Planning
In the
lesson planning section of the video, the three educators began by discussing
the idea of a re-engagement lesson. According to their definition, a
re-engagement lesson enables the teacher to determine what students are
confused on or have misconceptions about by analyzing student work and using a
series of questioning techniques. The objective of this re-engagement lesson
was for the students to feel comfortable with producing multiple
representations of cost analysis problems and gain an understanding that all
representations are equal mathematically. The educators also wanted the
students to practice representing a series of data verbally and for students to
be able to read a table and a graph.
Lesson
The
lesson began with the teacher reiterating the content that was learned in the
previous lesson. He verbally reminded students that they had discussed the
economic status of the world as well as how to make responsible decisions for
handling money. Next, the teacher informed the students that in the current
lesson they would be using the DVD plans packet and to follow along as the teacher
went through page by page. On the DVD plans packet, students were asked to
explain how they began their table from the previous lesson. Students were to
write the explanation first, then share that explanation with their shoulder
partner, and end with a whole class discussion.
The
rest of the lesson was highly repetitive and mostly involved the DVD plans
packet and the white board. Students remained in their seats for the entire
period and were given brief opportunities to discuss ideas with a partner when
the teacher told them to do so. The
students were also given some opportunities to discuss their ideas with the
entire class. Therefore, the lesson was almost entirely teacher centered. The
teacher directed the lesson from start to finish and never relinquished his
authority role for students to take responsibility for their own learning.
Faculty Debriefing
In the
faculty debriefing video, the four educators discussed both the positives and
negatives of the Comparing Linear Functions lesson. The educator that actually
taught the lesson was impressed by the students’ growth and their progress in
debunking misconceptions about tables. He also discussed how students began
making connections between the ideas that things can make mathematical sense
even though they did not follow the DVD plan. On the other hand, the teacher
noticed that students were not making the connections between the original
writing prompt and the table they were working with. In order to aide future
students in making this connection, the teachers decided to include all three
plans and the original prompt on the DVD plan packet to remind students to
refer back to the plans when analyzing the material. The teachers also
discussed the student misconceptions about the differences between T charts and
tables as well as the role and value of zero.
Overall Thoughts
Though I
believe the Comparing Linear Functions lesson was adequately designed to meet
the intended objectives, the lesson lacked student engagement and was largely
teacher centered. Students were provided with opportunities to share their
ideas with their classmates but these sharing times were extremely short.
Similarly, students were given specific prompts about what to discuss with
their partners rather than allowing them to speak freely with one another. The
teacher was in control of the entire lesson and maintained a strict schedule
for every element of the lesson. Additionally, the teacher provided the
students with all of the materials for the lesson. Students were given a packet
that contained completed tables, directions, writing areas, etc. The students
were not expected to create anything new but rather were asked to follow this
packet page by page. This lesson could
have been improved by asking students to work through the problems in small
groups. These small groups could have been instructed on determining whether
each table was mathematically reasonable and followed the DVD plan. Then, the
entire class could have come together to share their ideas with the students
being in lead of the discussion and the teacher serving to clarify or expand
their ideas.
Thanks Sara:) Very nice!
ReplyDelete