Lesson plan critique

Lesson Critique Template

Subject: Math______________

Topic: Multiplication_________

Level: Primary 2____________

No	Area of Focus	Comments/Feedback
1	Comment on the GOAL(S) of the lesson (with reference to the learners’ ability, level & profile):	Goals of the lesson are not spelled out in the lesson. The learning abilities of the students and desired learning outcomes of the lesson have to be specified before the lesson commences. Furthermore, the learning outcomes for each group of students (HA,MA,LA) should  be stated clearly. while keeping in mind that the lesson’s goals drive the whole lesson.
2	Comment on the OBJECTIVE(S) of the lesson (with reference to the learning outcomes that are observable and assessable, aligned with the goals?):	Since the lesson’s goal is not even stated in the lesson plan, the objectives are not focused. This can result in the teacher being unable to explain clearly to the student. Furthermore,the teacher will be unable to manage her time properly. Thus, the lesson objectives will still not be met.
3	Comment on the INSTRUCTIONAL ACTIVITIES and use/choice of ICT TOOLs : Identify some instructional activities the teacher implemented; analyze the appropriateness of the activities to the goals, objectives & pupil profile. Feedback on student directed vs teacher directed activities and inclusion of dimensions of meaningful learning       c)  The suitability of the use/choice of ICT tools AND non-ICT tools to the activities planned.	(a) - Group work(group discussion) The pupils are grouped according to their abilities and this can facilitate learning as  pupils are given the opportunity to learn at their comfortable pace. For the second group work activity, the teacher suggested that the HA group will create a story and present their answers in various multiplication representations. However, a story may not be appropriate as the pupils may lose the focus on multiplication. Instead, the pupils can create a question instead, with guidelines provided. This way, it is clearer to see if the pupils have understood the concepts to be taught. - Presentation of PowerPoint slides - Sing along session The activity helps to arouse interests in students as a tuning-in activity. (b) It’s good that the teacher include student-centred activities such as group work. However, the teacher should assign roles for the pupils to keep them on task. Example: Having additional instructional strategies like “Think-Pair-Share” to facilitate active learning in the form of collaboration. The teacher should give more examples during the directed activities rather then only indicate grouping in fours. She should scaffold for the students and at the same time, the students should be given opportunities to learn independently and henceforth, enabling the learning to shift from teacher-centered to student-centered. This would create the environment  for self-directed learning.ya that c. For the lesson, the teacher’s use of Powerpoint is sufficient enough for bringing across the intended concept. The use of the mini whiteboards for individual students allow them to work on their own towards understanding what was just taught. However, the teacher could get each student to show how they have applied the lesson concept to the work so that even students from different ability groups are able to learn different methods of applying the concept.

   

No	Area of Focus	Comments/Feedback
4	Comment on the IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS (what could have gone well or wrong; some suggestions for improvement)	It should be reminded that these are Primary 2 students afterall and so they might get too involved in the game and so the teacher might have some problems in getting their attention back. Thus, the teacher must set clear time limits and rules before the lesson. A timer that rings  could be used for this purpose. Using the “odd one out” concept with students acting as little teachers may result in them not really understanding the concepts that are meant to be taught. Perhaps, even to the extent of the students becoming less interested in picking up the lesson goals.
5	Comment on ASSESSMENT  (Focus on the appropriateness to the goals and objectives)	While the teacher has mentioned that worksheets will be used for assessment, she has not mentioned if the worksheet contains questions that test on pupil’s understanding of the concept of multiplication, or if the questions simply test on the multiplication table.

Suggest how you would improve the lesson plan:
1) Identify the goals: Students will learn to understand the concept of multiplication based on grouping. They will also learn that multiplication is derived from repeated addition.
OR
Students will learn the concept of multiplication based on grouping.
Students will learn about multiplication using repeated addition.

2) Implementation:
   - Rules and time limit should be clearly stated before the lesson begins
   - A digital timer could be used
   - Students need to be briefed before the start of the activity on what would the activity be about and what to expect. Students should not feel lost even before the start of the activity. This is especially true as they are Primary 2 students.
  

3) The teacher mentioned in her lesson plan “Teacher will then call out, “Get in fives’. Pupils will quickly group themselves in fours.” This error  may mislead any other person who tries to conduct the lesson using this lesson plan given. Hence, it is important that the teacher edit her work carefully.

Pre-blogging activity 1-ICT

 

Questions:

1. What are the main goals of each Masterplan of ICT in education and why do you think it is important for MOE to develop them?
2. Has any of the Masterplans impacted you as a student? Share your experience on how ICT had been used in the classes you attended as a student. (If applicable)
3. How do you think the Masterplan 3 for ICT in education may affect your role(s) as a beginning teacher?

1.           The ICT Masterplan 1 (1997-2002) was created to lay the crucial groundwork for the ICT policy to take effect. It is really the platform where the Ministry of Education (MOE) built the infrastructure for which the future plans will grow on.

          This elaborate undertaking avowedly required the utmost prudence in ensuring that the policy runs smoothly. MOE recognized this and so decided to focus on for main goals.

           Schools were tasked to improve on their connections with the world as shown in ictconnection.edumall.sg. This was to allow for broader perspectives between teachers, students and the world. Such perspectives would reveal a wealth of knowledge that could help especially teachers to develop ICT to even greater heights. Hence, it was important for MOE to develop it.

           Masterplan 1 also required teachers to pioneer innovative processes in education ( ictconnection.edumall.sg). The students would benefit greatly in terms of thinking flexibly, able to collaborate well with others and exercise sound moral judgments. Admittedly, this would entail the introduction of new knowledge to the teachers. Thus, they had to be trained beforehand for approximately 30 hours each as revealed by Dr Ng Eng Hen, the Minister for Education and second Minister for Defense, in his speech at the International Conference on Teaching and Learning with Technology on Tuesday, 5 August 2008. This resulted in a cadre of educators who were not only strong in pedagogy but ICT-trained as well. They acted as guides for their colleagues. Furthermore, they urged their schools to shift from their traditional mindsets of context-based to more teacher-facilitated education. Indeed, their passion and perseverance helped to equip 363 schools with ICT-enabled infrastructure quickly. Hence, helping MOE to lay the important groundwork for the ICT policy to gain momentum.

             The improvement of the students’ creative thinking, lifelong learning and social responsibility only heightened their capacity to imbibe new technology resulting in more morally-justified usage. As the world enters a more technologically- aware society, the internet is constantly bombarded by much information from every layer of society. In fact, the information can be easily tweaked or even plagiarized by anyone. Thus, it was imperative for MOE to develop the students’ thinking skills to ensure that they were able to ascertain right from wrong and so allowing for more justified uses of ICT technology.

              Promoting administrative and management excellence only served to allow for a much more controlled running of the plan. In fact, it allowed for the smoother transition into the next phase of the policy and that is Masterplan 2.

               Masterplan 2 allowed for the former to expand and assimilate into schools quickly. It provided then baseline standards to which schools would be able to adhere to in realizing the final outcome of ICT integration into the curriculum and assessment. It acted as a bridge for schools to cross into Masterplan 3.

               Masterplan 3 views teachers and students as learners. It emphasizes on much self-directed and collaborative learning. Hence, cementing the understanding that learning can take place anywhere and anytime and does not constrain itself with the rigors of school curriculum.

               In order to achieve this goal, MOE has stressed that school leaders are key to driving this policy by creating conditions for ICT to be used in a meaningful way. It also allows for the standardization of all ICT-related programmes in schools. Thus, the teachers need to be more focused in their planning so that lessons are not only stimulating but also encourage self-directed and collaborative learning amongst the learners. Even so, it must be reminded that a good set of frameworks must be put in place to provide the support teachers need in their teaching as well as learning. Henceforth, allowing for ICT technology to reach more schools.

                Without these goals, the outcome of self-directed and collaborative learning cannot be achieved so quickly. This opportunity must be seized quickly lest Singapore would be caught in the wave of stagnation.

2.        The Masterplan in ICT of Education 2 had the deepest impact on me as a student. I remembered that my teachers had us creating websites and learning new software such as Dreamweaver and Micromedia Flash in secondary school. This allowed us to become more competent in in using ICT technology for our presentations and projects that would benefit us in the future. In addition to this, our Interdisciplinary Project Work that involved creating an English package for the Cambodian children had us designing Powerpoint slides in the form of calendars and such. We also had to translate English words into the Khmer language by using Microsoft Word. That took us some time to find the exact Khmer language and downloading it into Microsoft Word. We had many problems in making the calendar interactive for the students and so we decided to use Micromedia Flash to create it. Despite the many setbacks we faced during the execution of our project, we learnt much in choosing appropriate programmes and word processing skills which was one of the outcomes for Masterplan 2.

3.        Masterplan 3  made me realize the intricacies needed to guide students into

self -directed and collaborative learning. As a beginning teacher, I will need great expertise in ICT. It is no longer only about creating basic Microsoft Powerpoint slides for the students but the presentation itself needs to be interactive as well. The introduction of interactive whiteboards, YouTube and podcasts will serve this purpose. At the same time, I need to ensure that my lesson plans must involve group activities that allow for much collaboration and learning amongst students.

 

       As a beginning teacher, I may need to collaborate with my other colleagues in creating lessons plans that merge different subjects together. The lessons must involve both pedagogy and 21^st century ICT skills that the Ministry of Education has rolled out as baseline standards for all schools.

Pre-blogging activity 1

Pre-blogging activity 1-ICT

Questions:

1. What are the main goals of each Masterplan of ICT in education and why do you think it is important for MOE to develop them?
2. Has any of the Masterplans impacted you as a student? Share your experience on how ICT had been used in the classes you attended as a student. (If applicable)
3. How do you think the Masterplan 3 for ICT in education may affect your role(s) as a beginning teacher?

1.           The ICT Masterplan 1 (1997-2002) was created to lay the crucial groundwork for the ICT policy to take effect. It is really the platform where the Ministry of Education (MOE) built the infrastructure for which the future plans will grow on.

          This elaborate undertaking avowedly required the utmost prudence in ensuring that the policy runs smoothly. MOE recognized this and so decided to focus on for main goals.

           Schools were tasked to improve on their connections with the world as shown in ictconnection.edumall.sg. This was to allow for broader perspectives between teachers, students and the world. Such perspectives would reveal a wealth of knowledge that could help especially teachers to develop ICT to even greater heights. Hence, it was important for MOE to develop it.

           Masterplan 1 also required teachers to pioneer innovative processes in education ( ictconnection.edumall.sg). The students would benefit greatly in terms of thinking flexibly, able to collaborate well with others and exercise sound moral judgments. Admittedly, this would entail the introduction of new knowledge to the teachers. Thus, they had to be trained beforehand for approximately 30 hours each as revealed by Dr Ng Eng Hen, the Minister for Education and second Minister for Defense, in his speech at the International Conference on Teaching and Learning with Technology on Tuesday, 5 August 2008. This resulted in a cadre of educators who were not only strong in pedagogy but ICT-trained as well. They acted as guides for their colleagues. Furthermore, they urged their schools to shift from their traditional mindsets of context-based to more teacher-facilitated education. Indeed, their passion and perseverance helped to equip 363 schools with ICT-enabled infrastructure quickly. Thus, helping MOE to lay the important groundwork for the ICT policy to gain momentum.

             The improvement of the students’ creative thinking, lifelong learning and social responsibility only heightened their capacity to imbibe new technology resulting in more morally-justified usage. As the world enters a more technologically- aware society, the internet is constantly bombarded by much information from every layer of society. In fact, the information can be easily tweaked or even plagiarized by anyone. Thus, it was neccessary for MOE to develop the students’ thinking skills to ensure that they were able to ascertain right from wrong and so allowing for more justified uses of ICT technology.

              Promoting administrative and management excellence only served to allow for a much more controlled running of the plan. In fact, it allowed for the smoother transition into the next phase of the policy and that is Masterplan 2.

               Masterplan 2 allowed for the former to expand and assimilate into schools quickly. It provided then baseline standards to which schools would be able to adhere to in realizing the final outcome of ICT integration into the curriculum and assessment. It acted as a bridge for schools to cross into Masterplan 3.

               Masterplan 3 views teachers and students as learners. It emphasizes on much self-directed and collaborative learning. Hence, cementing the understanding that learning can take place anywhere and anytime and does not constrain itself with the rigors of school curriculum.

               In order to achieve this goal, MOE has stressed that school leaders are key to driving this policy by creating conditions for ICT to be used in a meaningful way. In addition to this, it allows for the standardization of all ICT-related programmes in schools. Thus, the teachers need to be more focused in their planning so that lessons are not only stimulating but also encourage self-directed and collaborative learning amongst the learners. Even so, it must be reminded that a good set of frameworks must be put in place to provide the support teachers need in their teaching as well as learning. Henceforth, allowing for ICT technology to reach more schools.

                Without these goals, the outcome of self-directed and collaborative learning cannot be achieved so quickly. This opportunity must be seized quickly lest Singapore would be caught in the wave of stagnation.