Introduction
Watching the video of my mini lesson was stressful. The activities and lecture portion of the lesson went so well in my head, however once I got in front of the class to actually present, my mind froze and I lost all train of thought. There were two things I struggled with the most during my lesson. One was not picking out the materials to use in class before actually using them. I tried to allow the students to use the internet to pick out definitions or pictures themselves, thinking that the activities would flow smoother. In reality it just caused me more stress. Secondly, I should have planned my FRAME out a little better. This was a great closure activity, but if I had made the FRAME first, it would have allowed me to plan the lesson around that information, so that at the end it would have made more sense when we went over it as a class. All in all, the lesson in my mind was a failure. However, if I had done these couple of things, I think it would have gone much more smoothly. The following is a better explanation of my pitfalls, along with some video evidence.
Online Blunders
This video shows one of the mistakes I made when planning for the online activity. I should have had a little better plan for involving the class when using the online dictionary.
This is another video that shows my frustration with the online search for definitions. I should have planned more effectively.
The first section I stopped to study was around the 7 minute mark of the video, while we were working on the definitions to some key terms I had found. I had hoped that the class would provide a simple definition to the terms I was asking for, and then we could clarify by looking at a definition online. Instead, I stood in front of the class, asked for a definition, and then immediately read the definition from the internet. This did not allow anyone to actually use their own prior knowledge to start thinking about the terms we were talking about. Also, I was seeking out a definition that I had not previously found on the internet. I only trusted that a good definition would make itself known as soon as we typed the word in the search engine. To remedy this problem, I could have made a professional-looking handout with the terms we would talk about in class with some space to write in the definition. Then, for myself, I could have made the same handout with the definition I wanted written in, along with the site where I found the definition. This would have allowed me to give the students something meaningful to study, as well as reduce my stress level and anxiety while facilitating the lesson.
Use Your Resources
This video shows a time where I should have used the board to make the information I wanted more visible and meaningful.
My second pause in the video came when I was trying to squeeze out some information from the class about religion and its role in starting World War I. The questions I asked were coming from the top of my head, and all we did as a class was talk about the terms and move along. One thing that could have helped me in this situation would be guiding questions and follow up questions for the ideas I wanted to talk about. Planning out the responses I expected and making questions to lead the class in the right direction would not only reduce the amount of thinking I had to do on the spot, it would also have helped keep me on topic. Second, I could have used the board to write down the key word, such as RELIGION, and then ask for characteristics of religion that could be written under the word. This way, our thoughts would be organized and the students could have a visual of where I was trying to lead them.
Planning for Activities
This is an example of time that was wasted in class because I did not pick out the pictures myself. If I had, I could have explained more in depth what I actually wanted in the next activity.
The majority of my lesson consisted of the definitions and guiding questions. Afterward, I had planned to look up some examples of propaganda posters to lead the class into the next activity. In class I simply asked someone to type in World War I propaganda poster in the search box and then pick the pictures they liked so we could talk about them. What I found is that I didn’t know as much about propaganda posters in World War I as I originally thought. For starters, finding pictures on the spot did not allow me to write down guiding questions, so I again was left in front of the class fumbling around to keep the lesson going. Second, looking at one particular poster, I found no relation in the poster to WWI, until Debbie made the connection for me. While it is fine to be corrected by your students, in this case my peers, it made me feel dumb and got me off track. To remedy this situation, I should have found some pictures I liked before the lesson, made a slide show of the pictures, and written down some guiding questions about them to make sure the students were seeing what I wanted them to see before I got them working on their own posters.
This video shows how I actually introduced the Propaganda activity to the class. I should have had better instructions.
Another thing I could have done to plan more effectively would be to make an outline of rules for the activity where I allowed the students to create a propaganda poster. While watching the video I realized that the people in class perked up and got excited about drawing and coloring, but didn’t take the activity as seriously as I had hoped. To make sure that the students were focused and had clear direction, I could have written the directions for the activity on the board or on a handout that gave them some space to draw their picture. Doing this would have allowed me to ensure I was getting what I wanted from the activity, and not made me, and the students, feel like we were drawing just to fill time.
Make a Better FRAME
This is a video of my FRAME activity. I should have done the MAIN causes of WWI, instead of trying to make things harder on myself.
The last thing I stopped to review was when we went over the FRAME activity at the end of class. I had decided to do the FRAME routine about 5 minutes before class started, and therefore I was just winging the details that I wanted on the handout. I had some vague idea of what to write in the boxes, however I now realize that if I would have made a sample FRAME before the lesson, things would have gone much smoother and I could have made more sense out of what I wanted from the lesson. Let me clarify. The lesson was about how the Industrial Revolution created ideas and beliefs that lead us to a world war. If I had planned the lesson out more carefully, and created a sample FRAME, I would have realized that most of the information I put in the FRAME was excellent, but could have been organized better. After reviewing my FRAME, I noticed that the main idea of the routine could have been “The ideologies created by the Industrial Revolution that lead us to World War I.” In the four boxes, we could have written Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, and Nationalism. From these key terms, we could have listed the M.A.I.N. causes of World War I, and then explained what each term meant.
While standing in front of the class, I felt like the lesson was going nowhere. Receiving my feedback, I felt like everyone was trying to force nice comments to make me feel better about the presentation. What I realize now is that the feedback was excellent and my classmates and professors alike are intelligent people. Tweaking my lesson in the slightest ways and spending thirty more minutes planning and creating some sample outlines or FRAME’s would have allowed me to relax and teach a much more powerful lesson. I tried to force technology and outlines into the lesson that were unnecessary, instead of using simple ideas and activities that more effectively described what I wanted to teach. If I could do this lesson over again, I would make the necessary outlines and take more time to plan out the questions and specific details that would go along with the lesson. Knowing this now; however, allows me to learn from my mistakes and make a much better lesson in the future.
This is my lesson reflection rubric.
Teaching presentation rubric
