PLANNING FOR LEARNING PSIII

Relevant School G.S Other School

Goals: Laki Initiatives:
e

Resource
Related s/
TQS Strategies Support Evidence of Timeline
Inquiry Success
Required
Question:
Lab
demonstrations Student response to
labs, activities, and
Unit book projects
Activities
Student performance
Group projects on unit test questions
Goal: How do I bring related to our labs,
in relevant and activities, and
enriching in-class labs projects
and activities

Related Resource
TQS Strategies s/ Evidence of Timeline
Inquiry Support Success
Question: Required

Encourage T.A Feedback T.A and U.C

students to and Experience feedback
elaborate. sharing

Probe students
to explain how
they know
 Give time for
students to think

Goal: How do I
further engage
students with
questioning instead of
answering for them to
keep the lesson
moving?

Reflection at midway point.

Question #1 How do I bring in relevant and enriching in-class labs and activities

Achievements: My unit book B was very full of labs and activities that the Students found to be

helpful and it engaged them more. We had quite a few demonstrations where some students

were awe-struck and extremely focused on the lesson.

In Progress: I have longer and more student driven labs in my current unit book.
Future considerations: I want to see how the students perform during the next few labs to see

how well they can stay on task and be respectful.

Question #2 How do I further engage students with questioning instead of answering for them

to keep the lesson moving?

Achievements: During class discussions I have been more aware of asking students “why” they

know the answer to a question and probing them for more information and depth.

In Progress: My last few classes have been very successful in having students explain their

answers and also ask some further questions, which I have googled the answer to and as a class

we discuss the new student proposed question.

Future considerations: I want to continue to foster students asking inquiry questions and to be

flexible in not getting the entire lesson plan done to give these student questions time to be

discussed and related back to our topic at hand.

 Reflection at End of Term

How do I bring in relevant and enriching in-class labs and activities

To bring in in-class activities, labs, and demonstrations was a challenge, as the

prep-work, class management, and clean-up was all extra work to add onto planning lessons,

quizzes, and unit plans, but I felt I achieved this goal efficiently. Especially in Mix and flow of

matter unit book B, some weeks everyday I had some demonstration, activity or lab, and I felt it

helped to give a more real example and help students relate the knowledge to an event. On

student quizzes and tests, I had questions that began with “In class we did…..” and the

responses were some of the most well answered questions on the test. However, students that

missed those days felt they could not answer these questions and often put “I was not there

that day.” The questions however were able to be answered even if students missed those days

as they just reinforced concepts we covered in class, which I explained to students and gave

them a chance to reanswer the questions. As I moved into the mechanical systems unit, I used

some labs from another teacher that were more student driven and lab focused with variables,

hypothesis’, recording data, and conclusions. The students did really well with maintaining a

focus and respect for one another as they worked through these labs, which was a welcomed

surprise as I was nervous that the class would be derailed by students that have a difficult time

focusing.

T.A Feedback on goal

● hands on activities with discussion and notes after

● visual
● document camera
● student input
How do I further engage students with questioning instead of answering for them to keep the
lesson moving?

At the beginning of the practicum I would often ask a question, see there were no hands

up, and answer the question myself to keep the lesson moving or call on the high achieving

students to get a quick answer. As the practicum continued I got in the habit of reinforcing

hands up to answer and giving time for students to think, gain the courage, and then put their

hands up. Whenever I noticed students had already answered a couple of questions in a day, I

would thank them and acknowledge their hand up, but ask for other students who haven’t

answered yet to answer. Every so often I would ask a student on the spot to answer a question I

knew they could answer, if they felt they could not, I would say that is absolutely ok and move

on to another student. Rephrasing questions was also a habit I got in if it seemed the students

were reluctant to answer the first question. Whenever a student was trying to answer and it

seemed they were struggling I would encourage them, work with what they were saying, and

ask following questions to get them to feel confident in their answer. Overall, at the ending of

my practicum, I am very thankful for the support and assistance from my U.C and T.A in how to

ask, follow-up, and encourage good questions during my teaching.

T.A Feedback on goal

● pause to wait for answer
● select students to respond
● ask leading questions
● rephrase questions