Artifact Description: The following artifact is a lesson plan I developed for a high school biology class during my student teaching placement at Mineral Point High School. This lesson was part of a unit on DNA and focused on the process of DNA replication. It was completed in one class period of 45 minutes for each of the three sections of biology taught at the high school. Class sizes consisted of 13, 23, and 24 students in grades 10-11.
ALIGNMENT Wisconsin Teacher Standard Alignment This experience best aligns with standard four of the Wisconsin Teacher Development and Licensure Standards which states: The teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills. This experience aligns with standard four because the lesson plan was designed to address multiple instructional strategies. I began my lesson by presenting a diagram of a process the students had learned previously and asked the students to recall and discuss this information. After the discussion was complete, I proceeded to use lecturing to present the process of DNA replication. During the lecture, I related parts of the process to everyday items familiar to the students. For example, I related DNA unzipping to the zippers on backpacks focusing on the ability to unzip in both directions. Students had time to take notes if they desired, but note taking was not required. Throughout the lecture, I asked students to summarize what had happened in the process thus far. To end the lecture portion of the lesson, I asked students if they had any questions about the process and, if there were questions, I revisited specific steps and explained them in slightly different way. The second half of the lesson was a hands-on, cooperative learning activity. I handed out the activity packet and went over the instructions as a group. Students then paired up and moved to lab tables in the room. Each group received a bag of colored paperclips, each color corresponding to a specific nitrogen-containing base. As the students worked through the activity in small groups, I walked around the lab area. I made frequent stops at each station, asking student what part of DNA replication they were modeling, what might happen if the sequence was changed, or why the process is important to life. Once students completed the activity, they returned to their desks and completed the remaining questions in the packet. As a class, we then discussed the questions in the packet. Students were asked to think critically, problem solve, and perform modeling skills through questions and steps in the activity packet. Questions were asked throughout the packet to engage students in thinking outside of the basic content learned in the lecture portion of the lesson. For example, students were asked to predict what would happen if the genetic sequence changed, or had a mutation, and how this might affect the gene or organism associated with this DNA strand. Students were given a mutated gene sequence and were asked to solve the new strands genetic code.
UW-Platteville School of Education Knowledge, Skill, and Disposition Statement Alignment I believe this experience best aligns with KS3.b. of the UW-Platteville School of Education Knowledge, Skill, and Disposition Statements which states: The candidate's questioning techniques and instructional strategies are of uniformly high quality with special attention given to available time for student response, varied levels of questions, and adequate student involvement in the discussion/instructional process. I believe this experience best aligns with KS3.b. because I was able to use questioning techniques throughout the entire lesson. I began the lesson with questioning to elicit prior knowledge from all students. If, after a wait-time of ten seconds, students were unable to answer my questions, I posed the question in a different way. If students were still unable to answer, I called upon students to discuss anything they could recall about this topic and then build on this knowledge to get to the information necessary to move on. During the hands-on activity, I asked each group questions about what stage they were modeling several times throughout the class period. If students were confused, I began with low level questions to make sure the group was on the same page, then asked higher level questions until the students understood the material and could move on with the activity. While going over the activity through a class discussion, I called on a variety of students to participate to encourage more student involvement.
Secondary Alignment: KS1.d: Demonstrates Knowledge of Resources
REFLECTION What I learned about teaching/learning: I learned that varied instruction can be very useful in a classroom. In a classroom, there is a wide variety of learning styles and it is important to incorporate a variety of teaching instruction in lessons. Questioning is also very important in teaching and learning. As a teacher, you need to know if the students are learning the content you are teaching, if you wait until the end to find this out, you may have to go back and reteach the entire lesson. If questioning is used throughout the lesson, you may have a better idea of student learning to make adjustments immediately and revisit material sooner rather than later. I also learned that some students are more likely to ask questions in a smaller group setting rather than a large class discussion. Using a variety of strategies makes it possible to give these students that opportunity.
What I learned about myself as a prospective educator: I learned that I have the ability to create diverse lessons. During my education course I was exposed to many teaching strategies and this experience showed me that I can apply that knowledge to help students learn. There are numerous teaching strategies that I would like to use in future lessons and incorporate more critical thinking and problem solving opportunities for students. I also learned that developing better questioning techniques will not only help my students learn, but will also help me learn and understand my students progress. I feel that I have basic questioning skills, but would like to expand those skills in the future.