Reflection- Second Observation and Learning Beyond Memorization

    Reflection- Second Observation and Learning Beyond Memorization

The recent classroom experience that I will grow from was my second observation of the semester. My first observation went reasonably well, but I knew there were areas in which I could improve heading into my second observation. For example, I wanted to do a better job of engaging all students during class discussions, so I made a concerted effort to give each student the opportunity to participate during our discussions. Similarly, I wanted to utilize a more effective closure activity since time slipped away from me during my last observation. This was the first unit-review lesson I had the opportunity to plan and execute, and I thought it was a good experience that I can replicate going forward. We used review activities at three different stations to help the students review for their unit test. I noted in my last blog post that we’d had a lot of success using stations in our previous classes, and they once again paid off in a big way. Stations appeal to various learning styles and keep students engaged because they aren’t doing one thing for too long. I even planned ahead and had additional activities designed for those students who finished early, which my University mentor said was a good idea to have for any lesson. The best part of the lesson, in my opinion, was the concluding discussion. I ended the lesson by revisiting the essential question that students read at the beginning of class each day: how are living things alike? This question asks students to integrate content from throughout the unit and relates what we’ve learned in class to real-life, and I was ecstatic about how well the discussion went. Using the essential question to wrap things up at the end of a lesson is something I hope to do repeatedly in the future. It was also interesting that we learned about the Charlotte-Danielson framework during the week of my observation, allowing me to use the readings from that module to prepare myself as best as possible.

    One of the major themes of our MAT program thus far has been implementing a curriculum that goes beyond fact memorization towards the development of the skills and mindsets embodied by real-world scientists. Our classes should therefore provide students with the opportunities to think, read, write, and behave like scientists do. To accomplish this, we must first capture student interest with engaging opportunities. I think inquiry is especially effective partially because students learn better when they want to learn. If students are studying something that interest them or is relevant to their everyday lives, motivation and engagement will be higher than if students don’t care about what they are learning. This is why providing opportunities for student engagement is crucial in a STEM classroom, and my Action Research project is designed around improving engagement and achievement through inquiry. Reflection is another important component of STEM lessons. Something I’ve heard that has stuck with me for a while is that we do not learn from experiences, rather, we learn from reflecting on experiences. Reflection allows one to consider how their understanding of something has changed based on an experience. Does this new experience agree with my previous understanding, or do I have to rethink what I “know” based on new evidence? Furthermore, one can use a reflection tool such as this blog to pose questions that frame future learning. Having students reflect on their learning is a small, but significant, way to consolidate learning. Using engaging activities and reflection promote habits that will make students successful lifelong learners. In my experience, these practices aren’t especially difficult to implement in the classroom. Student engagement can be captured with demonstrations, lab activities, videos, or even intriguing questions. The key is to use a variety of techniques because not every student will be “turned on” by the same thing. For reflection, students can keep journals that they regularly write in, allowing them to consider what they’ve learned in a given period of time. Both of these methods take learning beyond fact memorization. I know from experience that the facts students memorize in school will be forgotten with time, but the skills and mindsets students develop will stick with them for much longer, leading to success beyond the classroom.

Reflection- Station Teaching and Asking Questions

Reflection- Station Teaching and Asking Questions

One of the strategies my mentor teacher and I have been using recently is station teaching. Science is certainly a great subject for student-centered learning, and having a second teacher in the classroom allows you to split the class up and get more done in less time. The recommendation to use more station teaching came from our school’s principal himself, so we’ve made a conscious effort to better use the space and resources available in our room. When we introduced the various organelles to our students, for example, we used three stations. At the first station, students used their textbook to label and color plant and animal cells. The second station required students to use the prepared PowerPoint to complete a table of the organelle functions. Finally, students at the third station completed a Venn diagram that compared animal, plant, and bacteria cells. This approach to the organelles is definitely more student-centered than lecturing the class for an extended period of time, and it prevents the students from becoming disengaged because they have the right amount of time to complete their task before switching stations. The stations have worked so well thus far, we’ve decided to use it again to review for their upcoming exam. It’s also nice from a classroom management perspective because both teachers are responsible responsible for only half the room, and I can better meet the needs of struggling learners with the reduced student-to-teacher ratio that station teaching provides.

   

    I recognize that station teaching isn’t always a possibility in classrooms for obvious logistical reasons, but I think if the opportunity presents itself to use station teaching, it’s certainly worth a try. Our foundations-level class, for instance, has an aide that works with them during every period of the day. For the first few weeks of the school year, she helped students stay organized and on-task, but recently, the shift to more station-teaching has given her a more active role in the instruction. This approach utilizes her abilities better than a more traditional approach, and makes classroom management much easier. On the days I’m there, having three teachers means that each of us has responsibility for a small group of students and a single activity, which I prefer when compared to having a primary teacher and two assistants. During whole class discussions, I’ve noticed that certain students can become disengaged and fall off task, forcing the teacher to slow everyone else down by addressing the issue. With small groups, student behavior is much improved, and having stations that appeal to different learning styles should support differentiation, too. Utilizing stations in a classroom with one teacher has some problems, but if I ever have the opportunity to co-teach, I’ll use my internship experience to design lessons that maximize engagement and learning with stations.

    One of the practices my mentor teacher does that allows students to pursue knowledge of their own interests is ask them what they want to learn at the beginning of a new unit. She’ll show the students a video or demonstration that introduces the next topic, then ask the students what they want to learn by the end of the unit. As members of the class shares their responses, she writes these questions down on post-it notes so that she can check-off the questions as they’re answered throughout the unit. For questions that would otherwise remain unanswered, she does some research on her own to ensure that no student is unsatisfied. I think this approach is interesting because it allows my mentor teacher to work with the natural curiosity of the students. Then, at the end of the unit, students can look back on these questions and reflect on how much they’ve learned since those questions were asked. In my future classroom, I hope to use a similar technique in conjunction with learning objectives to serve as progress bars for student learning. At the beginning of each unit, we’ll go over the learning objectives for that unit, and students will add questions of their own to the list. If this list is displayed prominently in the classroom, it can serve as visual reminder to students of their progression. Then, we can consciously reflect on these at certain points of the unit. For example, I can ask students to respond to questions such as the following in their journals: “Right now, how confident are you in your ability to complete this learning objective?” or “Now that we’re halfway through the unit, are there any more questions you’d like answered?” Encouraging students to reflect on their learning will ideally encourage self-regulation, a crucial skill to learn in adolescence.   

    The idea of using student-generated questions appeals to me because different students will want to take different things away from the same class. The learning objectives created by the school district and/or teacher outline what all students should be able to do by the end of the class, but having students create their own personal “mini-objectives” by asking questions and setting goals allows me to help them to tailor the learning to their own interests. When I was a student, I didn’t pay much attention to the learning outcomes listed in the course syllabus. I understand their importance now more than ever, so I hope to have students be more cognizant of them and perhaps even take a more active role in their construction when I become a teacher. If nothing else, I expect this approach will help some students see the value in what they are learning even if they don’t pursue a career in the sciences.