Jacqueline De Jesus

CT Observation Reflection 1

9-28-17

As the date for the CT observation was approaching, I discussed with my CT what she

would like to see me do and in what specific area she wanted to give me feedback in. We came

to the conclusion that since I was already used to teaching math, that I should begin to

experience what it is like to teach science. I immediately thought that this was a great idea since I

am not as strong in this subject and since I had never experienced teaching it. In doing the lesson,

I would definitely find a lot of value in the feedback the CT would provide me. So, for this

lesson, I did review activities with the students to wrap up the unit on energy and prepare them

for their test. I started off the lesson by having them complete a fill in the blank review sheet

with their partner. We then went over and discussed the review as a whole class, to help clarify

any concepts. The lesson ended with the students individually completing the energy match up

booklets. After reviewing the video of the lesson and speaking to my CT about the lesson, I was

able to clearly see my areas of strength when it comes to teaching as well as my areas of

weakness.

In my lesson, one of the main things that I wanted were for students to be engaged and on

task. While most students seemed to be fine for the majority of the lesson, I noticed that towards

the end of the partner review the students began to get loud, distracted, and started to engage in

several off task behaviors. This can be seen at about 13 minutes and 42 seconds into the video. I

can remember this particular moment like if it just occurred. I was so mad because I knew that

things were not going as planned and I did not really know how to handle it. I sort of also
expected the CT to cut in the lesson and address the situation, but of course I was being observed

so I had to be the decision maker. In the video you can hear me counting to five to get the

students attention and then I said, Since most of us seem to not be following the directions and

focusing on the review, we are done with the partner activity. Go back to your seats. At the time

I did not know if I had made the correct decision. However, my CT complemented me for doing

that and told me that sometimes that is how student behavior has to be managed when many

students are off task during a lesson activity. Now, I understand that what I did allowed the

students not to waste any more time from the lesson and the learning that they would gain from

the review activities. It is crazy how you can be unsure about a decision you made during a

lesson, and how later that can actually be a decision that made your lesson stronger. It was also a

great learning experience for me to be able to directly manage behaviors in the classroom.

During my lesson, I was surprised by the responses and the participation during the

classroom discussion as we went over the fill in the blank energy review. Students knew what

they were talking about and were able to reference previous lessons or experiments done in the

class. For example, at about 17 minutes and 29 seconds into the video, I asked students to

explain sound energy and the difference between pitch and volume. The first student I called on

stated, Sound energy is energy that can be heard. Then another student added, I agree, it is

like when we did the experiment with the different instruments. The third student raised his

hand and exclaimed, Some of the instruments made low/high sounds which describe its pitch.

The way the children were speaking and adding to each others comments, made for a very good

conversation. It was extremely beneficial for review and it clarified concepts to those students

who maybe were not understanding. For this reason I have learned to never underestimate

children and their ability to hold a knowledgeable conversation.

 In my lesson, I did not plan anything for students to do in case we were able to actually

finish all of the review activities. However, when the students were individually doing the energy

match up booklets towards the end of the lesson. I had several students finish with in ten

minutes. In the video, at about 36 minutes, you can see me walking over to the students who

were done and telling them to come up with three additional examples for each type of energy

and add them to their booklets. I decided to have them do this during the lesson because I did not

want them to just sit there for the last five minutes of the lesson. It ended up working well

because they were able to think of real world examples which was something they were expected

to know for the test. Due to this, I now understand the importance of planning more even if you

dont always have time to complete everything!

I taught this lesson to both the morning block and the afternoon block. Block one seemed

to have a difficult time when we were reviewing the material in a whole group discussion. I felt

that I was doing more of the explaining in this group, whereas I felt that the students in block two

were leading the discussions and I was just there to facilitate. I believe that block one had such a

hard time because they are a lower level group. I notice that this specific group has a hard time

explaining things back. To help them do better in future discussion, I might provide them with

talking stems and have them use a talking stick. I have been learning about how to help students

engage in authentic conversations during faculty meetings, and a talking stick is one of the

strategies.

In general, I feel that the students met the learning target and objectives for the lesson

because they were actively engaged in all review activities and contributed a great amount into

the lesson. Also, when I was reviewing the booklets the students were completing individually, I

can be seen in the video (42 minutes) complimenting their work. I was also able to see that the
activities were effective because some of the things that we discussed or wrote in our activities

were things that the students also incorporated into their test answers. The teacher informed me

that this was the first time that students do this well on the Energy test. I would like to think that

my review had something to do with that.

Based on how this lesson went and after conferencing with my CT, I am going to

continue to plan science lessons and teach them. This will help me to continuously reflect on my

work and become more confident and comfortable with teaching a subject that I do not feel as

passionate about.