Science Lesson Observation
For the two weeks I was in my IMB clinical school, I was only able to see one science lesson taught. More were taught during that two weeks. However, I was only able to see the one due to the times I was in the school.
For lessons that involved lab activities, the students actually went to a science lab with a different teacher. It was considered one of their ‘specials’, like music, art and PE. The lesson I was able to observe was not one of these lessons because of the schedule. The lesson I observed was basically a direct instruction lesson. The teacher introduced the section in the book with a hook to activate the students’ prior knowledge. Then, the teacher read through the sections, stopping to focus on key vocabulary and to ask questions to check for students understanding. There were questions throughout the section to guide the reading, and these questions were used as a guided practice and then when she finished reading the section, the students completed the questions at the end of the section to turn in for a grade. Some students were pulled out specifically for science, so they may have actually been ahead of the class in the book, but they still paid attention to the teacher as she was reading.
I found it interesting that the classroom teacher just taught from the book and another teacher did science activities separately. I am unsure if the activities and the lessons from the book were ever coordinated so that the activities lined up with the lessons.
I think I was able to learn from this observation that, as a teacher, sometimes, you just have to work around things. My teacher wanted to teach science by doing indirect lessons and having the students discover the concepts, but the availability of resources for everyone to do that doesn’t always work out. My teacher was very flexible and managed to still keep students focused and interested in the reading, just by the way she read.
I have no problem with teaching from the book as long as the students get to do some science activities along with it. Otherwise, they’ll begin to think science is boring. Fortunately, my students did get to participate in science activities they could learn from; I just wasn’t able to observe them doing so.
I was also able to pick up many classroom management tips during this lesson. As I said earlier, the teacher managed to keep the students engaged throughout the lesson. She did this by asking questions constantly to make sure students were understanding what she was reading. The students weren’t just zoning out as she read. They were answering questions and all seemed to be paying attention. I’m sure there were things my teacher did at the beginning of the year to ensure they paid attention the way they did, but it showed me that when you have to do that kind of teaching, it is still possible for the students to be engaged.
Overall, I was impressed with my science observation, but I do wish I had been able to see an indirect lesson being taught.
For lessons that involved lab activities, the students actually went to a science lab with a different teacher. It was considered one of their ‘specials’, like music, art and PE. The lesson I was able to observe was not one of these lessons because of the schedule. The lesson I observed was basically a direct instruction lesson. The teacher introduced the section in the book with a hook to activate the students’ prior knowledge. Then, the teacher read through the sections, stopping to focus on key vocabulary and to ask questions to check for students understanding. There were questions throughout the section to guide the reading, and these questions were used as a guided practice and then when she finished reading the section, the students completed the questions at the end of the section to turn in for a grade. Some students were pulled out specifically for science, so they may have actually been ahead of the class in the book, but they still paid attention to the teacher as she was reading.
I found it interesting that the classroom teacher just taught from the book and another teacher did science activities separately. I am unsure if the activities and the lessons from the book were ever coordinated so that the activities lined up with the lessons.
I think I was able to learn from this observation that, as a teacher, sometimes, you just have to work around things. My teacher wanted to teach science by doing indirect lessons and having the students discover the concepts, but the availability of resources for everyone to do that doesn’t always work out. My teacher was very flexible and managed to still keep students focused and interested in the reading, just by the way she read.
I have no problem with teaching from the book as long as the students get to do some science activities along with it. Otherwise, they’ll begin to think science is boring. Fortunately, my students did get to participate in science activities they could learn from; I just wasn’t able to observe them doing so.
I was also able to pick up many classroom management tips during this lesson. As I said earlier, the teacher managed to keep the students engaged throughout the lesson. She did this by asking questions constantly to make sure students were understanding what she was reading. The students weren’t just zoning out as she read. They were answering questions and all seemed to be paying attention. I’m sure there were things my teacher did at the beginning of the year to ensure they paid attention the way they did, but it showed me that when you have to do that kind of teaching, it is still possible for the students to be engaged.
Overall, I was impressed with my science observation, but I do wish I had been able to see an indirect lesson being taught.