Hall_ Journal Assignment M2_Small Group

Teaching video name: Date: 03/15/2018

Small group electrical circuit lesson
Observation Meaning Research
Topics I observed in my I originally thought I had to
small group video stay in control and Gee, J. P. (2014). A Science of
Student engaged learning dominate the Teaching [PDF].
conversation, because last
Jamespaulgee.com.
 01:33 - I was pleased week this group of
to see Michael and students did not appear to jamespaulgee.com/geeimg/pdfs/A
Jenniesse discussing Science of Teaching.pdf
insulation from
be grasping the
Michael’s background information on how to
knowledge. create an electrical circuit.
 01:37 – I felt very After reviewing the video,
proud of Jenniesse however, it appears that
who was observing
that the power source they understood the
was still attached and curriculum and even
that what I was doing contributed their own
could cause a spark. background knowledge. It
The students were
seems to me they
asking and answering
questions based on struggled with the
prior assignments terminology but not the
and videos about actual concept.
electrical circuits with
minimal teacher
assistance.

Adapting to your learners I realize I spoke over the Gee, J. P. (2014). A Science of
students and tried to Teaching [PDF].
 05:51 - The kids control the narrative and
continued to ask and Jamespaulgee.com.
answer each other’s
the flow of learning and
jamespaulgee.com/geeimg/pdfs/A
questions giving them concepts. After reviewing
ownership of their the video, I wonder if they Science of Teaching.pdf
learning. would have had a higher
rate of success if I was just
monitoring their work and
guiding them when they
had any questions.
Perseverance The students failed at their Gee, J. P. (2014). A Science of
first attempt but I have Teaching [PDF].
 09:19 - The students instilled in them that
learned about team Jamespaulgee.com.
failure is part of learning,
work and perseverance
and in the (STEAM) field,
Hall_ Journal Assignment M2_Small Group

during this part of the we will fail often but the jamespaulgee.com/geeimg/pdfs/A
task. Our circuit came goal is to persevere and
apart several times, and Science of Teaching.pdf
we had to retrace our learn from our mistakes.
steps to make sure the
wires were connected
correctly and securely.

Home – School Connections He described how he made Gonzalez, T. (2012, March 21). The
his electrical circuit using Underlying Power of Homework.
the vocabulary words from Retrieved July 19, 2016, from
 07:04 - Michael made a
home-school this week’s lesson. http://www.niusileadscape.org/bl/the-
underlying-power-of-homework-by-
connection. He brought taucia-gonzalez/
in his wobblebot the
next day for show and
tell.

Strategies to assess shy I was elated to see Starlin Himmele, W., Himmele, P. (2012).
students excel in this portion of our How to know what students
assignment because it was
09:57 - The original group geared toward him. He is a know. Educational Leadership,
continued to work on the 70(1), 58-62
wobblebot without very shy kid; he did not
teacher interaction or speak once on film.
assistance. Starlin was However, he was a great
the last person to leave leader. He refocused the
from the original group. group by playing video
He assisted others in
making their wobblebot instructions and referring
and he finally got one to to our other visual aids.
work! Starlin is not very
talkative but he was able
to display his knowledge
and leadership skills in
this hands-on activity.

Describe

This week I attempted implementing some of the concepts I learned in this

week’s readings during small group instruction. I wanted to be conscious of different
learners and different learning styles, and this is why I incorporated a video, a teacher
made poster, and the wobblebot project to engage the entire group (Himmele &
Himmele, 2012). I found that Jenniesse gleaned an abundance of knowledge from the
video and from asking her peers questions. Michael revealed he had prior knowledge
and understood the concept of an electrical circuit extremely well. Natalia found the
Hall_ Journal Assignment M2_Small Group

poster helpful in finally grasping the concept. Starlin mastered creating the wobblebot
and was able to demonstrate what he learned about circuits for the past two weeks. I
was pleased to see students take leadership roles, ask insightful questions, connect
school and home life, and accept failure.

Synthesize

The article that inspired me to tweak my small group lesson plan was How to
Know What Students Know by Himmele and Himmele. It spoke to me because I deal
with an extremely shy student who talks and interacts with peers, but he can freeze or
shutdown when being asked the same questions by an adult. This makes it very hard to
assess what he knows in any form aside from a written assessment. This article
explained a concept called The Debate Team Carousel where everyone contributes
their opinion with supporting evidence to back it up (Himmele & Himmele, 2012). The
text also inspired me to create my own strategies that would assist in engaging the
students in the curriculum and standards.

In addition to spicing up the lesson plan and differentiating to reach all learners, I
encountered some mishaps and “happy accidents.” I realized I should have hung up
the poster and removed any additional objects from the table because they became a
distraction for the kids. Students from other centers came over to analyze the group’s
progress, and I should have addressed it sooner, because it eventually led to a verbal
confrontation between Jenniesse and another student. Besides those minor diversions,
I found this lesson to be quite beneficial. I asked the kids how they would they like to
learn more about electrical circuits from a list of options and the class chose to utilize
wobblebots. This gave them an incentive and invested interest to want to learn about
circuits in order to get their robot to work. I ultimately agreed with Gee that “Motivation
has to be nurtured” Gee, J. P. (2014).

Take away
Throughout this week, I have been attempting other strategies that were provided
by our reading, and I have been remaining conscious of the connections I would like my
students to make. I felt this small group project struck that balance. I have insisted for
months that you can learn more from your failures than you can from your triumphs
Gee, J. P. (2014). However, to actually watch my students fail, use appropriate coping
techniques, and continue to work on the robot, was a learning experience for me too. I
had to reevaluate my own misconceptions after realizing a student created a wobblebot
at home, on their own time, brought it into school, and then went on to articulate the
science of electrical circuits using the correct terminology. Although he struggles to
write, this experience forced me to see the errors and assumptions I had made about
this kid’s grasp of the concepts. Finally, the highlight of this entire experiment was the
perseverance and leadership I witnessed in Starlin. He continued with his efforts until
the wobblebot worked. All of the students cheered him on and he left school that day
with a huge smile on his face.