Lesson Reflections

Lisa Papez

Lesson One Hospital Helpers This was my first lesson with Mrs. Akers class and I was very nervous. Would they like the lesson? Will they listen? I was overwhelmed with excitement and nervousness. Lesson one began with the creation of a journal that they would keep throughout the whole unit to keep their work in. As I began the lesson I was at ease due to the fact I had previously taught a similar lesson last year. So I was comfortable with what I was trying to accomplish in this lesson. I began the lesson with critical thinking questions about journals and what they are used for and why people keep journals. I was very surprised for second grade how well they were able to answer the questions. In this lesson I learned that before handing out the paper they would illustrate for the cover of their journal that I need to make sure I complete all instructions. Once they received the paper I lost their attention and a few students drew on the paper horizontal rather than vertical which wasnt a huge deal but not what I had intended. I also learned that you need to model everything. You cannot assume that they hear what you think they should hear. In never fails that at least one student will repeat my instructions differently but yet correctly in their own unique way. For this lesson students were to create a cover page for a journal and I allowed them to do this however they would like. They were introduced to the theme of Hospital Helpers and had creative freedom. I allowed them to use crayons, markers, or colored chalk to help them illustrate their cover page.

Lesson Reflections

Lisa Papez

For this lesson most students did very well. The only requirement that I asked was that they put their name and number on the front of their journal so it could easily be identified as their journal. All students did this except for one who placed his name and number on the back. I believe this was because I gave out the paper before I made that portion clear and I missed catching his attention when addressing the class. Next time to make sure the students understand the directions I will have one of them repeat back to my students understood the instructions the way I meant for them to.

Lesson Reflections

Lisa Papez

Lesson Two Hospital Helpers Lesson two focused on enhancing the students vocabulary with hospital helpers. During this lesson I used a PowerPoint presentation to help students identify their vocabulary words. In this presentation I used pictures and then verbal descriptions to help define these words to the students. The students were very responsive to the bright colors and pictures I used in the PowerPoint to illustrate the words. During my learning activities we went page by page over each vocabulary word. For each word I had noted on how to define the word, and example of the meaning, and a sentence using the word. For this lesson we highlighted five words. As a whole group the students created their own sentence for each of the five words. This lesson became a little more difficult. My first thought is that each student would create their own sentence for the five words. However, when I gave that instruction to the class I could see the panic enter all of their faces. So I quickly changed my plan and decided to create the sentences together but they were still responsible for copying the sentence off the white board onto their paper to be put into their journal. For this lesson students were asked to copy all five words down on their handwriting paper. Each sentence needed to include 5 words and contain correct punctuation and use the vocabulary words. Once the group created the sentences they would then choose one sentence to illustrate and that was up to them which sentence they would illustrate. For this lesson two students were absent so there is no record for them. All the students did copy the sentences from the board and a few students went above and beyond to create their

Lesson Reflections

Lisa Papez

own unique sentences. The problems arise when it came to evaluating if they copied the sentences correctly. At this point 8 students copied the sentences off the white board with less than 80% accuracy lowering them into the minimal category of my rubric. I believe this is due to them not really paying attention. Another little boy who had difficulty I wonder if the can see the white board. I noticed after my lesson that often times he appears to squint or stands up and walks towards the board. Often this behavior is seen as disruptive but I wonder if he just cant see. Some students I believe also had difficulty because they were not confident in their ability to write a sentence. The students that did well though were very good at catching mistakes. One student brought to my attention that one of our sentences only contained four words not the required five and was able to make the adjustment to make it meet the requirements. The students are not confident in their writing ability and need to work on this skill in future lessons so that writing becomes less stressful. They know how to tell if the sentence is correct with grammar and punctuation but writing it is a challenge for several students.

Lesson Reflections

Lisa Papez

Lesson Three Hospital Helpers In this lesson students were asked to brainstorm and use a graphic organizer to come up with concept words that are related to hospital. They were asked as a whole group to come up with twelve or more words. This lesson built upon their recent vocabulary words that they reviewed in the previous lesson. After they created their concept word chart then were then asked to create a collage of pictures that related back to words on their concept chart. In the beginning of the lesson I wanted them to find three words off the chart but have a total of 10 pictures on the collage. Once again panic struck my students. They just did not understand what I was asking them to do. At this point I learned again that I need to simplify my instructions for my second grade class. So I immediately adjusted the collage. We changed it to three or more pictures or words that related back to our words on our concept chart. This seemed easier for them to understand and from that point the kids really got into looking in the magazine for pictures to paste on their construction paper. One little boy actually found a picture of his dad who is a doctor at the local hospital and got so excited that he could use it on his collage. Once again for this lesson there was one student who was absent so does not have a recorded grade. All students participated in the class discussion and all but one filled in their entire concept chart. The one boy who did not complete it was one of my exceptional children and he completed half. I made note of this that he was doing a good job and we ran out of time for this lesson. His completion of half was satisfactory for this lesson. All students were able to find three or more pictures to create their collage that would also be kept in their journal.

Lesson Reflections

Lisa Papez

Lesson Four Hospital Helpers In this lesson students were asked to look at pictures and identify their job and what they were responsible for in the hospital. They were asked to identify six pictures and for each picture I had a job description in my lesson plan, and question to help prompt participation from the students. In order to give the answers I gave each student a white board where they were instructed to write down the best they could who the picture was and raise it up when complete. Once everyone identified the picture we would go into further detail about a person and their responsibilities and where else they could work if not in a hospital. Problems with this lesson where students writing on the white boards when they were not supposed to, drawing pictures, and then lifting up the boards to show their answer. This could get dangerous if the students dont pay attention. In future lesson if I use a white board for students to write one I like the idea of using verbal cues like markers up. This way they have to hold the markers up and cant keep drawing or writing. I also like the verbal cue of quick erase when it is time to clear their white board. As a whole all students participated and all but two were able to keep their white boards. Mrs. Akers made the decision to take the white board away from these two students who were not using it appropriately. One way to help guide them to better behavior would be to bring them up to the front and they can be leaders in the next lesson. I believe this would word for one but not both. Trying to find ways to alternate might be necessary. Also using the verbal cues as well will help keep these students accountable during these activities.

Lesson Reflections

Lisa Papez

Lesson Five Hospital Helpers This lesson taught students to individually construct a question with proper punctuation and grammar for our guest speaker that would be coming into our classroom. In order to do this we did a review of what a pharmacist does to help build their knowledge so that they could create appropriate questions. Students were required to write a question that contained five or more words and were appropriate for the guest speaker. This lesson was developed so students would understand the idea of an interview by asking questions and give them another opportunity to work on the skill of writing correct sentences. Most students did well and were able to create a question with 80% accuracy. However, five students were at the minimal level for our rubric. Out of the students four created a correct sentence but only used four words rather than the required five which dropped them down. Two students were unable to construct a question that was appropriate for our guest speaker and two other were dropped to unsatisfactory because again they did not use the required amount of words to reach their 80% accuracy. Some students did poorly with this because they did not follow the directions. I have noticed that a lot of times the students try to be the first one done and hurry through their work. Others came up with very good question but just did not meet the required five words to hit the 80% accuracy. I was very happy with the question that most students were able to come up with. Many were very creative and though outside the box.

Lesson Reflections

Lisa Papez

Lesson Six Hospital Helpers I was extremely excited about this lesson. Today I am bringing in a guest speaker for our class to discuss her job and roles as a Pharmacist. Amanda Smith the director of Health Center Pharmacy, Tygart Valley Pharmacy, and Community Care Pharmacy in Parsons. I begin the lesson by reviewing appropriate behavior when we have a guest speaker. We review being quiet, being respectful, and being good listeners. I then give a quick introduction and then turn the class over to our guest. The kids did absolutely wonderful in this lesson. They were all excited that someone came and just talked to them. Their behavior was wonderful and they were all active in answering and asking questions when appropriate. Only one student got slightly hyper but she was just excited to ask questions. I would definitely try to incorporate guests into the classroom when appropriate for lessons. The students enjoyed it and saw it as a treat!

Lesson Reflections

Lisa Papez

Lesson Seven Hospital Helpers In this lesson we were working on putting a doctors visit into sequential order. We would do this by creating a bulletin board for the classroom. The first idea was to watch a YouTube video but when that wouldnt work I quickly had to adjust my plan. For this I turned to Mrs. Akers to assist with the lesson. I changed it to where the class as a whole group would put a doctors visit in order. We were to come up with four steps that would later be illustrated and put onto our bulletin board. The students did wonderfully giving the correct order of events using cue words as first, then, next, and last. Then the students were place in small groups where each small group was responsible for illustrating two pictures for their designated order. I separated out the four students who are known for not following instructions and I worked with them in their own group. Mrs. Akers assisted by going around and helping the larger groups. I worked with my students and they were each assigned a title to create for each section of the bulletin board. This was a challenge because they didnt want to do what I was asking they wanted to do their own thing. I firmly had to state that if they didnt want to listen then they wouldnt participate. I gave examples and modeled what was expected but they still would fight me on actually doing it correctly. Finally one boy started his picture and began doing a really good job. When I gave him feedback the others then wanted to the same feedback and began doing the assignment correctly. Though frustrating at first in the end all the students did a really good job on the creation of the bulletin board.

Lesson Reflections

Lisa Papez

Lesson Eight Hospital Helpers This lesson was designed to teach students safety and health tips that they can use later in life and to have them create a first aid kit that they can take home with them. We once again used the white boards and as a whole group brainstormed a list of health tips and a list of safety tips. In future lessons I will incorporate a graphic organizer to help teach students different ways to organize their thoughts. Once the list was created the students now created and decorated their own first aid kit which we would fill with items that are found in first aid kits. As we put our items in the kit we reviewed what the item was and what it would be used for. The students were all very creative when decorating their bag. The drew Band-Aids, hospitals, patients, the first aid cross, and one little girl actually drew the blue cross blue shield symbol on her bag. Once again the students were excited about creating something that they could take home with them. I think if possible and appropriate doing a craft the end a lesson that the students can take home with them actually enhances what they are learning and they think it is great that they get to make something. This is another great way to incorporate some art into the class as well.