Reflection of Mini Lesson Unit

The assignment was to "Conduct a problem-based mini-unit for your own students (videotaped). The mini-unit must require the students to create one or more models (using the Mindtools discussed by Jonassen or others subject to the approval of the instructor) that can be used to evaluate changes in their conceptual understanding."

This assignment was a challenge. I have put together mini units, and used PBL in the past put incorporating a model to show conceptual understanding was a challenge. The ideas for making models from the readings, in class and on the Internet were way too advanced for second graders. Jonassen's mindtools seemed to be way above my students’ ability level and examples of PBL on the Internet were not comprehensive enough to include models. And since I had to ask a teacher if I could use her class time to teach the unit, I felt like I needed to know exactly what I was going to do before I asked a teacher. So I was confused with the assignment and was trying to figure out what/how I could tie this into some part of the 2^nd grade curriculum, this combination made me feel overwhelmed.

After I collected my feelings, I just decided I would go to the 2^nd grade teacher and ask her if she had any suggestions. We were just starting research reports on mammals in the computer lab when I showed her my assignment. All the sudden the light bulb went off in my head and had an idea for students to create a model to define which characteristics an animal needed to be characterized as a mammal.

Using Barrell’s Curriculum Process, gave me a clear understanding of exactly what I needed to include in the unit. What helped me evaluate my lesson the best was the rubric for the criteria of a problematic situation. I could see the areas that my unit was lacking in. One thing I wish I could have changed was to allow the unit to be more boundryless. I only had a limited amount of time with students to complete the unit and I since I do not work with the students everyday I felt it would be simpler to keep one end goal in mind. But as I went through the unit, I realized that the student thinking was really being done when they created their “model” or checklist as they called it, because they were faced with a challenge of proving what some of them they already knew. It was really neat to sit back and listen to the student discuss the best way to show their results of the characteristics of mammals. I really thought it was interesting to observe the students while they were researching and deciding on characteristics. They had originally put habitat as one characteristic an animal needed to have to be considered a mammal. But their checklist was a yes or no, and they didn’t know how to answer that column. They had multiple discussions and decided that they would put the initial of where the animal lived (grassland=G). But in the end when looking at all their findings realized that habitat did not belong on their list.

Overall I think this was a good unit. For next time I would change a few things, but I thought the model and observing the students discussions really showed the students thoughts and perspectives more clearly than they concept maps they created.