I believe that being able to effectively lesson plan is a crucial part of being a great teacher. I take being prepared for teaching incredibly seriously and I find that having a well thought out and engaging lesson plan is key to teaching great lessons and ensuring that students are understanding what they are learning.
I had been introduced to lesson planning during my first two years at RDC, but I really became acquainted with it during PSI. It was extremely overwhelming at first, but as I created more and more lesson plans throughout my PSI practicum, I became more and more comfortable with it. During this time, I found the learning objectives and key questions to be the most challenging, in addition to feeling as though there was so much information that needed to be included in each lesson. Since planning my own lessons was so new to me, I felt as though I needed to include as much detail as possible in each lesson to prepare myself to teach them. Below are a couple of lessons from PSI, with respective reflections, that show where my level of planning was during that time.
I had been introduced to lesson planning during my first two years at RDC, but I really became acquainted with it during PSI. It was extremely overwhelming at first, but as I created more and more lesson plans throughout my PSI practicum, I became more and more comfortable with it. During this time, I found the learning objectives and key questions to be the most challenging, in addition to feeling as though there was so much information that needed to be included in each lesson. Since planning my own lessons was so new to me, I felt as though I needed to include as much detail as possible in each lesson to prepare myself to teach them. Below are a couple of lessons from PSI, with respective reflections, that show where my level of planning was during that time.
Reflection of 'Skip Counting Review' Lesson:
This lesson served as a review for skip counting by 5s, 10s, and 25s. I decided to set up different stations to keep students moving and actively participating in their learning. Each station allowed students to practice skip counting in a different way, providing students with various strategies to work on this skill. I also had students complete worksheets/activities to have them practice writing down their answers when skip counting as well. Throughout this lesson, I was really pleased with student engagement and participation. Students remained on task for the majority of the lesson and were able to smoothly transition from one station to the next. I am not yet very confident with having multiple different activities going on at once in the classroom, but overall I thought that this lesson when quite well. It was good for me to step outside of my comfort zone and try a variety of activities at once. I was quite nervous about the lesson, but its success has made me feel confident in trying similar lessons like this in the future. After this lesson, students were well prepared for their skip counting assessment, which occurred next class.
This lesson served as a review for skip counting by 5s, 10s, and 25s. I decided to set up different stations to keep students moving and actively participating in their learning. Each station allowed students to practice skip counting in a different way, providing students with various strategies to work on this skill. I also had students complete worksheets/activities to have them practice writing down their answers when skip counting as well. Throughout this lesson, I was really pleased with student engagement and participation. Students remained on task for the majority of the lesson and were able to smoothly transition from one station to the next. I am not yet very confident with having multiple different activities going on at once in the classroom, but overall I thought that this lesson when quite well. It was good for me to step outside of my comfort zone and try a variety of activities at once. I was quite nervous about the lesson, but its success has made me feel confident in trying similar lessons like this in the future. After this lesson, students were well prepared for their skip counting assessment, which occurred next class.
Reflection of 'Everybody Needs a Rock Reading Response' Lesson:
This lesson worked on responding to readings, which we had previously completed, and continued to work on, with various works of literature. The book that I chose to use for this lesson served as a great connection to the Rocks and Minerals unit that students completed before I began my practicum. Students responded well to the story and seemed pleased that they already had previous knowledge on the subject. Once students had picked their favourite rule from the book, they struggled a bit coming up with three reasons why it was their favourite. If I was to teach this lesson again, I may only have students record two reasons instead of three. Before students discussed their favourite rule with their partner, I had multiple students repeat what they were supposed to do next to me. This was an excellent way to ensure that students understood the instructions that were given, which avoided confusion once students were in partners. I will continue to use this strategy to check for understanding in the future. I found that this lesson was a little short, even with the sponge activities that I had planned, showing me the importance of knowing how long various activities will take. This knowledge of course comes with practice and experience, as well as the context that teaching occurs in. Overall, I thought this was really fun and engaging and students seemed to enjoy it as well.
This lesson worked on responding to readings, which we had previously completed, and continued to work on, with various works of literature. The book that I chose to use for this lesson served as a great connection to the Rocks and Minerals unit that students completed before I began my practicum. Students responded well to the story and seemed pleased that they already had previous knowledge on the subject. Once students had picked their favourite rule from the book, they struggled a bit coming up with three reasons why it was their favourite. If I was to teach this lesson again, I may only have students record two reasons instead of three. Before students discussed their favourite rule with their partner, I had multiple students repeat what they were supposed to do next to me. This was an excellent way to ensure that students understood the instructions that were given, which avoided confusion once students were in partners. I will continue to use this strategy to check for understanding in the future. I found that this lesson was a little short, even with the sponge activities that I had planned, showing me the importance of knowing how long various activities will take. This knowledge of course comes with practice and experience, as well as the context that teaching occurs in. Overall, I thought this was really fun and engaging and students seemed to enjoy it as well.
Although I felt fairly confident with lesson planning towards the end of my first practicum, I felt a little out of practice when I started completing lesson plans for PSII, as it had been over a year since my last practicum and planning experience. But, as soon as I got back into planning, I felt much better about it. I found that as my PSII practicum progressed, my lesson plans became less and less detailed, as my confidence increased and my reliance on my lesson plans throughout lessons decreased. Towards the end of practicum, I created a modified lesson plan template that I found made my planning easier, and was easier to follow along with when teaching. This template worked very well for me throughout the remainder of practicum as I completed my units. Below are a couple of lesson plans from PSII that show my level of planning at this point. They both use the earlier template, but show much less detail than lessons from PSI.
Reflection of 'Justice and Change' Lesson:
In the previous lesson, we had a excellent discussion about symbolism, which really helped students understand this lesson. They were able to easily recall material from this discussion during review at the beginning of this lesson, which was great to see. I was quite nervous about holding the mock justice circle for this lesson and I was unsure of how it was going to go, but it turned out so much better than I expected. Students understood the purpose of the activity and enjoyed getting up out of their desks and being provided the opportunity to express their opinion. Students on both sides of the justice circle were thinking deeply about their opinions and reasoning behind them, which is exactly what I wanted to see from this activity. The journal entry also went very well. This class really enjoyed doing journal entries and they served as an excellent way to see if students were doing their readings, comprehending what they were reading, and able to reflect on what they had read. I also wrote a journal entry while students were writing theirs and shared it with them during the next class. I enjoyed doing this and it showed students that I was as invested in the novel as they were. Overall, this was a really great lesson. It showed me the importance of getting students up and moving, no matter what grade they are in.
In the previous lesson, we had a excellent discussion about symbolism, which really helped students understand this lesson. They were able to easily recall material from this discussion during review at the beginning of this lesson, which was great to see. I was quite nervous about holding the mock justice circle for this lesson and I was unsure of how it was going to go, but it turned out so much better than I expected. Students understood the purpose of the activity and enjoyed getting up out of their desks and being provided the opportunity to express their opinion. Students on both sides of the justice circle were thinking deeply about their opinions and reasoning behind them, which is exactly what I wanted to see from this activity. The journal entry also went very well. This class really enjoyed doing journal entries and they served as an excellent way to see if students were doing their readings, comprehending what they were reading, and able to reflect on what they had read. I also wrote a journal entry while students were writing theirs and shared it with them during the next class. I enjoyed doing this and it showed students that I was as invested in the novel as they were. Overall, this was a really great lesson. It showed me the importance of getting students up and moving, no matter what grade they are in.
Reflection of 'Colours of the Wind' Lesson:
This lesson began with students finishing working on and presenting their memory transfer. This assignment focused on students applying what they read in previous chapters and recreating a specific part in the novel. Overall, the assignment was really well done and students showed lots of creativity and original thought. If I have the opportunity to teach this unit in the future, I would have students complete this project again. Due to the small size of this class (eight students), I was able to complete anecdotal reading notes on each student multiple times throughout practicum. During this class, I took notes on two students, focusing on their decoding, vocabulary development, comprehension, and fluency. My favourite part of this lesson was the rainbow activity. It was quite challenging for many students to describe various colours, but it was such a great activity to get them thinking deeply about the novel. Students also listened to an audiobook for one chapter of the novel, which students really enjoyed. Listening to a different voice teaches students about expression, fluency and accuracy, which are all very important reading skills that these students needed to develop. Overall, this was a successful lesson. Students enjoyed the activities and I was able to see a level of deep and critical thinking from them that I had not seen before.
This lesson began with students finishing working on and presenting their memory transfer. This assignment focused on students applying what they read in previous chapters and recreating a specific part in the novel. Overall, the assignment was really well done and students showed lots of creativity and original thought. If I have the opportunity to teach this unit in the future, I would have students complete this project again. Due to the small size of this class (eight students), I was able to complete anecdotal reading notes on each student multiple times throughout practicum. During this class, I took notes on two students, focusing on their decoding, vocabulary development, comprehension, and fluency. My favourite part of this lesson was the rainbow activity. It was quite challenging for many students to describe various colours, but it was such a great activity to get them thinking deeply about the novel. Students also listened to an audiobook for one chapter of the novel, which students really enjoyed. Listening to a different voice teaches students about expression, fluency and accuracy, which are all very important reading skills that these students needed to develop. Overall, this was a successful lesson. Students enjoyed the activities and I was able to see a level of deep and critical thinking from them that I had not seen before.
Coming into PSIII, I once again felt a little out of practice after about a year away from planning, but it did not take me long to feel confident in my lesson planning once again. I continued to use the template that I created towards the end of PSII, as I had had such success with it previously. As practicum progressed, I found that I was making my lesson plans less and less detailed and was referring to them less and less during my instruction. I enjoyed this feeling of confidence that I gained over time and by the end of my internship, I felt like a real teacher. I am sure that the way I create lesson plans will always be changing as I gain more and more experience, but as of now, I see myself using a very similar lesson plan approach to this one when I am teaching my own class in the near future. Below are a couple of lesson plans from PSIII from Science and Social that I taught, with respective reflections. They exhibit what level my planning is at in PSIII and the amount of detail that I required in order to deliver successful and engaging lessons.
Reflection of 'Hearing in Animals' Lesson:
Overall, I thought that the lesson went well. There was a student that was sick and had to go home part way through, which I am still learning how to manage while also teaching a lesson. I find that that always disrupts my lesson a little, but I feel that I handled that quite well. It was a good reminder for me that being flexible is a part of being a teacher. Doing the entrance slip at the beginning of the lesson was a great way for me to see how well students understood what we had discussed in the two previous lessons. I found that a large majority of the class were able to recall the material very well, which was great to see. I was pleased with student understanding and participation throughout this lesson. It was great to see that some students already knew about terms like echolocation prior to the lesson, and I am glad the lesson could add to their knowledge on the subject. I think that the videos I showed from Finding Dory and the song were both relatable and a great way to visualize the concept. The exit slip showed me how effective my teaching was today. We will need to review next class, but overall, there was good understanding. I think that students were engaged and interested in the lesson and listened to me and my instruction well. I feel that this is a great lesson to display my teaching and planning from PSIII.
Overall, I thought that the lesson went well. There was a student that was sick and had to go home part way through, which I am still learning how to manage while also teaching a lesson. I find that that always disrupts my lesson a little, but I feel that I handled that quite well. It was a good reminder for me that being flexible is a part of being a teacher. Doing the entrance slip at the beginning of the lesson was a great way for me to see how well students understood what we had discussed in the two previous lessons. I found that a large majority of the class were able to recall the material very well, which was great to see. I was pleased with student understanding and participation throughout this lesson. It was great to see that some students already knew about terms like echolocation prior to the lesson, and I am glad the lesson could add to their knowledge on the subject. I think that the videos I showed from Finding Dory and the song were both relatable and a great way to visualize the concept. The exit slip showed me how effective my teaching was today. We will need to review next class, but overall, there was good understanding. I think that students were engaged and interested in the lesson and listened to me and my instruction well. I feel that this is a great lesson to display my teaching and planning from PSIII.
Reflection of 'Services in Tunisia' Lesson:
This lesson served as an introduction to Services in Tunisia for students. It follows the textbook quite closely, as well as the Many Voices Teacher Resource. I had given students an exit slip in the previous lesson and decided to discuss both correct and incorrect answers at the beginning of class. I found this clarification very helpful for students who were confused and had written incorrect answers on their exit slips the day before. When teaching this lesson, I found that I had too many questions written down to ask the class. It was difficult for me to decipher which ones were crucial to ask and which ones were less important or not completely necessary. In future planning for Social, I will make sure to narrow down the questions I needed to answer in order to make my lesson plan easier to follow and ensure that students were learning the crucial material, in case I do not have time to get through everything that I had planned in a lesson. At this point in my practicum, I was finding it difficult to gather assessment (both formative and summative) in Social, but the journal reflection that I had students complete in this lesson gave me a great idea of where students understanding was after instruction and discussions during this lesson. I will continue to use this type of assessment in future lessons. My teacher mentor observed this lesson and she noted that this lesson did a great job of breaking up material into manageable chunks for students, which included a good variety of activities. Overall, the lesson was quite successful. During this lesson, I was starting to feel more confident in my ability to teach elementary Social Studies effectively.
This lesson served as an introduction to Services in Tunisia for students. It follows the textbook quite closely, as well as the Many Voices Teacher Resource. I had given students an exit slip in the previous lesson and decided to discuss both correct and incorrect answers at the beginning of class. I found this clarification very helpful for students who were confused and had written incorrect answers on their exit slips the day before. When teaching this lesson, I found that I had too many questions written down to ask the class. It was difficult for me to decipher which ones were crucial to ask and which ones were less important or not completely necessary. In future planning for Social, I will make sure to narrow down the questions I needed to answer in order to make my lesson plan easier to follow and ensure that students were learning the crucial material, in case I do not have time to get through everything that I had planned in a lesson. At this point in my practicum, I was finding it difficult to gather assessment (both formative and summative) in Social, but the journal reflection that I had students complete in this lesson gave me a great idea of where students understanding was after instruction and discussions during this lesson. I will continue to use this type of assessment in future lessons. My teacher mentor observed this lesson and she noted that this lesson did a great job of breaking up material into manageable chunks for students, which included a good variety of activities. Overall, the lesson was quite successful. During this lesson, I was starting to feel more confident in my ability to teach elementary Social Studies effectively.