Michaela Youngblood

Professor Hennessy Elliot

EDUC 410: Student Teaching Seminar

March 7, 2024

Blog Post #3

Original Journal Entry:

Since we came back from winter break something I have been trying to focus on is

varying my lessons. During the first week back to school I had a conversation with my mentor

teacher about a “roadblock” I was facing - I wasn’t proud of the lessons I was making. They felt

boring, students weren’t engaged, and I wasn’t getting the outcomes I wanted. Talking to my

mentor was very helpful and made me realize I was falling into the habit of resorting to the same

instructional procedures like doing problems on the board and letting students practice

afterwards. Since they worked for me the first time, I think I grew comfortable with them and

wanted to keep doing my lessons that way. However, I quickly realized that this wasn’t working. Commented [MY1]: This mirrors domain 1 of Danielson's
Framework: planning and prepara8on. At this point in my
student teaching I noted that my students were
My lessons seemed predictable, students were over doing the same thing every day, and I wasn’t disinterested and not recep8ve to the tradi8onal style of
teaching I was relying on. No8ng this, I sought out to make a
getting excited to do my lessons. change to the strategies I was using

To address this, my mentor and I came up with a few ideas. The first was to create a Commented [MY2]: Again, this mirrors domain 1. With my
mentor teacher, I came up with a project. Not only did we
use available resources (1d), but we used it as an
project that students could work on. My 8th grade class is working on slope and lines, so my assessment (1f). This project enabled us to engage students
in higher order thinking, guide instruc8on, and measure if
mentor and I devised a project in which they would calculate the slope of various staircases students were meHng the learning objec8ves.

throughout the school and assess their accessibility. I really liked shifting to a project-based

mindset. Students will still be learning all the same concepts and skills through the vessel of this

project. There will be movement, research, and presentations in addition to our usual lessons. I’m

looking forward to implementing this.

 For 7th grade, I tried out a murder mystery. Again, I really liked moving away from a Commented [MY3]: Another instance in which I reflected
on component 1d. Seeking out different resources, such as a
murder mystery enhanced the learning. Addi8onally, I think
lecture-style and to a more student-centered and driven activity. With the mystery students got to that this reflects 2b: establishing a culture for learning. This
type of ac8vity boosted excitement for learning. While
move around the room, work in groups, meet one-on-one with me, etc. Not only was this students were having fun solving the mystery, they were
engaging in higher-order thinking to solve percent and ra8o
problems. This showed me that it is s8ll possible to hold
engaging, but it also allowed me to probe students with questions and have individual high standards for students, and engage in rigorous work all
while it being enjoyable.
conversations as they worked. The only downside to this funnily was that it was so engaging and

enjoyable for the students that they were disappointed when we didn’t do it the next day.

Looking to the future, I want to be more creative with my lessons and have more variety with the

activities I incorporate into them. That way there is a balance between the types of things we are Commented [MY4]: This will be cri8cal when focusing on
domain 3: instruc8onal delivery. Specially 3C: engaging
students in learning. I have found that variety, whether that
doing in class. be in the type of ac8vity students are doing, who they are
doing it with (individual, pairs, group), and how they are
This week SLA is administering midterms. This is my first time doing this, so it has doing it (on paper, laptops, etc.) energizes students and
engages them in learning. When the lesson is not
predictable it is more exci8ng.
definitely been a learning curve. My biggest struggle was helping students prepare for the exam.

The math exams are comprehensive and cover material from the beginning of the year up until

now. I created a very thorough and clear study guide for students with practice problems. I also

provided “cheat sheets” and study materials. However, looking back on our in class “prep days” I

think I fell a little short. I framed it as independent/small group study. However, many students Commented [MY5]: Here, I think I am demonstra8ng some
of the criterion from domain 4: principled teaching. I am
always reflec8ng on my lessons and the work we're doing in
were not utilizing the time properly. Thinking to future midterms I am wondering how I can class. Many 8mes I have glows to point out, but also take
8me to reflect and note the areas in which I can grow.
better facilitate class review days.

Analyzing Themes + Reflecting

Looking back on this journal entry, I think I hit all 4 of Danielson’s domains. At the time

I wrote this I felt like I was hitting a roadblock. My lessons did not feel engaging, students were

not meeting objectives, and I was not proud of myself or my teaching. Right off the bat, one

theme that arises is reflecting on teaching. As a teacher it is hard not to reflect on each lesson.

Some reflections are thought out, like this journal, while others are much more informal and
quicker. Here, I was reflecting on the structure of my lessons and the variety of the activities I

was incorporating into class. Thankfully, I was able to reflect with my mentor and brainstorm

some new approaches and strategies to try out going forward.

As I mentioned in my journal, I really felt that engagement was lacking. This mirrors

domain 3, especially component 3c: engaging students in learning. With the help of my mentor, I

was able to craft some different activities such as a project and murder mystery. While different

than my traditional lessons, both activities proved to be really engaging and rigorous. Students

were interacting with higher order skills, collaborating with classmates, and making reflections

all while having fun. I particularly enjoyed these types of activities because they moved the

lesson away from being a lecture and teacher-led. Instead, students were leading discussions and

facilitating learning with their peers.

By making these adjustments to my lessons I think that student learning was enhanced. I

have been finding that variety is key to an engaging and successful lesson. I was falling into the

habit of thinking “well it worked great this time” and that certain strategies were the end all be

all. However, I sensed that my students were bored. Lessons were predictable, there was no

variety, and it quickly became old. Switching things up by including movement, different

learning modalities (e.g. digital), and group work rather than independent work helped change

the pace of the lessons. Again, this also helped facilitate more student-centered learning. Students

were able to engage in more practice, application, and self-guided exploration.

I think that I have learned that it is okay to experiment with different instructional

strategies and approaches. I can’t grow too comfortable with one thing, such as lecturing,

because there are days where it just does not have the same effect on student learning. Instead, I
intend to plan my lessons so that there is variety. I have slowly learned that when students cannot

predict what is coming next, they are more engaged.

Going forward, a goal I am setting for myself is to be more intentional with lesson

planning. While it may take me a bit more time and some time for adjustment, I think the payoff

will be worth it. Spending the additional time seeking out an engaging activity or project, rather

than a worksheet will help me vary my lessons. I am also going to challenge myself to

collaborate with other teachers more. Sharing my frustrations with my mentor, and reflecting on

them with her, led to a rich discussion about the lessons I was planning. It also led to the creation

of several awesome activities and projects. So, in my future career I hope to collaborate with

other teachers to come up with similar ideas.