Donetha Groover

Teach Two Reflection

On the 9th of October my partner Amanda and I taught two classes, back
to back, at Maumelle High School. Once again, we were in Mr. Jenkins 10th
grade biology class for the day. The lesson we taught was one on speciation,
natural selection, and how to form and test hypothesis. There was both an
activity and a worksheet for the students to fill out. The activity consisted of
the students picking a beak (choice of spoon, fork, tweezers, clothespin,
tube, or chenille stem). They then had to go around to stations and see how
much of the various food (rice, beans, gummy candy, spaghetti, beads, or
a mix) they could pick up in ten seconds.
Going into this teaching day I had a few goals for myself. First, I wanted
to connect the learning we were doing that day to students previous
knowledge. I wanted to use Vygotskys scaffolding by bringing in prior
knowledge and connecting it to what we were doing now (Simply Psychology,
2012). With the first class I asked them if they knew about Darwin and his
theories. I showed them a video and we discussed how different bird beaks
came about, and how different shapes of beaks are good for certain foods.
For the second class connecting the learning was much easier.

That class was the one that Amanda and I had taught in previously.
During those lessons we taught the students about mitosis, meiosis, and how
genetic variation was a good thing to encourage. So when we started on this
lesson I reminded them about our last lesson. I asked them to remember
what happened when genetic diversity is diminished. Then I showed this
class the same video. We discussed why certain beaks might be better, and
how being a specialist or generalist might be good or bad.
My second goal was one that I have for every lesson I teach. That goal
was to try to bring in as many of Howard Gardners Intelligences as possible.
If a teacher is having difficulty reaching a student in the more traditional
linguistic or logical ways of instruction, the theory of multiple intelligences
suggests several other ways in which the material might be presented to
facilitate effective learning (American Institute, 2013). When taught using
their dominant intelligence, students learn better. However, they must use
their other intelligences as well to better understand the information
(Responsive Classroom, 2007).
Visual/spatial intelligence is always easy to incorporate. I did this with the
video I showed. Verbal/linguistic is also easy to add to a lesson. This was
done with part of the worksheet that the students had to fill out. First they
had to write their hypothesis and null hypothesis. Then the students had to
take their data and write a sentence or two about why they disproved, or
failed to disprove their hypothesis.

In a science classroom it is also easy to include the logical/mathematical

intelligence. In this case the students had to weigh the amount of each
food item they picked up, subtract that from the weight of their stomach
(a plastic cup), record their data, find the mass for a single item for each
food, and compare the results. Then they had to use their results to
disprove, or fail to disprove their hypothesis.
Since there was a lot of moving around the classroom for this activity, the
bodily/kinesthetic intelligence came into play. This was done in groups, with
students sharing their data, so the intrapersonal intelligence was satisfied.
Students with a naturalist intelligence were also included since we were
talking about bird beaks and animal. Unfortunately, we did not hit on the
musical, interpersonal, or existential intelligences. This was in contrast to
our teach one classes. For those classes, we only did not touch on musical
intelligence, and that was because I ran out of time.
There were three goals that I wanted the students to achieve. First, I
wanted students to understand the difference between a hypothesis and a
null hypothesis. It is something not taught in high school, yet college
professors expect students to be familiar with these terms. A number of
students understood the concept quite well, as evidenced by example
number one provided at the end of this paper. Some students slightly
understood the concept, but did not quite grasp the full meaning, as shown
in example two. Then, there were some students who just did not grasp this
at all, as shown in example three. I think it would have been helpful to write

an example on the board so that the students could understand exactly what
we were asking them. If we were able to go back into the class after viewing
these papers we would make sure to go over this concept again.
Second, I wanted the students to understand survival of the fittest. In the
video I showed there was a question about what exactly survival of the fittest
was. We had a great conversation about how it is not always the biggest and
fastest that survive. I asked the students when being the biggest was not
the best. Students gave examples like mice and hummingbirds. We then
discussed how being fastest might not work in the environment either.
Third, I wanted the students to understand that in science nothing is ever
proved. Things are either supported by the data, or not supported by the
data. Some students gave me a weird look when I introduced this at the end
of the activity. We discussed how science, and our understanding of it, is
constantly changing. Technology brings us new information and we have to
change our hypothesis.
During these two classes we did not have students that required
accommodations. However, we were prepared in case there was. We had
the students working in groups and sharing data, so that if there was an ESL
student they would have multiple people to help them through the activity.
Allowing the students to share their data also meant that those students who
needed extra help, or time to complete the activity we able to have some

data to work with. My video and quiz was available online, so that students
could look at it later if they could not concentrate or see it well during class.
Based on the energy in the classes, the questions asked, and the mess
that was created I would say the students enjoyed the lesson. I also believe
they learned something from it. Those two things combined are what I strive
for every time I teach. Making learning fun, and even more important,
making it meaningful, helps to move students to the next level of learning
(William & Mary, 2015). The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher
explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
William Arthur Ward

References
Armstrong, T. (2013). Multiple Intelligences by Dr. Thomas Armstrong. Retrieved from
http://www.institute4learning.com/multiple_intelligences.php
American Institute For Learning and Human Development
Biondi, L. (2007, November). Multiple Intelligences | Responsive Classroom. Retrieved
from https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/article/multiple-intelligences
Doerries, D. (2015). W&M School of Education - Next Steps for Creating Meaningful
Learning Experiences. Retrieved from
http://education.wm.edu/centers/ttac/resources/articles/teachtechnique/nextstepsforcre
atingmeaningful/index.php
McLeod, S. (2010). Zone of Proximal Development - Scaffolding | Simply Psychology.
Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-of-ProximalDevelopment.html

example one

example two

example three

Rubric
Meets some
expectations

Presenta
tion

Exceeds
expectations

Analysis is readable,
with complete
sentences and
generally correct
grammar and
spelling.

Analysis is neat and

readable. Few
grammatical or
typographical errors.

Free of grammatical
and typographical
errors. Neat and
easily read. Well
organized and
attractively
presented so that all
supporting materials
are easily referenced.

Includes some
transcribed dialogue
and some discussion
of how effective it
was.

Includes full segment

of transcribed
dialogue and some
examples of analysis
according to an
identified framework
(Chin, Pierson-Bishop,
& Cazden; Scott,
Mortimer, & Aguiar;
Rowe). Includes
measurements of
wait time.

Includes either
several extensive
transcribed dialogues
with thorough
analysis according to
identified framework
OR one extensive
dialogue with
thorough analysis
according to multiple
frameworks. Includes
critique of
framework(s): How
useful is it/are they
for characterizing the
dialogue? Includes
measurements of
wait time.

Describes at least
one teaching
objective and
evaluates the
outcome.

Describes multiple
teaching objectives,
identified in terms of
the portfolio where
appropriate, and
provides evidence
specific evidence and
justification whether
these were met in
Teach 2, contrasting
with Teach 1 where
possible.

Evaluates teacher
development.
Thorough description
of how the evidence
shows that you did or
did not meet your
teaching objectives,
referencing
specific
video/lesson
planning in detail.
Evaluates
outcomes in terms
of research/theory
on teaching and
learning.
References the

Dialogue
analysis

Teaching
objective
s for
yourself

Fully meets
expectations

portfolio where
appropriate.
Contrasts with
Teach 1 if possible.

Meets some
expectations

Fully meets
expectations

Exceeds
expectations

Evaluates student
learning based on
artifacts.

Evaluates student
learning based on
artifacts. Describes
how the evidence
shows that students
did or did not meet
the objectives,
referencing
specific artifacts in
detail.

Evaluates student
learning based on
artifacts. Thorough
description of how
the evidence shows
that students did or
did not meet
objectives,
referencing
specific artifacts in
detail. References
literature on
student
understanding of
subject and
learning theory.

Describes at least
one way in which
lesson as
implemented
connected to the
needs, interests, and
experiences of the
students.

Describes how your

lesson addressed
student interests with
special needs (even if
there were none
identified in your
classroom). Describes
how your tasks were
generative and
allowed for students
of differing interests
and abilities all to be
successful.

Describes multiple
accommodations you
made for students
with special needs
(even if there were
none identified in
your classroom).
Describes how your
tasks were generative
and allowed for
students of differing
interests and abilities
all to be successful.
Evaluates the
effectiveness of the
accommodations and
critiques
recommendations
made in readings or
other sources.

A copy of the
unannotated rubric is
included.

A copy of the rubric is

included with the
appropriate column
circled to indicate
self-evaluation.

A copy of the rubric is

included with the
appropriate column
circled to indicate
self-evaluation. Brief
indication of the
evidence.

Learning
objective
s for
students

Awarene
ss of
diversity

Selfevaluati
on using
rubric