"To acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe." - Marilyn Vos Savant.

This week was filled with many useful observations of my peers (Monday and Friday) as they presented their lessons plans following the direct instruction, inquiry, and cooperative learning formats. I was also able to absorb new information by presenting a demonstration lesson to my peers about teaching current events to students through use of articles. By presenting to my peers, I was able to receive feedback about my lesson and teaching style.

Monday 10/28/13:

During today's class session, I was an observer of groups 3 and 4. Both groups implemented a direct instruction lesson plan using a PowerPoint presentation. I was able to take notes throughout this time in order to provide feedback to my peers. I will be presenting my notes in a "3 plus and 1 wish" format.

Group 3:
- I enjoyed the way you checked for understanding throughout the lesson (thumbs up/down/in the middle, "Stop and Check" slides on the PowerPoint, hands on head when students had completed the handouts that went with the PowerPoint presentation). I would suggest that rather than say "Okay" when clarifying directions and not getting a response, you should use methods like put your hand on your head if you understand the directions or encourage choral responding of "okay."
- I liked that your group worked collaboratively during the implementation of the lesson. When someone lost their train of thought, another teacher would jump in. If a teacher asked a question and a student didn't understand, another teacher would rephrase the question to help clarify. This made the lesson more seamless and cohesive.
- I think it was a good idea to assess the students prior knowledge before showing the correct answers on the presentation slides.
- I wish that you had connect the colonists gripes with paying taxes to a personal example for the students. For example, How would you feel if you had to give your teacher a dollar every time you sat in your seat? This would give the students a more personal example to relate their learning back to.

Group 4:
- I like that you had folders prepared for each student! This can make students have more ownership of their work and learning, as well as making them feel special and included.
- Katrina and Chrissy did a great job modeling the cause and effect activity. You both spoke loudly and clearly with your bodies facing the class. You not only modeled the behaviors you wanted to see from the students, but also the thought processes and collaboration the students should try to incorporate during the expansion activity of the lesson.
- Throughout the implementation of the lesson, you all either rephrased or restated your questions when you saw that students were unsure of how to answer, did not understand the question, or were not paying attention the first time the question was asked. I think that this is an effective teaching tool that will maintain the students' engagement throughout your lessons.
- I wish that you had more time for your lesson! The ending piece where students had to decide what phrase was a cause and what phrase was an effect was an engaging and effective way for students to demonstrate their understandings. I wish I had more time to see this portion of the lesson carried out all the way.

Overall, both groups did an excellent job on their first direct instruction lessons! I am excited to see and hear more from these two groups during our next few fieldwork sessions.


Wednesday 10/30/13:

During today's class, Ericka, Alex and I presented a mini-lesson to the class. 

The strategy we addressed was Listening for Details. To address this standard, students were asked to listen carefully to an article we read aloud. The article was read aloud a second time, and students were instructed to take notes about the Five W's (who, what, when, where, why) which would signal major details in the article. The students were then asked to record answers on a sheet (but we accidentally provided the answer sheet to our students). After the students individually recorded answers, they were broken into small groups to discuss their answers.

Here are the links I can provide for this lesson: 
Lesson Plan
Presentation

We also offered our classmates full class applications including, The teacher could model an article before breaking the students into groups, students could be assigned different articles. Students from each group could have a role (reader, time keeper, note takers) during the activity, and after the students have read, they can share their findings with the class. 

Overall, our classmates enjoyed our presentation. They felt that the article was interesting and relevant to the study of current events. Our classmates stated that they wished we did not provide the answers on our worksheet that way they could have experienced our lesson in its entirety. Our classmates also stated that they wish we chose a shorter article or only read the article once to be sure that students would remain on task and interested throughout the reading.


Friday 11/1/13:

During today's class session we observed Groups 3 and 4. Today, both groups created an inquiry lesson. Group 3 created a scavenger hunt, which asked the children to find missing museum artifacts by using the internet as a source. Group 4 created an artifact bag activity, which allowed the students to become involved with primary sources. Both groups did a nice engaging the students during the lessons, but time was an issue for both groups. During our fieldwork time, the fourth grade class is divided into two groups. The first group works with Group 3 for 25 minutes, and then switches to Group 4 for 25 minutes, and vice versa. This makes creating the lesson more difficult because all aspects of the lesson must be completed in a much smaller time frame. I would suggest that the groups meet before implementing the lesson in the classroom and conducting a "run-through" as a group. This will allow the group to establish what the most essential components of the lesson are, and what areas of the lesson can be cut back or removed for the sake of time within the classroom. 

 I was able to take notes throughout this time in order to provide feedback to my peers. I will be presenting my notes in a "3 plus and 1 wish" format.

Group 3:
- I enjoyed your pre-assessment of prior knowledge at the beginning of the lesson (Do you remember this picture? and the elaboration from students).
- I think that you did a much better job checking for understanding from students. You used methods like hands on head and saying okay.
- I liked that you modeled your inquiry activity, but I do have some suggestions. The way you were positioned made it difficult for the students to see what you were doing and to hear what you were saying. The modeling piece was also very long, so students began to lose interest and engage in negative classroom behaviors. I would suggest modeling at the front of the room with louder voices. I would also keep the modeling piece to 2-3 minutes. Another suggestion could be to avoid the modeling altogether. Each teacher worked with a group, so rather than use valuable time modeling, the students could access you as a resource throughout the activity.
- I wish that a teacher had announced that groups needed to be quiet while others were presenting. It is important to value and reflect on the works of others, so students need to be aware of this.

Group 4:
- I enjoyed when you clapped as a group to get the attention of your students at the beginning of the lesson. This set the stage for the students to focus on the teachers and the task that was going to be presented to them.
- I like that you all worked collaboratively as the lesson was implemented. When one teacher forgot what to say, another teacher jumped in for assistance. I think this made the lesson flow more seamlessly and made the lesson more effective overall.
- Your worksheet was so cute! I think it was an effective way to provide the students with guidelines for the activity. It also served as a way to assess the students' understandings of artifact bag activity and the steps for inquiry.
- I wish that teachers who weren't talking to the class would have walked around the room. This would allow teachers to address students who were not paying attention to the lesson or engaging in negative classroom behaviors.