Reflecting on Teaching

Zulayka Adamson

Reflection on teaching

Prior to learning about the various forms of Information and Communication Technologies, I was not aware of the many advances within education through technology. After almost 10 years outside of the classroom, I’m amazed at the new teaching methods and applications that’ve been developed to promote a fun and engaging classroom. During my observation with Ms. Amber at Amber Charter School in East Harlem, each class that I had the opportunity to sit in on had many technological components, I couldn’t help but be jealous at how much fun students were having learning and how websites like BrainPop, Edmondo, Blogger and Voki play a vital role in their learning.

With the many advances in technology, I can’t help but think that the future of learning in a physical classroom may be extinct in the next century. Students will no longer have to come into the classrooms to participate on a learning platform. The ability to conference in through a lecture and the use of educational accordance that promote a collaborative learning environment and mobile learning which provides teachers the tools needed to create the next wave of innovative leaders. In order for teachers to keep up with the many changes in curriculum design and technological advances, I think it is imperative that teachers network and engage in panel discussions and utilize the key prep periods to chat with their coworkers.

Common core curriculum has received numerous revision and with the current political climate, I’m quite certain there will be several adjustments to the learning process.  As I think about the near future and my opportunity to get into the classroom and exercise the brains

of my future students, I’m excited to know that new literacies such as podcasting, blogging and video making without a doubt will be a part of my curriculum. I believe these literacies provide the opportunity for students who normally don’t have a voice in the classroom an opportunity to shine academically. In addition, students who require additional support academically get the opportunity to receive additional support along the way. Through the help of technology, we are not only teaching students the curriculum, we are providing them an opportunity to hone in on skills they didn’t know they had and developing possible skills they may use in their future careers.

Keystone Lesson Plan

Name: Zulayka Adamson Subject: Science
Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2017 Lesson Title: Forms of Energy
Lesson Overview:
In this lesson, students will learn the different forms of energy and how it relates to everyday life. This lesson plan is an intro into the required Energy and Magnetism science requirements for New York State. Throughout the lesson, there is one teacher (Ms. Amber) in addition to myself.
Purpose of Lesson:
Students will explore the various forms of energy in preparation for the science skills test.
Common Core Standards:
Science Common Core Standards- Grade 4- Energy. With support from teachers and peers, students will understand Energy exists in many forms, and when these forms change energy is conserved.
Students will:
a) Use the forms of energy BrainPOP video and group discussion to discuss the various
forms of energy and how they play a part in everyday life.
New York State Learning Standards- Science
Standard 4 – Physical Settings
Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.
Students will Understand:
4.1a Energy exists in various forms: heat, electric, sound, chemical, mechanical, light.
4.1b Energy can be transferred from one place to another.
4.1c Some materials transfer energy better than others (heat and electricity).
4.1d Energy and matter interact: water is evaporated by the Sun’s heat; a bulb is lighted by means of electrical current; a musical instrument is played to produce sound; dark colors may absorb light, light colors may reflect light.
ISTE Standards
1. Creativity and Innovation- Students will demonstrate critical thinking by relating the material to everyday life use of energy and previous lesson plans on absorbing light and reflecting light.

Students will:
a) Students will utilize the key highlights in the video and discussion as a reference tool
when completing the worksheet independently.
2. Communication and Collaboration- Students will participate in the group discussion with classmates to complete the vocabulary worksheet.
Students will:
a) Students will use their vocabulary worksheet as a reference tool to work with fellow
classmates on the shared practice worksheet.
3. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making- Students will reference their vocabulary worksheet to answer the worksheet as a group and to independently answer questions on BrainPop.
Students will:
a) Students will work independently on the BrainPop quiz to assess their knowledge on the
forms of energy.
Objectives:
1) With the support of the discussion, video and vocabulary sheet, students will answer each question correctly.
2) Given the moderated discussion and reference to everyday life forms of energy, students who are auditory and visual learners will excel in the BrainPop quiz.
Materials:
- Internet access https://www.brainpop.com/science/energy/formsofenergy/
-Work Sheet https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_lgCrqqT_Bnb05PY0xNQXgyN2M - Projector
-Tablets
-Brian Pop Quiz
Anticipatory Set:
Ms. Adamson will present a BrainPop video on the various forms of energy. Upon completing the video, students will engage in a group discussion about each form of energy.
Procedure:
1- Ms. Adamson will require students seated in the back of the class to move to the front of the class to get a good view of the video.
2- Ms. Adamson will then go over each form of energy discussed in the video and the class will collectively answer each question on the worksheet according to what they learned in the video.

3- Upon completing the group discussion, students will work independently on the shared practice worksheet provided by the New York State for common core curriculum and use the vocabulary worksheet as a reference tool.
4- The Teachers will float around the room to provide additional support to students as they complete the worksheets.
5- Students will review the completed shared practice worksheet together.
6- Upon completing the review, students will work independently on their tablets and take the BrainPop quiz to access their understanding of the topic.
Closure:
After students answer each question, they will be asked to provide an example of the form of energy via something that happens in their everyday life.
Differentiated Instruction:
For students who require additional support, the vocabulary worksheet is developed as a reference tool. In addition, the shared practice sheet provides hints to each question for students who struggle with the topic.
Check for Understanding:
After completing the BrainPop quiz, the teacher will check students’ performance to confirm their knowledge on the topic.
Independent Work:
The students will need to complete their shared practice worksheet and BrainPop quiz independently.
Evaluation:
Students will be graded based on a teacher-designed rubric. In the rubric students will be assessed on their understanding of the assignment and ability to complete the quiz. 

Lesson Plan Synopsis

Synopsis

Zulayka Adamson

Lesson Plan #1: Three Little Pigs

The Three Little Pigs reading lesson provides students with the opportunity to broaden their understanding of key story events by utilizing the story map to summarize and to identify key events. By incorporating the YouTube clip of the story, students who require additional assistance will connect with the story visually and receive a reaffirmation of the lesson.

By starting the lesson off with a discussion, it taps into the concept of theorist Lev Vygotsky who expressed the importance of constructivism which highlights learning by experiences. When I develop a lesson plan, I think it is very important to incorporate a secondary support such as a video clip or diagram as many students are visual learners or need the additional touch point. In addition, for students with special learning needs, it provides them an opportunity to catch up with their fellow classmates.

As part of the lesson plan, I incorporated a diagram as a reference when developing a story map to provide students a stepping stone to retell their stories and to describe the key details within the story. To assess their progress and the lesson plan, they are assigned to recall their weekend and develop a story with correct sequencing based on the techniques they learned during the lesson plan. These steps will help to achieve the common core standards of story retelling and developing complete story that includes a setting and description of an event and the characters.

Synopsis

Zulayka Adamson

Lesson Plan 2: Math Problem Solving

          

Students will be able to identify the key words in a problem to complete an equation by using addition and subtraction to problem solve. To accompany the lesson, students will watch a BrainPop video and practice their new skill by completing a quiz through BrainPop. By utilizing BrainPop, students have a fun and engaging way of learning about mathematical operations and key terms to determine the correct function.

Pre-requisites to complete the assignment consist of the ability to utilize a laptop or tablet to search navigate the BrainPop website. During the class discussion, students will discuss how they use numbers in their everyday life and benefits of incorporating addition and subtraction to everyday situations. Upon completing the video, students will practice on a worksheet in pairs of twos and students will explain how they selected the respective operation functions. By splitting up into intimate groups, students can work with each other to strengthen their weaknesses. The collaborative assignment provides a great way for students who have special learning needs to receive a boost of encouragement from their peers and provide instructors the opportunity to single out students who require additional observation and assistance.

By including an independent quiz assessment via the BrainPop website, students will sharpen their skills and provide the instructor areas in which students are having difficulty with to revisit during a refresher lesson. In addition, students will receive a homework packet that provides additional problems to practice the concepts.

Synopsis

Zulayka Adamson

Lesson Plan #3: Life Cycle of a Plant

          Students will learn and explore the growth process of a plant by watching a Voki video and later planting a plant that will be monitored over the course of the next few months. Based on the common core standards, students will recall evidence from experiences and provide sources to the answers. Upon completing the lesson, students will be able to identify the various stages of the development of plants.

During the lesson, students will split into pairs which provides students with learning needs and require extra assistance the ability to reference the growth diagram which is discussed as a group. While discussing the characteristics of the growth cycle, students will connect the importance of in addition to the diagram, students will watch a brief video to reaffirm the growth process of the plant and the different stages of development. The lesson provides students a connection to the importance of mother nature and an introduction to the ecosystem and how it shapes our life.

As the students monitor the growth of the plant, they will write a summary of the growth process and connect it back to the diagram they learned and developed explaining the life cycle of a plant. Students will discuss how their scientific findings and share with the class the challenges of their growth process and exchange theories based on the different plants they planted.

Synopsis

Zulayka Adamson

Lesson Plan #4 Social Studies: Chinese New Year

            Students will learn about the Chinese New Year and how it compares to American culture and share their personal experiences and traditions. Before delving into the rich Chinese cultural traditions, students will discuss as a group their special family traditions. Upon completing the discussion, students will read about the Chinese culture and watch a brief clip on YouTube to reaffirm the ceremonial practices.

This lesson plan will highlight the common core standard of asking questions and learning to pinpoint the key details. Once students have completed the video, we will work on a collaborative assignment of using a venn diagram to compare the discussed topics of the American traditions and Chinese traditions. Students will practice working on learning about sequence of events by summarizing the venn diagram we developed. By working on the project collaboratively, students who require additional help can rely on their classmates to highlight important details they wouldn’t know to highlight. Students are encouraged to use the vocabulary words they’ve learned to develop their writing assignment.

            Upon completing the written portion of the assignment, students will create their very own fan which they learned about during the book and video clip. Students will share their fans and highlight one tradition of the Chinese New Year they learned about and enjoy.

           

Synopsis

Zulayka Adamson

Lesson Plan #5: Arts- St. Patrick’s Day

Students will learn about the St. Patrick’s Day celebration and use their knowledge of shapes to create a shamrock headband. Throughout their math class, they’ve learned about various shapes and they will translate their knowledge of the shapes to create an art piece and practice their writing using key vocabulary words to express what they are lucky about in their life.
            A video sing-along will be introduced to students and they will begin their discussion on what they know about St. Patrick’s Day and key vocabulary terms that are associated with the holiday. During the discussion, students will tackle the common core standard of learning about an informative text and being able connect their knowledge of the text to their personal life. Students are required to use their previous knowledge of shapes to create a shamrock headband independently. Upon completing the headband, students will write about something they are lucky about using the key vocabulary terms they learned while we discussed the holiday. 

This lesson plan infuses technological support with a sing-along video clip as well as the opportunity to review shapes and have students hone their writing skills by practicing with a brief writing piece. Students who require additional support, will be asked to write 3 sentences instead of the required 5 sentences. In addition, students will be provided additional time if needed for their writing assignment.