Observing a Science Classroom at Biglerville

 One of my first changes to "branch out" while at Biglerville was the opportunity to observe a science classroom. The class that I observed was an essential science class for grades 11 and 12. The lesson of the title was "What is the water cycle?" and the objectives were that students would be able to demonstrate the process of the water cycle and understand the importance of water. The teacher tried to clarify the goals of the presentations by presenting the learning objectives to the students at the beginning of the class. 

During this lesson, the teacher gained students attentions by having them vote on various, kinda silly, questions. Such as "would you rather live under water or under ground?". She then gave students directions for the class activity. Students were tasked with completing their water cycle activity from the day before and tallying their results on the board for the class to see. 

The teacher tried to capitalize on student experiences by having them discuss their own experiences from the activity. For example, students spent a lot of time going between the ocean and clouds. This was a real life example of how most of the water in the water cycle circulates between the ocean and the clouds. Students were able to compare their experiences in the water cycle activity to what they learned in class. The teacher tried to use a structure to help students visualize the new material by having them display their activity outcomes on the board so that they could see where everyone spent most of their time in the activity. 

I think my biggest take away from this experience was how important it is to give students hands on learning opportunities that they can apply to their content in class. Students were engaged in the learning opportunities and seemed to have a much better understanding of the material after it was completed. The teacher also had great relationships with her students. If was obvious that many students felt welcomed in the classroom and were comfortable asking questions to improve clarity. 

Another aspect of the class that I enjoyed was how well outlined the instructors leading questions were. While she did not hand students the answers to the questions, she had well thought out leading questions that increased the engagement of learners. Overall, this was a great opportunity for me to observe another educator and see another style of teaching.