Week 8 Reflections

Good lessons can always be made better! Students often need more explicit instructions,
more visual examples, and more modeling of behaviors or task expectations than I originally
plan, always. Even when I outline my procedures and transitions, I cannot fully anticipate how
my language (phrasing of directions or content) will be received and comprehended by the
students. For example, in one of my most recent lesson plans, I decided to focus on team
building in collaborative, small group workgiving each student a role in their group and a task
to perform that supports everyone. I put my instructions in the PowerPoint, briefly modeled what
the Reader would be doing and asked students what the other group members should be doing
this time, to which they responded listening; then we modeled it as a whole class; then I passed
out descriptions of each members role to the students to keep them on task. I thought the
students would be ready for their jigsaw at this point and passed out the articles. But what was
the first question they asked me? Wait, am I supposed to read this? What are we doing? I had to
take the time go around to each group and jump start the activity. My supervisor, Mr. Ben,
observed this lesson, and told me that perhaps I should have passed out the roles to the students
first, then have them practice/model the behaviors expected from them. An adaptation I will
certainly make the next time I use this strategy!
Pros: On the go assessments of student behaviors and learning are really important for a
lesson, in my opinion, maybe just as important as other types of formative and summative
assessments. Responding to learning can help you steer a lesson on track and prevent confusion
or errors in knowledge before students commit it memory and can be really helpful in preparing
students to receive conceptsthrough background knowledge. For instance, if you ask students
to brainstorm what they know about dolphins before you read an informational text on
dolphins, it would be helpful to know what language learners or other students dont have that
term in their vocabulary! My student Eva, in grade 6, obviously knows what a dolphin is but did
not know the name of the creature in English. So I had to stop my lesson, add dolphin to our
word wall, look up a picture and have Eva write Dolphin in Chinese and draw a picture to
accompany my word wall word. This was SO important for the lesson and the unit. I really
needed to respond and meet the needs of my learners.
Cons: The cons are that sometimes you can get of track pursuing a thought or a concept
that might not be your main learning objective or goal to meet the standards. Keeping the
formative and summative assessments in mind and what is expected of the student in the long
run is an important perspective that should also be guiding your responses to learning! (Is it
worth it intervene or change the lesson plan for this?) Sometimes the answer is yes and
sometimes its no.
 Free Response
I have learned a lot about the American education systems culture through the contrast
of working in an American school that is influenced by British and Australian administrators in
Thailand. The American school system has really shifted towards students conceptual
knowledge and the scaffolding behind thinking and learning before students demonstrate
competency/proficiency in a subject area. We ask a lot of the How? And Why? And What if?
questions, but a lot of these studentscoming from Thai, Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian
backgrounds are used to only demonstrating proficiency and not comprehensionthe Who,
What, Where, and When questionsrote memorization. It is sometimes a little difficult to get
students to question your thinking or their own thinking in class and I have had to really scaffold
inferential and critical thinking, even more than expected for middle school and ELL students.
These students are perfectionists, always looking for the right answer, who struggle to
engage in the concept building process because they dont want to be wrong, they dont want to
take risks. For example, Patrick told me a story about how he wanted the students to draw how
many pigs the farmer needed to have 4 pigs (2 already in the pen so the students would need to
draw two more pigs). But the students collectively refused to draw anything, not because they
didnt know the answer was 2 pigs, but because they didnt want to draw a pig. It wont look
good. I cant draw a pig.
I have learned just how important it is to build the concept knowledge behind the skills
and to start to scaffold metacognition and reflection at a young age, so that students can really
take time to practice and develop these skills in order to become independent thinkers and
learners. I want my students to be able to pursue their own interests. These rote memorization
and skill-based learners in the Asian education systems are very proficient students though, who
can locate patterns and practice structuring and organizing information and problems over and
oversome of the hardest working students with the most stamina. I think our education could
borrow some of the skill-building (note taking, organizing, practiced) learning strategies a little
more as well.