7.

REFLECTION, SELF-EVALUATION, & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (showcase lesson) Whole Class Reflective
To enhance their instruction on ratios, I created an engaging math lesson. There were two objectives of the lesson: to enhance the students previous learning and to promote teambuilding skills using a group activity. I used basketball to relate this concept to mathematics and to combine these two objectives. Reflecting on the lesson, I know my enthusiasm was the driving force for the lesson; however, my enthusiasm did not provide the necessary steps to master the objectives.

I chose basketball as the direction I would use to relate math to real world problem solving. I knew the sport and I knew this age student would be able to relate. I did not realize that the students would not be ready to move from the concept of ratios to the concept of converting them to percentages, which is necessary for recording performance during a game or practice. I observed that they students were having difficulty with the warm-up activity. Their visual expressions and needed assistance was the give-away! At this point, I should have stopped and re-grouped my lesson plan. I should have included an additional activity to reteach the concept until the students mastered it with at least 75% accuracy. I would model the activity. Then we would have ten (10) problems to work independently. As a follow-up, the students would explain the steps they took in completing the answer. The cooperative activity could use an additional lesson also. I did not prepare the students for this activity nor did I prepare myself for the IFs and ANDs of this activity: IF the particular role of a student was not appropriately assigned AND if that role did not provide the student with sufficient responsibilities. However, on a positive note, the students enjoyed the activity and were able relate mathematics to sports. Next time and with much practice, I will learn to plan my lessons in chunks as a classmate of mine suggested. I will teach the lesson in sections as the students master the skill. Over-planning is something I just need to over-plan the lesson in the chunks.

 Three Individual Students Reflective

Student K(f) was the most successful learner. This learner worked independently during the warm-up activity and then assisted a classmate by explaining the steps in solving problems. During instruction, the learner did not engage with questions regarding the group activity or the instruction on converting decimals to percentages. During the group activity, the learner was an active participant: helping peers and performing her role adequately. The learner completed the post-assessment with 100%. Reflecting on this learner's pre-knowledge of the concept, I would have instructed her to complete one of the problems on the board and explain how she arrived at her answer. I recognize the need for an additional problem on the assessments that would require critical thinking for the "early finisher". Student D was the least successful learner after instruction. Prior to instruction, Student D was unable to complete the warm-up activity without assistance. During the post-assessment, the student was not able to determine the ratio; nor could the student choose the correct number to be the dividend and divisor in order to convert the ratio to a percentage. This student's lack of success was due to my lack of instruction and understanding. When 75% of the class is unable to complete the assignment independently, then this is a STOP sign: stop the planned lesson and re-teach until the students master the skill with at least 85% accuracy. Student S was average in in learning and meeting the lesson objectives. This learner had an understanding of converting a decimal to a percent using the "quick method" and an understanding of part-to-part and part-to-whole ratios. The student needed steps to calculate ratios to percentages. I should have displayed these steps visually for the students and solved at least four problems to assess the learning. Reflecting on these three students' learning, I did not prepare a lesson, which would provide flexibility. I needed to have a lesson to accommodate the diverse learners: small group instruction for those who scored less than 75% and a word problem for those who scored at 75% or higher. The word problem would entail critical thinking and apply the ratio and percentage concept.

 Reflection of Lessons Connecting Ratios with Real World Experiences - Lesson 1

Reflection on Initial Planning: When planning the lesson, I wanted the students to connect math to a real world problem. I wanted them to realize how we use ratios in sports. Connecting math to a real world problem was a great idea. I believe in a strategy that connects learning. Connecting gave the students a purpose for learning and enhancing their knowledge of ratios. I planned the lesson with the presumption that the students would have a clear understanding of part-to-whole ratios. The warm-up activity would act as a review of their previous learning and then I would move right into our group activity. I was unsure about how to present the lesson to these middle school students. I consulted with Mrs. Latham. She highly recommended my creating a PowerPoint to review ratios and instruct the students. She said that the PowerPoint would keep the students engaged, focused, and directed. It was also do the same for me! The PowerPoint followed the instructions and notes that were contained in the lesson folder I provided to each student. I provided a lesson folder for each student and myself. The folder organized the lesson and its necessary papers for instruction, notes, and assessments. Keeping all of this in one folder saved time. I did not waste time distributing sheets of paper throughout the lesson. More importantly, the lesson folder gave the students ownership to the lesson. They had their own folder to review their work, keep notes, and follow written instructions for the group activity. The cooperative group activity enhanced learning by applying ratios to a real world problem to solve. I chose the sport of basketball to relate to ratios to a real world problem. The use of a team sport emphasized the importance of team building skills when there is a mutual goal. In this activity, the students determined which groups player made the highest percentage of shots to the basket. Each student in the group had an assigned role: timekeeper, player, coach, and recorder. I continued with the theme of a team sport by providing each group with a team shirt. I also related the students roles to sports. To close the lesson, I assessed their learning with a post-assessment on converting ratios to percentages. After they completed the post-assessment, the students were required to complete evaluations on themselves and their team members. The post-assessment and evaluations were located in their lesson folder. Reflection on Implementation and Student Response to Learning: I looked up the word implementation and read its meaning as a verb: to put into effect according to a definite plan or procedure (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/implement?s=t).

I implemented all that I planned! I began class with distributing the lesson folders and the team shirts. I instructed the students to begin working on their warm-up activity. Because the students and I were excited about the pending group activity, I had to re-focus and direct their attention to the warm-up sheet. The problems were supposed to be a review of identifying ratios. Unexpectedly, most of the students were not able to complete the word problems independently. After I assisted the students with completing the warm-up, I moved on to the PowerPoint presentation, which coincided with the information found in the lesson folder. I projected the notes and I modeled how to convert the ratio to a percentage using the Quick Method. The students focused on the instruction, but like me, they were ready to move on to the group activity. The group activity appealed to the diverse learning styles of the students and their interest in sports. My excitement for the activity was contagious and this excitement was not completely a positive part of the lesson. I lost direction and structure. Additionally, I did not plan for the roles that I assigned to be non-performing roles. If this activity had been more engaging for each student, then it would have been a success. On a positive note, I was able to close the lesson with connecting the math lesson. The students gained a purpose for learning ratios. They learned how ratios are effective for a coach and a player. Reflection of Student Response to the Lesson and the Teaching Environment: All that I planned, I implemented. Thats the best way for me to share this reflection. In response to the lesson, I only accomplished one objective: Upon completing an activity, students will make mathematical connections as a team when problem solving a ratio activity scoring at least 10 out of 15 possible points using a rubric, 7-1.7. The students did make a connection of ratios. They connected how the use of ratios benefits the players and coaches. However, I should have prepared the students for the elements of the cooperative learning group activity. These elements were important in their learning. I did not accomplish the first objective: Given four word problems, the student will convert ratios to decimals to percentages with 75% accuracy, 7-1.8, less than half of the class scored 75% or higher on the post-assessment. Reflecting on this lesson as a teacher, I learned a lot at the expense of my students. I learned to adhere to the objectives of the lesson. The objectives are not just a part of the plan; they ARE the plan. I need to be more observant of the students learning. I was aware that the students were having difficulty with ratios. At that point, I should have been prepared to re-direct instruction. Like the students, I was too excited about the group activity.

Representing Proportions Using Equations - Lesson 2

Reflection on Initial Planning: After the first lesson, I determined that I needed to stay on task. The task was to follow thru with my objective: The student will be able to cross multiply the means and the extremes of two ratios to solve for one (1) variable with an accuracy rate of 75%. 7-2.C. When I studied the chapter for this lesson, it was very confusing. The students were required to read a word problem and use the Capture-Recapture method to make two ratios proportional. The students were not familiar with this method, nor were they familiar with why marine biologists use this in their experiments. The initial word problem involved biologists tagging endangered fish. I decided to research the method using this information. I found a video that documented marine biologists tagging fish in the Colorado River. When listening to the video, I heard the biologist say that they would use the Capture-Recapture method to estimate the growth of this endangered fish in the Colorado River. This video would be the foundation of the lesson. After studying the video, I needed to understand the method that the book was requiring the students to learn. Once I understood it, it was now time to figure out how I would teach this very involved word problem to the class. Reflection on Implementation: I made my plan, now the task was to put this plan in to effect and teach. I introduced the lesson using the video. I also interjected the role of the marine biologist in this experiment. THIS was my EEDA requirement for the lesson. The video was engaging with its beautiful scenery and sounds of a flowing river. The video introduced the students to a real world problem, which the marine biologists solved using math. After the video, I summarized it and engaged the students with a discussion about the video. Then I introduced the capture-recapture method. When teaching the method, I used various colors so the students could connect the words with the numbers. It was just as confusing using the colors. Like me, all they saw were numbers.

To close the lesson, I summarized this scientific experiment and emphasized how math connected to this marine experiment. Reflection of Student Response to the Lesson and the Teaching Environment: I did not have a post-assessment for this lesson. I used the lesson as a basic introduction to making ratios proportionate. Reflecting, the video was a good way to engage the students and to introduce them to the connection. However, the method was too involved for this group. When this occurs, I need to decide what is important about this concept and break it down. The students need to master one skill or step at a time and then bring it together.

I have a lot to learn!

Identifying the Central Idea and Supporting Details A Positive Co-Teaching Experience - Lesson 3
Reflection on Initial Planning: During our initial planning, Mrs. Latham and I reviewed the lessons objectives and forms of assessments. We decided that co-teaching this lesson would be positive for me and for the students. We chose a model that suited this class and the lesson. I needed additional practice with the Promethean board and with instruction. Mrs. Latham knew the students and could better divide the class into cooperative learning groups using student personalities and behaviors. She determined the group activity, which we used as a form of assessment. We chose the Supportive Teaching model. I taught the class and she assisted. With her guidance, I prepared the lesson and created a PowerPoint to present the lesson. Two days prior to the lesson, I submitted the lesson plan to Mrs. Latham. With her approval, we implemented our instruction. Reflection on Implementation: I was not familiar with using the Promethean board. As a result, the instruction did not flow, as I wanted. However, I engaged the students by using informational text titled Flies Smell With Their Feet. The students followed my presentation and answered questions. Looking back on

the presentation, I would like to have a device that advances the slides. This would provide the opportunity to walk about the room and be at a closer proximity to the students. After presenting the learning strategy for identifying the central ideas and supporting details, I used the text Flies Smell With Their Feet to model the Boxes and Bullets comprehension strategy. The students used this strategy to complete their group activity. Mrs. Latham divided the class into three groups, assigned the roles to each student, and provided the materials for the group activity. In each group, there was a writer, presenter, leader, and timekeeper. Each group read a different article. The students in the group used the headings and subheadings to identify the central ideas by making them a statement. To find the supporting details, the students formed these statements into questions and answered them while reading the text. I required the students to use a 8 x 11 piece of paper and fold it twice. This created four sections: one subheading for each section. The students wrote the central idea in a drawn box and bulleted the supporting details. After the students completed this part of the activity, they discussed their individual findings and came together with the central ideas and supporting details from each subheading. The writer was responsible for recording their answers on a large piece of paper. Once completed, the presenter of each group discussed the central ideas and supporting details as were written. Reflecting on the implementation of the lesson, she and I contributed to the lesson equally. I presented the content and modeled the instruction for the group activity. Mrs. Latham was available to assist the students. She and I circulated about the room to assist the students. Mrs. Latham completed the individual and group evaluations. She also assessed the groups activity and used it as an assessment. Reflection of Student Response to the Lesson and the Teaching Environment: Our instructional goal was to present the content through visual, auditory, and kinesthetic means: a PowerPoint presentation and a group activity. The informational texts appealed to their age group and were on their reading levels. They did a super job identifying the central

ideas and supporting details. I assessed their learning during and the instruction and upon completing of the activity. The students responded positively to the co-teaching instruction. It provided additional assistance for them. Reflection of Co-Teaching Experience: Prior to co-teaching the lesson, Mrs. Latham and I shared our ideas on classroom management and our styles of teaching. We also discussed out interests and experiences. She shared instructional strategies that had proven to be successful for this class. Sharing and gathering this information provided background information of each other. We formed a professional relationship, which was vital when instructing a class using the co-teaching method.