Final Blog Posting

Reflection of your lesson: Overall the lesson plan went great. Kayla and I were able to include the objectives that we wanted to teach the students. We played music in the beginning of the lesson as our anticipatory set and the students seemed to enjoy moving around the classroom. This made students engage more throughout the lesson. Kayla and I worked well together in preparing and presenting the lesson plan of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"

How did you (and your partner) prepare? We had seen the other groups present their lesson plans and we knew that it wouldn't be easy to present our lesson plan because of the behavior cards. Kayla and I came up with ideas to keep the students engaged in the lesson plan and this would prevent them from misbehaving in class. We also knew that while one of us was teaching in front of the class the other had to walk around and pay close attention to the students.

Explain the objective and assessment measures of your lesson:
Objectives: Students will be introduced to the concepts of linear and circular stories. Students will create their own circular sequential graphic organizer for the story "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."Students will write their own circle stories using the prompt "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" Students will be able to recall putting a story into the correct sequence and describe the order in which the events are happening. We wanted the students to learn the difference between a circle and a linear story. "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" is a circle story in which one event leads to another. The story will end in the same way it started.

Was your lesson plan executed as it was written?
No. On the day of the lesson we added and we eliminated things from the lesson plan. We added the music in the beginning and at the end of the lesson. We also added hands on activities on the day of the lesson. We didn't have enough time to tell the students to make their own circle stories.

What was the most important thing I tried to teach the students?
The most important objective we wanted to teach the students was recalling what is the difference between a circle and a linear story. We also wanted them to be able to put a story into the correct sequence and describe the order in which the events are happening.

How do you think it went?
The presentation didn't go exactly how we planned but it did turn out to be a great lesson plan. Kayla and I worked well together.

What did you learn from the students?
The teacher will not be able to follow the lesson plan as planned. The teacher has to be prepared to make adjustments to the lesson plan on the day of the lesson.

What would you have done differently?
Make more time for the lesson plan. We wrote that it would take 45 minutes to present but it will take much longer to present and teach all the objectives to the students. I would've wanted to use the podcast more in the lesson. We played the podcast but the audio was too low to hear and we didn't use the podcast as planned in the lesson. I read part of the story aloud to the students because they couldn't hear the podcast.

How could you have made the lesson even more effective?
If we had used the podcast in the lesson it would've been more effective because I would've been able to play the podcast to the students more than once. It would've been easier for them to recall the events in the story. The lesson plan would've been more effective if each student had their own book of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" it also would've made it easier for them to follow along with the reading while the podcast was played.

What do you think you need to improve or do differently?
Give more time to present the lesson plan. If you think it will take about 40 minutes to present then I should at least add about an extra 20 minutes because it will not always take the time as I originally planned. Teaching the students a lesson plan takes plenty of time. The teacher should give herself and the students enough time to learn the lesson.

Reflection of the Podcast

How did you and your partner plan to use the podcast in your lesson?
We wanted to use the podcast as a way for the students to listen to the story and for the students to remember the events of the story while working on the first activity. If the students had any questions as to which event came first we would be able to play the podcast again until they remembered the story.

Did you use it during the class lesson? Why or why not?
We did use it but it wasn't effective because the students weren't able to hear it clearly.

How did your students react to the podcast?
The students mentioned that they couldn't hear what was being played in the podcast. The main objective of the podcast was for the students to hear the story and they weren't able to.

How do you think it went?
It didn't go too bad because I read the rest of the story to the class.

What could you have done to infuse the podcast into the lesson more effectively?
The podcast would've been used more effectively if we would've read more clearly and spoke louder while recording the podcast.

Do you have any other ideas of how you would use podcasting in your lesson or future lessons?
Podcasting is great to be used in reading lessons. It's a great way for students to follow along during the reading and better understand and remember the story. Also it's great to be used in book report lessons or any lesson that students would like to record their voices and use in the activity.

Reflection of other classmates lessons:
All my classmates did a great job in presenting their lessons. They knew how to deal with the misbehaviors. When I misbehaved in one of the lessons I remember that one of the students sent me to Principal Luongo's office :) It wasn't easy to present because we didn't know what to expect from the students with the behavior cards. At the same time it was a way of preparing us of what we might expect in an actual elementary classroom.

Everyone's lesson plan was great and very interesting. From the lesson plans presented I can tell all my classmates took their time and put their effort in making effective lesson plans. Most of the podcasts played were recorded clearly and used effectively in the lesson plan.

5 Reading Comprehension Questions for "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"
1.List as many things as possible that the boy got the mouse.
2. What would you do if you had the mouse like the one in the story in your house?
3.What do you think would happen if the boy gave the mouse cheese instead of a cookie?
4.What do you think the mouse will do after he gets his milk and cookie? Do you think he'll be happy?
5.What would you ask for if you were the mouse?
Bonus: At the end of the story, what do you think the mouse will ask for after eating the cookie?

Reflections on Day 3 Podcasting

Hello! Kayla and I finished recording "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie". We worked together on the 5 reading comprehension questions. We did figure out a way to avoid the static and everything was read clearly. We are ready for next class to begin podcasting the reading comprehension questions. I'm really enjoying this lesson.

Day 3 Podcasting

Today we will continue to work on podcasting If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Kayla will be reading the 2nd part of the book. Kayla and I will also work on the 5 reading comprehension questions.

Reflections on 2nd Podcast

Hello. Im back again! Today Kayla and I worked together reading the first part of If you give a Mouse a Cookie. I read the first part of the book and Kayla will be reading the 2nd part for next class. It went great! The only problem we had was the static. The recording came out perfect but there is a little static in the background. We are working on avoiding the static. Until the next class :)

2nd Podcast

Hey!! Today in class we are doing the 2nd podcast. I was having computer troubles. Until next time.