TE 408: Field Reflection Report

Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to learn how to use data from your lesson to improve
your teaching. You will not be graded on how well your students did, but on well you analyze
and draw implications from the data.

I. Lesson Context
A. Lesson objective
Michigan Objectives
1.

2.

P4.6A Identify the different regions on the electromagnetic spectrum and compare them in terms of
wavelength, frequency, and energy.
P4.9B Explain how various materials reflect, absorb, or transmit light in different ways.

NGSS Performance Expectations & Evidence Statements

1.

MS-PS4-2 Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted
through various materials

2.

Specific Lesson Objectives

1.

I can interpret and use the EM spectrum

2. I can describe how the Earths surface is heated from EM radiation of the Sun.

B. Story of What Happened

Write a brief story of what happened when you taught each of the three lessons (about
500-750 words). Include both what you did and said AND what the students did and said. Also
be sure to include if you changed your plans based on what happened from one day to the next.
Day 1
The day started with showing a picture of the solar system, and writing on the board
How does the sun heat the earth? I asked the students to discuss with their neighbor for a few
minutes. I walked around and talked to a few students about their ideas. There were a wide

range of ideas and I opened up a whole class discussion. I asked a student to come up to the
board and write down all the ideas. There were 6 ideas written down, 1. Naturally bright (like a
lamp), 2. Light waves carry heat energy, 3. Through rays, 4. The gases of the sun are hot, 5. The
sun heats particles, those particles heat the earth, 6. UV rays from the sun, some get through the
atmosphere. The students were willing to contribute to the discussion and they were able to
explain their ideas when I pressed them.
I had the kids count off from 1-6, there are 6 tables in the back and they are different
colors. I assigned each table a color and had them go to their table. Ryan modeled the model of
sound waves. He explained each of the features of his model, and asked them to include similar
features on their models, such as seen and unseen elements. The students drew their models and
we went around and asked them to explain their thinking.
Day 2
The warm up question for day 2 was why can you see light through the window and not
the wall?. There were many groups who decided that it was because the wall was thicker and
the glass thinner. I asked them if they had ever been to an aquarium with a large tank, many of
them had, and I asked them to compare the thickness of the transparent aquarium wall to the
wall of the classroom. Other groups were saying that it is because light passes through the
window, I asked them what happened to the light on the wall. After some pressing they were
able to explain that the light was absorbed by the wall, and that the light passed through the
window.
Before the discussion I explained the instructions of the activity. They needed to set up
their lab stations with the light bulb and the different thermometers early because their teacher
was having problems getting the experiment to work. I had them pick their own groups. Then we
had a tornado drill.
After they collected data from their labs, I introduced the summary table and explained
how we would fill it out. I volunteered one of the kids who was having behavior problems that
day to be the scribe. It worked very well. Not many groups were able to get the results that were
expected. All the students knew that the black thermometer was supposed to heat up more than
the white thermometer. They had very insightful ideas about why it didnt work. My favorite
explanation was that because they taped paper on with scotch tape, which was shiny so too much
light was reflected for the black paper to absorb any.
Day 3
Once again we filled out the summary table. I put up a figure of the EM spectrum on the
overhead and asked kids if they knew what it was and if they had any experiences with any of
the areas. We added the evidence from their lives to the summary table and added the connection
about how those experiences related to the original question of how the sun heats the earth. One
of the students volunteered to write on the summary table. There were many great ideas and
most of the students participated in some way in the discussion. Students were excited to get
their ideas on the summary table, and oddly enough, there were no awkward pauses.
I asked them if they thought they could take all the things we had talked about and make
revisions to their models. Then I explained how the post-its worked and that there was a key in
the back that Mr. Hibbs had written on the white board. They got back in their groups and
worked on their model revisions. The one revision I noticed the most was about visible light and
how it doesnt need a medium to travel through. They were able to cite evidence from their lives,

the sun in in space, and we can see it, so the light can travel without a medium. Another revision
I liked, was that the sun heats different parts of the earth differently depending on what color it
is, darker colors absorb more light, and lighter colors reflect more light. I had planned on doing a
science fair type presentations, however there wasnt enough time and they ended up just
switching with the table next to them, with one person staying behind to present.

II. Lessons learned

A. Making Sense of Students Responses to Assessment Task
Use the assessment data that you collected (e.g., the exit slip, worksheet) to describe
what students understood and where they still had incomplete/partial or alternative
understandings. Use specific evidence (# of students with specific types of responses; specific
quotes from students work) to support your claim of what students know.

B. Fill out Table

Rapid Survey of Student Thinking

Categories (You do not add
anything in this column)

Trends in student understandings,

language, experience (sentence starters
included below)
[Many students have these facets of
understanding already]
Many students know that darker objects
get warmer in the sun.

Instructional decisions based on trends of student

understanding

Alternative understandings?

[Many students believe this to be true.]

Many students believe that there are heat
particles that travel from the sun to heat
the Earth.

[I'll have to address / I may have to change

or add an activity]
I may have to add an activity about how the EM
waves from the sun interact with matter on the
Earth.

Everyday language you can

leverage?

[I heard the use of the term_____, that I

can refer to in upcoming lessons]
I heard the use of the term transparent, that
I can refer to in upcoming lessons.

[I can use their descriptions as an entry point to

talking about this example of academic language]
I can use their descriptions as an entry point to
talking about the different properties of materials,
and how light is absorbed, transmitted, or reflected.

Experiences theyve had that

you can leverage?

[They seemed to connect their experiences

of __ with parts of the big idea]
They seemed to connect their experiences
of seeing the sun with parts of the big idea.

[I can use their everyday experiences with ____ to

scaffold this part of the big idea]
I can use their everyday experiences with the sun to
scaffold their thinking about how light get to the
Earth and what it does when it is here.

Partial understandings?

[In my instruction I can build upon / I may

have to add or change]
In my instruction I can build upon this knowledge to
show how darker objects absorb more colors from
the visible light range on the EM spectrum.

B. Implications for your lesson plans

Based on your analysis (both the analysis of assessment data and the rapid survey of
student thinking table), what parts of your lesson plans were successful? Which parts needed
improvement? Describe a specific improvement for your lesson plan. Explain your answers.
The most successful parts of the lesson were the discussions, and adding those to the summary
table. After some initial hesitation, most students were very eager to get their ideas on the table. I
tried to get them to reference it during their model revisions; however some groups were not
interested in participation in the written work. About half of the groups participated in the
revisions, and two groups didnt do anything so I would need to improve on that. I think that
when I broke up the groups that I shouldnt have counted off. I had some really great hypothesis
that they came up with, and if I would have broken them up according to which one resonated
with them, then I may have gotten meaningful small group work. I think they may have taken
ownership of the ideas and been more invested in whether the work was done or not.
C. Implications for how you interact with students
Based on your analysis, which part of your interaction with students was most
instrumental in helping them towards high level explanations? Least helpful? Describe a
specific improvement for an interaction with students. Explain your answers.
The whole class discussions were most instrumental in helpin them toward a high level
explanation. I pressed students and wouldnt let them off the hook, even if they started with an
idea that they thought was a joke, I made them explain it in the context of what the question we
were working on. They were pretty comfortable with this by the end of the three days and they
were able to come up with more sophisticated answers right off the bat.
The least helpful was my small group interactions while they were working on the models. It was
worse than trying to herd cats. I tried to ask my back pocket questions, but mostly it was
behavior problems I needed to deal with. There was a sub on the first day, and it was very
chaotic. The third day was Friday at the end of the day, and some students were over it.
D. Implications for your assessment
Which informal / formative assessment activities (asking questions, discussion, students
asking questions) were most and least revealing of students thinking. Describe a specific
improvement for your informal/formative assessment activities. Explain your answer.
Class discussions were most revealing, I was able to uncover some alternative concepts
regarding how the sun heats the earth. The final assessment of the model revisions were least
revealing, as most students didnt participate. Ryan did his lesson after mine, and he made a
change that I think was great. He made each person in the group contribute at least one sticky
note. Even though the classes are very different, it worked really well and I would use that as an
improvement. This is one area where I think grading for participation would be very helpful,
maybe a point for a sticky note, and an extra credit point for two. They would have to be relevant
and include evidence, but it could serve as motivation for student participation.
RUBRIC
Score: /100

Pts
Possib
Story of what happened
Coherent
Includes students and teacher

18

Analysis of Student Work

Clear claims of the level of student
understanding
Evidence of student understanding

17

Partial Understandings
Trends
Instructional Decisions

Alternative Understandings
Trends
Instructional Decisions

Everyday Language
Trends
Instructional Decisions

Experiences
Trends
Instructional Decisions

Implications for your lesson plan

Conclusions match evidence
Implications are useful
Specific improvement proposed

15

Implications for interactions

Conclusions match evidence
Implications are useful
Specific improvement proposed

15

Implications for assessment

Conclusions match evidence
Implications are useful
Specific improvement proposed

15

Pts
Earned Comments