Time to Reflect!

It is time to reflect on my journey through teaching science in the 6th grade class at Sacred Heart Elementary School!

For the past four weeks I have spent my time teaching and observing in a science classroom. This experience has been wonderful and has offered me so many different learning opportunities. At first I was very apprehensive about teaching in front of 40+ people, but after my first time doing it and seeing how fun it truly was I believe I have conquered my fear. Teaching an entire class for the first time will always give me butterflies, but through this experience I have learned how great the feeling of accomplishment is after the fact and how rewarding it feels when your students grasp the content. The children of Sacred Heart's 6th grade science class have inspired me to be the best teacher I can be and I hope that one day I can inspire my students as well. I learned how to handle stressful situations and to always be prepared for the unexpected. I also learned how to accommodate and work with students of varying levels. This experience was very beneficial to my improvement. I am very thankful that Dr. Smirnova gave us this wonderful opportunity to teach a whole 6th grade science class. 

The first lesson we taught was direct instruction. From watching the group before me I learned how important time management, behavior management, and inclusion of every student is. For this lesson we taught about igneous and sedimentary rocks.  A direct instruction lesson is teacher-centered rather than student-centered. During this lesson, the teachers instruct the students and teach them the key information with limited student interruption. We decided to teach our lesson using a powerpoint. (Our powerpoint is attached here.) We started by pre-assessing our students knowledge by sharing with them pictures from the book A Rock is Lively and asking them if they could share any knowledge they had about rocks. This helped us to understand what knowledge the students already had about rocks and any misconceptions they may have. This part of the lesson also helps to engage the students for the rest of the time. During our instruction we failed to provide our students with a note packet to follow along with, which is an improvement that we can make for the next time. Our powerpoint was filled with pictures and colors to keep the students attention. In a direct instruction lesson it is very important to include check points for understanding to make sure that the students are getting the content of the lesson. Throughout the lesson we verbally asked questions to the students and asked them to respond on his or her dry erase board that they had at their desks and to simply hold it up in the air. The children loved this because they were able to use markers on their boards. At the end of the powerpoint we included a guided practice. As our guided practice we held up a rock for the class to see and asked each student to observe the rock silently and write down on their board whether they believed it was igneous or sedimentary and hold it up in the air when they are finished for us to see. Then, we would share with the class what type of rock it actually was. To close our lesson, we passed out a sticky note to each student and asked them to write down one new fact that they learned during the lesson and to place it on the poster board in the back of the classroom on their way out. The last part of our lesson was an independent practice activity in which each student was to finish their rock drawing that they created on the first day we met and write one to two sentences on what type of rock it is and why. This independent practice was to be done independently. This independent practice allowed us as teachers to understand what our students had learned from the lesson.  After reading through our students responses I could tell that they had a great understanding of the material. 

The next lesson that we taught was an inquiry lesson. Inquiry-based learning starts by posing questions, problems or scenarios rather than simply presenting established facts or portraying a smooth path to knowledge. The students will identify and research issues and questions to develop their knowledge or solutions. Inquiry lessons support and develop problem solving and critical thinking. Inquiry based learning is based on the 5Es and the scientific method. The 5E's are engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate. Students use their prior knowledge to come up with explanations for their experiences. They are able to explore the through facts and materials. They have opportunities to represent their developing understanding, by remaining actively engaged in the learning process. Finally, they are able to elaborate and explain the information that they have discovered. In addition, the scientific method is used in which students follow 5 mains steps. These steps are: ask a question, form a hypothesis, conduct an experiment, analyze results, and make a conclusion. We reviewed the scientific method with the students in order for it to be fresh in their minds while they were solving the problem we introduced to them. To begin our lesson we used a word cloud to pre-assess our students knowledge. We asked the students if they recognized any of these words and if they could define any of them. 

For our inquiry lesson plan we gave each student Play Doh and asked them to each make a rock; they could decide whether they wanted to make it igneous or sedimentary. Before we started, as a class we came up with the question that we would be solving, which was: "Is this rock igneous or sedimentary?" Each student created their rock and then wrote a clue on an index card to leave at their desk for their peers to use while figuring out what type of rock it was. When the students were done making their rocks we used numbered popsicle sticks to reveal which rock the student would be observing. Once the student chose his or her popsicle stick each student carefully moved to the rock that they would be observing. Each student filled out the rock tracking sheet that we provided for them with his or her hypothesis, analyzation results, and conclusions.  Throughout our lesson we used a powerpoint as a visual for the students to follow the steps we were taking through inquiry. At each table there was also a small book that we made that consisted of the word cloud, directions to follow, and the steps of inquiry. To close our lesson, we had each student share with the class what type of rock they created and the student who observed it was to check whether they observed what type of rock it was correctly. As teachers we encouraged our students to share their conclusions and discoveries with the class. As an independent practice, we had each student answer a few questions on what type of rock they created and write a short summary on his or her journey through the inquiry process of solving the problem. Overall, I think the class really enjoyed this lesson. They were able to use Play Doh to create their own rocks and act as scientists to solve the problem we presented them with. It gave them an opportunity to use the skills of the scientific method and the inquiry process. (Our inquiry lesson powerpoint is attached here.)

Overall, this experience has helped me in becoming a better teacher. I learned how important it is to make a lesson engaging and interesting for each student in the class in order to keep them on task and focused. We learned during our first lesson to keep the writing on each slide to a minimum and make the writing 24 pt. font. We also learned that we should have more check points for understanding that engage or students and keep track of the progress that they are making. During our inquiry lesson plan we learned to leave more time for each student to give a better explanation as to why they created the rock that they did. It was great to receive feedback from our peers and Dr. Smirnova because it allowed us to improve on our teaching skills. I believe that next time we should give ourselves more time in planning and preparing so we can provide the best lesson possible for each of our students. I learned how to support and adapt instruction for all learners. I also learned how important it is to move around the classroom while instructing in order to support interaction during instruction. We each made sure that we circulated around the room during both lessons in order to provide the best instruction for each of our students. 

I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to work with my group members in creating two lesson plans for our 6th grade students. We all worked together to provide the best instruction possible for each student in order for them to reach their goals. We collaborated with one another as well as empowered each other to be the best teacher we could be. We learned to successfully teach as a group and did a great job in doing so. Through practice and constructive criticism I know that one day I will be a great teacher and cannot wait for that day to come! I am very excited to continue my journey of becoming a teacher!