EDUC 2325 SMART Board Mini-Lesson Reflection
The overall execution of the lesson was simple and straightforward, yet engaging. Students were able to learn interactively, visually, and collaboratively, thus inviting full participation. Additionally, the dominant visual/pictorial element of the lesson created a dome of fascination and interest as it was an alternative mode of learning that counters mainstream facilitation of a mathematics concept. Therefore, students exhibited excitement toward learning about subtraction in a visual and interactive form.
There is room for improvement regarding teacher facilitation during the Development component of the lesson. Instead of asking students, who were roleplaying as first graders, to read the question aloud to their peers, the teacher should have volunteered to read. This is because first graders may not have the decoding skills required to fluently read and ensure they understand, as well as their peers listening, what was read. So, to guarantee comprehension and understanding, the teacher must read each question aloud, which also correlates to modelling language and ideal reading skills for students' auditorial, language, and literacy development.
In terms of student transfer and understanding of learning, the self-assessment portion of the lesson provided students with their learning targets, which was proven an effective way to foster student achievement. The curricular outcomes were translated into "I can..." statements that students reflected on during the Closure component of the lesson. Due to the interactive element of the lesson, students had the opportunity to articulate their thinking by communicating through writing by using the SMART Board. The theoretical idea that younger students may find difficulty in communicating their thinking so teacher prompting is required was evident in this case; the teacher was needed to provoke students' thinking by questioning (E.g. "What subtraction equation would this problem be?") which enabled them to answer the question in front of their peers (Small, 2015, p. 121). Hence, the students were able to directly transfer their knowledge to determining their achievement level in accordance with the "I can..." statements as a result of the "hands-on" involvement they experienced in the lesson.
Deriving from my experience instructing a mini-lesson with a SMART Board as the primary learning tool, I can conclude that SMART Boards provide students with a flexible, interactive, and unique opportunity to learn. This technologically advanced learning tool sparks student curiosity and interest, which in turn enhances their learning experience. Through the projection of visual elements and bright colours, students' learning can be improved significantly simply by increased engagement, which a SMART Board stimulates. Additionally, SMART Boards tailor to visual learning, thus differentiating for learners who achieve through the use of visuals. When students are engaged in their learning, a theoretical default result is achievement, which aligns with the ultimate purpose of our role as educators: helping students succeed.
The advantages of using a SMART Board as a learning tool in a classroom positively influence my teaching and learning perspective, as I hope to implement the use of a SMART Board in a variety of lessons to benefit and enhance my students' learning experiences.
The overall execution of the lesson was simple and straightforward, yet engaging. Students were able to learn interactively, visually, and collaboratively, thus inviting full participation. Additionally, the dominant visual/pictorial element of the lesson created a dome of fascination and interest as it was an alternative mode of learning that counters mainstream facilitation of a mathematics concept. Therefore, students exhibited excitement toward learning about subtraction in a visual and interactive form.
There is room for improvement regarding teacher facilitation during the Development component of the lesson. Instead of asking students, who were roleplaying as first graders, to read the question aloud to their peers, the teacher should have volunteered to read. This is because first graders may not have the decoding skills required to fluently read and ensure they understand, as well as their peers listening, what was read. So, to guarantee comprehension and understanding, the teacher must read each question aloud, which also correlates to modelling language and ideal reading skills for students' auditorial, language, and literacy development.
In terms of student transfer and understanding of learning, the self-assessment portion of the lesson provided students with their learning targets, which was proven an effective way to foster student achievement. The curricular outcomes were translated into "I can..." statements that students reflected on during the Closure component of the lesson. Due to the interactive element of the lesson, students had the opportunity to articulate their thinking by communicating through writing by using the SMART Board. The theoretical idea that younger students may find difficulty in communicating their thinking so teacher prompting is required was evident in this case; the teacher was needed to provoke students' thinking by questioning (E.g. "What subtraction equation would this problem be?") which enabled them to answer the question in front of their peers (Small, 2015, p. 121). Hence, the students were able to directly transfer their knowledge to determining their achievement level in accordance with the "I can..." statements as a result of the "hands-on" involvement they experienced in the lesson.
Why Are SMART Boards a Beneficial Learning Tool?
Before utilizing a SMART Board to delve into a lesson, students must attain the knowledge required to navigate and use a SMART Board. So, an introductory lesson revolving around how to properly use a SMART Board with the SMART Board pen should be delivered to students before using the SMART Board to instruct a rigorous lesson aligning with curricular outcomes.
Deriving from my experience instructing a mini-lesson with a SMART Board as the primary learning tool, I can conclude that SMART Boards provide students with a flexible, interactive, and unique opportunity to learn. This technologically advanced learning tool sparks student curiosity and interest, which in turn enhances their learning experience. Through the projection of visual elements and bright colours, students' learning can be improved significantly simply by increased engagement, which a SMART Board stimulates. Additionally, SMART Boards tailor to visual learning, thus differentiating for learners who achieve through the use of visuals. When students are engaged in their learning, a theoretical default result is achievement, which aligns with the ultimate purpose of our role as educators: helping students succeed.
The advantages of using a SMART Board as a learning tool in a classroom positively influence my teaching and learning perspective, as I hope to implement the use of a SMART Board in a variety of lessons to benefit and enhance my students' learning experiences.
References
Small, M. (2015). Making math meaningful to Canadian students (3rd ed.). Toronto, Canada: Nelson Education.
Talk about a reflection! Oh wow! I love how in depth you were in this reflection. It really illustrated your experience for me making me more eager to continue to explore SMART technology in my classroom. I love how you considered both the aftermath of the lesson and the implication for future practice. It's also interesting to see how you tied in the reference for the Math textbook, it really shows the way all subjects are interconnected even if it's not intended! Great job!
ReplyDelete