We'll Always Remember the First Time!

Last week, my teaching partner, Megan, and I taught our very first science lesson to our third grade classroom. We were both really excited and spent HOURS prepping for our 1 hour lesson plan with the students!

As we walked out of the classroom, out of breath and sweating, we looked at each other in amazement. While we both really enjoyed it, it was a lot of work, and it was stressful, nerve-wracking, and mildly exhausting! And we had only led one hour of one day...and we split the work! We were both surprised and humbled by the amount of work it took to "pull it off". I even had a bit of stage fright just before I had to get in front of the class to deliver the intro. I saw all their little curious eyes staring at me and felt like they were going to see right through me and realize I'm not the science expert they thought! But once I started talking and interacting with them, I was quickly put at ease by their level of enthusiasm and excitement for the lesson, and I was also incredibly impressed with the amount of prior knowledge they had with regard to the lesson topic.

For seven weeks, we are teaching a "Changes" unit, and each week, we have a new activity/lesson to work on with the students that relates to changes and states/properties of matter and aligns with the Massachusetts science curriculum frameworks. It's been really exciting, overwhelming, and fun all at the same time!

Our first lesson called for the students to drop an effervescent tablet into a cup of water and observe what happened. We started the lesson off by explaining the states of matter (solid, liquid and gas) and asked for examples of each. It was interesting to hear some of the answers. During our introduction, I had explained that a solid can be hard or it can be soft, and that liquids are usually poured. I realized by some of the examples that the students shared, that I probably confused them with that explanation. One of the students thought that flour was a liquid because it can be poured. Another student wondered what a pickle was because he knew it was hard, so it was probably a solid, but he also pointed out that when you bite into it, liquid comes out. I was impressed with his ability to think outside the box like that and know enough to question it based on the explanation I had provided. We later discovered this particular kid has a fondness for pickles...he mentioned them at least four times throughout the lesson! Maybe he had one with lunch that was particularly good?!

What also came out of the interaction with the students is the realization of how helpful it is as a teacher to ask questions of the students. It not only helps us assess their learning but allows us to recognize the areas that we need to do better next time. When you hear your words returned back to you and receive answers you weren't expecting, it it like putting a mirror up to reflect your words. I found that so interesting and helpful!

Each week, we're being observed by our instructors. Their observations and feedback are designed to help us become better teachers, and they are looking at how we handle certain criteria each week. For the first lesson, they were observing: Lesson Planning, Safety, and Teamwork.

I am lucky enough to have an incredible teaching partner who is diligent, creative, organized and really great with the students. We've developed a sort of cadence to our lesson planning in that one of us writes the intial draft of the lesson plan. The other reviews the draft, filling in any gaps that may have been missed, and fixes any errors. We then put it through a review process with our peers who help by sharing their ideas and/or pointing how we can approach things differently.

Once we're both comfortable with our lesson plan, we share it with our classroom teacher, and then we assign roles for each of us. We split the lesson plan into chunks and assign "ownership" of the chunks between us. From them on, it's all about coordinated teamwork! Typically, one of us will lead the introduction, then hand off to our partner who leads the safety and rules discussion. Next is the overview of the lesson and explaination/expectations for the lesson. We assign roles to the students using different colored stickers (material gatherer, recorder, etc.), and then we begin the activity. At that point, we both walk around the room, working individually with the different groups. We make sure they're following the rules and safety guidelines and doing what is expected of them in the lesson. We help them with any questions they have, and we ask questions about why they're doing certain activities to try to strengthen their understanding of the lesson.

When the activity is done, we ask the students to sit on the carpet for a discussion. We've learned that for the younger grades, it's good to keep the students moving and change their environment from time to time in order to keep them engaged and attentive. While one partner talks to the group about the lesson and leads a short activity (such as a literary connection or a song), the other partner cleans up the materials and preps for the wrap up.

To close out the lesson, we ask the students to return to their desks, and then we go through the activity with the students as a group. We ask questions about what they observed, and what they did. What worked and didn't work and why. What they learned about or how they used prior knowledge to help them with the lesson. We ask targeted questions, tying in the introductory discussion to make sure they all understand the point of the lesson. We alternate roles and resonsibilities each week, so we each have experiences leading different parts of the lesson plan, and it's been working great for us.

I think we've done an excellent job working together, and it's so fun to see the students get so excited. They tell us they love science, and they cheer when we come into the room. It's been a very gratifying experience so far, and I look forward to future lessons!