Doering 1

Planning, teaching, and receiving feedback on a lesson of my very own has been one of
the most helpful assignments in my entire college career. It was different experience than just
planning a lesson in isolation or volunteering in the classroom. It taught me a lot about what it
takes to be a teacher, but it also taught me about myself. I learned four major lessons from this
experience: planning instruction, implementing lessons, assessing student learning, and my own
strengths and weaknesses.
The first thing I learned was that each and every little section of a lesson has a purpose. I
spent a really long time finessing how I was going to teach the material, what I was going to say
on each page of my read-aloud, how I was going to keep the students engaged during the whole
lesson, how I would support my low-achievers and EL students, and how I would know what
students were learning during the lesson. I drew on all of my resources: my classes at
Dominican, my experience as a volunteer in the classroom, my fellow classmates input, my
friends and family as practice students. I tried to plan a lesson that was similar to something the
students teacher would have normally done, but added in my own elements. I chose to create a
poster with the students drawings because then my lesson would fit into the larger unit and plan
of the classroom teacher, as this was what she was doing for all the parts of the plant. I chose to
introduce the new material through a read-aloud and have students draw a picture to show their
learning because it was something that I felt was developmentally appropriate for
kindergarteners. I chose to let my students draw their favorite seed because that gave them the
power of choice and engaged them. I chose to introduce hand motions, read a story that had real
pictures, and bring in real sprouted lima beans to support my ELs. I chose to include a song for
my special needs child because I knew that he really enjoyed music. I chose to hand students

Doering 2
their paper individually and ask them what seed they were going to draw to focus them, aid that
transition between the carpet and their desks, and support my low-achievers. But for all my
planning, my lesson went much differently than I expected.
The second thing I learned was that implementing a lesson is much different than
planning it. You can plan all you want, but once you are in front of your students, everything is
different. Many things changed the day of my lesson: I didnt have the popcorn for my hook
because the teacher had forgotten it in her car that morning. My discussion of prior knowledge
went much longer than I expected so the students got really antsy. I had to change the hand
motions I had planned during the story into body motions to keep them from getting too wiggly.
During the creation of the poster, students were quite chatty with each other and didnt know
how to answer my questions so I finally had to tell them the final fact. The well-meaning aide
had decided to lay out papers on each of the students desks instead of letting me pass them out.
She also started writing the responses of each and every child on their paper, regardless of
whether or not they were a TK or Kindergarten student. I couldnt find the tape so I wasnt able
to create the poster on the spot like I had planned. Students were confused about where to put
their drawings when they were finished and what to do after they were finished. We ran out of
time so I wasnt able to teach the students the song and almost had to skip my closure activity
because they refused to stop talking. These things could have caused my lesson to be a disaster,
but I just had to adapt quickly and do my best.
The third thing that I learned was that assessing student learning can be more complicated
than it appears. Sometimes, student work doesnt show you what students learned, but their
developmental level. Many of my TK students chose to draw a rainbow seed, something that

Doering 3
they had a lot of fun drawing, but doesnt exist. It wasnt part of my lesson, I didnt address it at
all, but I also didnt dissuade them from drawing it. Nor did I give them enough examples of
what real seeds do look like. I verbally gave them examples, I showed them pictures of seeds in a
book, and I passed out sprouted seeds, but some students needed more than that. By drawing a
seed that doesnt exist, they showed me that they understood what seeds look like, and that, in
theory, they understand that flowers come from seeds, but they just arent ready to draw a real
plant. They are still young and like imagining things, like a rainbow flower. In addition, there are
so many things happening in the classroom at all times that it can be difficult to observe
everything that students are learning. One of my assessment tools was observing and listening to
students as they followed along with the hand motions or answered questions about seeds for the
poster. I found myself purposefully calling on students that I knew would know the answer to
save time and energy. If I am using this technique to assess the learning of the whole class, but
then only calling on students that I already think understand, how am I gaining any new
information? I think this is just something that I will have to practice and get better at with time.
The fourth, and final, thing that I learned was my current strengths and weaknesses as a
teacher. After reflecting on my own thoughts and my feedback from my supervisor, I know that I
need to work on explaining directions and transitions. Since I knew that the kindergarteners do
the same thing every day after drawing activities (read a book on the carpet), I assumed that I
would be able to simply say tell them to do that once students started finishing and they would.
Not so. Students need constant reminders of what they should be doing well before the fact, or
the class will erupt into chaos. Having said that, a strength that I now have is authority. My
supervisor said that I could work on my teacher voice a bit, but its there. I know that it didnt

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used to be. Ive gained experience and confidence in the classroom and am making progress. But
I have a long way to go. Im ready for the challenge.
This assignment was truly valuable. I feel much more prepared to student teach and have
even started looking for ideas on how to correct my mistakes in my fieldwork. I will use the
lessons I learned in planning instruction, implementing lessons, and assessing student learning
during the next semester and years of my life as a student and regular teacher. I hope that I never
stop learning and growing, just like my students.