My practice teaching 3 lesson was focused on how agriculture played a role in the lead-up to World War 2. It took place in a 10th-grade World History class with 20-25 students at Lincoln Northeast High School. My instructional strategy was a simulation/role-play hybrid in which students made decisions as if they were leaders of major powers before World War 2. One facilitation routine I tried was adjusting my teaching. I initially planned to use concentric circles at the end of my lesson, but opted for a think-pair-share instead due to students’ unwillingness to stand up and move.
My instructional strategy supported student engagement in the environment I was in by allowing students to problem solve with each other, negotiate “trades”, and get up and move around the room. In agreement with ACTE Element 5b, I incorporated problem-based learning into my lesson. With the students not being familiar with the substitute teacher or me, I did not think direct instruction would be successful in holding their attention. So, I opted for a more creative activity.
However, to be honest, the structure of my lesson did not keep a majority of students meaningfully involved. I split the room into 3 groups of around 8 students. In each group, only 1-2 students were engaged during the activity. I believe this was due to unclear instructions and goals, and the absence of a familiar authority in the room. If I were to do the activity again, I would split the room into 8 groups of 3, and have students complete the activity in small groups, then reflect as a whole class.
But even though engagement in the activity appeared low, students still met my learning objective. You can watch the last 10 minutes of my video as I completed a Mentimeter with the students. The answers I received were accurate and were proof that my objective was met through my instructional strategy, even if I doubted engagement.
One routine that my CT had in place which reduced strain on me, was a daily slide with a bell ringer. The students knew what to expect and what to do when they walked into class, which helped me out a lot as I set up my lessons. This is something I will implement in my future classroom to lighten my load and improve the sustainability of my classroom culture.
Student engagement heavily supported learning the objective. Even though many students did not appear engaged in the activity, you can watch me circle the classroom and directly talk to each student during the period. This ensured that all students learned some of the material, even if they weren’t engaged in the activity. The few students who did not get the learning objective were the ones who I couldn’t keep from sleeping/putting their heads down. I need to build skills in dealing with these students going forward.