This week was my first observation and I was extremely nervous. I have been observed by my coworkers before, but this was the first time since I had applied for my job that I was observed by someone that I was not very familiar with. The last time I had been that nervous in front of a class was the day that I taught a lesson in front of the entire science department for my interview. However, once I had started on the the actual lesson, I was back into the swing of things. The lesson was one of my favorites from the introductory chapter. The students are learned a day before about modeling systems. To get them on their feet I had the students walk around school to find something they could model as a system. After an extensive refresher on the components of a system, the students wandered around school for 10 minutes and came back with examples drawn on a note card. Each group was required to have a different answer, and they did wonderfully. The examples were diverse and accurate, and overall the class did a great job.
At the end of the lesson, I was actually happy to have constructive criticism. Because of some shifting around of jobs in the science department, it has been an entire year since I had had someone observe my classes, and Ann did a great job in finding areas that I could improve in.
One thing that I would like to do more of is scheduling out the class on the board for the students. Ann suggested that I write very detailed layouts of the class before the students walk in so that they know exactly what to do, but also so both the students and I stay on track for the entirety of the period. The observation was also gratifying in that Ann pointed out a number of things that I had learned from the program that I am implementing in my lessons. I had not realized that I was doing that! Now, I am actually looking forward to my next observation and I cannot wait to see what the final outcomes of my studies will be.
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