The Mistakes I Made Teaching a Lesson This Week

This week I was fortunate enough to be asked to teach in a classroom that I had not had the chance to be in yet this year. 

The lesson I taught was using Quizlet (a digital flashcard generation site).  The students were shown how to start a stack of flashcards and then invite their classmates at their table to join in their stack and work as a group to create a complete set of flashcards with 20 words.  Students could then use the stack to learn, study, quiz and play games with the vocabulary words that were in the stack.  The last part of the lesson involved showing the students and teacher how to play Quizlet Live, a classroom game using a flashcard stack. 

This lesson ended up having some challenges. Some students were hesitant to participate and were unengaged. One student didn't even have a device, so he didn't participate at all.  Some students found the activities too challenging.  And some students were anxious and one student even walked out of the room saying, "I'm out of here!" because she was so upset. 

Reflecting on this lesson, I believe I could have done a much better job if I had prepared differently and considered things more carefully.

Here is what I would change:

#1 - Know the students I am teaching.
I should have asked the classroom teacher about challenges or behaviors that the students in her class might exhibit.  I could have started with a quick activity to build a relationship with the students before diving into the first activity. And I should have considered the academic level of the students in the class.

#2 - Give students clear expectations
Whenever students have anxiety or behavior challenges, I know that letting students know exactly what we will be doing during class helps to put their minds at ease. I should have let students know at the beginning of class that they would be working in assigned groups to create digital flashcards, that they would be moving to a different table from where they typically sit and that they would be participating in a live classroom game. Knowing what I know about the students in this class now, I probably would not have attempted the Quizlet Live game during this first lesson.

#3 - Keep the work doable and add challenges at a later time
Had I better prepared myself for the academic challenges that these students exhibited, I would have made the topic and words that I chose for the Quizlet Live much simpler and easier for the students to be successful at.

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Although the lesson had some downfalls, there are some things that I feel went well.  

Here is what I would keep the same:

#1 - Remain professional and an authority

I know that students need to respect and feel safe with the teacher in the room.  Even when students were verbally and physically showing that they were upset or frustrated, I never lost my composure. I remained the person in charge. At no time did I call a student out or reprimand them in front of their peers. At no time did I get into an argument with a student in front of the class.  

#2 - Focus on the goal and review the lesson
When I started the lesson, I explained the goal for the lesson and let students know what materials they would need in order to meet the goal. As the lesson progressed, I continued to remind students of the goal. I explained that today was about learning something new to be used again at a later time. At the end of the lesson, I brought closure by talking to the class about what they did well and what they could improve on.

#3 - Be organized and prepared
One of my strengths has always been making sure I am ready to teach a lesson. Prior to this lesson, I made sure I knew Quizlet and Quizlet Live well and had practiced using it ahead of time to be sure everything would work.  As I taught the lesson, I knew the progression of the lesson and kept referring back to it in my mind. 

Not every lesson I teach is going to be a complete success. It is important for me to reflect and appreciate the things I am doing well, but also take ownership of the things I can improve on. After all, that I how I will grow and continue to improve as an educator. In the end, the mistakes I made in this lesson will make me stronger and more successful the next time I am fortunate enough to teach  in this classroom.