KA 6 Reflection

Key Assessment 6—Math and Science: Reflection on Assessment and Instruction

Date: 11/8/17                        Content Area: Science

Student(s): After School Science Program

Practitioner: Caitlin Higgins

1. Did your learner meet your lesson objectives this session? Use academic language to document what your assessment data told you about your student today by recording specific examples of your student’s strengths and challenges.  What can the student do independently… with your support? What challenges occurred? Attach all assessments and student work. (INTASC 6; ACEI 4)

My learners met my lesson objective in this session. When teaching my direct instruction lesson plan, I tried to incorporate fun and engaging videos to activate my students’ prior knowledge. This was successful presumably because it introduced the vocabulary words we were going to learn and provided general background information for students who may not have previously known about climate change. After the video, I segued into vocabulary terms and climate change concepts. Students were engaged, and many raised their hands to answer questions. They used academic language to answer the questions and displayed a sense of understanding of the concept of climate change. I had students work in groups to match their vocabulary terms and definitions, grouping students of mixed abilities with those who were less confident with the vocabulary terms. I walked around and monitored students, signing off that they had correctly matched the terms before they were instructed to glue their terms and definitions to flash cards.  I could both see and hear students becoming more confident with the terms as they discussed the words with their groups.

My students also met the objectives of my inquiry lesson and gained the knowledge from the experiment that I was hoping they would. I explicitly taught students the scientific method and modeled the process of inquiry. I then introduced our problem and helped students form their hypotheses and questions. Because the experiment was pre-planned, I instructed the students as to how to setup the experiment and how to monitor their findings. I did run out of time for this lesson, therefore students were not able to conduct the experiment to completion but were able to identify the findings and infer their conclusions.

Overall, I feel that I had much success with my direct instruction and inquiry lesson plans. All of the students seem engaged during all activities, and I could see them having fun with the matching game and the experiment.

2. How has working with your student today helped you to develop your understanding of Science? Connect today's experience to our course content/ readings. Articulate your understanding of the professional literature by discussing at least two sources and making connections to your practice.  List sources in APA style, (INTASC 1)

Working with my students while teaching my direct and inquiry lessons has helped me develop an understanding of science and to find techniques to bring their thinking from concrete to abstract. According to researchers, “One’s goals for engagement in achievement-relevant settings are assumed to influence the kind of strategies and behaviors one will deploy, and the amount of effort one will invest in a learning situation. Performance-avoidance goals have been demonstrated to be related to low motivational engagements, low intrinsic motivation, high anxiety and poorer math achievement”. I will continue to make learning science fun for my students, to praise my students, and to build up their confidence with regard to science. I will continue to use activities such as matching, experiments and games, which the students like and find entertaining (Magi, et al. p. 295). Working with the students in the science program has shown me the importance of keeping students engaged throughout the whole process. According to DeRosa & Abrusacato (2015), “What matters is that the students got totally wrapped up in the problem, remembered what they learned and got a handle on a range of disciplines.”

3. Which instructional methods/topics are appropriate for advancing your learner's content skills and use of academic language as a young scientist? Articulate your understanding of the professional literature by discussing in your response at least two sources that will inform your future practice. List sources in APA style. (INTASC 7; ACEI 1)

As stated previously, I plan to continue to focus my work with my students on climate change. My goal is to enhance their knowledge and understanding of this subject. I would also like for topics such as the scientific method and how to correctly conduct experiments to become autonomous to the students. I will plan lessons that allow them to play, discover and create while learning science. I want to have the students communicate their understandings and misunderstandings both verbally and in writing in order to help reaffirm their knowledge and to allow me to identify any confusion. To advance the students’ content skills, I will continue to challenge them, According to DeRosa & Abrusacato. p. 271“Problem situations are used in science instruction, for developing conceptual understandings, teaching higher level thinking, problem-solving skills and applying a variety of scientific ideas. I also plan to advance the students’ use of academic language. I will do this by explaining correct terminology and using it throughout the lesson. Moreover, I will continue to give praise and positive feedback because I want to make the students believe they can be a successful young scientists. It is important to change the way students see science by incorporating their interests into experiments and activities; according to Magi et al., “Maintenance of a positive achievement motivation may be especially important for better achievement in science (p. 297).”

4. How will you foster critical thinking and problem solving? Articulate your understanding of the professional literature by discussing in your response at least two sources that will inform your future practice. List sources in APA style. (INTASC 5; ACEI 3.3)

I will foster the development of critical thinking in my student through the use of communication, games and inquiry. The use of games and inquiry allows the students to see science as fun and engaging. This will better their attitude towards science, and it will aid in their learning. I want my students to have a positive attitude toward science and believe in her capabilities. I will continue to make the lessons harder each week and go in a progressively challenging direction, “The instructional goal is that children not only know how to write, read and discover,  but more important, know how to apply all of these skills when learning science. (DeRosa & Abrusacato. p. 231). I will continue to stress the strategies we have been working on, according to Magi, et al. p. 297 “When teaching science it is important to make it as real as possible”.  I want to give Addison the skills she will need to succeed in mathematics, including how to problem solve and think critically.

References

Magi, K., Lerkkanen, M.K., Porkkkeus, A.M., Raashu-Puttonen, H.R., and Kikas, E. (2010). Relations between achievement goal orientation and math achievement in primary grades. Scandinavian Journal of Education Research. Vol. 54. No. 3, 295-312.

DeRosa,D., & Abrusacato, J. (2015). Teaching Children science: A discovery approach, Enhanced Pearson eText- Access Card. 8th Edition. ISBN- 10:0133824624. ISBN-13: 9780133824629