Round Two for Fieldwork!

We have just completed our second session of fieldwork. In today’s lesson, we had the students complete an inquiry based assignment. The lesson began with a brief review of the first lesson to assess student knowledge. We then introduced the activity for the day using a Voki. The Voki was George Washington and he had a very special request for the students. The Voki said the following:

“Hello young Patriots! George Washington here. I have an important message and assignment for you! You will get three hints about a person who was very important during the American Revolution and they will appear on the screen of the iPads. It is your job to find out who the important person is. My assistants will instruct you how to decode the messages on the iPads that I am sending to you… historians, good luck!”

We briefly went over the directions with the student and modelled the activity they would be completing. The students were given an iPad with the QR Reader App installed on it, a worksheet, and a barcode. The students scanned the barcode, which brought up three facts about an individual who was important during the American Revolution. The students had to research the hints in order to determine the name of the individual. They had an accompanying worksheet that guided them through this process.

The good thing about how this lesson was completed was that the students were divided into four groups. Being that there were five of us teacher candidates, it allowed us to be able to work with the student groups to assess and support learning. As four of us were working with the groups individually, Christina continued to walk around the room, observing and asking questions to the students to analyze their learning. This allowed the lesson to move smoothly.

Lastly, we had the students present their findings to the class. Each group had identified their individual correctly. For homework, the students were given a worksheet that they would have to complete by creating a letter to George Washington summarizing their findings which will become a summative assessment for us teacher candidates.

All in all, this lesson went much smoother than the first lesson. We were definitely a lot more relaxed and comfortable in front of the class. Each teacher candidate had a significant role throughout the lesson which was completed successfully.

This process has been such a learning experience; a very beneficial one at that. From creating, to planning, to implementing, it has all been a great experience. It is very tedious and time consuming to plan lessons and create plans, but in the end, it is more than worth it. Being able to see the joy on the students’ faces when they are completing lessons and activities is more than fulfilling.

I am extremely happy because I am no longer nervous about implementing the lesson to the class as a whole, rather, I am excited. This whole experience has been a wonderful thing and I would not change it for the world.