Reflection #1
In my first field experience we did an activity where we introduced ourselves and had the students introduce themselves. The activity was to state your name and one interest that you have. We thought the activity was going to take twenty minutes; however, it definitely went quicker than expected. Since our activity ended early our cooperating teacher suggested that we play an activity with them (silent ball) which turned out good. The activity was to toss the ball to a classmate without communicating verbally. Students loved the activity and it helped fill the void until recess.
One thing that we could do different next time is to have more questions that involve lengthier responses. Also, when students give examples of something that they like we could ask them further questions on that topic (why?).
Reflection #2
The first lesson that we taught was a lesson on theoretical and experiment probability for grade 7 math. The students were engaged with the activity and they were asking questions about the exercise. We had the students do an experiment where they determined the theoretical probability for flipping a coin and rolling a dice. After they had the theoretical probability determined they performed an experiment (rolling dice and flipping coins – each 100 times). This helped show them how theoretical and experimental probability was different.
If I were to implement this lesson again I would have the students work in smaller groups (I would have them in groups of two rather than groups of four), and I would allow them to have more time to complete the activity. There were some students that didn’t have enough time to complete the entire activity.
Reflection #3
The first lesson that I did by myself was a science lesson that was teaching about natural disasters. I decided to show a video that had a variety of different disasters occurring and the impact that it had on the environment and society. During this video, there was a moment where some rocks were falling onto cars that were on a freeway. One student in class started to laugh when the rocks were falling onto the cars. Reflecting on this moment, I should have paused the video and discussed empathy with the students. This would have been a good teaching experience to discuss how these people were being impacted and how we should behave in these situations.
Reflection #4
The last session that I had with the students they wrote a quiz on the information that was taught. It was a summative assessment to determine what they have learned from the lessons. The questions that were asked were in a short answers format. The majority of students finished within 40 minutes and there was a couple of students that used the entire 60 minutes to complete the quiz. The students that completed early were given a word search to fill the extra time or they had the option to do other homework or reading.
Reflecting on this lesson for assessment I realized that I chose this style of assessment because it was what I was used to. In the three week block for next semester I want to challenge myself to use different styles of assessment practice that are new to me. I want to use a variety of strategies so when I’m a teacher I will feel comfortable using these.