Narissa Hill

EDUC 359

Intro to ELL

10/19/2022

Culture Lesson Reflection

What was your biggest challenge while planning the lesson?

My biggest challenge while planning the lesson was determining how much time everything was

going to take. It was hard to tell how long a certain activity would take. For example, for the

wheel of questions activity, we had 6 questions ready for the game. Since we didn't know if we

would have time to have the groups answer all six questions, we decided to only have each group

answer one question from the wheel. Also, it was hard to know how long the origami would take.

Depending on who was in what classroom was going to determine how long it took.

Do you feel you created enough interaction during the lesson? How do you know that you,

as the teacher, did not dominate the discussion? If you did this lesson again, how could you

create more interaction?

I think we did create enough interaction during our lesson. After the slides on government and

education, we had the students discuss in groups the similarities and differences between the U.S

and Japan’s schools and government. I know I did not dominate the discussion because I did not

interfere with their discussion at all. When the groups shared with the class, I only spoke to

elaborate on what a group shared. Additionally, for the wheel of questions game, the students

also worked in groups. If I did this lesson again, I might have added another discussion question

for the traditions slide asking how the U.S. and Japans cultures differ and are similar.
How do you feel you used your co-teacher(s)? With multiple teachers, do you think you

used this advantage effectively? What is one way you might approach co-teaching

differently if you were to teach this lesson again?

My lesson group was a group of three, so I ended up teaching my lesson alone. Therefore I did

not use a co-teacher or any co-teaching strategies. The others in my group split up the

information on each slide and worked together for all the activities we did (the menti, origami,

wheel of questions, etc.). If I was to do this lesson again and I did have a co-teacher, I would

have us bounce off what each other is saying. So if I say one fact, the co-teacher would say

something that relates to my fact and provides more information. Additionally, for activities, like

the origami we did, I would have one of us stand at the front to show the example and for the

students to follow along with. The other teacher would walk around and make sure everyone gets

it, and help struggling students.

Did you achieve your objectives? How can you be sure? Looking back, was your

assessment effective? What is one thing you would do differently with assessment if you

had another opportunity to teach this lesson?

We did achieve our objectives in our lesson. Our first objective was for students to identify the

education systems in Japan. I know this objective was achieved throughout the wheel of

questions game. Each group answered the question the wheel gave them correctly and all the

questions had to do with the education systems in Japan. Our second objective was for the

students to compare and contrast the systems in the U.S. and Japan. I know this objective was

achieved because the students discussed the similarities and differences between both the U.S.

schools and governments. Each group and even multiple people from some groups shared with
the class what they thought was similar and different. Both of these objectives were also assessed

at the end when the students wrote one or two facts they learned in our lesson on their origami

fish and read them to the class. One thing I would do differently assessment-wise would be to

have the students write a fact specifically about the schools or government systems since that

relates more to our objectives.

How did you select the visuals you used in your lesson? Do you think they were effective in

helping the students make connections? Why or why not? Did you find yourself "reading"

your slides, or do you believe you used the slides to highlight important points, as opposed

to just providing a "script" for yourself?

We selected visuals for our lesson that were appropriate to what was on the slide. Our title slide

had a background photo of Toyko, Japan, which is the capital. This was added because it was a

good reference for the beginning of our lesson since it helped show students where in the world

we were talking about. Additionally, when talking about the traditional Japanese parasol dance, it

made the most sense to use a video to show that dance being done. I selected the specific video I

did because it wasn’t too long and it had them wearing traditional dress (kimonos). Then, on the

origami slide, I included a picture of Akira Yoshizawa, who I talked about on that slide. I also

included an origami diagram that he draw/wrote to show the modern origami diagrams he

created. For school and government slides, we provided diagrams to better explain how their

systems worked. I think our visuals did help students make connections because when learning

about things you may have never heard of or seen before, seeing it with your own two eyes is

helpful. I think showing a picture of the people you're talking about is also important, hence why

it was done on the origami slide. Also, the diagrams shown for the government and school
systems helped make connections by providing visuals students can remember to help them

recall information.

I did not really find myself reading the slides, the slides in our presentation had minimal writing

on them in hopes to not overwhelm the students with information. We tried to abide by the 10-

20-30 rule as much as possible. I tried my best to highlight all the important points I had written

down, but in the midst of teaching, I found I relied less and less on what I had written for me to

say. I ended up just flowing with what happened and it worked out very well.

In regards to time management, how do you feel you managed the lesson? Did something

take longer/shorter than you anticipated? Would you do anything differently if you were

to teach this lesson again?

My lesson ended at exactly 35 minutes, which was the maximum time limit for the lesson. I

hoped I would end earlier in order to give myself more wiggle room, but it worked out in the

end. The menti activity at the beginning took longer than anticipated because I had some

technical difficulties getting it to work. Other than that, everything went smoothly. The origami

actually took less time than I thought in my room, all the students seemed to get the hang of it.

They also helped each other which was nice to see. If I was to do this lesson again I would use a

different website other than menti to do the world cloud to avoid the problem I had while

teaching. Additionally, I would eliminate the origami video and just have myself teach them how

to make the fish. It seemed more helpful when I did that as opposed to following the video.