My Final Reflection

I did a co-teaching lesson plan with my classmate Christine Richardson. We used class time to prepare for our lesson plan. The time we had in the computer lab helped us to brainstorm ideas for our lesson. We met up the day before our team teaching to go over the lesson together. The topic of our lesson was Creative Writing. The objective of our lesson plan was that students would read a poem called “Gone with the Wind”, students would write about an adventure as a butterfly, and students will design their own butterfly. The students would have brainstormed in their journals before the poem was read. After the poem was read students would work together as a class to create their own story about their adventures if they were a butterfly. Each student were to write 2-3 sentences and pass the paper to the next classmate in line. While the other students waited they were to draw and design their own butterfly.

I can honestly say that our lesson plan did not go as we planned it to. The most important thing we tried to teach the students was how to use their imagination and creativity to expand on each others stories. I was not as prepared as I should have been because I did not make copies of the poems as I said I would. Also, we forgot the hat that the students were supposed to pick their numbers out of for the creative writing assignment. When I finally got myself back on track I thought I was set and ready to go, but as soon as the students started to act out the behaviors I started to lose it.I was so used to just doing a lesson plan and getting it over with in my other classes. This time it was sort of a wake up call to how students can possibly really act in a classroom. I felt that some of my classmates were over acting on their behaviors and needed to just stick to their card, but it was a great learning experience. I noticed that being too mean and dry with the lesson will cause the students to lose interest and act out more. It is just a little hard for me to pretend my classmates were second graders. If I were doing this lesson in a real second grade class I feel I would have had a better outcome.

As far as using the podcast went, I think it went very well. The students listened to a podcast of the poem called “Gone with the Wind” after they brainstormed in their journal. It was pretty clear, but we played it twice for the students who needed it repeated. Another way we can have infused the podcast into the lesson would have been playing it as Christine and I acted out the poem. I think that would have grabbed their attention more and got the students more interested.Podcasting is definitely something that I would like to incorporate in my future lessons. I think it will be cool to record myself asking questions relating to a previous lesson, and the class can answer them either at home, during centers, or even as a quiz.

I enjoyed playing the student during many of my classmates lessons. One of them that I really enjoyed was Katie and Kathy's lesson. They were really prepared for their lesson. It included many things such as play dough, board games, and a fun lesson. They really kept the class in control with their token economy system. I liked how everyone's popsicle stick started on green and ass you misbehaved your color changed. It was kind of a motivation to stay well behaved even though my card said the opposite.

Another lesson I enjoyed was Marie and Veronica's. I like how they incorporated learning about primary and secondary colors into their lesson. Even though they said they were not fully prepared and were missing things such as the paint and some activities, I would have not noticed. They did a good job keeping the lesson going even though they were missing things. That is something that you have to be ready to do as a teacher because you never know what can happen in a classroom. I picked up some cool activities I would like to use such as making animal ears or masks to go along with a lesson. Overall the class team teaching assignment was a great experience.