Kaylee Clark Lesson 1 Practicum Reflection 11/18/13 My lesson went really well today!

I was nervous, but when I started most of the nerves went away. The students definitely met the objective. They were all able to choose if they would squish the bug or not, and why they chose that. They all filled out their paper and drew a picture, and then shared with the class. Most students said they wouldnt step on the bug. For formative assessment I used a checklist. While students were working I was observing and guiding when necessary, and then when they shared, I recorded the scores. Every student received a 9 out of 9. They all seemed to enjoy the story and were excited to share with the class. I really enjoyed the book, and I think it was a great introduction to insects. There were also some things that didnt go well. I think I read the story too quickly and could have taken more time to explain things. When I get nervous, I rush things. Also, when the students were sharing, I should have taken their papers. They were too distracted looking at their own paper, to pay attention to the students sharing. Another thing that I could have planned better, is having an extension activity for when students were done. I didnt really know how quickly they would finish that, or how long some students would take to fill our their papers. Also, a lot of students needed my attention, so the extension activity would have to be completely independent. That is something I will have to learn more about and be better at planning. Next lesson we will be moving on to learn more about each part of the insect. Today was a great introduction, so I think the students are really excited to learn more. Next lesson is about the exoskeleton, and the students will be able to do some interactive group work.

Kaylee Clark Lesson 2 Practicum Reflection 11/20/13 The lesson went really well today! I was less nervous, and the student seemed to be engaged and excited about the lesson. I definitely think the students were able to meet the object. The objective for this lesson was that students were supposed to be able to explain what an exoskeleton is and how it is similar to our skeleton. We had a long discussion about this and most students participated. Also, they had to write sentences about the exoskeleton, which each student completed successfully. While students were working on their sentences and picture, I walked around and observed and helped when necessary. Also, I had a formative assessment checklist that I filled out when students were finishing. Next, students will be learning about the different parts of an insect. I will review the exoskeleton each time I teach the students. I will do this so that they know that every insect has an exoskeleton. Today, I put glue in the students hands to show them what an exoskeleton was like. I was nervous that this was going to go very badly, but to my surprise it went extremely well! The students really enjoyed it, and listened to all the directions. I also think the students were engaged and most of them participated in discussion. I also brought two papers that students could fill out and color if they finished early. I think that was a good thing, because some first graders finish very quickly, and others take longer. The sentences I had them write were a little long. Some students complained that their hands were hurting and they had trouble finishing. I also should have showed examples of real-life exoskeletons so the students had an idea of what to draw. Some of them didnt know how to draw an exoskeleton. I think the pictures might have helped with that.

Kaylee Clark Lesson 3 Reflection 10/21 Today went really well! My confidence is growing with every lesson! Today, the students objective was to match names of an insect body part to a picture of an ant. They also filled out a fill-in-the-blank sentence with the parts of an insect. They did really well with this and seemed to enjoy it! I used a formative assessment checklist while students were working on this. I walked around to observe and guide. When students were finishing up, I walked around and filled out the formative assessment. Most students received full credit. Now, since students know the parts insect have, they are going to have to be able to distinguish between an insect and a non-insect (bug). I think they will be able to do this if we review the parts of an insect before they begin. I feel that most of the lesson went well. I am becoming more confident with my classroom management and that is helping a lot. At the beginning of the lesson we had a class discussion about the parts of an insect. I handed out a picture of an insect with labeled parts for the students to use. I had them talk to a partner about the picture before we began. This didnt go so well. I should have talked about the picture first, and then had them review with a partner. Most of them didnt really know what to talk about with their partner at first. After that, the rest of the discussion went well. When students were back at their desk they had to match the parts of an insect to a picture and then fill in the sentence. I had the words on the board that they could use. I should have gone over the words before sending the students to work. Some of them had a hard time distinguishing between antennas and abdomen since they both start with a. Other than that I think it was good! I think my directions were clear and the students were actively engaged. I also review what an exoskeleton was from the lesson yesterday. I showed pictures of real exoskeletons. I think this helped students make a connection from the word to the picture. I am really excited for the last lesson where students get to create their own insect out of food. I think they are really going to enjoy that!

Kaylee Clark Lesson 4 Reflection 11/22/13 Yes, I think the students met the objective. Today, they were supposed to be able to distinguish between an insect and a non-insect. They did this by completing a t-chart graphic organizer and observing live bugs. All students were able to do this. Next, is the summative assessment. Students will create their own insect using food items. I think they will really enjoy this. It will be great for me to see if they all understood the big concepts from the unit. The main concepts are the parts of an insect and the exoskeleton. I think todays lesson went pretty well. It seemed a little unorganized. I think this happened for several reasons. One reason is the proscope not working at first. Then, when it began working all of the students swarmed the table. I was originally just going to have three students at a time come up and see the bugs. Also, the students rushed through the t-chart graphic organizer. I think they did this so they could see the bugs sooner. Then, when I told them to color they scribbled one color on the bugs. I am not sure why they did this. All of the other lessons I have had them color and they did a really good job with it and took time to color them correctly. Also, every other lesson Mrs. Flaws has walked around and helped with students questions. For some reason she didnt do that today. Normally that would be fine, but today I was kind of planning on her help so that I could watch the students looking at the bugs. So, I was just kind of confused during the whole lesson and I didnt exactly know what to do. I still think the students understood the concept and enjoyed observing the bugs. I think they get that insects have to have certain body parts. I also thought it was cool that we were able to see an exoskeleton! After todays lesson I am feeling a little defeated. I have been really confident about my past three lessons, but today just didnt go as planned. I hope Monday can be really good and I can feel confident leaving the first grade classroom. Also, Mrs. Flaws wrote something on my reflection that I didnt really agree with. She said that I should have gone through the bugs on the sorting activity (the insect/noninsect sorting activity) before they started. I didnt do that, because I wanted them to

show me what they knew and to prove that they can tell the difference between an insect and a non-insect. What do you think about this?

Kaylee Clark Lesson 5 Reflection 11/25/13 Today went so well! The students LOVED the create your own insect activity. They were so creative, and it was really fun to see. They definitely met the objective of creating their own insect that had all of the correct parts. They all drew their insect that they created and labeled the parts. They then shared their insect to the class. I used the final rubric to grade these. The rubric contained things such as neatness, organization, content accuracy, required elements, and illustrations. I think this was a great activity for the final assessment. Students had to prove their knowledge of insect and their parts. I walked around while students were working and had them point to the parts of the insect they were creating and tell me what they were. I think this really helped them visualize the different sections. I handed out the plates before I gave all the instructions. This was a little distracting for the students. I should have just let them grab the plates when they came up to get their supplies. Other than that, I think everything went really well. Mrs. Flaws said I should have gone through the different food I brought and explained what parts they could use it for. I didnt want to do this because I wanted students to be creative and come up with that on their own. I feel that her and I differ in control. I feel like she likes to tell students exactly what to do and how to do it, where I like the give students freedom so they can prove they know the information before I give them the exact answers. This was a great learning experience for me. It is the first time I have felt really in control of a classroom! I definitely feel better prepared for student teaching now!