Name: Sara Zavadsky Lesson topic: Using the Periodic Table to Construct Atomic Models Date Observed: Friday

ay November 13, 2009 School/ Grade Level/ Number of Students Taught: Brown Deer Middle School- 7th and 8th grade/ 87 students Cooperating Teacher Name: Mrs. Eunice Puetzer PLANNING AND PREPARATION: The day that I was observed I taught to two different classes. I was only observed for the second class. It was helpful to get to practice my lesson before I was observed. While I was teaching the first class, I had to make some adjustments in the way that I presented the material and taught the lesson. When I was observed I was more prepared and better able to clarify myself and answer questions before they were even asked. The first class allowed me to see that I needed to better clarify information and expectations for the students, while they worked on problem sets. Having this practice, I was able to better communicate what I wanted from the students and I think that the lesson went really well. I had taught the class twice before I was observed, so this was my third day of teaching to the whole class, so I was very comfortable and I think that this helped me and showed through the way that I interacted with the students. Because this lesson was mostly a review, I was very comfortable with the material and it was easy to plan what I wanted to do with the students to review the material and then incorporate that into a new activity that asked them to take the knowledge that they have and apply it to a higher level of thinking. I think that it would have been more helpful if I would have actually made a worksheet that I wanted them to complete. Instead, I made it up while I was there and wrote it on the board, which takes more time away from them working on the problems. They did have plenty of time to work on the examples, but I wish we would have had more time to go over the answers, if I would have already had a worksheet made, this would have been accomplished. It was made clear to them what I wanted them to do and although some students had questions, I feel that they all knew what they had to do, or where to look in their notes for help. The students were able to come up with the correct answers and conceptualize the material. LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: I asked the students to work in groups or partners to complete the problem sets. Once they worked together to come up with the answers I asked different groups to put their answers on the doc cam so the whole class could see what they got for answers. I then asked other students (who did not show their answers on the board) to come up to the board and verbalize the steps to completing the answers. It was like a show and tell. I challenged the students to use each others work and then present that to the rest of the class. Every student was involved whether they were the ones that put the answer up, or the ones to describe the procedure to coming up with the answer. Before we did the activity, we quickly reviewed concepts and vocabulary that they would need to complete the worksheet. During this time, I asked leading questions

to the class that all students answered to me, or I called on students to answer. I would say such things as, So if we were going to draw carbon we would need to have how many electrons? Then I would wait for the class to respond. When there were questions, they asked and before I answered I asked the students if they knew how to answer them. CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION: The students are very visual and kinesthetic learners. I asked them to complete a worksheet which allowed them to physically go through the steps that they would need to construct the correct model of an atom. When they were done with that, the students drew their models on the doc cam so they could see what they needed to do to come up with the correct answers. The students were very successful with completing the worksheet and mastering the content because they were able to learn from each other and draw the correct models. If I changed anything it would be that I would have had them complete the drawings before they showed how they did it on the doc cam. We wasted some time when they drew the models while they were actually in front of the class. ASSESSMENT: The worksheet tested to see if the students understood the concept that I was teaching them. They struggled through the first problem, so then we went through it as a class and then they were better able to understand what was being asked of them. Then the students were able to complete the worksheet while they worked together. I learned that most of them were comfortable with the content; this was seen through the completion of the worksheet. Some of the students also helped to explain the answers to each other and worked through the problems like a tutor would, so I knew that they mastered the content because they were teaching it to each other. Some of them still struggled, but at the end of the class I think that they were better able to understand when we went through all the examples. When I walked around I did not just look for right answers, I asked the students to verbalize why they did what they did and why that led them to the correct answers. When the students had a hard time answering some of the questions I reviewed with them and walked them through the correct way to get to the answers, until they understood and could do it on their own. The objective of the lesson was to have students visually represent and construct the correct model of an atom, and they were able to do this through the problems that I made for them. PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES: My teacher and I team taught this lesson which was a good experience. After we did the first class she let me know that I did a great job at answering questions and involving everyone. She liked that I had the students put the answers up and then have other students verbalize those answers to the class, so I did this in the second class as well. She also liked that I had the students tell me WHY they knew that there answers were correct and HOW they came to those answers. She said that some of the students

seemed confused with the directions of the worksheet, so for the second class I went over the directions better. REFLECTION: I think that the biggest thing that I learned is that being very clear and explicit with directions is essential for students to learn and understand. This will help to eliminate students frustrations, which hinders their learning. Also, students like to be involved, and have different ways to express what they have learned. The students enjoyed explaining their answers and they enjoyed being able to work collaboratively to come up with the answers. When I continue with my teaching in the future I will make sure that I am clear with what I want and I will make sure that I involve the students and give them different ways to express what they know. Some students are better ant verbally expressing information and some are better writing it. So by allowing students with different learning styles to learn, hopefully all students will learn and understand what is being asked of them.