Room for Improvement

        According to Rebecca Alber (2013), a consulting online editor for Edutopia, a website and online community that offers education tips and strategies, students perform well and are less likely to be overwhelmed by information in environments that promote happiness and encouragement.  If a lesson is dull, uninteresting, and impossible to relate to, students are less likely to retain the information that is given to them.  Although the YouTube video I used in my Lets Get Cereal About Graphing lesson plan, "Bar Graphs for 2nd Grade Kids - Create Your Own Bar Graph," is only about four minutes long, it does seem to drag on.  If I were to create a similar lesson plan, I would select a lively, colorful educational video with a more enthusiastic tone to get students excited about learning.

     In addition to a providing a happy environment, it is important to designate time for students to develop their teamwork and communication skills.  Business writer Lisa McQuerrey emphasizes the importance of teamwork by explaining that having students work in teams helps with the development of a variety of skills, including compromise, collective effort, and time management.  Rather than instructing students to participate in the Nutrition Label Activity as a whole class, I would divide all twenty-two students into eleven groups of two.  Each student would discuss and work on the "How Much Fat, Salt, and Sugar?" handout with a partner.  After fifteen minutes, provided that everyone has completed the worksheet, the groups would come together as a class to discuss their answers.  This would probably work better than the whole class giving answers aloud, and working independently on the last few questions.  Additionally, it would teach students the importance of being a helpful partner.  





    After the bar graph lesson is completed, I would proceed to introduce students to other types of graphs that can be used to show information, such as pictographs, line graphs, and circle graphs.  To relate it to the bar graph lesson, I would have students place their Nutrition Label Activity results into a pictograph.  Because the data would be readily available to students, it would give them time to focus on the method of creating a pictograph before moving on to gather additional data.  Similar to the Create-A-Bar-Graph activity, students will be able to design their pictographs and discuss them with classmates. 






     Based on the evaluation, I would plan my future lessons according to what tools and learning strategies spark the interests of students.  If students seem uninterested in the chosen media, I would take note of that and search for relatable, child-friendly tools.  The timeliness of the lesson should also be taken into account.  If the lesson did not meet the estimate amount of time, I would adjust my future lesson plans based on that outcome.  The evaluation section focused more on the instructor and the objectives, so that is also something that could be improved when creating future lesson plans.  More focus should be placed on whether students were able to both understand and demonstrate their understanding of the lesson.

     The ASSURE lesson plan format did not include a section on the relevance of the lesson.  I would include how the lesson is relevant to the real world, and how students can use the lesson in real-life situations.  I would also elaborate on exactly how I would make the lesson culturally relevant.  In addition, in the future I would better explain modifications or accommodations for students with disabilities.  I failed to be specific in this area, which is very important. 

Click to view game

     A technology tool that introduces children to pictographs would have been a good addition to the conclusion for the bar graph lesson.  This tool would allow me to familiarize students with pictographs before the next lesson, so that they will be ready to answer worksheet questions and create pictographs.  An appropriate tool to use for this practice assignment would have been any online pictograph game, such as Fishing from the Topmarks website.  Introducing a subject that may be unfamiliar to students by using an educational online game that allows hands-on interaction will minimize confusion and help students to better relate to the lesson.  For this method to work efficiently, enough tablets would have to be available for each student to use.
      

The bar graphs would be similar to this example,
but more elaborate, including a written explanation.

     

     To challenge students further, I could have given a homework assignment requiring students to independently create bar graphs to present in class.  For this homework assignment, students would be instructed to formulate a graph based on favorite food.  They would include five different types of food, input what their favorite food is, collect data from family and friends, and tally up the results.  Once they have the required data, students would be able to design bar graphs using any medium of their choice.  They would be allowed to use crayons, markers, construction paper, an online graphing tool, or any other medium that best suits their interests.  After designing the bar graph, they would write an explanation of their results to show what they learned.  This would have given them more graphing practice, as well as encourage them to think critically and creatively.  
     




     The Lets Get Cereal About Learning lesson plan definitely has a lot of room for improvement.  This assignment enabled me to work toward designing lessons that emphasize the best interests of students. Working to figure out what works best for students is a continuous process and one of the most important parts of teaching, so I am happy to be given opportunities that allow me to practice doing so.

References

Alber, R. (2013, March 4). How Are Happiness and Learning Connected? Edutopia.

Retrieved from:

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/happiness-learning-connection-rebecca-alber

McQuerrey, L. (n.d.) Why is Teamwork Important in the Classroom? The

     Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from:

     http://work.chron.com/teamwork-important-classroom-18281.html