Internal Character Traits Lesson Reflection
I cannot believe my last observed lesson is finally over. This day seemed so far away back in January when we were handed the syllabus for the semester and now it is here and I have just two days left of student teaching. It sounds corny but people always say time flies when your having fun. I don’t mean to say test prep was fun by any means, but this whole experience has truly been a blast and time certainly has flown.
I was unusually nervous for my first observed lesson in fourth grade and unusually calm for my second. I usually lie somewhere in between, but I feel like my emotions during this whole experience have surprised me. I felt prepared and comfortable in front of the class and as soon as I started asking questions and saw several hands fly up to answer each one I knew the lesson was going to be a success. It might have just been because their teacher had warned them to be on their best behavior before my lesson, but the students were very actively engaged which also does wonders for any lesson. Isn’t student involvement the crux of everything teachers plan? When the students are working just as hard as the teacher, there is no way a lesson can go terribly wrong.
What surprised me most during the lesson was how severely I had underestimated my students. I can usually predict how the students are going to answer my questions so I can basically script the lesson. However, before even giving my students a list of internal character traits to examine they came up with very sophisticated words for fourth graders including creative, imaginative, and dramatic. I had underestimated my students and was looking for the simple trait funny. That, ironically enough was the one word I didn’t receive. I will still continue to try to predict what my students are going to say because it helps me plan my response, but I won’t ever object to being pleasantly surprised by my students because I don’t have to plan a genuine response for that.
The book club I met with when the other students were independently reading went fairly well. I had hoped for them to get into more of a discussion with as little interruption from me as possible but that did not seem to work as well as I had anticipated. However, I do think the group still did a nice job of keeping the conversation flowing and all four of them remained actively engaged during the meeting, which is the most important component of a discussion based book club anyway.
Basically, I couldn’t have asked for a better circumstance for this lesson. The students were well behaved, cooperative, quiet, and insightful. I only forgot one question I had meant to ask, the difference between internal and external traits, but it worked out well because the point almost seemed to make itself without being directly touched upon. It did not significantly affect the lesson. I probably felt the most comfortable with this lesson out of all four times I was observed this semester. I think that just proves the point that I have grown through this experience and certainly have become more confident. I now know that I can successfully implement lessons in both math and reading in a first grade and fourth grade classroom. It might not be much, but it certainly feels like an accomplishment to me.
I was unusually nervous for my first observed lesson in fourth grade and unusually calm for my second. I usually lie somewhere in between, but I feel like my emotions during this whole experience have surprised me. I felt prepared and comfortable in front of the class and as soon as I started asking questions and saw several hands fly up to answer each one I knew the lesson was going to be a success. It might have just been because their teacher had warned them to be on their best behavior before my lesson, but the students were very actively engaged which also does wonders for any lesson. Isn’t student involvement the crux of everything teachers plan? When the students are working just as hard as the teacher, there is no way a lesson can go terribly wrong.
What surprised me most during the lesson was how severely I had underestimated my students. I can usually predict how the students are going to answer my questions so I can basically script the lesson. However, before even giving my students a list of internal character traits to examine they came up with very sophisticated words for fourth graders including creative, imaginative, and dramatic. I had underestimated my students and was looking for the simple trait funny. That, ironically enough was the one word I didn’t receive. I will still continue to try to predict what my students are going to say because it helps me plan my response, but I won’t ever object to being pleasantly surprised by my students because I don’t have to plan a genuine response for that.
The book club I met with when the other students were independently reading went fairly well. I had hoped for them to get into more of a discussion with as little interruption from me as possible but that did not seem to work as well as I had anticipated. However, I do think the group still did a nice job of keeping the conversation flowing and all four of them remained actively engaged during the meeting, which is the most important component of a discussion based book club anyway.
Basically, I couldn’t have asked for a better circumstance for this lesson. The students were well behaved, cooperative, quiet, and insightful. I only forgot one question I had meant to ask, the difference between internal and external traits, but it worked out well because the point almost seemed to make itself without being directly touched upon. It did not significantly affect the lesson. I probably felt the most comfortable with this lesson out of all four times I was observed this semester. I think that just proves the point that I have grown through this experience and certainly have become more confident. I now know that I can successfully implement lessons in both math and reading in a first grade and fourth grade classroom. It might not be much, but it certainly feels like an accomplishment to me.