(Reflection)
Brief Description of the Lesson
Sam, Lindsey, and I were surprised at how much the behavior of our group of students changed between our first and second lesson. We anticipated quite a few behavior issues during the lesson, which was why we decided to begin by talking about some ground rules. Victor (2008) talks about the importance of establishing and maintaining "clearly understood classroom procedures, definitions, instructions, and expectations" (p. 47). During our first lesson, we did not explain the procedures or our expectations prior to the lesson. We also decided who was going to get which materials on the spot and some students were unhappy with these decisions. We learned from that lesson and intentionally chose who would get each type of material during our meeting prior to the second lesson. We also discussed why we thought each particular student might be interested in getting that material. We hoped that structuring the learning environment by controlling classroom materials would minimize the amount of arguing (Victor, 2008, p. 47).
Since we spent less time managing behavioral issues, we were able to have more substantial discussions. I thought that it was great that the students were so interested in revising their previous ideas about ecosystems. For example, during the terrarium lesson, one student said "worms are going to eat the soil". When we reviewed that part of the poster during the aquarium lesson, one student wanted to change it to "worms eat dead fruit to make it into soil". I replied, "You revised your thinking and that's what scientists do." (5:41) They also posed some further questions about some of the terminology that they previously used. (i.e. "What is the difference between neutralizing and eating?" (7:16)) When we talked about the things that go into aquariums, one student wanted to know "What type of plants and water go into aquariums? Do real or plastic plants go in there?" She also brought up the difference between fresh and saltwater. I was excited that they had so much to say during the review and discussion part of the lesson!
Since we spent less time managing behavioral issues, we were able to have more substantial discussions. I thought that it was great that the students were so interested in revising their previous ideas about ecosystems. For example, during the terrarium lesson, one student said "worms are going to eat the soil". When we reviewed that part of the poster during the aquarium lesson, one student wanted to change it to "worms eat dead fruit to make it into soil". I replied, "You revised your thinking and that's what scientists do." (5:41) They also posed some further questions about some of the terminology that they previously used. (i.e. "What is the difference between neutralizing and eating?" (7:16)) When we talked about the things that go into aquariums, one student wanted to know "What type of plants and water go into aquariums? Do real or plastic plants go in there?" She also brought up the difference between fresh and saltwater. I was excited that they had so much to say during the review and discussion part of the lesson!
Reflection
During our previous lesson, I suggested that we have one student read one step of the procedure out loud at a time. We realized that having the students read the procedure took a lot of time. For the aquarium lesson, the student teachers went over the procedure prior to teaching and delegated tasks. This way, during our second lesson we were able to read the procedure out loud and each student teacher was able to take her student to retrieve the necessary materials. I think this part went well in that no one argued over who got which materials. I think we did a good job pairing each student up with a job that interested them. However, we did not anticipate how long this was going to take. As I noted on my video via Edthena, our lesson showed that we valued equality over efficiency. We let two students take turns getting one cup of water at a time which ended up taking up a lot of our time. I think had we shortened the discussion (which I don't necessarily think would have been a good thing) and/or made our material collecting process more efficient, the students might have been able to spend more time on drawing and labeling their aquarium worksheet. Since we ran out of time near the end, two students didn't get to finish their representations of the aquarium and the other two students didn't have time to even start their representations of the aquarium. This was an issue because one of our major forms of assessment was to see if the students could represent and identify the different aspects of what went into the aquarium. However, I think our discussion was very important because it helped us understand the students' thinking and interests and I think it showed them that we valued their ideas and felt like their questions were worth discussing.
In terms of what this lesson accomplished, I feel like the students began to understand what makes an ecosystem. However, I think that we could have at least introduced the idea of how each aspect of the aquarium is interdependent on other aspects of the aquarium. I think the students were able to work toward developing some important qualities of scientists (and all people!). I believe this lesson gave them an opportunity to practice revising their thinking, developing and asking questions, working collaboratively to accomplish a task, and collecting data. Most importantly, I think the students enjoyed getting the materials and constructing their own aquarium.
After reviewing my observer's comments, I got the sense that my strengths were that:
We both agreed that:
In terms of what this lesson accomplished, I feel like the students began to understand what makes an ecosystem. However, I think that we could have at least introduced the idea of how each aspect of the aquarium is interdependent on other aspects of the aquarium. I think the students were able to work toward developing some important qualities of scientists (and all people!). I believe this lesson gave them an opportunity to practice revising their thinking, developing and asking questions, working collaboratively to accomplish a task, and collecting data. Most importantly, I think the students enjoyed getting the materials and constructing their own aquarium.
After reviewing my observer's comments, I got the sense that my strengths were that:
- I was good at connecting and communicating with students. Amanda said, "You seem patient and accommodating with the kids. I like that you touched this student's shoulder, since he couldn't see you." (2:15) She also noted, "You sometimes tried to get down to the student's level, at the height at which they are sitting. I think this is effective because it gives things more of a team-work type of feel and might make them more comfortable in tackling topics or tasks in a discussion and group work format. (3:04)"
- I encouraged students to share their thinking and valued all questions. Amanda said, "I like that you wrote down their question, because it was genuine and it shows them that what they 'say' and 'think' are important to the lesson." (7:29) She also noted, "It's great that you guys allowed the kids to dig deep into their own discussion - yay for conceptual understanding!" (14:32) This relates to what Victor (2008) was saying about the importance of displaying and demanding respect for all ideas, skills, and experiences of all students (p. 48).
- I was able to work with both of my students fairly seamlessly. I noted that, "It was kind of difficult for me to work with Aaron and Jason because they were opposite from each other. I decided it would be more important to separate Allan and Haley from each other than it would be to keep Jason and Aaron next to each other so it would be convenient for me. " (18:39). Amanda thought, "I think you made the most out of the classroom management situation and desk arrangement. Throughout the lesson, you smoothly move around from student to student in a way that is not distracting, and you were able to individually help those couple of students effectively." (18:51) This relates to how Victor (2008) cautioned against spending too much time with a single student (p. 49).
- Amanda thought our group's strategy of assigning one student teacher for one or two students was successful. "Your group seems to have taken the approach of working on different things and with different students, simultaneously. Whether that was planned or not, this was an awesome way to implement the lesson with. You were getting a lot done and each student was getting attention and instruction by at least one co-teacher at a time." (23:29)
We both agreed that:
- Some things that we would have liked to have gone deeper into had to be sacrificed for the sake of time. I asked, "Do you think it would be important to talk about which seeds grew and what each type of plant looks like now? Or do you think that would be too much time spent on reviewing last week?" (5:27) and Amanda replied, "MY group had the same question when writing up our lesson plan and all of us agreed that given the time constraints, we would only allot a couple of minutes for a general review. It would be easier to go more in-depth with the terrarium if we had 2 hours as opposed to 1!" (5:27).
- It is important to have some additional information or definitions on hand. (My group and I did not really do this!) I asked, "The students are naturally having a debate about 'neutralizing'. What could we have done to either facilitate this debate or steer it in a direction that relates to what we're learning about ecosystems?" (7:16) to which Amanda replied, "I think the best way to approach these types of conversations is to prepare by having a connection or definition ready to share with them (I'm still working on this myself!). Then again, it's really not easy to address every question and debate when we only have 45-60 minutes for the lesson." (7:16)
- During the time when the students were taking turns retrieving the materials, we did not specify what the other students should be doing at that time. I asked myself, "What are the other students supposed to be doing while they get the materials?" (17:57). Amanda offered some good ideas. "Ideas: starting a discussion about what's going to happen next or asking students to think about / predict what the item being brought over is going to look like." (17:57)
- Time management is VERY important!! We spent a lot more time on the review and material collection than we had anticipated. I noted, "We spent about 10 minutes reviewing our terrarium from last week. Maybe spend less time on this!! (We might have gotten to the drawing our observations on the worksheet if we cut this section down.)" (13:00). Regarding the water collection, I noted, "To save time, maybe we could have gone together." (17:49). Amanda agreed, "Yes, probably. Our group realized this later for our own lesson as well." (17:49). Later on, I noticed that I asked Amanda for the time. "This is a reoccurring issue for me. I am always asking for the time! I should get a watch. (The problem is that I usually use my phone as a clock, but in this case I didn't have it with me and during my other lessons, Rachel was using my phone to record.)" (28:04) Amanda replied, "That's okay! I think this was an issue for all of our groups ....time management. The benefit of checking the time was that you were able to pace yourself and keep track of how much time you have left. The downside is that it could get repetitive and potentially make the kids feel rushed? But it needed to be done!"
- This lesson would look very different and be a lot more difficult to carry out with a whole class. I noticed, "There are a lot of different things going on. Would this be feasible without so many of us?" (22:32). Amanda commented, "Yes, there are a lot of things going on in this lesson. I am not sure if it would be feasible without this many co-teachers given our circumstances (having such little time)." (22:32).
Student Artifacts
Below are the worksheets that the students in our group created. The front side of the worksheet was a data collection table. The back side of the worksheet was an image of an empty bottle. The students were asked to draw what they saw in their aquarium and label the parts. Unfortunately, we were only able to spend two minutes on drawing the aquarium representation picture.
In our Lesson Plan, we said that our assessment would entail a collectively created chart and a worksheet for data collection and a representation of the aquarium and its components.
In our Lesson Plan, we said that our assessment would entail a collectively created chart and a worksheet for data collection and a representation of the aquarium and its components.
"The worksheets that the students will use to record their data about the organisms will assess whether they understand the basic components of the ecosystem that they have created. The teachers will examine their data tables, drawings, and labels. After making observations, the teachers will assess understanding based on the predictions that the students will make about their ecosystem."
Overall, I think the students were able to identify the components of the aquarium and record some observations about each. We did not have enough time to make predictions about the aquarium. I was able to examine each student's data table and drawings (when possible) and use my observations to make some hypotheses about their understanding and possible next steps.
Haley: She was able to record some data about amount and size. One of her strengths was to include the unit or label with her data (i.e. "cups", "elodea", "cm"). However, she wrote each amount as she counted. This led me to believe that she might not have realized that she only had to record the last number that she counted (Is this an issue of hierarchical inclusion or unfamiliarity with data collection and recording?). For example, under "Water" she wrote, "1 cup, 2 cup, 3 cup, 4 cup, 5 cup, 6 cup, 7 cup, 8, 9, 10" instead of writing "10 cups". In terms of next steps for her data collection, I could introduce the idea of keeping track of counting by writing tally marks. Also, although I recognize that the students did not have much time to fill in their data collection table, I also think I could challenge her to give more description under "other observations".
Allan: He was good at describing the things we put into the aquarium. He described the gravel as "grey and wite", "rough", and "circular". He described the elodea as "weird it stinks like fish". I think it is great that he used his sense of smell to describe it! In terms of next steps for data collection, it looks like he has started using unit labels (i.e. "cups", "cmers") but he forgot to label the unit for the water.
Aaron: One of his strengths was including the unit labels in his data collection (i.e. "cups", "cm", "duck week"). Aaron used a lot of description about the elodea (which was the first thing he observed) "bottom is brown", "top was green", and "the elodea was just sitting there". I could challenge him to provide that much description for the other things in the aquarium. However, I realize that there was not very much time to complete the table. I could also see if Aaron understands the difference between amount and size in terms of the elodea. He recorded the size, but not the amount of elodea (2 sprigs). Aaron began to draw the water level in the aquarium, but he was not able to finish. I think it is telling that he started with the water rather than the gravel because it might suggest that water is the first thing that he thought about when he looked at the aquarium. This is a good sign since water was the most obvious difference between the terrarium and the aquarium.
Jason: He also did a good job with including the unit labels on his data collection table (i.e. "cups", "cup", and "cm"). He began to describe the colors of some of the things that went into the aquarium (i.e. "tan" and "green"). Two things that I think are great about his data collection table are that it looks like he tried to draw a piece of gravel under his "other observations" and he also compared the elodea to a familiar object ("the size of a pencil"). I think that is awesome! In terms of his representation of the aquarium drawing, I am not sure if he drew the water line or the gravel first. If he drew the water first, perhaps he was doing what Aaron was doing and beginning with the most obvious part of the aquarium. However, if he drew the gravel first and then the water line, perhaps he was drawing the parts of the aquarium in the same order as the procedure we followed.
Haley: She was able to record some data about amount and size. One of her strengths was to include the unit or label with her data (i.e. "cups", "elodea", "cm"). However, she wrote each amount as she counted. This led me to believe that she might not have realized that she only had to record the last number that she counted (Is this an issue of hierarchical inclusion or unfamiliarity with data collection and recording?). For example, under "Water" she wrote, "1 cup, 2 cup, 3 cup, 4 cup, 5 cup, 6 cup, 7 cup, 8, 9, 10" instead of writing "10 cups". In terms of next steps for her data collection, I could introduce the idea of keeping track of counting by writing tally marks. Also, although I recognize that the students did not have much time to fill in their data collection table, I also think I could challenge her to give more description under "other observations".
Allan: He was good at describing the things we put into the aquarium. He described the gravel as "grey and wite", "rough", and "circular". He described the elodea as "weird it stinks like fish". I think it is great that he used his sense of smell to describe it! In terms of next steps for data collection, it looks like he has started using unit labels (i.e. "cups", "cmers") but he forgot to label the unit for the water.
Aaron: One of his strengths was including the unit labels in his data collection (i.e. "cups", "cm", "duck week"). Aaron used a lot of description about the elodea (which was the first thing he observed) "bottom is brown", "top was green", and "the elodea was just sitting there". I could challenge him to provide that much description for the other things in the aquarium. However, I realize that there was not very much time to complete the table. I could also see if Aaron understands the difference between amount and size in terms of the elodea. He recorded the size, but not the amount of elodea (2 sprigs). Aaron began to draw the water level in the aquarium, but he was not able to finish. I think it is telling that he started with the water rather than the gravel because it might suggest that water is the first thing that he thought about when he looked at the aquarium. This is a good sign since water was the most obvious difference between the terrarium and the aquarium.
Jason: He also did a good job with including the unit labels on his data collection table (i.e. "cups", "cup", and "cm"). He began to describe the colors of some of the things that went into the aquarium (i.e. "tan" and "green"). Two things that I think are great about his data collection table are that it looks like he tried to draw a piece of gravel under his "other observations" and he also compared the elodea to a familiar object ("the size of a pencil"). I think that is awesome! In terms of his representation of the aquarium drawing, I am not sure if he drew the water line or the gravel first. If he drew the water first, perhaps he was doing what Aaron was doing and beginning with the most obvious part of the aquarium. However, if he drew the gravel first and then the water line, perhaps he was drawing the parts of the aquarium in the same order as the procedure we followed.
Moving Forward
Next steps for my students:
I think I would take my students on a mini-field trip to bio pond (or some small body of water) so that they could see a larger scale version of an ecosystem. Based on our discussion, I think the students roughly understand what ecosystems are, but they might not fully grasp the fact that what we created was a model of larger ecosystems. I think we could have discussions about the similarities and differences between bio pond and the aquarium that we created. Although we did not get to discuss how our mini-ecosystem was free from litter and other unnatural waste, I think we could talk about what might happen to the pond ecosystem if people put their trash or chemicals in it. It seemed like the students enjoyed being able to handle the materials and using the magnifying glasses to observe them. I also think going to a pond would give the students more opportunities to observe, collect data, and measure (i.e. count the fish, measure the water level, etc). One thing that we could next time is to estimate before measuring or counting the materials. After collecting the data, we could have a conversation about why it is important to label our measurements.
Next steps for me:
I think one of the main things that I learned from this lesson (and all of the others) is the importance of time management. I really need to get a watch so that it is easier to keep track of how much time is remaining. I also now realize that it would be helpful to have some type of way to record students' understanding throughout the lesson instead of depending on an assessment at the end of the lesson. As I saw this this lesson, sometimes you don't always get to the end of the lesson in the designated amount of time, which is why it is important to record things throughout the lesson.
I also learned that every day is a new day. We went into this lesson anticipating an assortment of behavioral issues because there were quite a few during our previous lesson. This was not the case! (At least there were no issues during our lesson. There was a minor scuffle when we returned to their original classroom...)
If I was going to teach this lesson again I would set aside more time for the initial discussion about our previous lesson and observations of the terrarium. In terms of material management, I would find a more efficient way to get the water. We could use larger cups or send students two at a time instead of taking turns. I also really liked the other group's idea about showing the students pictures of what the materials look like before having them get them. This would be a good way to make them more independent, because the students won't have to ask you which one is the elodea. The students can use the picture to figure it out for themselves!
I agree with Amanda who suggested, "It would be great (if you had more time) to somehow conclude the lesson with final thoughts or takeaways." (47:01) After doing a lesson with so many different components, having a recap or summarizing discussion at the end of the lesson is very important, especially because the end of our lesson was slightly disjointed. I struggled with time management in many of my lessons, which unfortunately meant we ran out of time before I was able to have an overview of the lesson.
I think I would take my students on a mini-field trip to bio pond (or some small body of water) so that they could see a larger scale version of an ecosystem. Based on our discussion, I think the students roughly understand what ecosystems are, but they might not fully grasp the fact that what we created was a model of larger ecosystems. I think we could have discussions about the similarities and differences between bio pond and the aquarium that we created. Although we did not get to discuss how our mini-ecosystem was free from litter and other unnatural waste, I think we could talk about what might happen to the pond ecosystem if people put their trash or chemicals in it. It seemed like the students enjoyed being able to handle the materials and using the magnifying glasses to observe them. I also think going to a pond would give the students more opportunities to observe, collect data, and measure (i.e. count the fish, measure the water level, etc). One thing that we could next time is to estimate before measuring or counting the materials. After collecting the data, we could have a conversation about why it is important to label our measurements.
Next steps for me:
I think one of the main things that I learned from this lesson (and all of the others) is the importance of time management. I really need to get a watch so that it is easier to keep track of how much time is remaining. I also now realize that it would be helpful to have some type of way to record students' understanding throughout the lesson instead of depending on an assessment at the end of the lesson. As I saw this this lesson, sometimes you don't always get to the end of the lesson in the designated amount of time, which is why it is important to record things throughout the lesson.
I also learned that every day is a new day. We went into this lesson anticipating an assortment of behavioral issues because there were quite a few during our previous lesson. This was not the case! (At least there were no issues during our lesson. There was a minor scuffle when we returned to their original classroom...)
If I was going to teach this lesson again I would set aside more time for the initial discussion about our previous lesson and observations of the terrarium. In terms of material management, I would find a more efficient way to get the water. We could use larger cups or send students two at a time instead of taking turns. I also really liked the other group's idea about showing the students pictures of what the materials look like before having them get them. This would be a good way to make them more independent, because the students won't have to ask you which one is the elodea. The students can use the picture to figure it out for themselves!
I agree with Amanda who suggested, "It would be great (if you had more time) to somehow conclude the lesson with final thoughts or takeaways." (47:01) After doing a lesson with so many different components, having a recap or summarizing discussion at the end of the lesson is very important, especially because the end of our lesson was slightly disjointed. I struggled with time management in many of my lessons, which unfortunately meant we ran out of time before I was able to have an overview of the lesson.