Purpose:The purpose of this set of video was to show the process of a lesson in a classroom with children that resemble those pre-service teachers will be working with. The video links were categorized into the different sections of a lesson including large group time, transitions, small group work and the products. Through these videos, viewers saw the interaction between students and teacher, the benefits of certain strategies and the weaknesses of others. It was not staged so human error on the child and teacher’s side occurred which only created a better learning moment for us as pre-service teachers.
Describe how the teacher’s questioning and the manner in which student responses are handled, contribute or do not contribute to a positive classroom learning environment.
I thought she did a great job of setting the students up for success rather than failure through her questions and discussion. She relayed a sense of support to the students before posing the question so that they felt confident volunteering and comfortable answering. She gave enough time between question and picking for students to formulate answers and rephrased questions if students seemed confused. There was a large amount of respect from the students, while the teacher was talking and they stayed quiet until she picked on someone to answer the questions. No one was ever made fun of for their answer, but rather redirected or encouraged by classmates or the teacher. The teacher, with the help of her students, created a very positive environment for group discussion which is hard, but so important in any classroom.
How do you determine if group work is appropriate and effective?
Before allowing the students to go off into small groups she asked volunteers to explain and repeat the instructions she had given. This was an opportunity for students to ask questions for clarification as well. By doing this, it created a structured transition into small group work and also give the students to start and do their work without having to stop for clarification. I think an obvious sign of group work being unsuccessful is if students are working alone, and not engaging in the group or if the entire group is off task. These things will happen but the work given at group time should be different enough from normal individual work that they stayed somewhat engaged. If repeating the instructions prior to engagement and students stay on task while engaged, this would show appropriateness of material and activity.
Propose a strategy for dealing with one or more of the student mistakes or misconceptions that arose during the lesson.
I think it is important to make sure a child feels comfortable being redirected and is comfortable with constructive criticism. Saying that I think some children would feel more comfortable being one-on-one with a teacher while getting assistance so that they could ask questions, where as some children might feel more comfortable in a group so that they do not feel singled out. There are most probably going to be more than one student who needs extra clarification or help but if a teacher knows their students they can assess the situation and see how to best group the students and help them. Also a student might just need to talk with another student to hear the information on a different level and that can be beneficial to both students.
Overall Reflection: During the videos on reflection I realized something new. When I think of reflecting, self-reflection, on the lesson I did with the class I thought more about how the students reacted, what went well, what could be improved, but I realized it is also important to reflect and make sure the key themes and curriculum ideas were hit. Debriefing with the students after a lesson is good also so that I know what they took away from it and how it can improve in the future. Overall I thought this set of videos was a great breakdown of the different aspects that goes into a lesson and the atmosphere. I liked the breakdown and reflection questions on misconceptions and responding because those are areas in which I could use help from good models.
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