Teaching Reflection

The lesson I think went very well, definitely different from what I was expecting. There was definitely some lesson changes while we were there and in the moment of teaching. That I thought added to the experience. All of the changes that we made to our original lesson worked a lot better than the original lesson would have. I really do believe that the lesson was effective and that the kids took something away from it. The kids definitely met our learning performances. They asked great questions and really tried to learn what we were trying to teach them. They were able to stay engaged which was great and were a great class to work with. The student’s questions definitely led to a greater discussion. We ended up leaving our teacher density column in the classroom because they were curious about if it would separate or not. Our enacted lesson was different from our planned one, mostly because of time. The discussion was so good that it changed our time frame, which is never a bad thing. We went all the way to the end of class every time which was also a really good feeling. When some of the student’s density columns didn’t work, it caused new conversation about why it didn’t work and why some of the other groups didn’t. teaching science as inquiry is not only better for the students learning, but it is more fun for them and the teacher as well. Giving them the options to do what they want in order for them to figure out gives them ownership over their experiences and their learning. You definitely need to look at the actual lesson and make sure that it’s not too hard for them to figure out and that it’s not too messy. We definitely had an issue with mess, and if I had to change anything about the lesson I would only change the procedure for the second half of the lesson, the density column. We had a major spill at one of the tables and probably should have been walking around and monitoring what the kids were doing. I maybe put too much trust in them because they were in 6^th grade, but now I know not to do that!