The lesson.. and the plan.

"Ir"- Three Tenses & Map Activity

On Tuesday the lesson plan I had created was brought to life in front of 20 students. Lucky me-- I was the first one to teach! Bringing in creativity to a lesson requires a lot of time and effort (sometimes tedious effort). I'm glad I took the time to personalize the boarding passes so that I could incorporate them in the lesson. I received a lot of positive feedback about them. I prepared mainly by reviewing the PowerPoint, and planning the ways in which I could explain conjugations and translations to the students. I wish I would have had a behavior plan! In my opinion, a plan for behavior would have polished the lesson to perfection-- or something close to it. I know that those who are due to teach learned at least one thing from me-- have a behavior plan and make it effective.


My objectives were as follows:
Students will be able to...

-Use the four tenses of the verb “ir” (to go) by creating sentences

-Have a conversation using the proper verb tenses by working in groups of two

-Identify proper tenses usage of the verb

-Locate specific countries of South America on the map by pointing them out on the SmartBoard

Assessment:

-Sentence creation with partner demonstrates knowledge and use of reference

-Exit Slip*

*The exit slip was essentially for myself. I was interested in finding out what students had learned.

The lesson plan I had originally written up paralleled pretty well with the lesson. I really wanted to get my students comfortable with the language and speaking it. One thing I accidentally left out was having the students share their responses out loud. Instead I went straight to the capital/location activity. Whoops. I skipped a section of my procedure. I think the lesson went fairly well, but I would have changed quite a few minor details:


1. I would have gone more in depth with the conjugations (lack of time, really)
2. I would have had a list of vocabulary words that they could incorporate into their sentences, displayed on the Smart Board (I was under the assumption that the students knew more Spanish- assumptions are bad)
3. I would have had a behavior plan
4. I would have enforced some rules, given the "sick" student a hall pass, and thrown paper back at the student who was throwing it at me (just kidding, I should have given him a limited amount of warnings before isolating him)


I love the idea of having peer reviews, although anxiously waiting while my companions filled them out was nerve-wrecking. I did not even want to look at them until about a half hour later. After building up the courage to read the critiques, I thought they were fair and had good points. Since I am my harshest critic, I thought that they would be worse than what they were. Maybe my classmates were just being nice (Thanks!)


Overall, this was a good experience. The twist of the behavior cards was a challenge, but a realistic challenge that I will someday face on a daily basis in the classroom. The element does create a more genuine environment, as not all students are willing to sit down and learn.

Good luck to the upcoming teachers! :)