SO REFLECTION 1 1

Lauren Clark

Angela Hooser

EDE 4940

12th February, 2017

Supervisor Observation Reflection 1

Reflection

For my first supervisor observation during my final semester, I taught a social studies

lesson. This lesson was focused on diversity. The way I taught this was by using one white egg

and one brown egg. The first day of the two-day lesson (which was my CT observation), we sat

in a circle and passed around the eggs, making observations about similarities and differences

and recording them on a chart. On the second day (which was my supervisor observation) is

when we looked at the chart we made and I asked the students if they thought the eggs would

look the same or different on the inside. This is when I cracked open the eggs under the Elmo for

the students to see that the eggs were the same on the inside, despite the difference in color.

Overall, the students realized that the eggs had some similarities and some differences

(shape, spots, size, etc.), but for the most part were the same on the inside. When asked how the

eggs related to people, the students slowly discovered that humans are like eggs because they

have a shell and we have a shell (skin) and eggs can come in different or similar sizes and colors

just like people can, but no matter what we are all the same on the inside, just like the white

and brown eggs.

For the most part, I am pleased with how the second part of this lesson went. If I were to

teach this lesson again, something that I would do the same is ask the question at 7:03 how can

doing this lesson and cracking open the eggs help us see the similarities and differences between
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people? I felt as though this was a really great higher order thinking question that made the kids

have to pause and really think hard about how eggs could teach us something about people.

Something that I would change would be to have the students turn and talk first to share their

thoughts about this question so that they could get some ideas to really probe their thinking. I

also think this would have made the lesson more engaging and more student-centered. Instead, I

called on students individually to share, which allowed us to build upon each others thoughts to

come up with the final discovery.

A second thing that I wish I could change (but would be pretty hard to change) would be

for the students to somehow have a part in the cracking of the eggs. During this lesson, the

students had to sit at their desks and watch me crack the eggs under the Elmo (3:27). I do not

know if having the students crack the eggs is even a possibility, but it would be a great

opportunity to let them be involved and hands on with their learning, even if it got a little messy!

Like the last lesson, something else that I would change if I could is the time. When I

taught this lesson I had a late start and I feel as though this part of the lesson is when I really

needed to take my time to ensure all of the students were understanding the big idea of it.

Instead, I felt as though I had to rush through this teachable moment, which could have resulted

in some of the students not recognizing the bigger picture of it. The time constraint is a

connection I can make with literature I have read in my Teaching Elementary Social Studies

class last semester and even literature I am collecting now as data for my inquiry. A common

theme throughout all of the literature is the idea that there is little to no time dedicated to social

studies in classrooms across the nation.

Analysis
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Ultimately, I believe that the students did learn the big idea I was trying to teach- that

eggs are like people in the sense that despite any differences, we can find similarities between us

and recognize that we are all the same on the inside no matter what we look like on the outside. I

know that the majority of the students got this because when filling out a worksheet at the end

that asked them How are eggs like people?, most of the students answered by acknowledging

people may look different but are still the same.

I think that my activities were effective because almost every single student (with few

exceptions) said that they enjoyed this lesson and had a favorite part about it. For instance, most

of the students enjoyed the part when I cracked open the eggs. Having the lesson be hands on

and inclusive of their ideas are some contributing factors as to why it was so successful. When it

comes to students who struggled, Matthew (pseudonym) comes to mind. He said that he did not

enjoy the lesson because there was too much writing. Although I know that this student struggles

with reading and writing, it made me think of ways I could modify the lesson for students who

struggle with writing, but still make it engaging and challenging.

Based off of what happened in this lesson, the next step is to build off of the big idea and

continue to teach lessons that deepen the students understanding of what diversity is. My next

lesson that I plan on teaching is to read students a picture book on Martin Luther King Jr.,

discuss what his dream was for the world, and then come up with dreams of our own to put on

our own dream catcher.