Observational Reflection 2

My most recent observation was last week during my AP Statistics class. We were just beginning our probability unit, so we were doing an exploratory lab. Students were to complete a candy lab, which compared colors that come in different types of candy. We looked at Mike & Ike’s, Starbursts, M&M’s, and Skittles. Each student had their own sample of candy they were to predict and collect data with. Then once they collected their data, they were to come together as a group and compare findings, followed by combining their data together. Once they compiled the data, they were to combine the data as a class and compare the findings. The overall idea of this was to use probability to see if we could determine the more popular color candy. I believe it was somewhat successful, but because the lab had a lot of parts to it, it was tough to have a good group discussion at the end due to time.

This lab has proved to be a good indicator of how I could have created mini-lessons to help with the time aspect. I could have had students using the smaller data to do different things and then have another lesson using larger data and then talking about the difference in sample sizes. I think that this would have help with their fluency because they would have been doing multiple hands on activities, which would have made the lessons stick better, than rushing through one big activity. I think this also would have given students time for the information to stick in before beginning a new idea. Though students responded well to the activity, I could tell that the concepts did not fully stick. Most likely there will have to be a reteaching aspect of future lessons. I think mini-lessons for this would have been more effective.