he was trying to say. He said it’s the most intense spot and it is from under the earth. I explained his answer to the class and said that Isaac is correct the Epicenter is on the surface of the earth, however underneath the epicenter, in the earth we call that the focus. Then I provided them with a picture so the class could see the correct understanding. Throughout the lesson we referred to the focus and the epicenter occasionally but when it was discussed I would say, “As Travis explained the focus is located…” and “As Isaac explained, the epicenter is located here and it…” When I would do this their face would light up and they would smile. I could only see this but I was happy that my words had a positive effect on them and it reinforced others to participate. I had DeVanna asking curious questions, I had Reese and Donald trying to make analogies for their understanding. Even if everyone wasn’t involved I still felt that their energy was palpable through the class. We even got to show a few clips in class, a tsunami in thailand and liquefaction in Christchurch. The students found these clips really appealing and intriguing, they started asking further questions. Today was a good day with these students I feel like I know what motivates some of them and I’m still trying to figure out how to differentiate for the other students. This week has been a blast and I’m going to do some more experimenting.
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