Week 6 Reflection

This week, I introduced the writing process to students. We began by completing graphic organizers that were used school-wide last year so that students were familiar with what was happening. The week's focus or theme was "responsibility." The following is a reflection from the first day's lesson.

What do you think the students learned during your lesson and how do you know?

During this lesson, students learned how to brainstorm ideas for writing, organize their thoughts, and communicate effectively. Implementing the doughnut and stair step graphic organizer helped tremendously in getting our ideas down on paper. As I questioned students about their ideas for responsibilities at school, I asked them to elaborate on their answers rather than just give me a word or two. For example, when the students suggested that coming to class prepared was one responsibility, I asked them why it is important to do so. This required students to expand upon their answers, telling me that when they are prepared they can get started on their work faster, possibly eliminating the chance of having homework. Such explanations told me that students really understood the concept of responsibility because they were able to connect the material we discussed with their own lives.

I was very impressed with the students’ ability to organize the ideas that were generated on the first graphic organizer. They were able to decipher which aspects of each responsibility were more important than others, therefore helping in determining where each should fall within a paragraph (e.g., smallest to greatest, general ideas to specific ones). Students seemed to understand that, when writing, it is important to build up to the “main picture” rather than throwing it out all at once.

When students were asked to explain a responsibility, they generally gave me real-life examples, which were perfect to include in the essay we constructed as a class. When I gave them two examples of a paragraph (one with supporting details and one without), they explained that the one with details was much easier to understand and made more sense. From that point, the students tried to explain or support their claims as we added them to the paragraph.

What adjustments did you make during the lesson to address student differences and why?

During the lesson, I moved some of the students who normally have difficulty paying attention or keeping up so that they were within close proximity to me and the overhead where the information was being written. For instance, one student in my second period requires extra attention and motivation to stay on-task when completing independent work. Initially, I left him in the front of the room, but a good distance away from me. However, as the students began to copy information from the overhead, this student started playing with his pencil and staring off into space. At this time, I moved the student to end of the front table so that he was directly at my side and in front of the overhead. Now, when I noticed that he was off-task, I could reach my hand down and tap his paper instead of stopping in the middle of discussion or even provide him with one-on-one assistance as the rest of the class was writing.

I also used a lot of questioning strategies during this lesson. This seemed to help students think through their ideas and explain them in more detail. By the end of the lesson, they were describing their responses without me asking them to do so.

What went well during this lesson and what would you do differently next time?

Assuming that the students needed to start from the beginning with the writing exercise went extremely well. Asking students what they already knew and questioning them to check their understanding (about what went on each graphic organizer, for example), I feel, was the most critical part of the lesson because if I assumed that everyone recalled how to construct a five paragraph essay, then I probably would have received confusion about expectations. Allowing students to talk through their ideas helped them to express themselves beyond one-word answers. In addition, using questioning techniques throughout (e.g., what do I do at the beginning of a paragraph, if we are writing about responsibility, what is one word that should be in the topic sentence) the activity seemed to boost the students’ confidence in their ability to answer questions. Students who hardly ever participate in class discussion did so. Also, having students write at their seats as I wrote on the overhead assisted in keeping them on-task at all times.

A second part of this lesson was to have the students write their own essays upon completing the one written during whole-group instruction. However, many students became frustrated when they were asked to do this alone, saying that it was easy for them to tell me what to write, but difficult for them to put their ideas in writing. I think that I should have had a few more practice sessions before asking the students to write independently. Perhaps I could have had them complete a step and then rejoin as a class to discuss the step and answer any questions, or even held one-on-one conferences with the students so that they felt I was still there as a guide.

What did you learn about teaching?

At the beginning of this lesson, I had planned to do a teacher read aloud of the book Pigsty by Mark Teague. At first, I was a bit worried how the fifth graders would respond to this (e.g., would a read aloud be too “elementary”), but, when I got out the book and a student excitedly asked if they could pass the book around and do the read aloud, I was thrilled. The students really enjoyed getting up in front of their peers and holding the book up to read. Plus, this was a nice way to build fluency, as students were asked to speak loudly since they were addressing the whole class and they were able to hear a variety of readers. Although this is not exactly what I had planned, it worked out great, the students were involved, and the work was still completed! In other words, BE FLEXIBLE!

Describe the feedback you received from your host teacher.

My host teacher was pleased with the amount of time students were given to copy from the overhead and the overall atmosphere in the classroom. Because students were treated with respect and had the opportunity to actively participate in class, they remained on-task throughout and student participation rates seemed to increase. Since the students felt comfortable with me, they also demonstrated the same respect that I had shown them.

What did you learn about yourself as a teacher?

After teaching this lesson, I learned that I have the ability to tie in examples from previously covered materials to monitor student understanding and to provide explanations when direction or content is unclear.