Going Green with Glee

Going Green with Glee

           For Group #2's lesson, my fellow colleagues engaged the students into two lessons that intrigued the students into learning about different types of energy. What I liked about this concept was that it reinforces the importance of finding ways of producing energy that won't hinder the Earth, but continue to help it grow positively. Throughout this learning experience, I felt that the students were able to develop a comprehensible understanding about the different types of energies that were covered throughout these lessons. 

Direct Instruction:

         During direct instruction, Group #2 engaged the students into an explicit vocabulary instruction that consisted of a lot of interactive example learning opportunities about solar energy, wind energy, hydro-power energy, geothermal energy, and biomass. I enjoyed seeing how everything folded into place with consistency throughout the presentation. This group also used an acronym to help the students remember all five of the major types of renewable energy resources which I thought was a perfect idea considering how well the students responded to Group #1's acronym. I liked seeing how Group #2 promoted team work through their ideas such as most of the interactive examples on the Smart Board also consisted of the students getting up and working together to complete the task. There was a lot of opportunities in which the students were engaged into the direct instruction rather than just sitting there and only listening to an explicit instruction. I also liked the reinforced consistency of examples following the definitions of key terms for the academic vocabulary of this lesson. Students need those visual cues to help make connections and memories about the concept which I thought that this group nailed while teaching. 

Inquiry Instruction:

           For this lesson, the students were engaged into a web quest where each group had a different section of the web quest. Each group had a different problem and a different topic where at the end, all of the groups had different results from the others. I liked the idea of using a web quest because I thought about the jigsaw method. The students were becoming experts with their type of energy and at the end, were to present their findings to the rest of the peers. I enjoyed seeing how each group had a teacher candidate that was already an expert in that category and that acted as a facilitator for that group. I also enjoyed seeing how much time and dedication it took for the group to put the web quest together. Each group had a task on the web quest and it was obvious that a lot of work was put into it. I also thought that the use of iPads do view the web quest rather than having to share the Smart Board was a nifty idea because each group was able to focus on their part of the web quest. 

Constructive Criticism & Overall Opinion:
         I have to congratulate the group for maintaining classroom management and fully keeping the students engaged throughout both lessons. There wasn't a time that I noticed where the students seemed to get rowdy. The teachers had it under control. For the direct instruction, I wish that the transition from the closure into the independent practice could of been more defined. While I was observing, I thought that section seemed a bit rushed and I didn't notice the clear transition between the two sections of the lesson. For the inquiry instruction, I wish that the students could have engaged into a science experiment for the inquiry instruction rather than just research online. I liked the idea of a web quest, but for this scenario, the students were counting on doing a science experiment, but did not get the chance to do so. Great job with getting the job done, colleagues!