Amanda Benson

EDE 4940.011 Final Internship

Supervisor Observation 1 Multiplying Fractions

Lesson Plan & Implementation: Reflection and Analysis

Reflection:
Overall, I felt really good teaching this lesson on multiplying fractions. I felt that
my behavior management skills are greatly improving as well as me being seen as an
authority figure versus just an intern. One thing that surprised me the most was how
excited the students got when I included some of their names and interests into the word
problems. I found that such a simple thing could make a big difference in the engagement
and interest levels of the students during the lesson. One particular encounter that comes
to mind for this lesson was the variety of strategies the students came up with to solve the
word problems. As I rotated around the room, I took note of what models students used to
multiply fractions and found that students created arrays, equal groupings, and used
standard algorithm to solve these problems. Taking the time to rotate around the room to
see the students various methods not only gave me an insight on their thinking skills but
also allowed me to call on these students to share their various methods with the rest of
the class. This gave students the opportunity to both explain their method and justify why
they chose that method to use or to be introduced to a different method to solve the
problem. For example, when a student shared his method of using equal grouping to
solve the problem he justified his reasoning for using this model by being able to visually
see how to work out the problem. This sharing led to a positive outcome of influencing
visual learners to use this model as well when solving for a fractional part of a whole
number. If I had the opportunity to teach this lesson again to the same group of students I

would keep the turn and talk question the same for the students because it greatly
increased the engagement in the classroom as well as allowed the students to expand their
thinking by justifying the answer they chose. One thing I would change would be
allowing the opportunity for this group of students to have more time using math
manipulatives to help them create different models to solve for the problems.

Analysis:
Overall, about 16 out of 21 students learned what was intended for them to learn.
I can make this claim based on the students self-assessment ranks, the students ticket out
the door, the students participation points, and the students turn and talk discussion. My
instructional material of the students self-assessment chart was effective because six
students ranked themselves as either a novice or an apprentice which indicates that
they need guidance with teacher time. This opportunity allowed the students to be honest
and discreetly ask for the help if they truly needed it. By the end of teacher time these six
students could independently solve for a fractional part of a whole with limited guidance.
From reflecting back to the video recoding of my lesson I noticed during the 16-minute
mark that every student was participating in the turn and talk discussion. I know this
activity was effective because on my tally mark chart every student received at least one
or more check marks for participating during this discussion and for being on task at this
time. Another reflection I made when looking back at my video recording was at the 22minute mark when I saw every student utilizing the material of their mini-white board to
solve the problems on the PowerPoint. One accommodation that positively impacted the
lesson was allowing one student use a tablet during the lesson. This student was given the
opportunity to utilize the tool they feel most comfortable using. The student using the

tablet instead of a mini-white board to solve the problems helped keep this student
engaged and focused on their work.
The students who struggled in todays lesson were M.A., A.M., I.S., N.E., and
B.R. I can account for their performance because these students ranked themselves as
either a novice or as an apprentice for a self-assessment. Even though effort may
have not been the problem due to their participation in the turn and talk discussion,
comprehension of the lesson became the struggle due to their little participation in
sharing their work in front of the class. After a mini reteach lesson occurred in teacher
time for this small group a great improvement showed right away. Misconceptions were
addressed and step-by-step problem solving helped these students achieve their goal of
finding a fractional part of a whole number independently with little guidance. The group
of students who did exceptionally well in todays lesson were N.I., L.D., H.E., R.O., J.E.,
and S.P. I can account for this performance by these students participation points, selfassessment ranks, and ticket out the door. These students had multiple tally marks for
both participating in the turn and talk discussion and for sharing their strategies and
justifications with the class as a whole. These students also self-assessed themselves and
were ranked as experts for this lesson. In order for these students to rank themselves as
an expert they had to feel confident for solving a fractional part of a whole with one or
less error when problem solving. These students also showed mastery of the content by
getting a 100% on the ticket out the door assessment at the end of the lesson. Based on
what happened in this lesson my next step is to readdress the misconceptions of
multiplying fractions because it is a continuing unit and must be 100% understood.

Another step for me would be to increase the utilization of math manipulatives during my
future math lessons.

Student Data of the Ticket Out the Door