Observing a Direct Instruction Lesson

Observing Amanda, Ganny, Olivia and Cierra has been very interesting and entertaining. Last week we observed their direct instruction lesson which is on the Life of New Spain. They had a fantastic powerpoint and seemed very knowledgable about the information they were teaching. Amanda had an outstanding introduction and really engaged the students into the lesson. They each took turns reading off specific slides but I did feel as though Amanda did most of the talking. She seemed very comfortable in front of the classroom and it all came natural to her. On top of their great presentation, they had really cute materials and worksheets for the students to complete that went along with their lesson. Every teacher kept the students engaged and made sure that they were always paying attention. If the class was getting too loud, the teachers used many different gaining attention techniques that really got the students to quiet down.

I also really enjoyed how the teachers incorporated rules for the classroom to follow before they began their lesson. Me and my group did the same thing and it was extremely effective for the class. The teachers had one student at a time read aloud the rules to the class so everyone else can hear. Also, after reading the rules the teachers introduced the Captains vs. Explorers game. The students or explorers, got points if they followed any rule that was on the list they just read but if they were misbehaving or being too loud, than the teachers or captains got a point. I loved the idea to this game but I wish that the teachers gave themselves points a little more often. The students did follow rules but I think that the students took advantage of that. Every time someone followed a rule, a student would say out loud that they should get a point. Just because they follow the rules every single time doesn't mean that they always need a point. If the students got more points than the teachers than they got a prize at the end of class but the teachers never gave themselves a chance to catch up to the students in order to "scare" them in thinking that they may not get a prize. Obviously the point of the game is for the students to cooperate and follow rules but it seemed like they won automatically because the teachers never gave themselves a point. Overall, the lesson was great and I learned a lot of new teaching techniques I never thought about including in my own lessons. They were pressed on time so they weren't able to do their guided practice activity but I wish that they watched the clock a little more attentively because that activity is a must in a direct instruction lesson. I think that the teachers focused too much time on having the students write down notes in their explorer journals. Writing down notes is important but many of the students wrote too slow and kept asking for the teachers to go back a slide. If the teachers cut that time in half, they would have had more time for the guided practice activity.

I really enjoyed this lesson and the four teachers seemed very knowledgable and enthusiastic about it! I can't wait to see their inquiry and cooperative learning lessons! :)