Once one of my teachers was observing
me teaching my first class (during my teaching diploma) as I was very nervous and
systematic. I was worried about the steps of my lesson plan rather than to
enjoy teaching this class and passing this joy on to my students. So, by the
end of my lesson my teacher said one thing to me, she said " your students
will forget what you said, they will forget what you did,, but they will never
forget how you made them feel.." . Ever since, I always try to live my
teaching experience and make sure my students live and love their learning journey.
My introduction (or my hook) was a
character; his name was Camel, which came from another country with a warmer
climate. The purpose of having a new Camel in lesson and using this character
as an introduction is for many reasons. One, the character is a new element and
anything new that gets introduced in a class is a reason for students to pay
attention to. I made sure that this Camel not only gains their attention but to
keep it to. So through the indirect teaching and learning though questioning, the
students asked Camel what they needed to know and they answered all his questions
and exchanged knowledge.
Then the hands-on part of my
lesson was not only related to the topic of the lesson (paper snowman), which
is new task, but also reinforced pervious knowledge. Students built on their previous
e knowledge of colors, face and body parts, and skills (pasting and coordinating).
For a KG2 group of students, those
are back bone of my lesson and lesson planning:
-
To always pay attention to time of the instructions and tasks (due to
their short attention span)
-
Movement (fine and gross)
-
To shed awareness on as much topics I can introduce to my students
-
To build on previous knowledge
-
Move from simple to complex
-
Improve my students skills (physical, social,..)
Most importantly to enjoy my
lesson with my students and let them feel this joy!
This is such a creative and a picturesque lesson Sarah. The cognitive, social, and physical objectives have been met. The lead in has the element of imagination and drama (the puppet conversation, his desire to see snow) and helps students to set up a lesson purpose (helping Mr. Kamel). The lesson theme (snow) in turn in culturally appropriate and relates to the students. The main target of the lesson (properties of snow) is elicited from the children. It would have been a good idea if you allowed students to interact more with the puppet as I am sure they would have loved to. The video serves as a visual input that gives the students the chance to see snow falling and therefore it confirms the idea of the lesson. The introduction of the already made snowman is an incentive for students to design one. It gives them the final image of the snowman they are about to design. You could have made them work in groups. All in all, the lesson is indeed a fun way for children to learn science an enjoy arts. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ghady, you real had a good scientific reflection on my lesson. I agree that most of what you said is basically what I was aiming to accomplish through out my lesson. Thank you again!
DeleteSarah
ReplyDeleteThe thing that attracted me the most in your lesson plan was your ability and creativity in using simulation to create the scenery of falling snow. The white cotton was like snow flake falling on the heads of your little kids. I could imagine their excitement, astonishment and I could even hear their laughter when participating in this activity. But when I read your reflection I was impressed by your teacher’s constructive piece of advice where you wrote, “your student will forget what you said, they will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel”. This reveals her wide experience in this field and I think this is how a teacher is distinguished from another. I think that, this advice of hers bears in it the characteristics of effective teaching and experiential learning.
You were capable of handling the technical problem of internet connection when loading the video. You continued in implementing your lesson as if nothing happened. This shows that you have learned gained experience from this same incident that you faced in your previous micro teaching.
Your lesson reflects your ability to teach these classes as you are aware of your kids need and of their cognitive, physical and social skills. I think Sarah you are a qualified teacher.
I agree that my favorite part of the lesson was the pretend snow too. Im glad you enjoyed it. Thank you May!
DeleteSarah’s presentation was amazing. She chose an art lesson for her presentation. The way she delivered and presented the lesson was professional. Students were actively engaged. The lesson was appropriate for the students’ level. The use of a puppet as “camel” at the beginning of the lesson was very an interesting idea. It catches students’ attention throughout the lesson. The objectives of her lesson were rich. Thus, W.Lambert Brittain, author of Creativity, Art, and the Young Child, says that "Art activities not only reflect a child's inner self: they help form it." In other words, Sarah’s art activity moved beyond using art stuffs, throughout, the art activity Sarah attempted to encourage what Froebel, (1826) called: "full and all-sided development". During this art activity students were able to build a new knowledge about weather and to share their knowledge with their friends. Pupils were also able to develop control of large and small motor skills and to develop their cognitive development. Thank you Sarah. It was an interesting lesson.
ReplyDeleteRola, when I read "amazing" on your comment I swear I was glowing! Thank you for your positive input, it was the highlight of my day!
ReplyDelete