I did my in-class lesson last week at Central with one of Alisa Boyd's classes, AP English IV. I've done a few lessons with this class before, so I was a bit familiar with the students and their strengths and weaknesses (Strengths: Some REALLY bright students who say very thought-provoking things in class discussion, some excellent writers. Weaknesses: Reading aloud and turning in their homework).
I started by discovering Springfield Public Schools blocks Youtube, so I couldn't show the movie clip I wanted. Naturally, I tested this before the lesson, so I had time to improvise. I had a song I could play for them on my flash drive (the lesson was on a "Dust in the Wind" theme), but apparently Alisa's sound card on her pc broke months ago and she's waiting for a new one. So I improvised - I just distributed the song lyrics and asked a student to read them aloud.
I think the strengths of my lesson were content and presentation. It was mainly discussion-based, and students really delved into the chosen texts. I had a lot of enthusiasm and no classroom management problems to speak of. The weaknesses were the opening and closing, especially the closing. I ran out of time at the end of my lesson and frantically tried to tack on the assignment as students were headed out the door - big mistake! I should have just asked them to turn in a quick note or something to check comprehension. Only two people in the class turned in the assignment the next day - a few were unaware they even had one. I think Alisa is just going to give extra credit for it. If it were my classroom, the next day I would have revisited the lesson and explained the assignment, and not penalized my students for my mistake. I find that students are pretty forgiving if you correct yourself, but if you hold on to your mistakes and pretend you're always right, they get tired of it.
But on the whole, I think it went well. Not as good as some I've done, but it certainly wasn't a train wreck. You definitely learn by doing, practicing, and I just need a lot of practice.
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2 comments:
Isn't it funny how much retrospect can help us improve our lessons and our strategies? I was telling Dr. Franklin on Monday that it's been two weeks after my lesson at Webb City HS and I'm still thinking about the presentation, ways I can improve the lesson for next time, adaptations, etc. The comments my practicum teacher took about my lesson were by far the most helpful things, and I am going to keep that list in order to make a conscience effort to improve on her suggestions.
Good imrpovisation techniques! It is always important to check these things out before the lessons!
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