Lesson 1: Blog Phase 2- Instructional Decisions/Teaching

The teaching process went alright. I had the discussion and showed the video. They seemed very interested and engaged in the first part. I introduced the dioramas before I had talked more in detail about what a habitat contains, so I had to explain what was expected in the diorama in a little more detail than I normally would have. The books did not have all of the information the students needed, so I recommended using google to supplement their sources. The dioramas were a success, and the discussion after went well as well. The students were less forthcoming in the second discussion, which I found surprising.

I learned that I need to be a little more prepared in terms of what I am going to say in the individual teaching portion. I was very prepared for the discussions, but less prepared to teach the main part of the lesson, in terms of what exactly to say.

I also learned that I need to be a bit more specific about the resources available to the students. They were not aware that they could use google at the beginning of the activity, so I some of them felt that they did not get all the information they needed early enough in the process of creating their diorama.

I think I did a good job keeping aligned with goals and objectives. They learned what a habitat is, why it is important, how it interacts with other habitats, and the details of it. I could have supplemented their learning with more resources and details about each component of a habitat. I would definitely make this lesson part of a larger unit. It was a good introduction to habitats, but it needs a little more to have kids fully grasp the concepts in my objectives and the standards.

Not a lot of accommodation was necessary in this lesson, however, some students were having some difficulties finding and understanding information, so google was used as a sort of accommodation. One of the comments from my feedback was that I could have allowed them to draw instead of creating the diorama. I think in a class of actual first graders that would be a great idea, and I would definitely use it. For these students, I feel they are old enough to make a diorama and branch out from their comfort zone a bit. There was a suggestion of using a computer program to create their product instead of a diorama, for students who feel less confident in visual/spacial settings. If I were to redo this lesson I would offer that as an alternative.