CT Observation 2 Reflection

Video Link: https://youtu.be/uO-mav84nIU

Discuss student learning. What did students learn? Provide evidence for this learning (discuss student work, observation data, video, etc.). How do you know that students learned?

My students learned about what different animals do when it snows. We discussed three animals specifically that changed in the book Snow and students were asked to write about one of those animals that changed. At 12:42, I could tell my students were paying close attention to the animals that changed because one of my students noticed the bear was “going to sleep because winter is coming.” The picture included shows one of my students’ writing pieces that says, “The geese fly south to get warm. Their lake freezes. They’re going to Florida.” This is an excellent example of student learning after this lesson about animals changing when it snows.

Select several questions from the USF lesson plan reflection sheet based on content.

What aspects of your lesson were implemented differently than you planned? Why did that happen?

I planned many questions for turn and talks and whole class discussions, but my lesson was implemented differently based on what I observed throughout the read aloud. My students used so much detail in their answers for all of my questions, so I omitted some questions that I didn’t feel were necessary throughout the book. I had questions on every page of the book, but as I began, I did not want to pause after every page unless I felt it was necessary for their learning. Some of the questions distracted students from the overall objective of understanding what the animals did when it snowed. At 18:13, I could tell it was a great turn and talk with the HOT question I asked, so I made sure to ask all of the HOT questions but omitted some of the simple questions that took away from our time exploring the more difficult questions.

What surprised you in your lesson?

I was surprised after the first turn and talk before the read aloud when I learned about my students’ background knowledge. At 2:58, one student shared his knowledge about bears hibernating, along with a few other students who shared this same fact. I was surprised to see that many of my students knew a few things that animals do during the winter, and it set the tone for a great read aloud.

Describe an instance or particular encounter that comes to mind. Why did you pick that instance? What is so perplexing about that particular moment?

At 10:40, I asked: “How could I tell the moose was talking on this page?” I thought this would be a simple question for them to answer, and that was a misconception on my part. I could tell from my students’ faces and one of my students’ answers that they were very unfamiliar with quotation marks, so this moment was eye opening to me. This moment helped me understand that my students would benefit from a read aloud and writing workshop lesson revolving around quotation marks. This taught me that we would need to revisit this again in a different lesson as the focus.

What did you learn from engaging in this lesson?

I learned that my students enjoy interacting during a read aloud. I see much more behavior issues during a close read (given by the county, which requires less interactions) than an interactive read aloud. My students were engaged during the entire lesson, so I would like to plan more read aloud lessons like this when possible.

What are some of your goals based on what you learned from this lesson?

After post-conferencing with my CT, I set a goal to establish my expectations more clearly before turn and talks. I will tell the students that it is a turn and talk or a lean and whisper. If we do more than one in a lesson, I will also let them know if they should be with the same partner or a different partner than the first time. These expectations will help with behaviors and will keep everyone on the same page.