My First Mini Lesson...EEK!

The time has finally come for me to teach a lesson plan that I have created... definitely a scary experience, but also an AWESOME experience! It's making me excited to teach in my own classroom, with my own lesson plans, on my own time.

This is John F Kennedy carved into a pumpkin at the
Roger Williams Zoo! I was lucky enough to go to the
exhibit with my family over our fall break at
Saint Michael's College.

For our first lesson plan, which is linked below, I focused on three vocabulary words which relate to the overall unit I am creating about John F Kennedy's assassination. The three vocabulary words were assassination, government, and conspiracy theory. By introducing these words first, I am hoping that students will be able to build a greater understanding of the assassination. I also hope they will be able to talk about the assassination of JFK using precise and relevant vocabulary, before developing an entire project by themselves. 

----> Lesson Plan <----

Designing a vocabulary lesson plan has allowed me to plan instructions by drawing upon previous knowledge of social studies vocabulary. This promotes success in meeting rigorous learning goals for their group project on their next unit. The lesson plan also allowed me to prepare my students for self-directed, continuous professional learning, through advancement of vocabulary. It also is a preview of what they need to know in order to complete their performance assessment for their John F Kennedy unit. 

One of the benefits of practicing a lesson plan is having the opportunity to videotape yourself teaching. In doing this, I realize how I teach and what I can improve on. One of the major issues I noticed from the video was my response to a students question. I was caught off guard by the question, which sent my mind into a panic. Instead of thinking about my response, I automatically spat out the first thing that came to my head. In order to be a responsible educator, I need to be very prepared with the content I am teaching and also need to be prepared with my response if I am unsure of the correct answer.

One of the positive things I noticed from this video was the tone of voice. One of my questions for my group, before I started presenting, was to tell me if they thought my voice was too low and if my language was unprofessional. My peers informed me that I was presenting loudly and clearly, I just needed to fix a couple of my phrases to make them more professional. After watching this video, I realized I was expressing my tone of voice at a good level and most of my language was professional, except for a few instances where I was a little laid back with my language. For example, at one point I said "If it is easier, you guys could split it up however you want..." This is not helpful because the statement does not provide strict instruction, which will leave students confused with the task at hand. Making sure that my statements are clear and direct will inform students that the assignment is mandatory and not a choice. I hope in the future I am able to eliminate the use of vague language to make my instructions as clear and straightforward as possible.

Another aspect I learned after teaching this lesson plan was the importance of vocabulary. If my students did not understand the vocabulary I presented in this lesson, they would not understand the unit I am preparing about JFK. My peers, as I mentioned above, thought the practices I prepared for their learning were effective. They all mentioned that they were able to grasp an understanding of the content based on the pre-assessment, powerpoint, and Quizlet. I believe these will be useful tools for the future, seeing that they worked well during this practice lesson. My next step would be to branch out and look at more strategies for teaching vocabulary. I think these practices are useful, but I know there are so many more options which will help me switch up my lessons, making them as engaging as possible. I also hope to continue to videotape my lessons in order to make sure I am improving and also look out for other areas in need of improvement.

Overall, I found this experience extremely valuable. I was able to perform my first lesson plan while getting helpful feedback from peers that will improve my next lesson plan. Not only did this experience help me with my overall teaching habits, but it also allowed me to understand the importance of vocabulary. I hope that as a future educator I am able to prepare my students with vocabulary that might be tricky before a lesson starts in order for them to have a better understanding of what is happening in class. I know from personal experience that not knowing a word in class can often be embarrassing and confusing. After seeing myself teach for the first time and getting feedback, I am really looking forward to my next teaching opportunity!