This week brought on exciting and interesting challenges. On Tuesday and Wednesday, my classes performed their first lab. Going into the lab, I posed the activities as a trial run for them. The lab itself was easy and involved no potential hazards, except the use of glassware, and I told my students that I was watching them for their adherence to safety practices. I allowed students to pick their own lab groups as well. Allowing them this freedom allowed me to see a few things. First, I noticed how some students were eager to work with others while other students were more reluctant to group with peers. Also, it allowed me to see which students should work together and which students should be separated. Finally, I was able to see which students were leaders and which students needed leading. For the most part, students worked well through the activity and adhered to safe laboratory practices. A few students had to sit out unfortunately because they were unable to follow safety protocols. I explained to them individually the importance of following the rules and that if I allowed them to keep their safety at risk, that I was not doing my job properly.
Also this week, I began preparing for my observation next week. I was able to sit down with my department chair and start hashing out ideas for a good observation. We focused on the 5E model and were able to incorporate some of the E's into the lesson ideas. During my observation, I will be working a reading into my lesson. This is exciting to me because I do not think there is enough reading done in science classes and the article I found seems pretty interesting. We will be working on significant figures during that class and there is an article that discusses why there are so many ties in swimming. After students read the article, I have designed an activity where students are going to measure the room and chart their values on a graph. I'm relying that there will be some variance in the measurements achieved so that it ties into significant figures and why these are important. I also found an activity that has students working in teams to build numbers using cards that answer the rules I give them.
For this observation lesson, I started with the end in mind. I built my objective of reinforcing the importance of significant figures first and then loaded in activities that would allow my students to actively engage in their understanding. So far, my students have been significantly more engaged when they are manipulating the curriculum with their own hands, participating in activities that get their bodies moving and their brains working.
Additionally, this week I asked my STAT teacher to come in a informally observe one of my classes. This class has been difficult for me behavioral wise and I was interested in getting another set of eyes in there and someone who could offer suggestions. Based on the feedback I received, I am looking forward to my formal observation this week. My STAT teacher was pleased with the way I moved around the room, how I approached students directly to address a problem, and how I used proximity control when needed. He was impressed that I felt like this was my most difficult class and felt like if this was my biggest struggle, then I was doing pretty good. I really like having a STAT teacher because he is able to offer feedback without the pressure of evaluation. After he is done observing, we are able to chat freely about the issues.
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