Brigham Reflection 6- Engineering Lesson

            This week was our last time going to Brigham and I taught a small group lesson about the topic of engineering. I taught this lesson with Ashlyn, Annie, and Kelcey and we decided to focus on the kindergarten engineering standard: K-2-ETS1-1. Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool. At first we brainstormed some ideas, then came up with the idea of teaching the students about bridges.

            We brought many different kinds of small materials for the students to use to build bridges. We also read a book about bridges that had a lot of detailed pictures that showed many examples of all kinds of bridges. We started by presenting the students with a problem of not being able to get across water. We asked the students what we needed in order to get across the water or what they thought they could build that would help. The students interacted quickly and gave us many ideas. One student told us a bridge and that he has seen one before. The students had many conversations with each other and us while they were building their bridges and drawing pictures of the bridge. I thought that each student shared meaningful ideas such as saying, “We need a bridge because if we don’t our car will sink in the water.” I also felt like that the students were starting to understand what kind of materials would work the best while they were experimenting with each material. They tried things such as paper and found out that paper would not be sturdy enough to get their cars across the river.

            I knew this class consisted of English Language Learners, so I was expecting there to maybe be difficulty with understanding the students at times. The students in our group were all fluent in English and I did not have trouble understanding them throughout the whole lesson. Therefore, this last visit to Brigham I did not really work towards the ELL aspect of my goal because I felt like it did not apply at the time. At times I felt as if it were difficult to control the students because I was not familiar with them and they did not know me very well. There was one student that talked frequently and sometimes got off task and it was hard for me at times to get him to do what he was supposed to be doing. Overall, I think the lesson went well and we met the objective that we wanted to meet. The students interacted and did what we asked them to even though at times it felt a little chaotic. I think it would have been more comfortable and maybe have gone a little better if we would have known the students and their strengths and interests more. Knowing the students a little better might have given us the opportunity to make the lesson more complex or know what materials would work best for the group of students.

 Exceeds- Added pictures from lesson

Blog Reflection 5- Clinical Lesson Plan

            In my PDS class, I taught a science lesson about simple machines. My CT teaches Science one week then Social studies the next week and she rotates every other week. For almost everything that my CT teaches there is a Smart Notebook made for the topic. She goes through the notebook on the Smart Board and plays songs, videos, or incorporates interactive slides for the students. When I told her I needed to teach a Science lesson, I knew I would be doing something with a Smart Notebook that was already made for the curriculum. This was hard to plan because the days that would have worked well, we had planned to teach Social Studies. Fortunately, my CT was flexible and worked with me to figure something out. She asked me if I would be okay with doing an introduction lesson to what she had planned to start doing during Science. This lesson was about simple machines and how things work.

            I prepared the lesson by working with my CT. There was a Smart Notebook already made, but we worked together to make changes and put new ideas in it. We watched different videos and chose things that would best represent the simple machines I was going to introduce. The day I planned to teach was a little last minute because of how the schedule had been set up, but things went well. I am used to teaching and being in front of the class, so I was comfortable doing this.

            I began my lesson with a song about wheels and the lyrics to the song were displayed on the board. I played it a couple times then encouraged the students to sing along. I felt that the song in the beginning of the lesson hooked the students in. The students caught on and were able to learn a little bit about what a wheel does. I moved on to a picture of a town that had all different kinds of examples of simple machines and machines in general. I asked the students to look at this picture and raise their hands if they saw any thing they thought was a machine. I used their answers as a check for understanding and most of the students were right on track. I thought this part went well because most of the students gave meaningful answers such as a bus, bicycle and pointed out the wheels, a computer, etc. One student said the flagpole and I thought that this answer was interesting. I think having the students analyze a picture like this gives this topic a little more meaning to them if they can see examples that are used in every day life.

            While I was teaching the lesson there were times that I thought of that I could have better known this topic myself. I know what simple machines are, but there were times where I was unsure of how to explain it to kindergarteners. I think the videos helped with this because the students were able to see a demonstration of how the machines could be used. Throughout the lesson I showed the students short videos of each simple machine we were talking about. I identified the vocabulary for the lesson then showed each short video about a pulley, wheel and axle, lever, and inclined plane (ramp). Each video showed real life examples of people using these simple machines, such as using a pulley to raise a flag or using a ramp to help get a heavy box in a tall lifted truck. During our discussion about the videos, some of the students made connections by saying they have ramps at their house or they have seen their grandparents walk down one before.

            After the students had just learned a little bit about what simple machines are and what they can be used for, they worked in pairs at the carpet to think of other examples of simple machines that they see at school or at home. This was an opportunity I gave the students to take part in a shared practice activity. I listened to some of the group’s discussions to see what they were coming up with. A lot of students said things like the pencil sharpener or some kind of tool they have seen somebody fix something with. I also heard a student make a connection related to the wheel and axle. In the video, they described gears being a part of a wheel and axle and how these gears can be inside watches to make the watches work and one student raised their hand and said so does that mean there are gears inside my watch that I am wearing right now? I thought this was a great connection to think about how simple machines are really all around them and they use them all the time.

            Everything that we do as teachers always has some kind of room of improvement. Overall, I was pleased with how the lesson went but I also noticed that there were some things that I need to work on. I need to work on describing different things to young children and I think something like this will come with practice. The more I work on this I think the better I will become at it. I also think this was something I could improve on in this lesson because I’m not particularly familiar with a lot of science and teaching it to young children. I know there were activities that I could have had the students do, but my CT and I discussed these activities and planned when we could do them throughout the week while we were teaching this topic. We were thinking of having the students make their own small ramp or some kind of simple machine. They could use different materials to construct something of their own to replicate an example of something they saw in the videos or an example we talked about during the lesson. The purpose of my lesson that my CT wanted me to teach was an introduction overview of what the students were going to be learning about more in depth throughout the week. I think I accomplished this goal because the students gave great examples of simple machines they see everyday and they made connections of simple machines that they use in their lives.

Exceeds- Here are some links to additional activities that I could do in the future that relates to this topic:

http://www.brainpop.com/educators/community/lesson-plan/simple-machines-activities-for-kids/?bp-jr-topic=simple-machines

http://www.brainpop.com/educators/community/lesson-plan/simple-machines-lesson-plan-the-inclined-plane-and-the-screw-2/?bp-jr-topic=simple-machines

http://iijuan12.hubpages.com/hub/gears-and-pulleys-simple-machines-lesson-plan

Brigham Reflection 4

             This week at Brigham, I had the opportunity to be an assistant in the kindergarten room for the first time. I was nervous and excited for this because I knew from being in the preschool room most of the time; this room was going to be a lot different. I was nervous because I did not know if the students only talked in Spanish or also spoke English. I immediately get nervous going into bilingual rooms because I have little to no experience with speaking another language. Although, I have felt like overtime I am becoming more comfortable interacting with these students that are English Language Learners. This is also one of my goals that I have been working towards while being at Brigham.

            While I was in the classroom, I was assisting with a lesson about the four seasons. I knew I was going to be working with small groups of children and I was worried about taking good notes because I was unsure if I was going to be able to understand the students. Once I started working with the students and having conversations with them, I did not have any trouble understanding what they were saying. I was able to interact with the children and talk about the seasons. I talked about the season summer and I was able to learn a little bit of Spanish because I could hear some of the students saying the seasons in Spanish such as verano, primavera, invierno, and otono. Since I don’t have much experience with a second language, I enjoyed listening to the students say certain words and learn more about Spanish even though I was only in the classroom a short amount of time. I think each opportunity I get to work with English Language Learners is a great learning experience and I can really take in a lot from just talking with the students.

            In class, we have talked about what it means to be a culturally responsive teacher. I think all the characteristics we have talked about such as being patient and it taking a lot of time are things we can relate to while being at Brigham. It took multiple times in the classroom for me to become comfortable and to gain more confidence when working with English Language Learners. It is also important to really know the students to become a culturally responsive teacher. Even though I was only in the classroom every other week, I tried my best to learn their names and observe their personalities and how they interacted with each other and other teachers.

            Overall, my experience in the kindergarten classroom this week was a positive one. I made sure to stay optimistic and it ended up benefitting me. Besides interacting with the students I was also able to observe a new bilingual environment. I observed things around the room that were labeled in Spanish and other resources that were available in the classroom to help bilingual students. These kinds of things help me work towards my three goals that I made for myself this semester. 

Exceeds- Here is a link to a Scholastic page that gives tips for teachers about classroom setup strategies for ELL students.

 http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/teaching-ell-classroom-setup-strategies

Brigham Reflection 3 (Teaching)

 

            Last week, Ashlyn and I had the opportunity to teach a lesson in the pre-school classroom at Brigham. Each week the pre-school lessons have been focused on the five senses. Last week Ashlyn and I taught a lesson about the sense of hearing. Before teaching the lesson, we brainstormed ideas and thought that putting together different stations for the students to explore would be a fun and interactive way to teach this topic. We decided to make shakers with four different materials in plastic eggs that included pennies, beads, rice, and marbles. Another station we had instruments that included a rain stick, bells, bongos, maracas, etc. The last station we had was paper cups made into phones. We thought that all of these materials would give the students an opportunity to hear many different sounds throughout the lesson. We began the lesson with a book called The Ear Book, but instead of us just reading the book to the students we found a YouTube video that read the book and made the sounds that happen in the book. This was also another example of having the students hear different sounds.

            Overall, I thought we had many strengths throughout our lesson. We had our materials readily available and developmentally appropriate for preschoolers to use. We were organized and had sheets available for our teacher assistants to fill out while they were helping with the stations. I also thought that we co-taught well. I felt like our teacher assistants were a huge part of why our lesson went so well. They took over each station and rotated the materials to make things easier, instead of having the students rotate. We took advantage of having so many extra hands to plan this lesson. I think this lesson would be a lot more difficult to manage if it wasn’t for having an assistant at each station.

            Although I felt like things went well for the most part, there are a few things that could be improved. If we were to teach this lesson in the future, we probably could add another station the students could go to. I also think that we could have added more questions that could be asked at each station. On the other hand, we kept things basic since it was pre-K. For other grade levels, we could ask more in depth questions and research more about how our sense of hearing works. I also think we could have maybe replaced the paper cup phones with something else because there were times it was hard for the students to know what to do. I thought that it went well though when there was a teacher next to the students prompting the students and showing them what to do.

            I think the student’s motivation to work at each station was because they were excited to play with the materials. They were able to hold these materials and explore them in a way they knew how. They might not have felt like they were doing much, but they were all hearing the sounds and that was our purpose of the lesson. We kept the rotations moving to keep the students interest. I noticed if the students were at a station for a long time they started to drift off and not really pay attention. I think having many different materials for the students to explore helped spark their interest and keep them motivated to participate.

            Our knowledge of the topic was clear while we taught the lesson. I think we explained things the best that we could for the students. Sometimes it is difficult for me to find the right words to explain certain topics to very young children in order for them to understand. I think the purpose of our lesson was clear and the students learned something from it. As long as the students were able to understand that we use our ears to hear and there are many different kinds of sounds we can hear. We also use our sense of hearing for many reasons.

            The students explored each station and answered the questions that the teacher assistants were asking. I heard things like many students guessing what was in the eggs before anybody asked them what they thought was in them. I also heard students trying to have conversations in the phones and seeing if they could hear the other person talk. These are all examples of things that showed me the students understanding of the topic.

We asked the students what body part they hear with and related this sense to things that they are familiar with. We talked about how there are quiet sounds and loud sounds that we can hear. The students gave us examples of things that they heard in the video such as a train, a girl singing, water dripping, etc. We also talked about how we need our sense of hearing in order to hear our teachers and other adults.

            While I was teaching, I thought of some of my goals that I have been working on at Brigham. Since this was my third time being in the pre-K room, it was easier for me to understand the students and know what they were saying. I was able to interact with the students better and have conversations with them. I feel like it has been getting easier working with English Language Learners. I am becoming more comfortable and I take more initiative now, then I used to when communicating with these students.

            Overall, I am pleased with how our lesson went. I enjoyed teaching this lesson and introducing all of the materials and different sounds to the students. Once I was done teaching I thought that this would be a great lesson to keep and teach to my PDS class or teach in the future. I can add things and change different parts in order to best fit whatever grade I am teaching. If I were teaching this to my PDS kindergarten class, I would add one or two more stations. I would also add more expectations for the students and have questions at each station to guide discussion within the groups.

 Exceeds- Here is the link to the video that we showed the students in our introduction and pictures of examples of materials that we used.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ByP6XAAhRA

Brigham Reflection 2

          There are three goals that I am working towards while being in the classroom at Brigham. These goals include gaining more confidence with English Language Learners, becoming more comfortable working with ELL students, and becoming more aware of these student’s struggles they face in the classroom. Every other week when I am in the classroom, I am working towards these goals and trying to figure out things I can do in order to improve what I am struggling with. I have a handful of ELL students in my PDS classroom, but every child is different and it takes time in order to get to know them.

            This week I was in the preschool classroom as a teacher assistant. While I was there I took the time to observe the students and help with the lesson about the sense of smell. I was able to interact with the students more than the first time I was there. I sat at one table helping 3 or 4 students with the activity. Some of the students were very quiet and it was hard for me to understand what they were saying at times. I had to listen carefully and be right at their level. I also worked on looking directly at them to help hear what they were saying. I would ask them questions and repeat what they said to see if I understood correctly. This was working throughout the activity and I was able to write down things they were saying. This helped me to become more comfortable while working with the students.

            Even though it was only my second time being in the preschool classroom, I think it will gradually get easier working with the ELL students. I also think it is easier once we get to know them and interact with them multiple times. It’s easier to gain more confidence when you know the students and their personalities. While I was there, I was starting to pick up on how the students were acting and what they say the most. Before starting PDS and coming to Brigham, I have not had many experiences with working with ELL students. Therefore, I was very nervous before I started because I was unsure of how I would react or how I would teach students when there is a language barrier. I have taken all of these opportunities as learning experiences and have tried to grow from all of them.

            I believe over time my goals will become easily achieved. The more I work with ELL students, the more comfortable and confident I become. I know I will never have full confidence because there is always room to grow and things to learn when working with ELL students. During my time in the classroom this week I did start to see some of the struggles these students have. Many of them had confused looks on their faces and looked to their peers for help with what to do. I want to continue to give support to ELL students and encourage them that they can do it.

            This is a website that teachers can explore to learn more about ELL students, teaching ideas, or resources that might be helpful. http://www.uen.org/k12educator/ell/

Exceeds: I went over the word requirement and included a helpful website.

Brigham Reflection 1

           Before going to Brigham my goals for working with English Language Learners were to gain more confidence and become more comfortable with English Language Learners. Also, I wanted to become more aware of their struggles they face in the classroom. Throughout my experience at Brigham I hope to learn how to provide differentiation instruction for ELL students and to learn effective ways to communicate with these students. Even though this was my first time in the classroom with these students, I was still able to observe a lot when it comes to a diverse classroom with many ELL students. I noticed that many of the students were very quiet and afraid to answer when we asked them questions. Some students also answered for others that were sitting next to them if we did not understand what they said. The teacher also repeated some of the student’s names if we weren’t sure what they were. This could relate to how they do not understand what we were asking. I have experienced this kind of situation in my PDS classroom. I have done assessments with some of my students and I would ask the students questions and the ELL students struggled with knowing what to say. I think the more practice and experience I get with these students, the easier it will become to learn ways to teach them.

            Since it was our first day we mainly focused on just getting to know the students, but I think we could have done more extending an activity about the five senses. We started with a getting to know you game about going on a picnic then we read a book and closed with a song about the five senses. Our lesson went faster than we anticipated, so now we know to plan more and be prepared for this to maybe happen again. I think we thought the getting to know you game was going to go longer than it did. The students seemed to enjoy the song that we sang with them about the five senses, so we probably could have done something more after the song. We could have included a video such as this http://www.pinterest.com/pin/170362798377803877/ to show them an extra visual and song of the five senses. We also could have done an activity such as bringing in a Mr. Potato Head figure and going over each part like reviewing what we do with our eyes or what we do with our ears. This would have been a fun way to talk about the five senses with preschoolers.

            This time I felt like I personally did not do as much as I could of while we were there. I think we could have planned better and made sure each of us were in charge to lead a part of the lesson. The next time I am in the classroom I will help more while I’m in the classroom and work more towards reaching my goals and what I want to learn while I am there. Each time that I go to the classroom I will work towards getting more experience with ELL students and finding ways to get more involved while I am there. I want to work towards making the initiative to work with these students, instead of standing back being afraid to do something. 

Exceeds: I included a video and extension activity about the five senses. 

Science Autobiography

            My name is Megan Einhaus. I grew up in a small town called Spring Valley, which is an hour north from Normal. In elementary school I remember doing science projects here and there. When I was in kindergarten I specifically remember all three of the kindergarten classes doing a unit on butterflies and their life cycle. Each class kept a caterpillar in a jar and we waited until it turned into a chrysalis. I remember studying this every day as a class and waiting for it to turn into a butterfly. Once it became a butterfly we went outside and set it free.

            During my later elementary years, we mostly just followed a Science textbook. Once I got into junior high was when we spent a lot of time in our science lab doing different experiments and things, such as, dissecting. We were taught more in depth about researching and forming a hypothesis. I remember spending a lot of time on the research process, doing experiments, and collecting data. All of this was to prepare us to participate in science fair 6^th through 8^th grade. It was a very long process that I remember not enjoying. There was a specific day set for the whole junior high to bring their backboards and present to their assigned judge. It was set up in our cafeteria and once we were done being judged, our families were encouraged to visit everybody’s boards. I was very shy and presenting our project to a judge was the main part I was nervous for. Growing up, science was always the subject I had a love/hate relationship with. I didn’t mind it, but it was also not my favorite. Science class meant working in groups a lot and since I was a shy student this was difficult for me. It was easier for me to sit back and not say anything than speak up and be wrong about something.

            While I was in high school, I did not have much experience with Science. I only took an introduction course and biology. All I remember was mainly learning how to use a microscope, looking at organisms under the microscope, and dissecting many things. Science started to become less and less seen in my education as I got older. After high school, I took global environment and a weather class to meet my science requirements at the community college I attended, IVCC. Since then I have not been in a science class until now. 

            When I started at IVCC, I thought I wanted to be a graphic designer. My first semester I took a class towards the graphic design major and immediately figured out it wasn’t what I wanted to do. Growing up I always wanted to be a teacher, but once I got into high school that idea started to fade away. Therefore, after realizing graphic design was not for me, I decided to go back to my original plan. I took an introduction to early childhood education course and we had to complete observation hours. Once I was observing in different ECE classrooms, I fell in love with everything and knew my mind was set. I was ready to apply to ISU and start my journey of becoming a teacher. 

            Since I have not had much science experience in my college career, it has been something I forget about when teaching in an ECE classroom. Science is not seen very often in classrooms today, because literacy and math are focused on the most. Lately, I have realized how important it is to integrate science into the everyday routine. It can be fun for the students to explore and experiment on new ideas. I remember really enjoying the butterfly project that I mentioned before. It was something that made us want to investigate everyday. Because of these kinds of projects that I participated in growing up, I want to provide these types of projects to my students in the future. I want to give my students the opportunity to do hands on activities and projects that allow them to explore on real life experiences. I also want to establish a positive classroom community. I want my students to be able to enjoy working together comfortably. Because of the student I was, I want to be the teacher that encourages the shy students to participate and to make sure they know it is okay if they get something wrong.  

            During observations and clinicals, I have worked with toddlers, preschool, and third grade. I am now in a kindergarten classroom for PDS. Last semester when I was in a third grade class I saw some science being taught and students doing experiments. I remember my teacher saying frequently, “If we have enough time after Math or Writing then we will do Science or Social Studies.” These subjects were only taught if there was enough time or extra free time at the end of the day. I can see how it can be frustrating for teachers trying to follow the standards and get everything else done during the day, but on the other hand I think it is important for teachers to find fun and engaging ways to integrate science and social studies into their routines. 

            All the schools I attended before coming to ISU had little to no diversity. I grew up not having much experience with diverse classrooms. This year is the first year I have been starting to experience it more and become more comfortable talking about it. I think my past in science has mainly taught me that there is only a right or wrong answer. While being at ISU, I have started to change that view and believe more in letting children explore, ask questions, investigate on their own, experiment, and use techniques that they want to use. These are all things I want my students to do when I’m teaching science in the future. 

Here is a picture of one of my science fair projects. This is the backboard we presented to the judges.