TWS 7: Instructional Decision Making

A. Reflection of provided Feedback

I provided and used feedback throughout the course of the mini unit to guide my instruction.
The data from the pre assessment initially helped me begin planning for the mini unit
because I was able to start where students needed information. Through the course of the
unit, I used various assessments and approaches to receive feedback. One main example that
I chose to use during lessons is a strategy called thumbs up, thumbs down. This is a quick
formative assessment that allows me to gage students understanding. I would ask a question
and students give thumbs up if they agree and thumbs down if they disagree. This let me
know whether or not I should continue moving forward in the lesson or if I needed to go back
over something. I also provided students with feedback according to the answers I received.
I also used several other assessments including a check list, cause and effect map, note
booking, and quizzes and tests. After students completed an assignment I looked over them to
check for student understanding. I used this to plan accordingly for my next lesson so if the
majority of the class did not do well, I reviewed the topic before we moved on to the next
lesson. At this point, I provided students with feedback regarding their work. If students
performed well, I made an effort to tell them they were doing great and to continue their hard
work. If students seemed to struggle with the material, I provided feedback on areas they
may need to focus on and I also provided them with clarification for things they did not
understand. I also conferenced with students as they worked and I provided feedback to
students and answered questions. If I had a student or small group that needed help I would
pull a small group and do a short review. This is when I addressed the three individual
students that I followed in this unit. The student that exceeded the standard works at a higher

rigor of learning and I engaged her with more information to challenge her. The student that
is at standard required feedback and motivation to continue working, and the below standard
student was usually pulled in a small group for review. This student also required more
individualized instruction. This provided a chance for more individualized instruction to
ensure that the needs of all learners were met.

B. Reflection on Adjustments to Instruction

Throughout the unit I used student feedback to adjust and monitor lessons. Feedback from
students during the lessons helped me teacher gage the pace of the lessons and to plan for the
next lesson. While students were working on flip books I walked around to assess student
progress. I used a check list to keep track of student work and this allowed me to organize where
students were and how I needed to plan for my next lesson. For example, at one point during my
unit I checked flip books and found that students were struggling with the different men of the
American Revolution. After reviewing my check list, I realized that for my next lesson we would
still need to work on flip books and focus a little more on the different men of the Revolution to
help students have a better understanding. I planed my lesson as a review and actually used some
interactive examples to help students distinguish the different military men. I noticed after the
second lesson that students had a better understanding of the different military men of the
Revolution. I used the quick formative assessment of thumbs up, thumbs down to check for
understanding during lessons. If students seemed not to understand something I knew to back
track and re-explain the material in a different approach. I used feedback from student
assessments to check for understanding of the material. If the majority of the class performed
poorly, I reviewed and sometimes retaught the material. With most assessments in this unit, I

found that only a few students needed a review and this worked well because I could pull a small
group and provide individualized instruction and feedback regarding the lesson.