The Final Week

This last week in the field was a very interesting and fun one. The first day my CT did a science lesson with the 3^rd graders including pulleys, inclined planes, etc. I came in during the middle of it, and saw how the students were thinking about these simple machines. One of the activities that the students did was draw a clubhouse and then figure out something they would want in the clubhouse. They then had to explain how they would get that object into the tree house. One of the students wanted a pop machine in her club house, so she used a pulley system to get it up there by using one of the tree branches. Even though some of these things may not be used in the real world, or they would be used in a much more complex fashion, it is good to get the students thinking about these types of things and having them try to apply them to different situations. He used some examples in the class as well so they could actually see what the simple machines looked like. There is definitely more that he can do with them with this type of lesson, and I am sure that he will. Unfortunately I will most likely not be in the class when he continues on with the activity sequence. Finally, I was able to go with the class on a field trip as they went over to MSU’s IM West for a “field day” that was being put on by one of the frat houses. It was a great way to end the year so that I could have a good time with the students, and see how they are out of the educational setting. They were able to enjoy themselves as their year comes to a close as well. However, some of the students could not come because they did complete their work on time, which was disappointing because some of the students who could not come were some of the ones that I had developed good relationships with, including my focus students. All in all, though, it was a great day for the students and interesting to see them outside of a learning environment.

Changes in Teacher Scenarios

The first activity that I would not teach is number 13 where the students go outside each night and sketch the phase of the moon. I do not like it because I did this in a previous class, and I feel that a student does not get much out of it. I would change it because it does not get the students very involved and there are better ways of having the students positively included in the classroom rather than having them do this work at home. I would change it by doing an in-class activity that covers the same material of moon phases. As we did in class, and we also covered in my previous class, you can use different materials to act out the phases of the moon. By using the flashlight as the sun and a ball as the moon, possibly with other materials, you can see the phases of the moon very easily. This gets everyone in the class involved because it can be done in small groups, and they can then have a whole class discussion where everyone reports back to the group. Again, this allows students to be actively involved in the activity, and allows them to discuss their findings with the entire class. They can also compare their ideas with the ideas of everyone else through the discussion or by discussing it in their small groups. This is a more effective inquiry process than having the students look at the moon every night.

The second activity that I would not teach is number 6 where the teacher requires the students to participate in a science fair. I do not like that the teacher requires the students to do this because it takes away from the fun of exploration and experimentation with their project. If they are forced to do, they see it as an assignment and are just doing to it for the credit. If a student does not want to a project like this, then they will likely get very little out of it. A change I would make is having it be a voluntary project for extra credit or some other incentive. I would also do a science fair type project in the classroom where the students could work in small groups on the project. This would get all the students involved without all of the pressures of completing the experiment on their own at home. This makes it a better inquire practice because the students are actively involved in the classroom where they can ask questions. They can discuss what is happening with their group members as well as the teacher, allowing them to talk about their ideas and compare them with the other students. They will overall get more from this because they are hearing multiple perspectives on the issues that are taking place. Because they are getting more chances for discussion as the project progresses, it makes for a better inquiry experience. They are actively engaged in the experience along with learning new information and discussing these ideas and findings with other classmates and the teacher.

In the Field

This week I spent a lot of time with my focus student for another class, and did not really see too much science in the classroom. My CT is still trying to catch-up on a lot of different things, so I was able to take my focus student in the hallway and work with him individually. This is extremely helpful because I am learning how the students in the class learn, especially this one student I am working with. He works so much better with me in the hall then in the classroom because he had someone there to help him when he needed it, and he had somewhere there to show they “cared.” My CT does a great job with all the students and getting them to develop in many different areas, but because he has so many struggling students he is not always able to attend to the students’ needs when they are needed. I was also able to give the student assessment tests in literacy, which was a very interesting experience because I did not do this for a while (I did similar testing the classroom last semester). The students have obviously gotten better at reading, which relates to science in many ways. The students used to have problems following directions on many of the science activities partially because they simply just could not read them at an adequate pace. Now that they can read better, they will be able to complete the science activities more effectively, which of course relates to their learning experiences. This improved reading will help all of the students in many different areas, and considering that a good portion of them came in at a kindergarten reading level, it is truly impressive how much they have improved.

Teaching the Lesson

This past week was an interesting with science because I was able to teach my lesson plan to my students. I did my lesson on sound, and I was surprised by some of the results. Many of the students had a great time using the sound systems, which is something that I knew going into the lesson because many of the students can get off-task very easily and hands-on activities are a great way to keep them involved in the lesson. Behavior management has always been a problem that I have had in this classroom because the students know that I am not “the” teacher as my CT is. Because of this, they know they have a little more freedom to goof off when he is not always around. However, I believe that I have gotten better at it as the year has gone, even though there is still plenty of room for improvement. Anyway, the students experimented with the systems in a productive way, but I had to continually remind them that they need to write their evidence in their science journals. This is something that took a little more effort because the students continuously wanted to play with the sound systems. The discussion also went very well because of the level of real world experiences the students were able to bring to the conversation. Many different students were dying to tell their own little stories, and I tried to relate each one to what we were learning so this learning opportunity was not wasted. Sometimes some of the students just wanted to tell their story, so I had to ask them a question or comment further so that a connection was made between the comment and the material that we were covering in the lesson. I think that this lesson was a productive one and is something that I could have continued on with in the activity sequence. It can definitely be built upon, and the type of activity that I did with them is a great way of reaching the students on their level instead of lecturing.

In-Class Bird Observation

The activity with the bird observation was very interesting. It was a fun way to learn about observations and how they can be helpful in the classroom, especially because it gets everyone else involved in the activity. People are going to have different observations and thoughts about anything that goes on in the classroom, and this activity proved that. While I had my own observations, other people in the class had similar or different observations, but it was interesting to hear everyone else’s views on what was going on. There were some things that were pointed out that I did not realize, but once they were pointed out, it made more sense to me. This can be translated to the classroom because you need to take into account that each kid is going to learn differently, not just make observations differently. Accounting for these differences is extremely important because some students may have an easy time understanding something while another student may have a much more difficult time. This is where hearing others’ comments come into play. Through hearing other people’s views and opinions, it may help other people see things that they did not see initially. Also, everyone in the class is going to have something interesting to say, whether they know or not. Giving them the opportunity to do this is extremely important, as we found out today in class. I liked this activity because it did get other people involved and you were able to see how people thought during the process of the bird observation period. It may have gone on for a little too long, but it was still a very rewarding experience because it is something that we can use in our classrooms.

The Past Week

This week the 3^rd graders went through some smaller science projects and how they were going to present them to one another in the classroom. The students had to figure out who was going to present what material. I walked around and listened to the groups as they discussed what they were going to do. My CT said he was giving them total freedom in their presentations and allowing them to do pretty much whatever they thought was necessary in order to present their material. It was interesting to listen to the students in their groups because many of the students did not want to be the ones to present their project. My CT did not have much time with them today, so that is really all the students were able to do. I was able to help a few groups in figuring out how to organize their presentation, kind of the same way that I helped them organize their science projects and posters earlier in the semester. One of the girls practiced her presentation for me, and she seemed to really know what she was talking about. However, she was one of the smarter students in the class, so I am interested in seeing how well the other students do with this assignment because much of the time many students are off-task. They have a difficult time keeping their focus during these types of activities, which is why the science experiment itself was good for them. They were actively involved in the experiment, which kept their focus, but now that they have to present it they seem to be a little more off-task.

More in the classroom

This week I was able to discuss my lesson plan a little further with my CT and talk about what he will be doing before and after, mainly talking the activity sequence. We discussed how he has another intern at a different time and they will be teaching a different lesson before me, and he will be teaching the lessons that we do not teach in the order that the book has them. He let me know about what kinds of experiments and activities they will be working on. He will be using some of the same sound systems that I will be using in my lesson plan, but I will be asking them to look for evidence as they use them while he, at least in the earlier lessons, will be having them just explore with them and have some fun with sounds to get them excited about the unit. As stated in the previous post, the class is behind in every subject, and because of math and literacy, science is kind of taking a back seat until other areas are caught up. While the students were working on some individual work, I was able to look through a few of his science containers, which he has from his previous job, and he is one of the teachers in the school who truly loves teaching science. Some teachers even come to him for materials or advice on how to teach a certain lesson. He had some pretty simple stuff in there for the sound unit, including some metal “forks” and rubber stoppers, tongue depressors that make a musical instrument when put between pieces of wood, etc. I believe that the students will really have a positive experience as they experiment with the sound systems. It will also give my CT a chance to see how much they know before actually getting into the facts and deeper experiments about sound. These kinds of pre-assessments can be really helpful in planning out the lessons, and I hope to talk to him about what he has seen after he has done these lessons with the students.