Alexander Chisholm

Reflection

Analysis and Instructional Decision Making

We would be collecting the exit tickets and homework to determine whether the students
had properly grasped the material. The questions on these assignments were created to mirror
the VSC and County Curriculum. If the students were shown to have not learned all of the
material certain topics would be reinforced with a warm-up activity the next day.

Reflection on Effectiveness

The strategy of silent reading was not particularly effective. After some difficulty with
the link the students were unfocused and many did not read the article. Having the students fill
out a graphic organizer would have helped improve this, or pursuing the activity earlier in the
lesson when the students were not so tired and distracted. The video was effective. The students
paid attention and gained mastery of the material. Moving through the class seemed to help keep
them focused on their work.

Reflection on Future Instruction

The first professional goal that emerged as a result of this was to always review the
materials prior to the presentation to avoid errors in the slides and other related problems. This
error cost valuable time to correct and could have been avoided. The second goal is to always
use graphic organizers when assigning a reading, no matter how short, to force the students to
actually read the passage.

Reflection on Technology Integration

The class was focused a little more with the technology. A small error with the web
address caused them to focus too heavily on it. Once it was corrected they became more focused
on the learning.

The technology almost seamlessly integrated into the classroom. The flow into the video
was very good but the reading caused a bit of a break. This would have been smoother if the we
hadn’t initially written the wrong URL but regardless of that, having the students type the URL
themselves creates a break in the flow.
 The technology provided the bulk of the instruction for the lesson. The teachers acted as
facilitators to provide supplement and help the students develop their understanding and critical
thinking.

I’m not sure if the technology helped any one student in particular. They all seemed to
have roughly the same reaction to it. No one student seemed to thrive on it or sink because of it.

The lesson would be possible without the technology, but holding the students’ attention
would be more difficult. The video allowed the information to be presented in a more visual way
which stimulates the students more and keeps them interested. Without the technology the
lesson would have been very dry.

All of the students were participating with the video, and as many as can be expected
given the circumstances were doing the reading. Those participating in the technology were
gaining a benefit from it as evidenced by their responses to the discussion questions.