Lesson 1
Grade 12 Run-On Sentences Lesson
Grade 12 Run-On Sentences Slides
Reflection:
I was more nervous than I expected! I froze a bit at the beginning of this lesson as I called the class to attention and introduced the hook activity. I needed to take some deep breaths before starting and be ready with my “why” to boldly say what we are doing and why we are doing it. I also think it will take practice for me to teach high schoolers because they are closer to my age and I have less experience working in this setting with this age group. (I have worked with teenagers at youth group and summer camp, but I have not at a school in a teaching position.)
Fortunately, the students are kind and generous with me. I am glad my first lesson was with friendly students who like the subject and want to be there. At the end of the lesson, a student thanked me and said I would make a great teacher! She was so sweet.
In his feedback for me, my mentor teacher noted that:
- Students were engaged and involved
- I recomposed myself after a mistake/nervousness
- I checked for understanding and generally got verbal assent
- I have built rapport with students to invite their participation
- I learned that I need my notes to match the order of what I write on the board. [I accidentally wrote on the board in a different order, so I almost explained two definitions in the wrong order]
- He said it might be a good idea to give students the definitions of terms on a handout so they can confidently master it.
- He noticed that I pointed out the beauty and utility of a well-done compound-complex sentence.
- He saw I pointed out the fact that there are several ways to fix a run-on sentence.
Based on his perceptions, the next time I teach I will continue to do much of what I am doing. I will teach this lesson again, so in that lesson, I will make a handout that has definitions of run-on sentences and each correct sentence type. I like this piece of advice because it makes students more likely to remember the content. They have a resource they can look back at when they forget how to build a sentence so they do not have to worry about retaining all the information we discussed today.
Lesson 2
Grade 10 Run-On Sentences Lesson
Grade 10 Run-On Sentences Slides
Reflection:
I taught the run-on sentence lesson again! I know I was nervous last time, so I prepared a lot more for today. I watched videos and read articles about the nitty-gritty details related to sentences. Whenever I found something that confused me, I wrote the concept down to look up that word as well. Many of the videos were aimed at English Language Learners, so they were very technical. I learned more information than I needed to know and than I would talk about so my teaching was built on a firm, confident foundation.
The grade 10s were engaged and receptive to the lesson! They understood my instructions better because I spoke more clearly. I used my mentor teacher’s feedback and created a vocabulary sheet. Students referred to this as they filled out their worksheets. They generally had fewer questions because the definitions were readily available to them.
I found that because I did my research and understood the “why” behind every concept, I was able to connect the elements of my lesson more seamlessly. Transitions were smooth. My pacing was also better. Last time, the lesson ran longer than expected. Today, I knew that could happen, so I changed the amount of time I talked about certain things so there was more time for the parts that took a while. I also had a more firm start and end time to when students did their worksheets.
I learned about assessment through this because my mentor teacher let me put proficiency marks on half of the worksheets with him. He taught me how he would determine each proficiency level for an assignment like this, and he talked about assessing the specific learning target rather than extra pieces that might have mistakes (like spelling). This aligns with standards-based grading from EDUC 401. I was grateful for his patience as I asked a lot of questions. I wanted to be sure to do this right because students would see their formative assessment level on the paper.
One thing he said I could improve is my introduction. I need to find a way to have a clear start time that is filled with energy. When I begin, it is unclear that I am ready, and I have less energy than in the middle, when I have built up enthusiasm. Maybe I need to do some jumping jacks in the morning before I go to school.
Lesson 3
Reflection:
I completed my final lesson! I was quite anxious today because there was a substitute teacher. I was not sure how we would organize the lesson starting time and what the teacher would be like. I am grateful my boyfriend said he would pray for me while the lesson was happening.
It did not start amazingly. I came in at my starting time and the substitute teacher thought I was a late student. It was kind of funny, but was also an awkward moment. She looked at me like I was in trouble and asked if I had a late slip. I was confused at first because I was just coming to her desk to introduce myself–not to hand in a late slip. Fortunately, she was friendly and laughed it off after we figured it out. She said that happened to her a lot when she was a young teacher too, and it would happen less as I got older. It turns out she had thought the student teacher would be male because “Riley” is a name used for either gender. (When I told my mentor teacher about this over email, he said he was laughing so hard about the confusion).
The lesson went great though! I was confident and cohesive, and I created a workshop that the students had a lot of fun experimenting with! It was my best lesson by far.
The TOC gave me feedback, kindly:
- “You know your lesson very well”
- “Materials were all organized”
- “Great class attention at the introduction and participation during the disclosure”
- “I love your honesty with the class” [She told me afterwards that this was about a potential mistake I mentioned. I said something like “I hope the matching on this slide shows the right answers” because I wasn’t sure of the technology. She said humility is good for showing students I am human.]
- She mentioned that students didn’t move around the room to stations very much, and it could be nice for me to specify the amount of movement I wanted from them. It is good to know what I want and communicate it clearly.
- “Students were focused during the activity”
- One station in the corner did not have many people at it. She said I could have asked more students to try that type of poem.
- “Excellent moving around the classroom and checking in with students.”
- “Many off-topic discussions beginning to take place”
- “Have more encouragement to try other poem types”
- “At the ending, you did great gathering attention. Wait a bit longer for everyone to focus on you.”
- “For the final activity, you assigned them to new groups. That’s great. They needed that because they weren’t taking the initiative to move on their own.”
- “I love that you are engaged and enjoying their work with them.”
- “While you are teaching, keep track of your students. _____________ has missed most of the class.” [One girl left because she received a serious phone call. During setup, I didn’t notice her leave. Because I don’t know the students very well, I didn’t notice she was gone. This piece of feedback made me aware of the fact that I need to be noticing all the working pieces of the classroom. Who is where and what are they doing?]
Based on this feedback I need to clarify what I expect from students more and enforce what I say, keep my eyes open for distracted students to redirect them, and wait for quiet before talking. This third piece is crucial for me. I notice it at my job as well. It is uncomfortable to wait for quiet. It feels nicer to fill the space and give instructions right away. But speaking before there is quiet means that not all students will hear me, and it also teaches the class that it is okay to speak over me. That is not a great classroom management practice.
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