I survived, and actually enjoyed the lesson. I spent the day conserving all the energy I could muster to be as enthusiastic as possible during the lesson because I was teaching a DREAM topic- using descriptive writing through an illustrated metaphor! Did I mention I love language arts?
I'm writing about this for my blog this week because I learned so much from teaching this particular lesson. This was the first time that I was able to facilitate a whole class lesson, and it was sink or swim. Our cooperating teacher vowed not to step in at any point. There was some swimming, and there was definitely some sinking. I think we, as teachers, really tend to focus on what we could have done better or what we would do differently next time, but I think it's a helpful part of the process of learning. If everything had went well in the lesson, what would I have really learned? So that is why I'm focusing on this for this blog post- so I can really devote some time to reflecting on this experience.
I started out the lesson by reviewing what metaphors they had covered in Chains from a few weeks prior. They remembered the metaphors, and quickly came up with the definition of what a metaphor is (a comparison between two unlike things!), the difference between a metaphor and a simile (a simile uses "like" or "as"! Sorry for all the exclamations, I just have a passion for metaphors and similes), and then I gave them a few examples of some of my favorite, well-known metaphors. One was this:
"Memory is a crazy woman that hoards colored rags and throws away food."
-Austin O'Malley
After quickly modeling what writing a metaphor would look like (I went from brainstorming, to comparing to an unlike thing, to writing), I gave them a challenge list of nouns they would have to work with to come up with 2 of their 5 metaphors. I went through the rest of the instructions, asked for any other questions, and then it was go time!
1st roadblock: Many of my students were asking the same questions that I thought I had already said. This told me that I needed to be way more explicit in my instructions. I called the whole group together again, tried to say my instructions in a slightly different way, and then they went back to writing.
2nd roadblock: Halfway through the period, I realized that hardly anyone realized that these were going to be illustrated metaphors. Oh dear. That was a pretty major component to the assignment... So I called the class back together again, reminded them of this, and asked them to raise their hands to see where they were at. How many students had 3 metaphors? 2? 1? (Oh, dear!) I revised the lesson and told them to stop at 3 metaphors, and to chose the one that they were most proud of to get checked off by me before illustrating. I also realized a few students were really struggling, and I walked around to those students, and gave them a little more support getting started. Such as, "try using ____ word. What could you compare it to?". I've learned from my cooperating teacher that some of the hi-cap kids need more direction to get started.
These were not the only two roadblocks, but these were some ones that I've really been reflecting on. I know in my practice I am going to focus on being very clear in my instructions. I know from personal experience how frustrating it can be to be in a class where the instructor is unclear about expectations. I'm also going to make it a point to tell students about how much time they have to do a task, because these students in particular are pretty good about managing their time if they know specifically how much time they have for a task. From there, I can assess whether or not they will need more (or less) time to complete said task. I feel like, had I focused on those two additional things, this lesson would have been improved.
Today students turned in their finished illustrated metaphors. I was completely blown away by how much care they put into this assignment, and to how creative these students are. Also, this was the first time that I collected an assignment that I had assigned students. From beginning to end, this lesson was the first one I created, taught, and collected the end result. Is there a way to say, that isn't cheesey, that for as much as these students have learned from me, I'm learning so much from them? No? Oh well! I'm learning so much from these students and this experience.
Photos of their original illustrated metaphor work: coming soon!
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