Observation Assignment #2

SED 406:  Observation Assignment #2

In this observation assignment, your goal is to reverse-engineer a lesson plan. Watch the class, and write the lesson plan that teacher is using.

Do this by OBSERVATION, even if the teacher is willing to share their lesson plan with you. This is about improving your observation skills, not getting ‘the answer’.

Lesson Plan Template for SED 406 and 407 part 1 = planning
Teacher Candidate: Mr. Morra	Subject: Chemistry	Grade(s): 11-12
Name of Lesson: Balancing Chemical Equations
Learning Objective(s), including Bloom's taxonomic level: (label A, B, C, *D) *optional Students will gain an understanding of how a chemical equation relates to the law of conservation of matter? (Objective was written on board) Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Evaluation
Student Standards (GSE or/GLE or Common Core-in draft for math/science- list which): HS-PS1-4 & HS-PS1-5 Chemical processes, their rates, and whether or not energy is stored or released can be understood in terms of the collisions of molecules and the arrangements of atoms into new molecules, with consequent changes in the sum of all bond energies in the set of molecules that are matched by changes in kinetic energy.
Teacher Standards (professional society and/or NETS  and RIPTS-list which): RIPTS 3- Teachers create instructional opportunities that reflect an understanding of how children learn and develop RIPTS 4- Teachers create instructional opportunities that reflect a respect for the diversity of learners and an understanding of how students differ in their approaches to learning.
Rationale: Why this lesson? How does it fit into the curriculum and context? Is this the introduction, conclusion, or somewhere in the middle of the unit of instruction? This lesson fits in the middle of a unit on chemical equations. Before was working with equations and after will be word problems with chemical equations.
Materials/Resources needed, including technology: Handouts, computer, Smartboard, power point
Accommodations and Modifications (special needs and learning styles) For example:  Dr. Kraus has poor vision and needs written material to be at least 12 pt. font.  He also reads two grade levels higher and needs appropriate reading material.
What content resources support this knowledge base? (list at least 2) Chemistry book in classroom, site where powerpoint came from
How confident are you in this topic as you start this lesson? Confident, he definitely taught this lesson for years.

(Boxes expand as you type)   Lesson Plan Template part 2 = action
Bell-ringer: How will you get students seated, and ready for academic work? (without your voice) Voice is necessary as students will not just sit down, take out pencils, and get ready for class.
Anticipatory Set: How will you introduce the material, interest the students, show relevance of topic? Explain that you can associate a word with something else and review of old vocabulary words such as atom, element, equation, balance.
Phase (change as needed)/Time	Teacher action	Student action	Questions/Assessments
e.g. Intro/5 min.	Lead discussion	Participate	What is an atom? Do atoms make up elements? Do elements make up the world around us? What do electrons do? What does it mean to balance something? What is conservation?
Presentation or Open-ended/	Go through a couple slides on power point	Listen/Participate	What is a chemical equation? Is this equation balanced? How would you balance this if there are 2 oxygens on this side of the equation and four on this side?
	Breifly go over what the students will be doing Monday-Wednesday when teacher is at conference	Listen
Guided Practice or Convergent/	Walk around and observe students	Complete worksheet in two groups of three	How would you balance this equation? Is it balanced if there are 6 on this side and 2 on this side? Then what do you do?  What is a common denominator and how can it help?
Closing/	Explain (again) what is expected from them to do Monday-Wednesday because teacher will be absent	Listen	Does anybody have questions on what they will be doing during these classes?
HW/Application/	N/A	N/A	N/A
Review and Reflection: How will you review for students who are still having trouble? Go through examples with students
Extension: What will you offer to students who have mastered this? Worksheet is extremely long and will be worked on next class
*Closing: How will you review the material, and draw conclusions? (may be listed above) Closing will be done next week as teacher will be absent and work was not completed

	Lesson Plan Template pt. 3 = reflection
WHAT?	What went well?   Students did participate and work on few problems
	What area of weakness needs addressing? Students talking and not listening to instruction and commands from teacher
	Which objectives were met? What is the evidence? Students did work on balancing equations but there was not related to law of conservation
	Which students did not meet objectives? All
	Was time managed appropriately? Yes, however the students talking did take away from their handouts.
	Did any teacher mannerisms or actions detract from the lesson? Some stories that did not relate to the subject were told but teacher did not go off on tangents.
	*What were the strengths and weaknesses of classroom management? Teacher could not discipline students. They sat in the back of the room and refused to move up. They spoke without raising hand and interrupted other students who were called on.
SO WHAT?	Was the lesson engaging? Yes, power point was interesting and teacher is enthusiastic about subject
	*What did I learn from my peer observation (address at least one aspect)   Presenting power points are an effective teaching method. The Smartboard also allowed students to participate and allowed the teacher to write right on the equations. Classroom management in extremely important and can change the classroom experience completely. The students know they can get away with not listening and talking with friends so they do. Nobody was in trouble for talking and not listening to directions so this is something that will keep happening. Not much of the handout was completed and this was definitely due to poor classroom management.
NOW WHAT?	How will this experience influence your professional identity?  I know I will have to go into the classroom disciplining the students from day one. It may be difficult because this is probably the setting they are used to but consequences have to given to such behaviors.
	How will it influence how you plan/teach/assess in the future? The power point is definitely a tool I will use to teach. I hope I have technology like a Smartboard but if not I will improvise with a board. I will give handouts with the power point for students to take notes on. Group work is a good idea if students are completing group work and not talking to peers. I will assess my students as they complete group work while observing how they are doing on the material on a day-to-day basis. Questions about the class before at the beginning of the class time also seems effective because it will refresh the students on the subject and where they are at in the class.

Observation Assignment #1

            Walking into Mount Pleasant High School for the first time was overwhelming. It was huge and I was very anxious from what my classmates told me about the school. With a million thoughts and nerves running through my body I walked into the building and found the main office where I was given a classroom to go to. My first class was an AP Biology course but the teacher leader explained to me that their AP classes are not like regular AP classes and that these students are not “real” AP students. With that being said I sat down in the back and looked around. The room and equipment looks new. The classroom is pretty clean but unorganized. The walls are plain with a huge poster in the front that read “Goal: 85% of the class will pass NECAP reading test.” This was puzzling to me because I was in a Science classroom in the Science wing and there are reminders of NECAP tests that are not science. The board was blank. The classroom overall was boring and the teacher’s name was on the door meaning this was his classroom and not a shared classroom. I felt as though he could definitely add to the classroom and make it more welcoming and related to the subject.            

            In this AP Biology class there were six students. They were all sitting at different lab benches reading their textbook and taking notes. I was the minority in the classroom in terms of race. The students looked clean and were dressed appropriately. They all had notebooks, writing utensils, and cell phones. The teacher was on his computer in the front of the classroom. After sitting there for over forty minutes the students finally began grouping together, without permission from the teacher. I still had not heard the teacher speak until he heard too much talking. He disciplined them then went back to his computer. When the bell rang the students got up and walked out quietly and the hallway filled up with yelling and everyone calling to their friends. The teacher finally came up to me and began with small talk. He then explained what I was just watching saying the day before he taught the lesson on Diffusion and today they took notes from the book putting the subject into their own words, but that they mostly only copy the book which is not helpful. I asked if that was how each lesson went and he said yes. These students go into school one day to listen to a lecture and then the next day read about the subject and take more notes. He did not mention anything about labs taken place in the classroom and by looking around there were not much lab materials set up anywhere. This led me to believe that not many experiments took place.

With this being what I saw in my first classroom it is very difficult to see where the students at and what they understand and do not understand. Not one student asked a question. They were told to finish the notes for homework so I am not positive if each student is at the same place in the chapter or if they definitely would finish reading the book for homework. I did not feel comfortable asking these students questions on what they were reading about because the teacher did not speak to me until the class was over and I did not know if it was appropriate to do so.

            The teacher had the power in this classroom. His students acted much differently than in any other classroom I was in. They were quiet and did their work. They stayed busy throughout the entire class period. When the students did get even a little loud the teacher told them to stop talking and they did which was extremely different from the other classes. This could be because these are the higher-level students or because this teacher is stricter than others.

            Being a student in AP Biology at Mount Pleasant High School would not be engaging to me. Listening to a lecture and taking notes is something I am used to but I would not enjoy this in a high school setting. It seemed like a class I would dread attending because it seemed boring and too routine. Not seeing any lab materials could indicate that there is not lab time, which is a plus to Science class. Seeing how the teacher lectured could change my mind but from the small talk I had with him and knowing how the class periods were spent it did not seem interesting to me.