Potluck Reflection

 WHAT?

As a group we were able to present different types of strategies and activities to help readers comprehend what they are reading across all subjects. USing a powerpoint and presenting the strategies that we had taken from the chapter. Students use reading across multiple subject areas and having them grow upon their ability to comprehend is what we wanted to help educate other TC’s. Using a variety of questions throughout the presentation allowed for presenters to see if the group was able to take away and retain areas and strategies to use and grow upon to help build students with proficient comprehension skills. 

SO WHAT? 

Through this experience I learned more about the subject that I had known before. Students are reading information off of pages almost daily in school but what are they really retaining. Through this chapter I was able to grow upon this thought and see that within history reading comprehension is crucial for students to be proficient in. Students may be great readers but retaining that information to use in future activities or experiences may not be one of the students strong points. Students need to be able to take what they are reading and save the important information mentally. I AM able to see how semantic mapping is a great way for building upon reading comprehension. This is also a great strategy to use in history. 

NOW WHAT?

Being able to present in front of other future educators was a great feeling because as a group we are helping one another. It is great to learn from our peers and hear another person going through the same process as myself break down information. I plan to continue to be a sponge and grow from other peers who are willing to continue to pass along useful information. I am happy to be a part of such a welcoming community of future educators where using each other is such a great tool to build upon ourselves. 

Lesson 6 Reflection

 WHAT?

In our last lesson we started off by going over a review of last week's lesson. We had the students each go around and say one thing that they learned, this showed us that the students absorbed  the information given. In this lesson we focused on the global goal of keeping the water clean of the country. We gave students a word wall with these 5 words so they could better understand them and define them, reduce reuse, recycle fishery and reservoir. We had the students listen to TCs read a Ukrainian book to understand more of the global goal and vocabulary of Ukraine. While reading the sections we pointed out key facts that the students could comprehend. The students watched a reuse reduce recycle video to better understand Ukraines problem and how important it is to recycle.The students were given an interactive activity with a bag of paper cut fish with trash in it. The objective was for the students to clean the bags by taking out the trash and write on their paper a solution on how Ukraine can fix this problem as well as why life in the water is so important to the country. The students met the goal of G 4 (3-4) – 1a. Students explain how humans depend on their environment by a. identifying how needs can be met by the environment (e.g., we grow food to eat.). The students ended off the lesson with a kahoot on recycling and were very excited to do it. We ended off with a wrap around where the students told us what they have learned about Ukraine throughout the lesson.

SO WHAT?

From this lesson I learned that using technology such as an educational game at the end of a lesson is a great way to get students to work hard and see what information they retain. Students loved this activity and it went great. TC’s will from now on in future lessons will use this activity because it also shows TC’s where students struggle as well. As well it can be used as an assessment because it covered all the topics that were covered throughout the lesson as a whole. All together being able to have an activity that students love and give feedback to teachers is a great addition to the lesson. 

NOW WHAT?

I plan to use this strategy of allowing students to educational games in the future. Seeing how well this lesson went and how the students were fully immersed within our teaching pushes me to continue to create great lessons for these great students. Students were advised through the schedule that there would be a game at the end and I believe students really paid attention and grasped the information. Seeing students enjoy a lesson really makes me happy to see. I plan to continue to grow and become the best educator possible for my future students.

Lesson 5 reflection

 WHAT?

In our fifth lesson we started off by going over a review of last week's lesson. We had the students each go around and say one thing that they learned, this showed us that the students absorbed  the information given. In this lesson we focused on the culture, traditions, religions and beliefs of the country. We gave students a word wall with these 8 words so they could better understand them and define them. We had the students listen to TCs read a Ukrainian folktale  to understand more of the culture and vocabulary of Ukraine. While reading the sections we pointed out key facts that the students could comprehend. We taught the students about how life is like to be a citizen of Ukraine and how it is similar and different to the U.S. We introduced the students to an interactive activity, the students were partnered up and handed out worksheets about their culture compared to others. The students shared traditions they have and what their favorite holiday is. The students really exceeded expectations and really enjoyed this. What was a weakness was keeping the students attention when reading long passages. The objectives that were met was HP 5 (3-4) –1 Students demonstrate an understanding that a variety of factors affect cultural diversity within a society by. a. comparing cultural differences and similarities between individuals, groups, or communities (e.g., customs, beliefs, language, religious faiths).The students were able to accurately compare and contrast the U.S culture to the Ukrainian culture by comparing each tradition, religion, language and customs. All students understood the assignment very well with the instruction given to them. The students drew and wrote what Ukraines traditions and culture looks like and each student did different things with a lot of detail which showed that they exceeded objectives.

SO WHAT?

Within this lesson TC’s learned that allowing students to have a movement break helps students take a step back and take a fun break but also help get students to really pay attention. Students also really took away from using the word wall this week. As many of the words used with the folktale reading needed to be explained before threading began. This allowed students to see the word used within the reading and comprehend the definition of them. Using this type of scaffolding proved to be a great way of breaking up the comprehension of the words so that the students could really understand the reading. TC’s were also able to see the students successfully work in groups and use one another as tools to expand their knowledge. This was great to see students having higher quality conversation with one another. 

 

NOW WHAT?

I plan to use this strategy of allowing students to take a break within the lesson  in the future. It has shown that allowing students to take a step back from absorbing information can help them reach optimal learning once the teaching has begun again. Seeing how well this lesson went and how the students were fully immersed within our teaching pushes me to continue to create great lessons for these great students. I also would enjoy adding in an interactive game at the end of the lesson. I was able to talk to a peer and I'm in the process of creating a game for the students to play at the closing of the lesson. It will be a fun way to get students to have fun and show what they took away from the lesson. 

Lesson Plan 4 Reflection

 WHAT?

In our fourth lesson we started off by going over a review of last week's lesson. We had the students each go around and say one thing that they learned, this showed us that the students absorbed  the information given. In this lesson we focused on the economics of Ukraine, introducing currency, the economy, natural, human and capital resources in the history of the country. We had the students listen to TCs and read sections from the “Culture around the World Ukraine” to understand more of the economic situation in Ukraine. While reading the sections we pointed out key facts that the students could comprehend. We taught the students about how life is like to be a citizen of Ukraine and how it is similar and different to the U.S. We introduced the students to an interactive activity, the students were partnered up and handed out worksheets about the resources.. The students worked together to differentiate between capital. natural and human resources. The students really exceeded expectations and really enjoyed this. What was a weakness was keeping the students attention when reading long passages. The objectives that were met was E 1 (3-4) –1: Students demonstrate an understanding of basic economic concepts by differentiating between human, natural, and capital resources.The students were able to accurately categorize each resource using knowledge learned in the lesson while working in partners. All students understood the assignment very well with the instruction given to them. The students drew and wrote what Ukraines resources were and each student did different things with a lot of detail which showed that they exceeded objectives.

SO WHAT? 

Through this experience it was learned that having students use certain learning tools such as frayer models and anchor charts is a huge help. Students were able to break down and really retain information using the frayer models to break down words. It was a fun informational task that students did. We modeled this assignment through I do, We do, You do which really helped in teaching the students what was expected of them. The anchor chart was a huge help to see what the students retained through the lesson. It was a great way to get a more hands on and incorporated lesson. 

NOW WHAT?

This lesson was a turning point for me to finally get the right amount done and successfully write a good lesson plan. When I received the help and tools needed through the help of my Professor and classmates I realized we are one big community. Using the help of other educators and teachers will always be something I use as a tool. As an educator you truly are a forever student and being a sponge to all new helpful information. I plan to continue using these tools and assignments that help and improve the opportunity to learn. Using the word wall was a great tool as it helped break down hard words that were never seen before. Both TC’s had planned this lesson great and had to shorten certain areas due to high quality discussion. We had planned more for students that we had to skip but I always believe having more than less is always better. Overall it was a great lesson for the students and myself to learn and grow from.

Lesson Plan 3 Reflection

 

WHAT?

In our third lesson we started off by going over a review of last week's lesson. We had the students each go around and say one thing that they learned, this showed us that the students absorbed  the information given. In this lesson we focused on the civics of Ukraine, introducing laws, citizenship and leaders through the history of the country. We had the students listen to videos and sections from the “Culture around the World Ukraine '' to understand more of the civic situation in Ukraine. While reading the sections we pointed out key facts that the students could comprehend. We taught the students about how life is like to be a citizen of Ukraine and how it is similar and different to the U.S. We introduced the students to an interactive activity, the students were partnered up and handed a Venn diagram. The students worked together to put together what was the same and different civic wise with Ukraine and the U.S. The students really exceeded expectations and really enjoyed this. What was a weakness was keeping the students attention when reading long passages. The objectives that were met was RICs.ELA.Literacy.SL.4.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions ( one-on-one, in groups, and teacher, etc) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.The students were able to recognize facts that were in the text that was read, and they put it on their Venn diagram in the activity given while working in partners. All students understood the assignment very well with the instruction given to them. The students drew and wrote what Ukraine stood for and each student did different things with a lot of detail which showed that they exceeded objectives.

SO WHAT? 

From this Lesson as TC’s we learned that sometimes information is not all kid friendly in terms of the vocabulary used and certain context. Both TC’s have to break down the information to make it more student friendly and easier for the students to retain. This may be extra work but the students need this extra help to actually understand the information being taught to them. We used printouts that took the information we received as Tc’s and turned it into a scaffold piece of what we had retained. This was something that worked and will be used in the future lessons, this is a necessary tool when learning about harder topics.

NOW WHAT?

From this lesson I took away that there could be improvements in the lesson plan writing area of my teaching. This is an essential part of the teaching processes that is used to help layout and organize your lesson. It is the map of what you are teaching and ensures that all areas of a proper lesson are met. I plan to grow on the creation of lesson plans and take the measures to grow in this topic. With looking back at information from this course and guidance of my professor I plan to build on this opportunity to ensure that I am being the best teacher for the students possible. I want to make sure that every area of my professional development only continues to grow and get better.

Lesson Plan 2 Reflection

 WHAT?

In our second lesson, we started off by going over a review of last week's lesson. We had the students each go around and say one thing that they learned, this showed us that the students absorbed the information given. In this lesson we focused on the history of Ukraine, introducing time periods and timelines through the history of the country. We had the students listen to videos and sections from the “Culture Around the World Ukraine” to understand more about history. While reading the sections we pointed out key facts the students could comprehend. We taught the students about the history of Ukraine's flag and what it stood for. We introduced the students to an interactive activity, the students were handed printed flag cutouts and the students wrote down facts about Ukraine that they learned. The students really exceeded expectations and really enjoyed this. What was a weakness was keeping the student's attention when reading long passages. The objectives that were met were HP 3 (3-4)-1 a: A: recognizing and interpreting how events, people, problems, and ideas shape life in the community and in Ukraine. The students were able to recognize facts that were in the text that was read, and they put it on their flags in the activity given. All students understood the assignment very well with the instruction given to them. The students drew and wrote what Ukraine stood for and each student did different things with a lot of detail which showed that they exceeded objectives.

SO WHAT? 

 TC’s were able to talk to students after the lesson to see what the students were enjoying and what they were not. From this discussion TC was able to take away that students enjoyed being able to create their own work and color it in. In this lesson students created a flag and colored it in, we plan to continue to allow students to create their own work rather than relying on worksheets. We could take this technique of asking students about what they like and do not like from a practicum we were placed in a semester before. We are able to make lessons both interactive and informational using this technique. 

 

 

NOW WHAT?

Using what we took from this lesson TC’s now know that lessons can switch up in an instant, our group discussion extended longer than planned but due to the high-quality discussion we continued to allow it. The students were able to respond and grow on a variety of questions and statements regarding what they were learning. High quality discussion was engaged and we used this to allow the students to keep building upon the topic. We were able to add this longer piece into our lesson while still getting the rest of the activities we had planned on our schedule.

This will affect the use of adaptability in the future in my educational career, a certain topic might require longer instruction, or in this case, high-quality discussion was taking place. With the use of adaptability, a situation in teaching can be fixed. I plan to be a teacher who is prepared and adaptable in any situation this will allow me to be the best educator for the students.

Lesson Plan 1 Reflection

WHAT? 

Coming into our first lesson students were introduced to the country Ukraine and the geographical features that it holds. We went through a quick overview of the topic and read through two informational books that correlated with geography. Students were then introduced to the concept of Never Eat Soggy Waffles, which helped teach students their directions. Students loved how interactive our lesson was we made sure to shy away from long and boring worksheets. In terms of what we can grow on as TC being more clear with our directions when implementing a new activity, this will help with organiztional  skills and help students understand tasks better. Within the lesson students grasped all of our objectives we were able ti have great group discussions as well as small group work that allowed students to really grasp our objectives.  The objective "G 1 (3-4) –1 :a.accurately using maps to identify locations.b. identifying relationships between time, space, and distance.c. organizing information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context (e.g., the school is to the east of the store; the house is northeast of the mountains)" students we're able to see the population differences within the country based upon where water was and how in earlier times this was a important piece when choosing where to settle. One of our students exceeded expectations and helped describe to other students which was great to see peers helping one another.

SO WHAT?

During this experience collorabtive teaching was exhibited greatly. Myself and my TC partner worked together very well as I was explaining things to one group of students my partner walked round and kept students on task and helped other groups. Teaching is a profession that benefits from helping one another within the community throughout this lesson I was able to see the benefits of working together with another TC and how students can also benefit from successful teacher collorboration. We used great scaffolding as well to help lay out the information presented to students regarding geography, are goal was to not over whelm students but allow them to absorb and retain the information.

NOW WHAT?

I will use the information that was learned from lesson 1 such as working with fellow teachers and using other educators to help gain constructive critsim to help me grow. Taking pointers from other educators will only help me grow and add tools to my tool box. In the future I plan to incorporate clearer directions and use technology more within my lesson. This use of technology allows the students to hear and watch a different viewpoint rather than just my voice, which may describe information differently and more effective to students. Technology is also something that is huge in the society we live in so showing students that we can use it and learn can prove to be beneficial in later lessons.