Science Class Visit- Assingment 5
Yesterday I visited and observed the freshman honors biology class. This was a very good day to visit as Mrs. W first needed to give the class a slight lecture about cheating on an exam. I thought she handled this situation very well but differently than I have ever witnessed. Instead of getting angry and accusatory, she told them the consequences of what would happen at a higher level especially as an honors class. Also, she is making them retest. I was impressed by how she took this bad situation but still turned it into a positive teaching moment.
Her actual lesson this day was an introduction to carbon molecules. I thought her teaching method for these molecules was really awesome. First she drew it on the board. Then, she had the students make it out of beads with their hands. Lastly, she showed them a picture of it and then they drew it in their notes. She also related everything to real life situations that they could connect too. I also enjoyed how she made her classes very discussion based. Typically science classes are very heavy on notes so I was shocked when during this period there were very few notes taken all period. If I were to ever teach science I would definitely want it to be like this.
On a side note! I loved that her room was set up very uniquely. Her tables were all slightly angled around the room instead of straight desks facing the front. She also had a big couch that was an option on some days. I also had to laugh that she had a toy box in her room for when her kids were with her! I loved that! The overall atmosphere in this room was very relaxed and laid back which is great for students especially a honors class.
Assignment Questions:
1. What were the objectives of this lesson?
The objective of today's lesson were for student to be able to recognize and draw a carbon molecule.
2. In your opinion, were students interested in the lesson? Why or Why not?
I believe the students were genuinely interested in the lesson. They were super active in the discussion and loved playing with the beads to build each carbon.
3. What teaching methods or behaviors were most effective in achieving the objectives?
The use of the connecting beads and allowing them to be kinesthetic when learning these I believe got them excited to learn and want to participate in the lesson.
4. In your opinion, was the teacher "giving away" information or facilitating learning?
She definitely was facilitating learning. When the students asked questions she directed them to where they could find the answer and then told them if they were correct or not. If they built their molecule wrong she would show them where the issue was and then ask them to try again. She also would focus the discussions around questions they had that would give them the answers but in a way they needed to think and talk them out.
5. How would you evaluate this teacher in terms of clarity, enthusiasm, business like behavior, variability, learner centeredness, and with-it ness?
In all these categories, Mrs. W was excellent. When discussing their cheating situation, she was very business like by addressing the problem and stating how they were going to correct their mistakes. The main topic I thought she was best at was learner centeredness. She really focused on making sure the students really understood what she meant and gave them the same information in a variety of different ways to connect to every student.
Notes from my visit:
Her actual lesson this day was an introduction to carbon molecules. I thought her teaching method for these molecules was really awesome. First she drew it on the board. Then, she had the students make it out of beads with their hands. Lastly, she showed them a picture of it and then they drew it in their notes. She also related everything to real life situations that they could connect too. I also enjoyed how she made her classes very discussion based. Typically science classes are very heavy on notes so I was shocked when during this period there were very few notes taken all period. If I were to ever teach science I would definitely want it to be like this.
On a side note! I loved that her room was set up very uniquely. Her tables were all slightly angled around the room instead of straight desks facing the front. She also had a big couch that was an option on some days. I also had to laugh that she had a toy box in her room for when her kids were with her! I loved that! The overall atmosphere in this room was very relaxed and laid back which is great for students especially a honors class.
Assignment Questions:
1. What were the objectives of this lesson?
The objective of today's lesson were for student to be able to recognize and draw a carbon molecule.
2. In your opinion, were students interested in the lesson? Why or Why not?
I believe the students were genuinely interested in the lesson. They were super active in the discussion and loved playing with the beads to build each carbon.
3. What teaching methods or behaviors were most effective in achieving the objectives?
The use of the connecting beads and allowing them to be kinesthetic when learning these I believe got them excited to learn and want to participate in the lesson.
4. In your opinion, was the teacher "giving away" information or facilitating learning?
She definitely was facilitating learning. When the students asked questions she directed them to where they could find the answer and then told them if they were correct or not. If they built their molecule wrong she would show them where the issue was and then ask them to try again. She also would focus the discussions around questions they had that would give them the answers but in a way they needed to think and talk them out.
5. How would you evaluate this teacher in terms of clarity, enthusiasm, business like behavior, variability, learner centeredness, and with-it ness?
In all these categories, Mrs. W was excellent. When discussing their cheating situation, she was very business like by addressing the problem and stating how they were going to correct their mistakes. The main topic I thought she was best at was learner centeredness. She really focused on making sure the students really understood what she meant and gave them the same information in a variety of different ways to connect to every student.
Notes from my visit:
Mrs. W- freshmen honors biology
-went over keystone question as "throwback Thursday" question
-relaxed environment
- keeps a toybox in her room for when her kids are here
-fun designed classroom- not symmetrical, couch, kitchen table,
-handling the honors vs average classes (honors gets held to a high standard)
-importance of academic integrity- lecturing them but turning it into a learning experience
-understands students on their level- lets them know she understands how they feel but it still not happen
- working on carbon
- uses special beads students have to make each carbon bond- gets them creating these with hands instead of just taking notes
- each bead has a different color representing different atoms- water is a blue bead
- discussion based classes
- has power point on board strictly for student reference occasionally
- structural isomer- still same formula but different structures, cause different function from structure
- shows them through power point, has them make with hands, she draws then they draw on notes
- related everything to real life
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