Lesson # 1 Reflection

This was the first lesson that Grace and I taught at Hennessey Elementary School, and it went very well. As soon as we walked into the room, the students were already sitting at their tables in the correct groups, ready to learn. We were introduced to our students, and they were very excited. A few of the students were very enthusiastic about the topic of Japan. We started our lesson off by introducing ourselves and asking the students what their names are. Once we learned their names and gave them nametags, we went right into our ice breaker. Our ice breaker was a quick game of  “Would you Rather.” The students were very engaged in this ice breaker. They all gave their answers, and some of them got very creative. The first question was, “Would you rather eat ice cream or cake every day?” One of the students answered, “ice cream cake!” This answer was very creative, and I appreciated how the students were really thinking about these answers. After the ice breaker, we transitioned into passport making. We introduced it by explaining that when you travel to a different country, there is something very important that you need. The students listed off a variety of things that you need, one of them being a passport. We passed out the passports and gave them time to draw themselves, and fill out the information at the bottom. The students had around ten minutes to customize their passports however they wanted. All of the students took the time to really put detail into their passports. Once the students were done, they cut and pasted them onto their notebooks. After they finished their passports, I handed them all plane tickets  for Japan. I worked very hard on these tickets, and I was proud of myself for how they turned out. I took the time to print them on thick paper, laminate them, and print their names on it. It also meant a lot to me how much Dr. Gurjar appreciated them as well. It is the small details that can make a lesson great! After we handed out the plane tickets, we gave them a travel brochure. Grace put a lot of effort into this brochure. There was a lot of interesting information provided and resources. The students took some time to look at this brochure, and point out anything that stood out to them. Next, we went over vocabulary. The vocabulary words that we went over were region, globe, country, legend, geography. We had the definitions pre-written on a posterboard. We also provided students with a key terms  sheet as well for them to put in their suitcase. We shortly passed our suitcases for them to put their key terms in. Our next part of the lessons was very small, but one of my favorites! I purchased a globe for this lesson that I absolutely love. The students passed it around, and worked with a partner to try to find Japan on the globe. It was a short activity, but an interactive way for them to see where it was located, and what the shape of it looks like. We then passed out two maps . One old map from 1672, and another from 1996. Each student had one map. We have some time to look at them, and make observations. After the students had some time to make observations, I asked them to work with a partner that looked at a map that was different from theirs. The students talked to each other about the observations from their maps. After that, the students shared their observations. From there, we created a Venn diagram. Using their brand new notebooks,as a group, we compared and contrasted the old maps and the new maps. All of the students were engaged in this instructional activity, and provided great observations. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time for the students to make their very own map. Instead, we spent the last couple of minutes collecting the materials, cleaning up, and receiving feedback from students on what they want to learn about Japan. Overall, this lesson went amazing. I was so proud of Grace and I for how we executed all of the activities. I was so impressed with the students and their amazing behavior! They were so engaged and participated a lot. Having a group that participates can change the whole pace of the lesson! An area of weakness was definitely time management. I do not know the exact time that we were teaching for, but I believe it was only a little bit over an hour. Next week, I will be sure to find out how much time we will be teaching for, so we can plan to get through every activity. Another area of weakness for me was tripping up on my words during instruction. I often can draw a blank when I am trying to say something. I can work on this by practicing what I am going to say before the lesson. Luckily, my partner Grace is amazing and she helped me out a lot!

Our lesson consisted of two objectives. One objective is about an activity that we unfortunately were unable to get to. So technically, the students did not meet the objective, “Given a poster board, markers, and photos of Japanese regions, students will be able to demonstrate their learning by creating a map of Japan with the correctly labeled regions and major cities by the end of the lesson.” However, that is not their fault! If we had gotten to that point in the lesson, I am sure they would have done great. Luckily, we did have another SLO that we did get to address in the lesson. This objective was, “Given an old map and new map of Japan, as a group, students will be able to verbally compare and contrast the two maps by creating a venn diagram.” All of the students were able to meet this objective. The original plan was to have students work together with the teachers to create one bug venn diagram. Instead, the students wrote it in their notebook, while the teachers wrote it on the board. So rather than the formative assessment being verbal, it was also written! All of the students participated in this activity giving great examples of comparing and contrasting the maps. Some examples are that one of the maps is from the 1600s, and the other one is from the 1990s. One of the similarities that they found is that they both had a map legend. A map legend is a term that they learned just before this, and they were able to apply it into an activity! All of the students wrote all of the examples into their notebooks, participated well, which allowed them to meet the objective. 

I learned so much about this experience. I learned that a little bit of creativity can go a long way. The passports, travel brochures, and tickets were such a great way to create the immersion of traveling to Japan. The materials were colorful, and also very informative. I also learned that it is important to have hands-on learning experiences for the students. The students loved all of the activities where they were able to physically hold the materials. For example, the old maps and new maps were a hands on activity for the students. They took the time to investigate each one and interact with their peers. Through the combination of hands-on learning and group work, the students were extremely engaged. I learned that using methods like this can maximize student engagement.

This experience will definitely influence my professional identity. I take pride in my work, as I work very hard on all of my assignments. Knowing that all of that hard work and creativity paid off made me feel great. I want my professional identity to correspond with creativity, imagination, and hard work! I want to continue to think out of the box as a teacher to maximize student engagement and participation during lessons. This experience will also influence how I plan, teach, and assess in the future. Having  a long list of materials that I needed was very helpful for me. Being able to access all of the linked materials in one place was a great way to stay organized. I will definitely continue to organize my lesson plan like that in the future. As for teaching, I plan to continue to make instruction as interactive as I can. Whether it is hands-on learning, group work, or other methods I learn in the future, I definitely want to incorporate it as much as I can. Knowing that students are engaged and want to learn is such a great feeling. As for assessing in the future, I plan to use a variety of different methods. I enjoyed how the assessment for this class wasn’t just a worksheet that asked questions. Instead, it assessed students on what they recorded in their Venn diagram from the group work that was done during the lesson. The assessment also used observations of who was participating and the answers they were giving. This assessment was very versatile, and I plan on using this model more often.