Michaela Callahan

Explorations in Teaching

February 13, 2018

Lesson Study Two

Throughout my life, I have always known that teaching is the career for me. With that, I

have been told that I better find a husband who makes a lot of money so that he can support our

future household. I have always hated this, because the money is not what has drawn me to

teaching. What drives me to want to want to pursue my career in teaching is the craft of the

profession. I fall in love more and more with my kids each time I see them and at the end of the

year when they move on I feel as though a piece of my heart moves on with them. Teaching is

something that I feel as though can not be learned. One just kind of has to have a niche for it.

When watching Mr. Gasparini teach his class a few weeks ago I noticed that he was born to

teach whether he knew it at the time or not. He was teaching a science lesson to a group of fifth

graders with all different kinds of learning styles and demographics. He stuck to three specific

teacher performance expectations (TPEs) that stood out to me. The TPE’s that he used were:

TPE one: engaging and supporting all students in learning, TPE four: planning instruction and

designing learning experiences for all students, and TPE six: pedagogy for teaching science.

At the beginning of the experiment, Mr. Gasperini made a point to make sure that all of

the students had a specific job that they were to do in order for the experiment to work

accordingly. This tactic is geared towards TPE one where the teacher is to engage and support all

of the students in learning. The experiment consisted of closed film canisters with water and alka

seltzer tablets. In the end, the cap would explode off of the film canister, leaving all of the

students with a grin on their face from ear to ear. What made TPE one work so well in this
lesson, was the fact that everyone had a place. There was a person who was supposed to break

the alka seltzer into smaller pieces, there was a person who would measure and pour the water,

there was a timer, and there was someone who would close the canister and set it on the ground

in a fast manner. This teaching technique really helped all of the students feel like they had a

place not only in the experiment, but in the classroom and with their peers as well. There are

always students who are too shy to step up to the plate in group settings, so their intelligence

often will get disregarded by the person who usually takes control. Specifying jobs allows

everyone to shine equally. The students also learn that without them, the experiment will not

work as well, which in the end will affect their grade. In the future, I will definitely use this

technique not only in certain projects and experiments, but also in the everyday classroom. This

is especially good when it comes to working with younger children as they all need their own

place in the classroom.

Within the groups for the experiments, there was a diverse group of students. This was

where I noticed that Mr. Gasperini used TPE four so well. Planning instruction and designing

learning experiences for all students is really important. During the class period, I noticed that a

few of the kids had distinct mental disabilities. There were also a few students who were at a

disadvantage but you can not tell just by looking. After class, we were able to ask Mr. Gasperini

a few questions. We asked him how the groups were put together and he mentioned that he

makes sure to put students in a group for one if they get along and for two the patient students

with the students who need more help to grasp a concept. There were also chairs in the classroom

that were specifically designed for students who might not be able to focus or sit still. The chair

was round on the bottom, so it allowed for movement while sitting down. There was also no

extra attention drawn to the chairs, either the student wanted to use it or not, but no one was
really talking about it. In the future, I plan to have a couple of standing desks in my classroom to

accommodate the students who do not want to sit down for a little bit. I have a problem sitting

still for long periods of time, so I know that this will greatly impact the classroom.

Although it is important for students to feel welcome in the classroom, it is also important

for the teacher to understand what they are teaching, in this case the pedagogy for teaching

science. One has to know the ins and the outs for the lesson they are teaching. They have to teach

according to the state standards while also keeping the students engaged in the lesson. There are

certain core standards that the teacher must teach in order for the lesson to be effective. When

teaching for the specific science pedagogy, the teacher must teach the students how to be precise

in their hypothesis and show students how to accurately record data. This is crucial to the

learning of the student, as it will allow them to be able to apply that knowledge to similar

situations later in their learning career. In the future, it will be important that I understand all of

the content that I am teaching my students that way they retain the information in the best way

possible.

Democracy and equity play a vital role in the classroom, as it is something that is

important but specific to the different students. Examples of democracy and equity in the

classroom included a cup tree, a random counter, and the “right to pass.” In the back of the room,

there was a tree that had hooks for the students to have their own cup. This allowed the students

to find a place where they can be individual but also be a community in their classroom. All of

the students are given a number and when there were too many hands held up in the class, Mr.

Gasperini would click the random counter. This would allow every student have an equal

opportunity to answer a question, but if they did not feel confident in their answer, they had the
right to pass meaning they did not want to answer the question. This really helps every child to

feel safe in their classroom and I know I will use this in my future classroom.

In all, Mr. Gasperini is a great teacher and I loved seeing the way he holds his class

together. He talked to all of the students as they were friends, not as though he was above them. I

really enjoyed watching how he teaches and I hope that one day I teach as well as he does. With

that said, he made a point to include all of the TPE’s in his lesson and the students really seemed

to enjoy it as well.