Today I had a difficult time with logistics. I realized that when I get students into groups I need to have them move their chairs so it's easier to identify each group. I also discovered I need lots of extra copies if students are asked to bring a handout back to class as many of them will forget it. I had difficulties with the logistics of timing my lesson too. I did not estimate accurately how long reading would be and did not plan a clear time to wrap up the lesson.
Part of why the logistics were such a mess is that I did not script out my lesson as thoroughly as I needed to. I need to think about writing out my directions as clearly as possible on my lesson plan and if possible on the students' handouts. Since giving clear directions is a weakness of mine I need to make sure that students are on task first before engaging them in deeper conversations. When I circulate the first time I need to do so with urgency and simply with the objective to make sure they are clear on what they are being asked to do. I don't need to have perfect directions, but I do need to make a habit of consistent follow up.
In talking to Professor Gleason she told me to keep in mind that I should be anticipating students' answers to questions. I should be imagining what students who excel and those who struggle would say. I should also think about what my answer would be. This was really helpful in planning the discussion questions. I wrote down questions for supporting struggling students and extension questions but I didn't end up using them during this lesson. I think that the packet was actually too long and too complex for them in one lesson, so additional questions really weren't necessary. Planning out answers as well as follow up questions will be practices that I use again in the future though when planning discussions or discussion guides like this packet.
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