Reflection & Self-Analysis

Whole Class: I taught my second lesson on October 11, 2013. This lesson served as my showcase lesson. This particular lesson was a math lesson on addition review up to the number six. Up to this point the class had experience and was familiar with writing number sentences with numbers up to six. I found this lesson appropriate to do as a way to review and catch students up who were not as strong as others in addition and writing number sentences. To start the lesson I had all students sit on the carpet as I introduced what we were going to learn. I have found that the students feel very comfortable sitting on the carpet and are very open rather than when they are sitting at their desks. I stood in front of the class as I was explaining the lesson, when I should have been sitting on my knees or in a chair in front of them. I found that many students had to look straight up at me when I stand. On the smart board I wrote addition problems and asked the class to take a few seconds to review the problem and I would call on someone to answer aloud. This worked well, and after I would ask if the rest of the class agreed or disagreed and why. All students had the chance to answer. If I were to do this lesson in the future, I would have started with easier addition questions, like 1+2, and moved to harder problems, like 4+2, instead of doing random questions. This way it would help students understand the concept of what we were going to be doing in the lesson, and better prepare them for the more difficult questions. After the carpet I asked students to return to their seats and I began separating them for the next activity. I allowed two students from each table to work on the floor. This worked really well because some students were given the same math problem and it ensured that they would do their own work with no help from others. Once the students were in their designated area I explained the instructions. I should have, however, explained this before the students moved. The students on their floor were not paying attention when I gave instructions, and I would have caught their attention more if they were all sitting at their desks at the same level and if everyone were able to see me. There was a second part to this lesson that I was unable to get to in one day. In the future I would split this into two different lessons and days. This lesson took about 45 minutes to teach and with the second part I would have went over at least another 30 minutes. At the 30 minute mark in the first part I knew I would not have enough time so I decided then to scratch the second part. I feel this was a very good call on my part and it allowed me to spend a little extra time with the students and I was able to sit down with the students for the extra 15 minutes instead of rushing to the next section.

Overall, this lesson was successful. 7 students out of 18 present showed a gain from the pre assessment to the final assessment. 3 students out of the 18 showed a loss of information from the pre assessment to the final. 7 students remained the same level throughout the lesson. Only 1 student of the 18 kept a score of zero throughout the entire assessment. The downfall to this lesson was that given this was a review lesson, all of the students should have showed a gain of information or remained the same. The goal of a review lesson is for no losses. Because there were 4 students who did not retain the information I should have asked that they come back during center time and go back over the assessments they did not understand. It may have been that my directions were unclear, and I could take my time to explain it to them in a small group. 3 Individual Students: I choose Student #17 as my high performing student. This student excels in all subject areas and really stands out in the classroom. He has mentioned before in prior lessons that he is bored and this shows often in class because he is always looking around or out of his seat, but yet his performance is exceptional. In the pre assessment he was able to answer the math problem correctly on the board and was able to point out if a student had an answer wrong. During assessment he did great and did not need any help. During the post assessment I knew he would be ready for a harder problem so I gave him a problem that went up to seven instead of five and he was able to write the number sentence and show the problem using cubes. He finished all his work early and was looking around the room for something else to keep his attention until the rest of the class was finished. I did not make him do any more problems because he was successful with his first and second attempt. So I allowed him to write a sentence on his slate, this keep him sitting and occupied until the rest of the class finished. I choose Student #1 as my low performing student. During my time with this class I noticed that he receives a lot of help and special attention from the teacher and assistant. He never speaks up and never participates in class discussion. He also has a very hard time staying focused and in his seat. Whenever the teacher asks him a question he will not answer or will purposely say an off the wall answer. His work does not compare with other students and he is at a lower level than all of the other students in all subjects. During my lesson, I asked him a question aloud, just as I did all of the other students, and he was unable to answer. I gave him a minute to look at the problem and count on his fingers. I then showed him on my hands how to do the addition problem and asked him to repeat the answer and he would not, his answer was 0, when the answer should have been 3. Throughout the lesson he needed constant help to stay focused. I made sure to visit his seat often and walk through the problems with him. He scored a 0 on all assessments. On the pre and during assessments he received help from myself and the assistant, but on the post we offered no help and he was not able to start or complete

the assessment. In the future I will offer more one on one help with this student outside of the classroom. I feel that sometimes he may know the information but does not want to say it because of his classmates around him. I would try pulling him outside during quiet work and review this lesson with him. I choose Student # 12 as my average performing student. This student, along with many others, has average grades. He will occasionally ask for assistance but is a very self-motivated student. He works very well with others and does fine in whole group discussion. He sits with 3 other lower students and he always seems to be helpful to them. However he occasionally leads them in the wrong direction and will cause his whole group to get something wrong. At the beginning of the lesson, he was able to answer the question I asked on the smart board. For during assessment he asked for help. I purposely I left him at his seat so he could stand up and spread out his work. For the post assessment he was able to get it correct with no help. I believe that the little help I gave him for the during assessment helped him to get the post assessment correct with no help. Reflection on additional lessons: Lesson 2: I taught my first lesson on October 9, 2013. The lesson was a math lesson titled, Ways to Make 6. Up to this point the students have had experience adding up to five. This lesson focused on the seven different ways to make the number six. This lesson lasted about 30 minutes. My cooperating teacher gave me tons of ideas before my first lesson that were very helpful. She also helped me out with the planning of the first lesson and the type of activities that worked best with the class. I began teaching on the smart board and the students were seated on the rug and the later moved to their seats and I moved from the smart board to a worksheet along with a handmade, number wand. During the lesson for the number wand I made a quick decision to not only use the smart board program with the number wand, but use a hand held number wand for myself. All of the students had their own number wand but I found it easier if I also had one in my hand that I could walk around with as well as one on the board for the students to see. During the lesson, students were able to talk and ask questions as we walked through the number wand activity. I did not add in my lesson plan that the students would be using their slates to write down the number sentences they saw on their number wand. As soon as I began the activity I had to stop and ask the students to put down the number wand and get out their slates. This took a little bit of time that I did not plan for. Throughout the lesson I felt that I was very clear the majority of the students were able to follow along. I walked around the classroom and answered any questions and left the floor open for group discussions within groups. I asked my teacher to work with one

lower group after I saw that they were a little behind during the second activity. This was another adjustment that I had to make during my lesson that was not written in my original lesson. I used the smart board at the beginning of the lesson for the number wand. I then moved to the elmo projector for the worksheet. I planned for this in my lesson and it proved to be successful. I used it so I could do the same worksheet the students were doing at their desks. Doing this, students were able to follow along on the worksheet and I was able to stay somewhat stationary and allow the students to work on their own to show what they have learned. In the close of the lesson I asked that the students complete a worksheet by coloring blocks and writing the number sentence that matched. This was a huge success and it showed when I graded their worksheets after the lesson. I feel this was overall a good lesson and the students seemed to understand the information I presented and could move on to the next level of addition. I realize that there is much more that needs to be added into the procedures. The slightest thing forgotten in the original plan can lead to a change the outcome of the lesson, varied finishing times, and may even loose the attention of the students. In the future I will be sure to remember even the small things and add it into my lessons. I was lucky to have a cooperating teacher in the room to help, but other times I may not have this help and will have to utilize myself around the classroom. Lesson 3: I taught my third lesson on October 21, 2013. This was an open court lesson on distinguishing between the final t sound and the initial t sound. In my clinical we used open court lesson as an additional ELA lesson for the day. Open court usually consist of read aloud, writing letters, and letter sounds. This lesson was taught as a follow up lesson on the initial t sound. Students had knowledge of the sound of t prior to this lesson. This lesson lasted about 25 minutes in length. At the start of this lesson, the students were on the carpet. I found that from the first lesson that this is the best way to get the students attention and it keeps them moving in the classroom because they were at their desk in the lesson before. To introduce the lesson I engaged students by using flash cards of all the letter sounds they knew up to this point. For each letter the students have a short song and they are able to stomp their feet, clap, or do a hand or body motion to show the letter sound. I have seen in previous open court lessons that the students enjoy doing this. They can be loud and whether they knew it or not, they are getting out a little energy and it helped them to focus more on the lesson. I mixed in the t card with the other letters so they would flow

right into it, and they did. I then passed out individual flash cards with the letter t on them. I asked that each student to tell me what t says before I gave them their card. For this lesson I also adjusted and sat down in front of the class instead of standing. During the lesson I moved over to the smart board for various activities for determining the difference in the initial and final t sound. One word that I really struggled with was the word tree. When I said it the students could not hear the initial t sound. My cooperating teacher could tell I was having a hard time explaining how the t sound and the r sound together. This is something that I will have to work on and understanding how to explain that concept to my class. For future lessons I will go over each word and say it aloud to myself first and ask for pronunciation help before the lesson. I feel that the rest of the lesson went very well. The only instructional decision I had to make was at the very end. The class was scheduled to go to guidance 30 minutes after I started my lesson; however the guidance teacher came in 5 minutes early. I had to ask the students to clean up their desk and make sure their name was on their paper and to leave it at their desk so they could finish when they returned. This was something I was not prepared for, however the students had to go to guidance at that time, even though she was early. Everyone was able to finish their worksheet after guidance. I was able to follow my lesson plan the way I planned and I was sure that the students were able to finish their work even with time running out. Throughout the lesson I used the smart board, flash cards, and a worksheet that involved coloring, cutting, and gluing. The students were never in one place (carpet or desk) for more than 5-10 minutes. Lesson 4: I taught lesson four on November 15, 2013. This lesson was an ELA lesson. For this lesson students were learning facts about giraffes and labeling the parts of a giraffe with correct spelling. The standard for this lesson was labeling, however I was able to cross connect with science by labeling body parts. This lesson lasted 20 minutes. Before the lesson, I found a fictional book call Giraffes Cant Dance. I did not write this in my lesson plan, but after discussing time issues, and if it would be beneficial for the students, my cooperating teacher and I decided it would be a good read for the students. The students took a field trip at the end of the week, so lessons similar to this had been taught for two consecutive days with different animals. To introduce the lesson I had students sit on the carpet and I asked them what they already knew about giraffes. I then read the fictional book. After reading I showed a

short factual video clip of giraffes. Then I asked students if they could tell me a difference in the giraffes in the book with the giraffes in the video. In my lesson I had not planned to do this but I found it beneficial that the students understand the difference in fact and fictional. During the lesson, I moved the students to their seats to complete the labeling sheet. From showing the video I expected the students to retain the information about the parts of the giraffe so they could label, but that is not something I could control. Some of the students were able to name parts, such as ear and tail, but things like hoof and horn they did not know. In the future I would spend more time on labeling, rather than determining the difference of fact and fiction, since the lesson was on labeling. When the students were at their desk it got a little loud. I was at the front of the room labeling on the projector, so I had to stop my lesson. I became silent and once I finally had the attention of the students I continued. After doing this twice, my cooperating teacher suggested that I begin taking time off going to their related arts. As soon as I did that I did not have to stop again. I did have to move one student to the carpet in front of me to finish his work for continuous talking. Overall, I felt that this was not a successful lesson. Students were able to follow my directions and spell all the labeling words correct with my help, yet they were unable to retell information from the video I showed and relate it to the labeling sheet. I know they enjoyed the lesson from all the laughs and Im satisfied I was able to relate my lesson to the field trip. Throughout the lesson I had to make a few adjustments. In the future I will stick to my final goal of the lesson, even though the students enjoyed reading the silly giraffe book, it could have waited for a different time. And I should have stressed more on the factual video of giraffes so the labeling would have went smoother. Lesson 5: My final lesson was taught on November 20, 2013. This was a math lesson on composing simple shapes to make larger shapes. This day was a very hectic day as my cooperating teacher was absent; it was only the assistant and I for the day. The students defiantly took advantage of their teacher missing. In my lesson, I had planned for the students to start in their desk and I gave them each a bag of pattern blocks and allowed them to simply play with the blocks for a few minutes. This went really well for this particular day. It engaged the students because they were able to just play. There were no rules, and I never told them they couldnt talk, yet they were completely silent. This was very shocking to me. An instructional decision I made was to allow the students to continue playing with the blocks for a little while longer than I planned. The assistant

needed help getting things organized and it was a great time to do so considering the students were busy. My lesson lasted a total of 35 minutes, I planned for 30 minutes. This day I was told not to rush, so the extra time added in did no harm. During the lesson I asked students to move their blocks to the top of their desk and sit on their hands. This is a concept I learned from my cooperating teacher that works for this class. I feel that I presented the material in a clear and understandable manner. I made a program on the smart board before the lesson with shapes identical to the ones the students had. It was an interactive program and I only allowed students who were sitting quietly come and help. The student was asked to use the smaller shapes and make the larger hexagon shown by dragging them across the smart board. Then I asked the class to show me using their shapes. I circled around the room to check and for extra help for those who needed it. I have had no trouble with technology until this lesson. One of the shapes I formed on the program came completely apart. In my lesson I said that a student would do each activity, but for this specific one I showed the class. I had already called a student up to help me before the malfunction, so I allowed her to sit in my chair in the front while I showed the class. I did not want to send her back to her seat because the students take pride in coming to the front and helping. I let her help on the next activity. I felt that this was the most successful lesson. At the end of the lesson all students were able to name all five shapes and tell how many of the smaller shapes could make a larger one. I made very few adjustments to my lesson. Later in the lesson I allowed students to work in partners which I havent done much in my lessons. This was something I have wanted to do, but never found the right time to do so. With this lesson I also found a pattern block turkey worksheet, to relate to Thanksgiving next week. In the future I will try and add group work in as much as I see fit. It gives students a chance to communicate and share ideas while working cooperatively together. I will also relate my lessons to real life situations. Using the turkey worksheet at the end brought up a lot of Thanksgiving talk and it engaged the students.

Reflection on Possibilities on Professional Development Throughout teaching my five lessons and completing my teacher work sample I have set two professional development goals that I plan to work on while continuing through my clinical experiences and into my professional career. The first goal I have set for myself is to manage my time during my lessons. During my first lessons I never looked at the clock. My cooperating teacher did not give a time limit therefore I thought it was not an issue. It was until the

guidance teacher came in early during one of my lessons that I realized it would be useful to watch the clock. After this, my teacher and I sat down and discussed a time limit on the next lesson and how I should go about staying in the limit. She did not give me a time limit or an answer to my question; she simply, gave me the next lesson, told me what time the lesson before mine would end, and what time the lesson after mine would begin. This made me have to make time for my lesson, time put up materials, and have the students ready for her to teach the next lesson on time, as she did for me. I am very glad she did this because it taught me a great lesson on managing my time. From now on I will find out information like when the next lesson is scheduled to start and plan accordingly. I also found that wearing a watch and having a timer close by to monitor quiet work are beneficial. My next goal is to not be afraid of group/ partner work. I had a fear that the students would be out of hand and I could not control them. I found techniques such as clapping and waiting for a response from the students. I will use this along with ideas such as separating the groups around the room to maintain noise. I began watching different disciple techniques as well and will continue to observe other teachers and collect ideas. I did learn a lot from this clinical experience. I will move on with these professional development goals and work on them for the next clinical experience and my professional career as a teacher.