And the Adventure Begins!!!

 

Our first lesson was a success!  The energetic third-graders were excited, engaged, and fascinated by the introductory lesson on solids, liquids, and how they change.  I was impressed with how much background knowledge they had and their eagerness to convey their thoughts and ideas.  The highlight of the lesson was when it came time to drop the tablet into the water; one by one, each group gave out a loud "CoOoL!" or "AwEsoMe!".  The students had great ideas when I asked them, "What happened to the tablet?  Where did it go?  Did it jump out of the cup?".  They responded with explanations like, "It turned to air bubbles", "It dissolved", or "It mixed with the water".  My partner Kathy and I have a great group of students that were attentive, respectful, and inquisitive.  I was also happy to see how well they worked with each other.

This first lesson may not have gone so smoothly if we didn't do all the preparation and lesson planning that we did.  It was great that we were able to start thinking about the lesson and exploring the materials a good three weeks before our first lesson.  Just having it in the back of my head for that long made me feel much more prepared!  I read through the introduction and first lesson information several times before translating it to lesson plan format.  Seeing different organization of the lesson plan helped solidify the lesson in my head.  Kathy also made a great outline of the lesson for our personal use that kept us on track and on the same page while we were teaching.  Finally, talking through the lesson with Kathy and other classmates gave us just enough practice to make the actual lesson flow easily and naturally.

Before diving into the experiment, Kathy did a great job at explaining science safety in general and for this lesson.  She demonstrated the proper way to smell something by wafting your hand and explained that we were not using our sense of taste in this lesson.  She also explained why these safety precautions were necessary.  Throughout the lesson, Kathy and I monitored and reminded the students about safety.  Emphasizing safety turned out to be more necessary than I thought when the kids started talking about how the liquid looks like Sprite and how much they love Sprite!  It only takes a second for a kid to act on those thoughts and down whatever is in the cup!  We will definitely keep safety a priority!

Kathy and I worked very well together and I am lucky to have her as my teaching partner!  We collaborated on all of the preparation, planning, and execution of the lesson.  We bounced ideas off of each other and strategized together.  During the lesson, we rotated between the roles of leader and supporter.  While Kathy guided the group discussion, I recorded their responses on the class chart.  We were definitely working as a unit instead of two separate teachers.  We both viewed the lesson as a whole, which allowed us to assist each other throughout the entire process.  Another positive aspect of our collaboration was that we were both flexible and worked together to go with the flow of the lesson.  I can't wait to build on this great combination!


I am looking forward to our next lesson which involves ice and timed melting!  It is so beneficial to hear and read about everyone else's lessons.  We have already borrowed a few ideas to make our second lesson even better! This is a wonderful experience!  We get the opportunity to orchestrate an entire unit, but with the support of our classmates, classroom teachers, professors, and well-designed science kits!  It's the best of both worlds!