Summary of Teaching Experience

This concept map lesson was the first lesson I ever taught to a class.  I was so nervous and so insecure about my ability to get the points across to the students.  I was also insecure about my knowledge of the subject matter and if I would be able to adequately answer students’ questions.  However, once I started talking, the anxiety dissipated.  The students gave me their undivided attention and treated me as they do their regular teacher.  That same level of respect made me feel relieved to know they respect me in that same way. 

The students did not quite remember what a concept map was.  They all had blank looks on their faces.  This was frightening from where I was.  I knew they had some previous experience with concept mapping, so I had to remind them of the one they did.  Then it all came back to them and was able to draw them into the lesson.  

I chose to use a car concept map for the example prior to letting them do the protein synthesis map.  I began by writing on the board with the general topic of ‘cars’.  Then broke that down into American and foreign; then broke American car companies into ‘Ford’, ‘GM’, and ‘Chrysler’.  Then broke Ford down into ‘Ford’, ‘Lincoln’, and ‘Mercury”.  At this point I told them that we would be focusing on Ford models for the remainder of the concept map.  I gave them about five note cards each and instructed them that we would be constructing a larger concept map all together on the floor using the note cards I gave them.  I started them off by asking for the person who had the card with ‘Ford’ on it and to place it on the floor since this was the most general word.  This would be our starting point.  I then lead them to the next level by asking them to distinguish the different types of vehicles, e.g. cars, trucks, vans and suvs.  Once they laid those cards out, I asked them to proceed through to match up the models that belong under each of the previously stated categories.  They completed this part with not much of a problem, which encouraged me as to the expectations I had for the protein synthesis concept map.

I separated the class into groups and gave each group a set of note cards.  The terms written on the cards were a list they had used in a previous exercise.  I explained to them what I needed from them; use the note cards to arrange the terms in a nice flowing way, then once satisfied with the arrangement of the terms, I needed them to reconstruct the map on a piece of paper with linking words.

As I walked around the room looking at their progress, I realized I needed to help them start off the map with the first two terms, ‘DNA’ and ‘RNA’.  I thought they would do OK with this because they had worked on these concepts for almost 2 weeks.  I thought they would have several little maps of related concepts and then try to connect those to make a big map.  But this was not the case.  The maps were a disaster.  I did not expect them to link the terms like I did, but I did expect certain terms to be grouped together.  

What seemed to help them while they were rearranging the note cards was asking them why they thought one concept was associated with the other.  I made them get their textbooks out and interpret for me the picture of protein synthesis. They were able to explain to me what was going on in the picture when I asked them what each component was and what it did to contribute to protein synthesis, but had a hard time arranging the words in a map to represent the picture.   

One point of correction of my teaching is that I needed to stress the importance of linking words, although I did tell them several times that they needed to add them to their maps.  Another reflection on my experience is that I should have started helping them sooner than I did.  I did have high expectations of their performance, which I think hindered me in helping them get started right away.  I thought I would be spoon-feeding them the information if I just told them where to put the terms.  I wanted them to think.  I now believe that they did need a push in the right direction early on, which I did not do until a bit later.  I also neglected to tell them to use the whole piece of paper when they drew their maps.  I guess I figured they would just do it.  I realized that my insecurities about no knowing the subject matter well enough to answer the students’ questions were not well founded.  I was able to adequately answer all their questions.  I think that constructing the concept map myself aided in my re-understanding of this concept that I learned so many years ago.   

My favorite part of this whole experience was when I was walking around helping the students.  I really enjoyed asking them questions, discussing with them the interpretation of the picture in the book, and explaining to them why certain links on the map were better than others.  It was really fun to see them make the connections from the picture in the book, then arrange the terms in the correct manner.