Field Experience Reflection

After completing an entire lesson with a groups of 25 students, it is clear there are parts that went really well and areas for improvement. I started with the short video on Abigail Adams. I asked the class if students knew who she was and there were minimal responses. This made the video even more important at helping contextualize the reading students were going to do. This reminded me the importance of not assuming what students already know and making sure you assess their prior knowledge before getting started.

Students were very interested in the short 5 minute video. They appeared to like that is was visual and also face paced, so they stayed engaged. After the video, I asked questions of the group and this led to a good discussion with lots of participation. Some students retained significant detailed information and others were not sure, but the information was reiterated by their peer responses. I think this activity went very well and students enjoyed it. Looking back, it would have been nice to have more then about 15 minutes because students were participating, but it was also important to move on and get to the English content of the lesson.

Students then read individually "Letter to John Adams" by Abigail Adams. The majority of the class appeared to be on topic and working well. They were reading the document and taking notes on the provided graphic organizer. This activity presented some difficulty when some students finished quicker then others. I told them to continue filling in their graphic organizer, but they could not move on to the collaborative portion of the lesson until all students were done. In the future, having students get in their small groups and read together might be a more effective use of time for all, but it is also important for them to read individually. This is something I will have to work on and balance throughout a school year. I also did not want students to start pairing up as they finished, because stronger students were all likely to finish first and then would all be grouped together.  Because this document was short, the amount of time difference between students finishing was not significant, but this would not work with a longer or more complex text because the variation in the time would be greater.

Walking around the room during the group discussions also revealed strong, on topic discussion from all groups. Students and in particular females I noticed were very engaged with the text and supporting Abigail Adam's point of view in fighting for women's voice in voting. After each group discussion, the class came back to do a concluding discussion. The majority of students had a hard time thinking about how John Adams would ignore this letter and women would not get the right to vote. I explained that the point of view people had in 1776, regarding  the freedom and inequality of those of a different race or gender, were very different then they are today. This closing discussion connected the reading back to the theme and improtance of analying point of view. Students were very interested in the discussion and I really got to see them think and step out of their own expereinces and think about a historical text. I think students showed interest and the ability to analyze this text because it was short in length and easy to read, therefore it maintied their interest and attention.
In the end, this lesson was successful. The group learned and really got thinking. What I enjoy most about teaching, I saw take place in the lesson. Students discussing topics and thinking about things they have not previously is why I enjoy teaching. In English class,   we have the opportunity to talk about topics like freedom and inequality as well as others that students are interested in and want to talk about. Getting discussion going can be difficult at times, but when discussion is strong and conducted with a diverse group the discussion and learning outcomes can be very rewarding for students and the teacher.