1.What went well in this lesson? Why?
I believe that the general flow of the lesson went well, primarily due to the fact that this lesson was more thought-out and prepared for. The transitions between the different parts of the lesson went well. Students were also very good about following directions during the gallery walk. I also thought that the time was used efficiently for this lesson, it gave students enough time to work on their own task instead of spending a lot of time just listening.
2.What problems did I experience? Why?
I did experience problems while students began working on their assessment task. I found that many students were confused about what they should write/draw about while many other students were finding it very difficult to come up with a story to explain why the person might be feeling that way. I think this is due to the fact that I did not go over the instructions a second time with the class before sending them off to get started. If I had done that it might have helped lessen the confusion.
3.How did I engage and involve the students?
I involved the students in the lesson by allowing them to express emotions and feelings on their faces and choose what feelings to do next. This was a fun part of the lesson with them because young children love to pretend and do extremes (extremely mad, extremely sad, etc.) I also involved them by taking their story ideas while I modeled the assessment task with them.
4.What could I have done differently?
Although I can just say that I would have had the students repeat the instructions for the assessment task, I also could have stopped the class to re-explain everything that they were confused about. This would have been more efficient than clarifying multiple times to individual students. I also would have highlighted the part in the lesson about thinking of a time when you felt very ____. As the feelings on your face part of the lesson progressed, it became more about showing the feeling on their face, but not about thinking of something that would make you feel like that. I also learned from another student in this visual arts course that sometimes it’s better to give students the feelings you want them to learn about instead of expecting them to come up with them.
5.What did I learn from this experience that will help me in the future?
I learned that I need to really think through the instruction part of my lessons. I think through the assessment task quite a bit and usually alter my teaching in order to prepare them for the assessment. But I do not always think through how the students are going to learn the new information (in this case about emotions).
6.Preparation and research - Was I well prepared? - What could I have done differently?
I was well-prepared. I had my lesson plan printed out, the students’ artwork printed, laminated and arranged on team tables organized according to inquiry buddy pairs. I prepared the board to model the task with the students and I was ready to teach. I could have thought through my plans for what students were to do once they were finished a little better. I had decided very last minute that they would share what they wrote and drew with a partner.
7.Written plan – Was I organized? Did the written format work? Is there a better form?
I was organized; organization was a lot better this time around. I wrote out the things I was going to say so that helped me think through the lesson before teaching it. It worked for me and I will probably stick to this form.
8. Presentation – Were the students involved? Was I clear in my presentation? How was the pacing? How did I engage all of the students and allow as many as possible to answer questions?
The students were involved. They were able to act out emotions, choose what emotion to do next, demonstrate, and get up to look at student artwork. I think there was a good amount of elements that kept the students engaged because they didn't seem to lose much interest.
9. Assessment – Does my method of assessment measure what I want? How did the class do? What should I change for next time?
I wanted students to be able to look at an emotion and think of something that would cause that emotion. Overall the assessment both did and did not give me a clear measurement of whether students could do that. I noticed that they were confused about the assessment task and had a hard time thinking of a reason why the person in the picture might be happy. My assessment could either be telling me that the students were not able to do it, or they were confused about the assignment. I think I would have to prepare them better for their assessment task next time by focusing on the relationship between the emotion and the situation that might have caused it.