Professional Organization

As part of the laundry list of things that are required in order to student teach and graduate, I joined a professional organization.

I joined the International Reading Association (IRA).

For anyone that has to still join an organization, the IRA was relatively cheap. Members also receive e-mails discussing different topics in reading and strategies that can be used in the classroom.

What's Happening?

It's been a while since my last post.

This is what you've missed:

I completed my very first full-length MSMC lesson plan! It is an introductory lesson on the concept of greater than, less than, and equal to. It took me almost an entire day to write up, but after writing out everything, I think I could implement this lesson without a problem.

I will be implementing the lesson on Friday, so I'll let you know how it turns out!

This MSMC lesson plan is like no other lesson plan I've ever had to write before. I had to write out EVERYTHING. I had to write what I would do, what the student would do, what I would say, and what I expected the student would say.

I've also created my first WebQuest!

A WebQuest allows for students to engage in inquiry. They are assigned a problem or situation and must find and answer or solution through Internet resources.

My WebQuest is for second grade and deals with the concept of greater than, less than, and equal to.

I had a hard time coming up with something to do for this topic. I searched all over the Internet and could not find a single WebQuest for this topic (Maybe mine's the first one ever!). If anybody knows of one, please feel free to share with me, because I could not find one.

The WebQuest I created has students researching independently information regarding six different animals. They must find out how much they weigh, how tall (or short) they are, and any other characteristic about the animal that can be used for the topic of greater than and less than.

Once the research is complete, they will be put in groups of four and must create a riddle using the information they gathered about the animals.

Example: I'm greater than a house, but I'm less than a mouse.
I'm > a house, but I'm < a mouse.

Once the riddle is complete, the group will share it with the class. Then each groups riddle will be put in a book that will be added to the class's library.

I'll be using this WebQuest in a week. Wish me luck!

Direct Instruction Lesson Planning

Over the past few weeks, I have been learning an unbelievable amount of information regarding Direct Instruction and designing a DI lesson plan.

I have never written a full lesson plan (MSMC style) before, so the thought of having to design and implement one is a little daunting.

I do feel more comfortable now, however, after having to evaluate a DI lesson plan.

Using the MSMC lesson plan rubric, I was able to really examine all parts of the lesson, making sure everything was present (Intro, development, guided practice, independent practice, accommodations, closure, evaluations, reflections) and everything matched (goals, standards, objectives).

To be honest, I wasn't all that excited to sit down and evaluate this lesson, but I'm glad I did.

As I was grading it, I began thinking of ways I would have written it instead, making improvements here and there.

I also began thinking of my own lesson plan. I feel much more confident that I will be able to write a successful lesson plan on my chosen or assigned topic.

The goal of DI is to have students master a concept and reach automaticity (The ability to automatically recall information without having to think about it...Ex: Math facts; addition, multiplication, etc.).

Information presented in DI should be in short chunks.

In the reading, Teaching on target: models, strategies, and methods that work by Daniel C. Elliott, it states that the teach should always explain, or model, the concept being taught. DI is used to teach basic skills. The students need to be shown how to do something.

Even if modeling wasn't a required part of DI, a teacher should still do it for visual learners (like myself).

Modeling should not look like the picture to the right. It is important that the teacher breaks everything down step-by step.

Modeling is the "I do" part of a lesson plan. The next step is the "We do", or guided practice.

In guided practice, the teacher and students work together. This is also a time for the teacher to evaluate the students understanding of the concept being taught.

Finally, there is independent practice, or "You do." This is where the students are required to try their hand at the material without the assistance of the teacher.

One of the most important things to remember when designing the lesson is to remember to constantly check for understanding and provide meaningful feedback to students.

If, as a teacher, you do not do these things, your lesson will not work and your students will not benefit.

Designing a WebQuest

One of our big projects this semester is designing our very own WebQuest based on either a science or math lesson.

A WebQuest gives students a problem or puzzle, and the students must use Internet resources, as well as work in collaborative groups, to answer questions and present their findings.

Every WebQuest consists of the following: Introduction, task, process/resource list, strategies, evaluation, conclusion, credits, and teacher page.

This won't be my first time designing a WebQuest. Over the summer, I tried to design one for a summer class for one of my projects. Let's just say it didn't work out so well.

After the past couple weeks studying lesson planning in my methods course, I feel I am more prepared now. One reason for that is PBWorks. This is the site where my WebQuest will be designed.

I have a lot of experience with PBWorks after using it to create my unit plan last semester.

I also plan on using my WebQuest in my fieldwork.

I have been in contact with the classroom teacher who has kindly allowed me to use her classroom to teach three different types of lesson (direct, indirect/inductive, and indirect/interactive).

Since a WebQuest incorporates collaborative work, I plan on using it during my indirect/interactive lesson.

I am excited to see how this all works out, and I'm even more excited to use my finished WebQuest in the classroom.

Understanding the Connection Between Methods, Models & Strategies

Models and strategies go together. My problem since starting my career in education, was figuring out which model went to which strategy, however, I think I finally figured it out.

A strategy (in case you are unaware) is a series of steps. There are two different methods used in instruction; Direct and Indirect.

Direct Instruction is matched with the Behavioral Model. It is the only model and strategy aligned. When is comes to Bloom, this method and model requires the lowest level of thinking (Remembering: reciting, recalling, labeling, matching).

Indirect Instruction is made up of every other model (Information processing, social interaction, and personal). In terms of strategies it looks like this:

Info Processing: Indirect/Inductive (Give question and look for answers on own)
Social interaction: Indirect/Interactive
Personal: Indirect/Independent

Models, Models Everywhere

As a class we discussed three of the four models used in instruction. Each of the models has an introduction, development and closure.

Below is an example of how a lesson consisting of an introduction, development, and closure could be used in a behavioral model, information processing model, and a social interaction model. Next to the name of each model is the beginning of an example objective.

Behavioral Model: Basic skills and knowledge (Given a word bank...)
Introduction- Access prior knowledge (Say: "I see some students don't know/understand, so I'll teach you...").
Development- Model to the class whatever it is the lesson is about (Show them how to do it).
Closure- Do a formal assessment, possibly an assessment consisting of didactic questions (yes or no questions).

Info Processing: Access information, organize the info, and then reflect (Given a task of solving a puzzle...)
Intro- Give the class a problem to solve (Can use Voki)
Development- Provide resources, give students tasks, inquiry, so they can find solutions to the problem.
Closure- Have students share their findings, and make sure students reach meta-cognition (Can be done by asking how they found the solution).

Social Interaction: Used to build social skills (Given a task to work in a group and whatever content it...)
Intro- Ask students how to behave in a group.
Development- Make up groups, facilitate group roles, and give group materials (Force them to share).
Closure- Students present projects, reflection, feedback (from group members) on how did they work together, contributions, etc.


It is important to note, that a single lesson can be taught using any of these models. The content does not change just because a teacher decides to use on model over another.

Breaking Down a Lesson Plan

I have been looking at/implementing lesson plans as a substitute teacher for some time now, and I never really stopped to think about how many steps are involved in creating a GOOD lesson.

FYI...there are quite a few.

First of all, let's define what a lesson and a plan are.

A lesson is the smallest segment of the learning process.

A plan is a forecast of what you intend to teach.

In every lesson plan, there is an introduction, development, and closure. As a class, my classmates created a list of what is involved in the creation of a lesson plan. When you REALLY break it down, it looks a little like this:

Rationale
Standards, goals, objectives
Accommodations
Prior knowledge
Anticipatory set
Modeling
Guided practice
Feedback
Review
Independent practice
Feedback
And a partridge in a pear tree.

Okay, forget the last part, but as you can see there a lot of steps.