Instructional Strategies: The practitioner understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students' development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.
"How are you selecting students to answer or volunteer in class? Do you use some sort of method (e.g., alphabetical; based on PBIS points; start with quiet students)?"
Monday: During the 4th hour I called on a student, Dane, multiple times because he kept answering my questions but not loud enough for the class to hear. So I asked Dane to repeat what he said and he got upset and defensive that I had called on him. He said that he didn’t say anything. Then I replied, “ you have the correct answer just say it louder so the class can hear.” He refused to say anything. During the lesson I asked specific questions and learned that I should ask broader questions so more students are encouraged to answer them.
Tuesday: I found myself demanding interaction throughout the lesson. I asked the students to participate and answer questions. Most of my questions were specific but the answers were in their note packets, I didn’t think it was too much to ask the students to follow along with the lesson. So I asked the class, “I need all of you to pull out your note packets that you received yesterday. This lesson needs you to follow along and I want you to have these notes for your homework tonight.” The class responded immediately and got out their notes. Some students weren’t focused on the lesson and would talk while I was explaining the lesson. In order to confront those students I would ask them questions that were specific but would be easy enough to answer if they were following along with the notes. I picked on Losiel because he was having a side conversation and using his phone to text others. Ms. Brown says she has a rule about “no cellphones” but she never enforces it so it makes me feel like the bad guy if I call people out for having their cell phones present. Instead I’ve found myself asking students individually to put their cell phones away when they should be working on something else.
Wednesday: Most of the students in 4th hour had all of their worksheet completed. So I asked a few students, Terry and Tashay, if they would be comfortable giving their answers to the class. Terry said sure. When I called on him in class he was a little shocked because he wasn’t following along and didn’t know where we were then he was able to give me the correct answer. However he wasn’t capable of explaining it, so we went over it as a class. Tashay had asked a question on his worksheet about rounding sig. figs. When we walked through it together he got the answer and understood why. So I asked him if it would be okay for me to call on him during class for the answer, he said sure. When I asked him for his answer in front of the class he owned it. I just let Tashay give me the answer then I explained they “why” to the class. Today I experimented with different types of checks for understanding. I started asking the class to raise their hands all at once and give me a thumbs up if you’re good or a thumbs down if you’re not good. I started checking in with the class frequently because I noticed lots of students are on different levels. I found that it helps to explain concepts/answers in detail. However some students already understand the logic behind a concept/answer and they get bored when I slow the class down to explain the concept further/repeatedly for those students who are confused. I still need to work on asking different questions. Since I was on a time schedule today I could have asked my questions faster and demanded answers faster, instead of asking in depth questions as to “how did you get that answer?” Today I approached Dane in my 3rd hour and apologized to him for picking on him during class, I explained, “I didn’t mean to pick on you, I just thought I heard you saying the correct answers and I wanted you to tell the class because it is one thing to hear it from me, but another thing to hear it from you.” He said, “you didn’t tease me, I was saying the answer I just was surprised you asked me and I felt uncomfortable sharing my answer so I lied.” I replied, “That’s okay, but you deserve to get credit for your answers and I admire your knowledge I just want to build your confidence and have you share it with the class. Next time don’t be afraid to speak up.” He said, “all-right.”
Thursday: After confronting 3rd hour yesterday about their note sheets they were prepared for today’s lesson. I’m glad I spoke up during 3rd hour because it resonated with the students. Same with 4th hour, ever since my efforts with Dane the students learned that I expect them to participate. During the Percent Error lesson I explained the importance/value of percent error. I asked one student to stand in front of the class and have the class guess their height. Then I threw out a measurement 10 inches off. My guess had a percent error about 30%. Where as, if I estimated the distance of my house (90 miles away), 10 feet off, not a big deal, there is an acceptable percent error. Percent error seemed to click for the students. During the lesson I asked the students to read the equation from their notes while I wrote it on the board. I wrote the equation without the absolute value brackets on purpose and I asked the class “what is my equation missing, look at the numerator.” Some classes knew they were called absolute value brackets, some did not, however they still replied with brackets. As a class we clarified absolute value as the absolute measurement from zero. Some class got through all 3 practice problems (3rd and 4th.)
Friday: As a class we defined matter as “anything that has mass and takes up space (volume).” Then we broke up matter into two different categories. During 1st hour the class knew everything about matter. 2nd hour knew almost everything. Both hours had great questions, however I found myself answering their questions instead of staying directed with the lesson. In order to adjust my lesson I didn’t ask the class as many questions during 3rd and 4th, instead I wrote the notes on the board and then I would provide a few examples. I didn’t leave the lesson open to discussion until we got to the practice problems. As a class we read the description of 10 different substances and classified them as different types of matter. After the practice problems I had the classes start on their homework problems. Lots of students took advantage of the time given to them. I enjoyed today’s lesson because no matter what I had people sitting on the edge of their seat. I don’t know if it was because the previous lessons were boring and in this lesson you could start to discuss elements. The class was great and there was a great energy. I liked asking the class questions about classification and I was proud when I heard their reasons for justifying their answers.
No comments:
Post a Comment