My Observation of a Science Lesson

Observing a Science Lesson

Monday 18th March 2018

Inertia Cup Tower Experiment

Notes from observation:

The lesson started with reviewing last weeks science lesson. This included what they did and how they laid out their work in their books. The teacher went over all the expectations again very carefully so that the students remembered how to complete their task and what they need to include. 

As the teacher was talking about the experiment, she modelled aloud some thoughts and questions about what might happen. 

She also modelled on the board how to layout the experiment including: title, materials (bullet points), a prediction(sentence starter) and the outcome. 

The children then went and wrote all of this (apart from the outcome) in their books. When they were finished, some students shared their predictions. 

Next, they all gathered around a table and the teacher modelled how to perform the experiment. After a few goes and a discussion, the students went back to their desks and wrote the outcome. Some then shared and once all the writing was completed, the students got to try perform the experiment

themselves.

The teacher included a challenge and videos for student engagement. Also, her enthusiasm made the simple science experiment super fun!

What I will incorporate:

After observing this lesson, I have come away with two ideas to incorporate into my teaching. 

The first is how the lesson was split up into sections, in particular, having the children try the experiment themselves last. This ensured that they understood the experiment first and also the scientific writing and diagrams were done first and students were able to concentrate whilst doing these. 

The second aspect I liked related to behaviour and could be used within any lesson. When students weren't actively listening ie. making noises, using pens, shuffling books etc, the teacher instructed everybody to stand up. She then reminded the children of what they should/should not be doing while she is speaking to the class. Then she asked the children to check if there partner had been doing the right thing and perhaps to give them a quiet reminder. Lastly, she got the kids to move around a bit before sitting back down ready to learn. 

Both of these ideas were very effective in this teacher's lesson and I will definitely be adapting them and using them myself in my classroom.