Last Thursday, I taught my field experience lesson in which Dr. Franklin came to observe. I had create a lesson to use while the students were reading Julius Caesar. It revolved around the speeches given by Antony and Brutus and creating a political/public relations speech, commercial of ad support one of the two characters using a list of character traits, as well as quotes and events from the play. I really enjoyed teaching this assignment because the students were engage and excited to take a break from reading the play and actually work with their classmates to create the assignment. At the end of the hour they presented what they had come up with and they exceeded my expectations with their creativity and knowledge of the play.
I thought that the students really enjoyed getting up and getting to collaborate with their classmates, at least most of the them anyways. I also think that the lesson that I present and had worked hard to prepare went as well as I could of expected. With that said, there are many things I would have changed. First, I would have made this a two day assignment. The students got more involved and I really found many ways in which I could expand this assignment and even more learning could have taken place. One thing I would have added is more explanation to my introduction. I had a few really good questions relating the political aspect of the play to the political experiences that are going on right now with the upcoming presidential election, but I would have liked to have more class discussion about them. Another item I would have liked to cover is that as a class we come up with list of character traits of the two characters and really explore their character development. The last thing I would have liked to add was a model of how to create a good PR commercial, speech, etc, by explaining and modeling to them things such as a strong introduction and conclusion.
A few problems did arise during my lesson. First, was that the kids were working so hard on creating good products with their groups that I had to rush them to finish. Had this been my class we would have taken the rest of the class period to finish and presented the next day, but I did not have that kind of time with this class. Second, was a problem I had with one girl who left to go to the bathroom 5-10 minutes before we started presenting and did not come back until the bell rang. My cooperating teacher was absent the day that I presented my lesson, so I am not sure what action would have or should have taken place. If it had been my classroom, we probably would have waited for her, had a student go and find her, and there probably would have been some sort of discipline for her action. It was disrespectful, not only to me, but also to her group members. I know students are sometimes scared to public speak, but this was a horrible way for her to deal with it and it needs to be addressed.
All and all I was excited about how my lesson turned out. I loved seeing the students engaged, excited and LEARNING!! It was a really good feeling!!!
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3 comments:
It's so difficult to manage time affectively in the classroom. I think that I will probably have this problem when I start teaching. I would really hate to have to rush students along when I know they are being productive.
I feel the same way. I thought it was so awesome when I actually was "teaching." I mean, I've taught people things before, but to have a class of kids, engaged with my lesson was pretty cool!
Congrats on your successful lesson!
~Stan
I really dont know what you could have done about that girl. Obviously, she didnt want to be involved, but you could have talked to her after class. She needs to complete the work because she wasnt there, but could she do it out of class, without partners? I would definitely as Mrs. McQueen what you would do in a situation like this. I am interested to hear.
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