Prompt for ED 201 Lesson Self-Assessment

Name: Sarah Fadness

Lesson Topic: Subtraction Methods
Date Observed: 11.05.14
School/Grade Level/Number of Students Taught: Manitoba/ 4th grade/ 4 students
Cooperating Teacher Name: Mrs. Richards
Planning and Preparation:
How did your lesson design reflect what actually happened in the lesson? What did/would you have
changed? Were you able to teach the lesson in the allotted time? Why or why not? Were your lesson
objectives clearly stated and describe what your students actually learned?

My lesson design did reflect what happened in the lesson. I did follow my lesson and
referred to it as we went along. I was not able to teach the lesson in the 30 minute time allotted.
That is something I would definitely change. I saw that the kids were understanding the concept,
so I should have taken that observation and I could have skipped some examples. Having
numerous examples, made it go over time along with having each student at times explain how
they found an answer. For future times, I may only have one student share per time, then have
another student share for the next example. That will save time while still having peer learning
going on in the classroom. My learning objectives were clearly stated and they reflected what
we learned. My learning objective was to teach the trade-first and the partial difference model of
subtraction and have the students use them. That is what we did in the lesson. The whole lesson
was about using the models to help them better solve subtraction problems. My whole lesson
plan was exactly what my objectives stated and I followed them throughout my lesson.
Learning Environment:
How did you encourage student participation and elicit responses from all students? What strategies did
you use to manage and monitor student behavior? How did you engage them in responding to you and
each other?

Throughout my whole lesson, I wanted student participation. I wanted my students to

talk to each other and myself. I wanted student participation to keep their attention. I believe I
was successful with the student participation. I had a volunteer come up and share a subtraction
problem with the group. To increase student participation, I wrote down subtraction problems on
colored Popsicle sticks. The students then were able to pick from a pile and each had their own
subtraction problem to do. With monitoring behavior, I walked around the students, keeping my
eye on them. No matter where I stood, I could easily see all the students without turning my
back on any of them. My students were very respectful and well behaved, making this a great
experience. To initially engage the students and make for a positive environment, I had the
students participate in an ice breaker with me. We each told each other three things about
ourselves, or things we like. I started off by sharing with them first. When doing the ice breaker,
I made sure to sit down. That showed that I was on their level and we were all human, sharing
things we like. I believe that made for a better environment and atmosphere.

Classroom Instruction:
What strategies and/or procedures did you use to assist students in learning the lesson content? How
effective were those strategies/procedures in helping students learn? What changes or adjustments did you
need to make during the lesson?

A strategy I used to assist the students in learning the content was bringing in the prop of
Popsicle sticks. That gave the students something to touch and hold. Having the Popsicles sticks
be different colors, made it more exciting for the students. A girl was excited to choose a
different color each time. I also brought white boards for the students to use. That gave them
something other to write on other than paper. I believe they strategies were effective. I also used
a PowerPoint as a visual for the students to look at and refer to. That helped focus the students
attention on my laptop, keeping concentration. A change I made to the lesson, was not showing
an extra example problem in my PowerPoint. I saw that the students were understanding the
information and I thought it would be beneficial to skip the problem and move on to the Popsicle
sticks. Also, an adjustment I made was spending more time helping a student. I saw someone
was lagging and I stopped to help. I did not want him to fall behind, so while the other kids were
working in their math journals, I helped him work through subtraction problems. Adjustments
are meant to help my students and that meant slowing down, making sure no one was left behind.
While I was working individually, the other students were working ahead in their journal.
Assessment:
How did you know if the students learned what you taught them? What did you learn from listening to
student responses, examining their work or observing their interactions? How well did your assessments
connect to the lesson objectives?

I used observation to know if the students were learning the material. That observation
came into play when the students worked with the Popsicle sticks. When they shared their
answers with the group, I made mental notes about their understanding. When a student shared
his answer, I saw that his math was not correct. I then worked through the problem, ensuring his
understanding. This helped me learn who was on the right path, who was on the verge, and who
needed more assistance. I saw nonverbal cues to guide my lesson plan. My assessments
connected to the learning objectives because they were subtraction problems where the students
had to solve them using the methods that we talked about.

Professional Responsibilities:
How did you seek feedback from your cooperating teacher? What did you learn from his/her feedback
and how did you apply it to your lesson?

To seek feedback from my cooperating teacher, I emailed her the lesson I had created.
She then gave me feedback saying that it looked great. I then used that feedback to see that what
I had planned will benefit the students. I applied her feedback because she knows the students
well and she knows what works for them. Her feedback was beneficial because I then knew she
approved of my lesson and that I was on the right page.

Reflection:
What did you learn about teaching, student learning and assessing from this lesson? How would you use
what you learned for future instructional experiences? Based on this lesson, what Wisconsin Teaching
Standard represents your area of greatest growth this semester? What standard represents an area of
further development for you? Why?

From this lesson, I learned more about teaching, student learning, and assessing. When it
came to teaching, I learned that you need to make adjustments to the lesson. This time, I
followed my lesson, but in the future, I will take the observations from the students and I can
possibly eliminate numerous examples. I saw that the students were on the right page, but I
continued on with my examples and the lesson, but in future times, I can cut out examples.
Cutting out examples, will help keep the pace of the lesson on track. From student learning, I
saw first-hand how one student may need more assistance while the others may not. I took that
cue and made time for individual help. With assessing, I learned the importance of it.
Observation helps to see if the students are with me or ten steps behind me. For future lessons, I
will take the student cues and will either speed the lesson up or slow it down. For future lessons,
I believe if I use that idea, I will keep my students interest while helping them be successful.
Based on this lesson the Wisconsin Teaching Standard that I have grown at this semester was
becoming a reflective practitioner. I am constantly thinking about the choices I make with
teaching affecting the students. I know that I have strengths and I have weaknesses. I want to
continue to keep growing and I take feedback from my peers and superiors. I sought feedback
from the students I worked with to learn about what I can do better next time. The standard that I
want to keep working on is teaching effectively. I will keep working on using multiple
instructional strategies to keep my students interest. I want to incorporate more technology into
my future lessons, encouraging students to use it. I want to encourage my students to think
critically and to dig deeper. I will take all the feedback I receive and I will continue to keep
working on becoming the best teacher I can be.