Strategy Lesson Reflection: KWL

Looking back on our strategy lesson presentation, I am very pleased with how things went. Before this assignment, I had no idea what a KWL was. I picked the topic because it was one of the only ones remaining and I really didn't want to do dramatic role-play. However to my surprise, I really grew to love this strategy. I love the simplicity of it and how moldable it is for any classroom environment!

One thing that worked well was using a KWL to learn about a KWL. I feel that with this idea, they were able to get a feel for what we were talking about while we presented it. In addition, they were able to keep the KWL chart as a set of notes for future reference. Doing it a second time with a content-specific text gave them extra practice to how it worked. Since we planned for the class to do it twice, we were able to facilitate it using different techniques, such as using a lesson vs. reading, and having prepared questions to guide students vs. letting them think completely on their own. With different styles of presenting the KWLs, the class was able to get a feel for how they could modify it in a classroom for their content area and personality.

An unexpected challenge we faced while presenting was getting people to volunteer what they learned. I think this was due to the fact that we are all very familiar with the idea of symmetry so it was a hard question to answer. Eventually people spoke up though, and calling on tables helped facilitate the discussion. Next time, I would probably start by calling on people instead of waiting for someone to volunteer.

Overall, I really enjoyed this assignment. KWLs can be beneficial if used the right way, and I will probably use them from time to time in my classroom in the future! (320)