In the field

I had a very interesting past week in the field. The highlight of my week came on Tuesday when I was able to teach a science lesson on my own. My CT gave me about 45 minutes to teach a lesson and do a science experiment on fresh water compared to salt water. The kids were in groups and had two cups in front of them, one with salt water and one with fresh water. We then took cotton swabs and put a sample from each cup onto black paper, which when dry showed the salt that remained. The students had a great time drawing designs on the paper, which got them more involved, and they were able to really see that even though you can not see the salt in salt water, it is still there. We also had a discussion about where salt water and fresh water can be found, along with how are bodies can only use fresh water. I was able to get many students involved in this conversation because I continued to ask follow up questions to get them thinking about different aspects of each of the water types. The students were a little hard to control at times, as keeping them on task is always an issue. However, I feel that the experience was something that I can definitely build off of. I continue to learn how to teach the kids in an effective way, playing around with strategies to see what works and doesn’t work. This lesson plan will definitely help me when I teach my future lesson in the classroom for this class. I will be able to use what I learned in teaching this lesson and put it into use. I was also able to work with the students in some individual circumstances, again helping me learn the most effective ways to teach them.