Nathan Brandsma

EDUC 693B
12/10/14
Teaching Reflection 4
My fourth full lesson was on the civil war. My lesson had two parts and a conclusion. I
started by distributing dry erase boards to groups of three, with the intention of doing a preassessment as well as a hook through the excitement of the (non-graded) quiz. This was partially
successful. The students were engaged for the most part, but some groups were much better at
collaborating than others. Some of the groups had students who did all the writing and other
students were not part of the group. I need to work on establishing that groups confer before
writing an answer, so that all students are thinking and engaging both with the questions and
with each other. I also should have processed this activity with the students, asking questions
such as, "was this helpful to you?" or "What did you learn?"
I next had the students move the desks into six stations. For the most part the desks were
well arranged by the students, in that they faced each other, in order to maximize collaboration
among students. I should have made sure that all stations had their desks facing together, as
some were not quite set together. The students were already in groups, but the groups were
uneven. Some of the groups had volunteers depart easily, but the last group was recalcitrant. As
no one would voluntarily leave the group, another student suggested a class vote. To my regret, I
acquiesced to this suggestion. It sort of worked eventually, but took time and could have been
used to isolate a student in front of the class. I could have handled this in a number of ways that
would have been better than what I did. I could have had the class count off by six, I could have
just told a student to go to another group. Any of these options would have been preferable.

The activity was a set of primary source documents (one for each of the six stations) that
the students would examine and answer questions about. As there were six stations, the students
would have to manage their time effectively to get the questions answered in time. In my
directions for the class, I made clear that they would need to manage their time, but I did not
emphasize strongly enough that the students should collaborate and discuss before putting pen to
paper. In this regard, I should have directed that the students should read the questions, examine
the document, and then discuss the questions with their peers. Only after this should they begin
writing answers. The notion of collaboration and discussion was simply not properly
emphasized.
I think that my emphasis on the time management element of the activity also led to less
engagement with the higher order and more abstract questions. The students likely felt that they
had to get it answered quickly, rather than engage with the ideas deeply. The stress on time may
also have reduced discussion, as students did not feel that they had the time to spend talking
about the questions. Again, I think I overemphasized the time management and underemphasized
the collaboration and thinking.
During the work at the stations, I went from group to group to ask probing questions and
get them to think more deeply. This went well, but could definitely be improved. In hindsight, I
am not sure how evenly my attention was distributed among the groups and the students within
them. Next time, I could quickly write up a chart of the groups and students in them and check
them off as I have visited them, both group and individual. This would ensure a more even
distribution of my involvement. Indeed, this could be done every class every day, to ensure that I
am even in my interactions. In addition to checking for understanding, I also need to improve my

process for doing so. I often have good questions, but at times I flounder a bit in how to ask the
right questions.
I ended the activity, though there was one station remaining, in order to get closure to the
activity. This did not go nearly as well as I had hoped. I have some trouble coming up with the
best questions to help students process the learning they have just undertaken. As such, I do not
think my questions were particularly effective. I also have noticed that students tend to see this
time less as a moment to process and consider what they have done, and more as an opportunity
to start to get their things ready to go to the next class. This means I need to work to norm the
class to using that time effectively for processing and closure.
During this closure time, as well as at other times, I tend to try to talk over the students.
This is something I need to work on at all times. Talking over students means that some of the
students will not hear me, and will also lead to the necessity of repeating later. It is something I
struggle with, but will need to improve.