Through the implementation of the lesson plan and the procuring of feedback, as well as practical inferences, a reflection of the “Lesson on plant life cycles” was created. The growth of students was attempted as the initial goal, providing them with all the possible chances to participate in the discussion, as well as experiment and find the process of education captivating. As identified in a paper by Waldorf (2015), “instead of following a textbook or syllabus, [teachers] should start with a clear goal — the concepts and skills that they want the students to learn” (p. 274). At the same time, this is a technique more commonly used with older students, the attempt to carry this out on a younger audience allowed focusing on students and their understanding of the material foremost. With students actively interacting with the material through practical experience and demonstration, the goals of growth and fastening of student knowledge were attempted.
Students with different learning styles were prompted to participate in the lesson in different ways, creating an opportunity for everyone to engage with the information. The different approaches of students responding to the material necessitated a fair system of evaluation, prompting the creation of a grading rubric specifically modified for this class. The allowance for failure in personal projects created an experimental approach, with students supported to explain their shortcomings using what they have learned during the lesson (Waldrop, 2015). The utilization of discussion as a lesson part with grading potential, as well as the implementation of bonus marks, allowed balancing out any possible arising inequality in grading between students.
The use of elements other than worksheets and presentations, such as brainstorm maps and laminated leaves, was a tactic in pursuit of stimulating the interest of children through the introduction of less common study materials. As stated by Davies and McGregor (2017), “children can be prompted into new patterns of play by presenting them with materials in new ways” (p. 42), which was attempted by providing hands-on experience. The reversion to familiar worksheets after the use of firsthand examples was intended to reinstitute the necessary academic concentration and facilitate the grading system based on the completion of the task.
A change in literature chosen to implement in the classroom would be beneficial to students since the grade found the selected book unable to provide them with supplementary knowledge during individual reading. While Life Cycles (2016) does administer a wide range of information on the subject and uses the appropriate terminology, its potential was realized over the course of the lesson. On the other hand, while the implementation of bonus marks was intended to equalize students and stimulate outside-of-classroom interest, it proved problematic for students to integrate the project bonus marks into their after-school routine. From those two instances arose the issue of a lack of material for self-development of students outside of school hours.
Adjustments to the plan previously provided would benefit both teachers and students, with certain aspects not realized fully in their potential. With the improvement of literature choice and provision of extra materials for students (i.e., simplified lab templated for work outside of the classroom), setbacks to individual student development could be combated. Implementing the discussed changes and taking into account the received commentary, the plan could be developed further to accomplish it as a well-rounded, even more, student-orienteered lesson.
References
Davies, D., & McGregor, D. (2017). Teaching Science Creatively (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Dickmann, N. (2016). Life Cycles (1st ed.). New York, NY: Cavendish Square Publishing.
Waldrop, M. (2015). The Science of teaching Science. Nature, 523(7560), 272-274. Web.