Science Lesson Reflection
During my lesson, students observed and wrote down the different characteristics of soil, sand, and red clay. The students struggled with understanding what to write down for the different characteristics of the different types of soil. Each group mostly played around with their soil instead of doing the assignment that I gave. When I introduced the lesson, students were very eager to participate when I reviewed information they should have already known. As I was teaching my lesson, I became very nervous and seemed to skip around in my lesson and things did not run as smoothly as I had hoped for. Students were however able to complete the objective of comparing and contrasting the different soils which is what I was assessing for. I wanted students to be see which soil absorbs the most water but we only had a scale that showed which was heavier so we couldn’t weigh the soil before and after the water was added. I felt like I rushed through my lesson and did not get to do
all of the activities I had planned for the students. In the beginning of my lesson I showed a short video on plant adaptations and when the video was over I asked students to tell me what they learned from the video. This assessment helped me to make sure the students were watching the video because I did not have them take notes. I should have stopped the video every so often and had the students take notes instead so they had this information for future references. I feel as if the students were able to identify different characteristics of the different soils they looked at and compare and contrast them.
What I liked best about this lesson was how hands on it was and the students were able to gather the information by doing observations and writing it down. I had to keep repeating directions for the students and I did not have anything planned for students that finished early and were just sitting and waiting for further instructions. If I were to ever teach this lesson again I would use my time management better and I would try to make sure I had all of the materials I needed before teaching my lesson. I also should have weighed the three types of soils before and after
they were sprayed with water to have information in case we did not have the use of a scale or for time concerns. For next time, when I show the video I will either stop the video and talk about important facts or have students turn and talk to a partner about what they have learned from the video. I also want to have a more specific closure than I did when I taught this lesson. I had students write down any three things they have learned about plants or soil but instead for next time they will write down three things they learned about soil or from the video they watched. I also want to include how plants grow in these different environments instead of just observing the soil; I want students to understand how plants adapt to their different environments. After teaching this lesson, I learned that I can’t just give the students all of the answers and they need to explore information on their own. I also learned that I need to slow down when I am teaching a lesson and manage my time during my lesson. I need to give the students enough time to work on the activity in order for them to understand what I am teaching. This lesson definitely showed me what I need to improve on and what went well throughout my lesson and how I can improve this lesson and my future teaching experience.
During my lesson, students observed and wrote down the different characteristics of soil, sand, and red clay. The students struggled with understanding what to write down for the different characteristics of the different types of soil. Each group mostly played around with their soil instead of doing the assignment that I gave. When I introduced the lesson, students were very eager to participate when I reviewed information they should have already known. As I was teaching my lesson, I became very nervous and seemed to skip around in my lesson and things did not run as smoothly as I had hoped for. Students were however able to complete the objective of comparing and contrasting the different soils which is what I was assessing for. I wanted students to be see which soil absorbs the most water but we only had a scale that showed which was heavier so we couldn’t weigh the soil before and after the water was added. I felt like I rushed through my lesson and did not get to do
all of the activities I had planned for the students. In the beginning of my lesson I showed a short video on plant adaptations and when the video was over I asked students to tell me what they learned from the video. This assessment helped me to make sure the students were watching the video because I did not have them take notes. I should have stopped the video every so often and had the students take notes instead so they had this information for future references. I feel as if the students were able to identify different characteristics of the different soils they looked at and compare and contrast them.
What I liked best about this lesson was how hands on it was and the students were able to gather the information by doing observations and writing it down. I had to keep repeating directions for the students and I did not have anything planned for students that finished early and were just sitting and waiting for further instructions. If I were to ever teach this lesson again I would use my time management better and I would try to make sure I had all of the materials I needed before teaching my lesson. I also should have weighed the three types of soils before and after
they were sprayed with water to have information in case we did not have the use of a scale or for time concerns. For next time, when I show the video I will either stop the video and talk about important facts or have students turn and talk to a partner about what they have learned from the video. I also want to have a more specific closure than I did when I taught this lesson. I had students write down any three things they have learned about plants or soil but instead for next time they will write down three things they learned about soil or from the video they watched. I also want to include how plants grow in these different environments instead of just observing the soil; I want students to understand how plants adapt to their different environments. After teaching this lesson, I learned that I can’t just give the students all of the answers and they need to explore information on their own. I also learned that I need to slow down when I am teaching a lesson and manage my time during my lesson. I need to give the students enough time to work on the activity in order for them to understand what I am teaching. This lesson definitely showed me what I need to improve on and what went well throughout my lesson and how I can improve this lesson and my future teaching experience.