Getting your students engaged

Getting your students engaged!

Something that I've noticed, and even noticed when I myself was a student, is that the more engaged and hands on the lesson was, the more likely I was so remember and learn from it. During this course, every group that has taught science has done something hands on. Wether it be the students moving their bodies in a particular motion, having a physical object in front of them or doing an experiment, learning needs to have a hands on aspect. Not only does this make the lesson more worth remembering, the students have more fun in their learning. Not only in science, but in every topic/lesson you as the teacher should fine a way to get the students engaged and in charge of their own learning. But when it comes to science, it is extra important. 

Science is a hard subject, it has many aspects to you and it is factual, just like math. Some students just can not learn from taking notes and watching the teacher do something. They need the be the ones physically doing something to be able to retain the information. While teaching science I noticed that the students want to learn what you have to say, but some just have a hard time staying focused when they realize how difficult it may be. So when you get your class moving and involved, you catch their interest and attention again. One group of teachers even had the students all stand up mid note packet and act out how a plant would act during a process. Some students found it funny and others were just bored, but ethier way, everyone participated. Just participating is going to help these bored students remember this new information. In the end, as the teacher I think you should make it a priority to find a way for students to get hands on in everything you do, especially when it comes to science. It way seem silly useless at the time, but remember that in the end you are helping your students to learn better! 

About me

About me as a person!

My name is Marley Chefalo and I am 20 years old, attending Mount St. Marys College taking classes learning about how to be a future teacher! Ever since I was little I always dreamed about becoming a teacher. My grandfather was a teacher at the high school I attended and my mom always told me that she regretted not becoming one. To me, being a teacher means giving students the information and encouragement they need to follow their dreams. When I think about teachers I have had growing up, I think of the enthusiastic and happy ones that were always there helping me and going out of their way to make sure I was getting what I needed. I hope to be one of these teachers, the one that sticks out in my students minds years after I have had them because I effected them in a positive way. 

I grew up in Cold Spring, New York where our community is very small and all the teachers are involved in something outside of school. If it was just going to the sporting events or starting clubs, the teachers were everywhere. They were more than just our teachers, they were mentors, someone we could talk to and most importantly someone we could have fun learning with. I hope that when I am a future teacher I can be this for my students, wether I'm in a suburban neighborhood or the inner city, I want to involve myself in the community around the school so the students can see me as more than their teacher. I am overly excited and thankful to be following my dreams and have the opportunity to teach future generations!

Getting to know you activty

Getting to know you activity!

On our first day of field work we did an activity to get to know our students. As a future teacher I think that it is extremely important to get to know your students personally and know their interests and dislikes. Know personal things about your students makes it easier for you as the teacher and more fun for them, the students. You can use this information to gear your lesson and also, it shows your students that you actually care about them and their needs. The "Getting to Know You" activity should be fun and the students shouldn't be concerned about doing anything right or wrong. 

For our "Getting to Know You" activity, our group made a big flower, since we are focusing on science and plants, and on each petal was a different, personal question. The students went around taking turns and picked a petal. The teacher would read aloud the question and that one student would answer. Having something hands on and fun looking for the first day is important because it gets your students attention and excited to move forward in their learning with you. Our first day as science teachers getting to know our students was fun and exciting! The students were highly engaged and had a fun time getting to know us and their fellow classmates!

Plant Classification Day 2

Plant Classification Day 2!

Working on the indirect instruction lesson was very different than how we worked on the direct lesson. This wasn't as straight forward as the indirect and harder to come up with an activity to do. We knew we wanted to bring in the actual plants because that worked very well for a pervious group and the kids were more enthusiastic to learn about the plant that was physically in front of them. In the end we ended up doing a "What am I?"packet with questions for each plant. We also incorporated articles on every plant for the students to look at and use their own thinking to find new information about the plants that we didn't necessarily teach. We had more then enough time at each station for every plant and this gave the groups a chance to really think and read through the articles and discuss it. 

Overall, I think our indirect lesson very well, despite what some people said. I think we had good ideas and spent a lot of time working on it. When I have my own classroom I definitely will do a lot of lessons in this group like method where you have stations that all the groups go to. If I was the actual teacher in this room I would have taken the time to make sure all the groups had member that's worked well together yet also encouraged one another to stay on task. That is one thing I noticed, some groups worked extremely well and got the assignment done quickly. While others didn't do any work and just fooled around the entire time. But, in the end, I am really happy with how our lesson turned out and I am proud of our ideas and ability to present it to a fourth grade class!

Plant Classification Day 1

Plant Classification Day 1

Our groups first day of presenting plant classification went well overall, even though teaching this topic can easily get confusing, especially for fourth graders. When I was presenting my information I thought that I was clear and loud when speaking. I also think that all my peer group members did a good job aside from some nervous jitters. We used the method of a slideshow with a note packet following along with the information on each slide, then we did a word bank independent practice. At first, it was confusing for the students to follow along with the information because it wasn't classified that they needed to be taking notes. But once it was established what exactly they needed to be doing, the students did a great job of correctly filling out their packet and following along. 

When it comes to teaching plant classification it is important that you clarify the four different groups within the plantae (plant) category. If these four groups aren't clearly distinguished then the students will have a hard time understand each plant. My group taught about the four groups: ferns, flowering plants, coniferous trees, and mosses and liverworts. We set up a separate slide for each one and talked about the characteristics of each group. The students had a hard time remembering certain words that pertained to each plant group but once we asked them to repeat it multiple times, they caught on. There were certain moments in our presentation where it seemed like we were off track or talking about something that was completely different, but the group always made sure to relate it back to the topic of plant classification. In the end, I think our direct instruction lesson went very well and we explained the information very clearly. Our students learned a lot of new information!

Science experiments in a classroom

Science Experiments in a classroom!

Doing engaging and fun things in an elementary school classroom is always a bit crazy but definitely rewarding. Doing experiments in any topic but especially science is essential to your students learning. Hands on experiments are things that students remember for a long time and reminisce on when thinking about what they did in school. At 20 years old I still remember multiple experiments I did in school, but couldn't tell you one thing I read from a textbook. Making the experiments the perfect balance of crazy but educational is the tricky part. The second students see that they will be doing an experiment they obviously get excited. But as the teacher you need to be able to keep control of your class and make it clear that they can only do these fun things if they listen and act professional. Some experiments can be solely done by you the teacher, but it is definitely more fun when every student can do it individually, or at least in small groups.

Group 3 did an experiment with our fourth grade class and overall it went pretty well. When they first were handing out the materials and explaining what they would be doing, the class got crazy, but that is expected. The class was excited to do something hands on and work with actual plants instead of pictures. Throughout the experiment all the students seemed on task and more focused than if they were just doing a worksheet. They all seemed eager to figure out what would happen in the end. In the process of doing the experiment, the students also experiences the steps a real scientists take, such as a hypothesis, questions, and conclusion. In the end, doing experiments with your students is very beneficial and they definitely learn more than a worksheet if done the correct way!

Teaching in a Group

Teaching in a Group

Throughout all of my education I have always worked in groups. Sometimes I enjoyed this and other times I would have preferred to work by myself. But, working on this project in my group has been more then difficult if I'm being honest. Everyone has different ideas of how to teacher our topic, plant classification, and some members are doing things on their own without consulting the others. Although we got everything done in the end and I am happy with our results, I don't know if I would want to teach in a group again. When working in a group on a project it is easier than working with multiple people on something you all have to teach. 

When working in this group I experienced a member of the group significantly changing and taking over work that I had already done, and the other group members had agreed on. I also dealt with someone with no regard for what the group as a whole had to say. They went off and did things on their own without consulting anyone else, and when they did consult in someone, didn't even listen to the response given. Although this was very difficult to work on, it was a lesson. In the teaching community you are not going to agree with everyone and everything. As a teacher you have to learn to adapt and change things, even if you don't want to, to make other happy. This project has showed me the realties of teaching and made me even more excited to have my own classroom and teach certain things the way I want to teach, without worrying about another teacher going through my work and changing it. 

Plant Reproductive Parts

Plant Reproductive Parts

Today we watched group three do their lesson on the reproductive parts of plants. It was the direct instruction day and they did a very good job of presenting the information. They stuck to the basic yet went into detail of what every part did, which is perfect for 4th grade. They mentioned the stigma, ovary, pistil, receptacle and stamen. These are the main parts for plant reproduction and are used by plants to procreate. Teaching a topic like this to 11-12 year olds is very difficult because they are at that awkward stage where any talk about reproduction is something they don't want to involve themselves in. But, group three did a great job of staying professional and sticking to the lesson they had planned.

When talking about plants reproducing, most just assume pollination is the main source. Although this is true, there are many different parts to this process. Every part of the plant is involved, down to the roots, stems, and leaves. Seeds are a very important part to the plant reproductive process. When seeds spread, more and more plants grow. The seeds are extremely important because they are what causes the plant to spread. The seeds must be protected and be in a potion to easily detach from the flower and make it into the ground of the surrounding areas. Overall, group three did a very good job teaching this subject, This topic is not only difficult to teach to fourth graders because of their age, but it is also hard to teach because of the information that needs to be presented. The fourth grade definitely got a lot out of this lesson and, not only them, but myself learned a lot as swell!