Week 5- Lesson Study

My co-teaching partner and I had the chance to teach our first lesson with other teachers and administrative personnel observing us. I think this lesson was much more successful than our first because we got the chance to see how students would react to the content, way that we experimented, and gauge some common misconceptions that they might associate with the content (gravity). It is amazing how much can be improved from teaching a lesson from a first time to a second. 

For instance, we cut out a large portion of the lesson completely because the “parachutes” we wanted to use were distracting and consumed a lot of valuable learning time during the lesson. Also, we realized that our terminology within the lesson could create some misconceptions itself, such as the word “drop”. We were able to consider more aspects of the lesson as a whole and the best way to teach the content based on a starting point from the first lesson that was taught.

When I first discovered we were doing a lesson study, I have to admit that I felt a little uneasy and worried about trying to plan lessons with four other people. And, so far, I was right. Working with four other individual people who imagine a lesson going a certain way but having to make compromises or considerations for things that they hadn’t thought of can be frustrating and complicated at times. However, I am finding it to be beneficial, especially for a person like me, because I am forced to speak up more for myself and try to make my opinions and ideas heard as well. Another beneficial aspect of the lesson study is that I get to heard things from others that I would not have considered on my own if they did not bring it to my attention. For example, I thought we should use a bouncy ball in the lesson to demonstrate the concept of gravity (“what goes up must come down”). But, my teammates brought to my attention that this could create a misconception or be too advanced for first introducing the concept of gravity since the ball would be going back up again. 

The lesson study is giving me the chance to work with others who have the same goals as I do (for student learning) while hearing ideas that are new or that I would never have thought about. It opens my eyes to other pedagogical and engaging methods for teaching the lesson. It is also teaching me the ups and downs of working with others and all that needs to be taken into consideration, such as meeting times, differences in methods, and reflecting on the lesson’s success, not focusing on the teachers. I thought this lesson study would be frustrating but I am now realizing that I am learning much more than I thought I would. 

Finally, meeting together for a de-brief session is one of the most beneficial aspects of the lesson study because we have the opportunity to reflect on our teaching and the lesson and figure out what works, what doesn’t, and what we can do better for the next time; all qualities of a truly effective teacher. Having input from older, experienced educators and administration encourages higher-order thinking during the de-brief, pushing us to think about parts of the lesson we may be missing or need to focus on. I am very grateful for this learning experience.

Week 4 - Paying Attention

This past week, my co-teaching partner and I got the advantageous opportunity to teach our very first, co-planned lesson about needs and wants to our kindergarteners. We administered a “pre-assessment” to determine students’ background knowledge about the topic and I thought it would be fairly simple; given a worksheet with 6 different pictures, the students were only to circle what they believed to be a “need”. As we walked around to collect the worksheets, I noticed one student (who I referred to before as “Ty”) did not circle anything. I asked her if she wanted to circle anything before she turned it in and she just smiled and turned, beginning to talk to the student next to her. I sighed and moved on, sad that she seemed to be distracted to the point of not following simple directions. Also, why did I not notice that she wasn’t participating when everyone else was busy circling their answers?


Ty is very behind and has a high chance of being retained and having to be in kindergarten next year. I believe one reason for this is her lack of attention during class. I sit next to Ty quite a bit during small group and whole group instruction, guiding and prompting her to keep up with the rest of the class. Ty is also still working on her potty training and does not know all of her letters and their sounds.  She is one of the smallest girls in the class and, when she is focused, she completes a majority of tasks. However, she doesn’t seem to understand simple directions and the teacher has considered having her tested for special education services.  I have so many questions about this student and don’t know which one I want to focus on but I just know that SHE is a puzzling student for me that I want to help best I can while I’m here.

While reading Tomlinson and Imbeau’s text, I couldn’t help but think of Ty. She needs special accommodations and differentiation in the classroom so she can get “caught up” and be able to engage in simple tasks, such as knowing which number we are working on during whole group. When I sit next to her, I notice her looking around the classroom, at other classmates, playing with things in her desk; everything else but looking and listening to the teacher. Ty cannot sit still, loves rocking back and forth in her chair, and is very quiet (unless talking about something she is confident enough to talk about). What I wonder is how can I harness this energy (kinesthetically) to her work in and out of the classroom? How can I get her to be more focused and actually listening to someone who is giving her directions? How can I get Ty to feel more confident in herself in a way that trickles into all aspects of her life (even outside of school)? Why is she not paying attention? Is she bored? Does she feel too far behind and thinks, “Why bother?” Is she really not interested or is there some sort of disorder interfering with her learning? What are truly effective behavior management strategies which can keep Ty self-regulated and on-task?

Week 3- Patience and guided instruction

This week I realized one of my pet peeves as an educator; students talking while I’m talking. I understand that kindergarteners get very excited and can become easily bored when the teacher tries explaining everything to them. I realized I was most annoyed when working with students individually, asking questions and they respond with an answer that is clearly a guess because I do not get the chance to finish my question and/or they just “go with the crowd” and say what everyone else does. In other words, they’re not using their own brains. The reason this bothers me so much is because I am not aware of what the student really knows and I feel that they are not actively engaged in what we are doing because they are simply guessing. I consider myself a very patient person and able to myself in someone else’s shoes, which is why I feel so bad about becoming frustrated with the students. I know that the students can pick up on non-verbal cues and intonation when I become frustrated. Once this happens, the learning (and my teaching) doesn’t seem as fun and positive. I don’t like this at all.

When I experience this with the students, I notice I think to myself that I want the kids to “just listen” to me. However, I am realizing that I need to change my perspective or my way of teaching/ working with children. While reading my section about guided instruction from the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model (GRR), it made me realize that I need to allow the students to do the talking and show/ tell me what they know already as well as what they are learning during the lesson. I need to ask more questions, scaffold appropriately, and encourage student think-alouds. Kindergarteners LOVE to talk so why don’t I build off of this in my own instruction/ interactions with them?

Another idea I had while reading the chapter was keeping a journal at my side (or nearby after the lesson) and recording my interactions with the students or what happened that caused me to become easily frustrated (Fisher and Frey, 59).  If I can analyze the situations, maybe I can prevent them from happening or become more aware of my reactions. The same reactions often happen when students completely ignore me or do the opposite of what I say. I would like to know effective ways to deter this behavior and change the way I handle these scenarios. Usually I try to handle situations like these with humor but this can sometimes be exhausting and time-consuming. How can I allow students (especially kindergarteners) the time they need to think-aloud and justify their answers? I believe it’s worth the time if I can hear possible misconceptions that the students have. Something else that may be an issue is how the students are learning. Maybe I’m asking the wrong questions or asking for output in a way that is not compatible with the student. Fisher and Frey emphasize creating choice for students, especially in the product, or way that they tell us what they have learned (p. 47).

My wondering for this week is how can I alter my reactions when a student does something that “pushes my buttons” to make it a positive learning experience (for everyone)?