Blog Phase 2: Micro Lesson #1 Reflection

Link to Micro Lesson one. This lesson is about using technology in a lesson plan; the standard that we used was to describe the three branches of government.

Ashley Wyatt

ETC 447

Phase 2 Lesson Implementation

1. Instructional Decisions/Teaching (InTask Standard # 9): Discuss the implementation process and describe

• What went well and what didn't go well during the implementation of your lesson?
• I think what went well was that the opening video gave just enough context to students to have the lesson be aimed at the objective, but left room for discussion as well as critical thinking.
• How well was the alignment to objectives and standards maintained?
• It was maintained very well. The objective was to describe the three branches of government and the activity was exactly that. There were three groups that each got a branch of government and students presented facts about these branches.
• Describe any modifications made during the implementation of the lesson
• There were not any modifications made in the lesson because it was implemented in the cohort class. I think that if there were going to be modifications, students could have drawn out their bubble map instead of using popplet because they might be more comfortable using their hands.
• Mechanics:
• What technologies did I use (for the teacher and the learner)?
• For the teacher, I used youtube for the opening video and a website about the 3 branches of government. For the learners, they used popplet, which is a website that creates mind maps that can have multiple collaborators.
• How were the technologies used (by whom and in what manner)?
• The video was played by the teacher for the students to watch and then it was discussed as a class. The website that describes the 3 branches (that the students used as a resource) was printed off by the teacher for the students to use. And then the website called popplet was used exclusively by the students to create to mindmaps.
• My lesson was within the correct time frame
• The lesson was within the correct time frame because…
1. The instruction was incorporated into the lesson activity so students has time to complete the activity but at the same time, they were able to collaborate with their partners and discuss as a class.

3. Assessment of Learning (InTask Standard # 6): Refer to Assessing Student Learning
• Include at least 2 digital artifacts that demonstrate what you or your students (peers) have created as a result of your lesson

• Describe your students' level of success in achieving the standards and objectives for your lesson based on your assessment
• The students successfully described the three branches of the government and were able to present their branch to the rest of the class. The groups worked together to remember all of their areas and details of what a branch does in the government as well as their role in the checks and balances system. I think that the students were able to work together so quickly but also efficiently because there were three students to a group. I didn’t want less because there would be too many groups, but I didn’t want more than 3 people because it’s bad classroom management because students can easily get more off task with that many people.
• Describe the level of success you had in teaching the lesson

I think that the technology was perfectly incorporated into the lesson because each group was able to use their technology to develop their thoughts and share. I think that students could have had a research element in the lesson, but at the same time, I feel like if there was a research element, students could have more room to become off task. I feel like that was the reason that the website information was printed off; students were able to dig into those articles to find what they needed. I feel like the classroom management gave a productive feeling of working on assignments with enough people to a group to promote learning and critical thinking but at the same time, it didn’t take forever in timing.

• How do your individual reflections support this?
1. The reflections showed that the students felt that they had enough time and were using technology to their advantage. Most students fully supported that the teachers were prepared to teach the lesson. Another student said that we had hit all three types of learning, while still being able to integrate the technology and reach the objective.
• How do the comments from your classmates support this?
1. “You incorporated popplet into explaining the three different branches of government. I liked how you had the three different groups each do a different one and then share.”  I like that they appreciated the groups,
2. “You use technology plenty of times during your lesson, starting with a rap song, and having students use popplet. Both times proved to be very helpful and successful.”

4. What did you learn from designing and teaching this lesson and how will you use this in the creation of future lessons/learning activities.
• I learned that students can still work in groups and use technology. I also learned that technology does not always need to be on a computer. For our technologies, we used a video, a website to create a mindmap and a sheet of paper with information on it for the students to use. By using these, students were able to have three points of contact with the information and be able to draw this information into a mind-map that uses their own words to describe what they have found.