Planning Reflection

When I was given the opportunity to be placed at Morehead STEM, instead of

being in a k-5 classroom, I was placed in a sixth grade class. I was able to work with
three of my colleagues to co-plan our science lesson. We focused on the
electromagnetic spectrum and visible light. With intentions on teaching my lesson on
November 3rd, we begin to plan our lesson on Thursday, October 29th. On Friday,
October 30th, we all showed at the school excited to discuss our plans and how we
were each going to teach our lesson. Before the day ended, my base teacher informed
me that we would have to postpone our lessons or choose another day to teach due to
the students having grade-level testing starting on November 3rd.
I immediately met up with my colleagues and shared the information with them
and from there we reached out to our site teacher, Dr. Vintinner. She reassured us by
saying that it would all work out and to stay positive. As a team we went to lunch after
we left Morehead STEM and drew up a new plan. I can honestly say that I thought that
things would go so much worse once I found out that the students would be testing for
the entire week, but things went way better than I expected. I was thoroughly pleased
with my students work ethic and focus throughout the course of my lesson When it
came time to teach I was nervous due to my fear of running out of time, but in the end it
ended up going smoothly. I was able to give clear and concise directions where the
students were able to follow along and successfully complete their electromagnetic
spectrum foldable.
The most valuable piece of advice I learned from teaching this lesson is to
always remain flexible. I started my lesson off by walking around the classroom to

observe the students as they were working on a warm-up that their teacher prompted
them with on the board. I allotted students five minutes to work on their warm-up. After
five minutes passed, I asked the students What do you think of when you hear the
words electromagnetic spectrum?. They begin to raise their hands and answer using
their prior knowledge from a lesson their teacher taught the day before. Rays! Visible
light represents one part. Before teaching the lesson, the teacher told me that they
really needed to focus on visible light because they were not understanding the concept
during the previous lesson. I explained to the class what visible light was and began to
walk around the classroom and point to random objects while asking students questions
pertaining to visible light. I would point to a green container on the shelf and ask
students What colors are being reflected off of and What colors are being absorbed
into that object?. Fifteen minutes went by and my cooperating teacher stopped me and
told me that she wanted to give the opportunity to have a short recess and then
informed me that they would be going to lunch following recess. I felt myself start to
panic because I had no idea how I was going to refocus my students once they returned
from lunch.
After lunch, the students returned and sat back down in their seats. I was
surprised at how focused they were coming back from lunch. I continued on with my
lesson and passed out a paper foldable that students would use to complete their own
electromagnetic spectrum. I showed a powerpoint on the electromagnetic spectrum
which included the seven different parts, their definition and examples. As I presented
the powerpoint, the students were able to follow along and were asked to fill in the
blanks on their foldable. I realized that I could have been more clear with my directions

for the students to complete the assignment. I caught myself repeating the directions
because some of my students were confused. Once everyone was finished with their
foldable, I noticed that I was running out of time and decided to skip the Kahoot game
and instead showed a Brain Pop! video which reviewed what was taught in the lesson.
Overall I am pleased with the lesson and I plan on working to improve on giving clear
directions when teaching.

What did the students find out in the experience? Were there any surprises?

In this lesson, students learned all parts that make up the electromagnetic spectrum and
took away some examples that they use in their daily lives. I was surprised at how much
information they had retained about the topic from the previous lesson they were taught.

How did the students in each group work together? Were there any problems?

The students worked together in their table groups very well. Some of the students
would roam to other tables but when called on, they would return to their seats. I feel
that I handled classroom management effectively.

Was the activity open-ended enough, or did each group do more or less the

same thing?
The powerpoint allowed the activity to become more open-ended because it provided
students with many examples of each part of the spectrum to where students could all
have different answers which can lead to a group discussion.

How did the students extend the investigation?

By the end of the lesson I noticed that the students seemed to extend their
investigations and begin to ask their classmates questions pertaining to the
electromagnetic foldable and visible light. It was interesting to watch students quiz each
other on information that I had just taught them.

How did the students connect this experience to their daily lives?

This lesson connected to the students daily lives because it prompted them to think
about the different type of waves that humans could endure from day to day. They were
able to relate to microwaves, x-rays, radio waves and visible light because they are
used to seeing them in their daily lives.

How did I accommodate students with learning and physical differences?

I had a student sat in the back of the class and I noticed them squinting at the
powerpoint during the lesson. I asked the student if they were okay and they responded
saying that they forgot their glasses at home. I presented the student with the
opportunity to move closer to the front of the class so that they could see and they
accepted my offer.

Did I use technology effectively?

I feel that I used technology well by incorporating a powerpoint, a Brain Pop! video and
also creating a Kahoot review game although we ran out of time before I could show
this part in my lesson.