I completed this assignment while simultaneously writing my lesson plan, and I discovered that this process really helped me to focus and shape my lesson plans. By writing down the steps and goals of my lesson in a format more recognizable to me, I was able to clearly express those in my formal lesson plan. Besides narrowing my ideas, this assignment also helped me to examine critical pieces of the lesson (content, process, etc.) In this way I was able to objectively examine my lesson, and to visualize it from an outside perspective.
The most valuable experience however was when we brought in our lesson studies to class, and got to discuss them with our peers, it was helpful since we haven’t really gotten much time at all to share our ideas and strategies with the other students in the program. This assignment allowed us to do that, and using specific details from our teaching moments. Most everyone in the program have very good ideas and I would like to be able to continue to exploit that resource. There are also those who have much different strategies than I do, and I really like to see how other individuals approach teaching. I think it would be valuable to utilize the small groups more, as I can really gain an insight into the others’ strategies. Reconvening into a large class was nice, so we could hear what everyone was doing, but it wasn’t as revealing.
As a final piece to the assignment, I really think that reflection is very important for the learning process. In the moment of execution, I can list what went right or wrong, but I cannot clearly say why they went in either direction. It is important to take a moment and reflect on the experiences and actions of those moments, to achieve the greatest clarity possible.
I definitely understand what you mean about how important it is to actually take time to reflect on a lesson. I just gave a lesson today and am preparing to sit and really evaluate and reflect on the pros and cons of my lesson. You are right that we should not just be looking for what went right or wrong, but why they did. “Why” always seems to be the biggest question for a historian and a teacher!
Absolutely! One thing that I am not very good at is reflecting on something immediately after I’ve finished. While I feel like reflection is fine after awhile (maybe there are many kinds of reflections, and each offers it’s own advantages), I do believe that reflecting yields the best results when you aren’t just trying to remember the sequence of events.
Sam, I approached this assignment from a similar place. Instead of creating something new, I applied this particular structure to a pre-existing plan. It will be interesting to see how my process will change if this structure were used from the beginning.
definitely. I would love to have the opportunity to share my lesson plans with peers every time!
I like the idea that you wrote this while creating your lesson plan. I bet that helped immensely. In the future, I plan on shaping the lesson around this activity and asking myself the questions it generated.