8.

Reflection, Self-Evaluation, and Professional Development

Section 1: Whole Class Reflection

A. Based on the data from the five lessons, the students as a whole gained knowledge
from the lessons. I would also say that all of the students reached the daily
objectives and the whole unit objective. Each student made gains between their pre-
assessment and their post-assessment test.
When looking at the mini-unit and the pre-assessment test, I decided it was best to
split one of the lessons into two different days. The accommodation was made for
the students who need to focus on one task at a time. From the pre-assessment test
and the first lesson pre-assessment, I noticed that the students did not fully
understand the term Prediction. Since many of the students could make a
prediction, but did not understand the terminology, I spent the first lesson focusing
more on the definition.
When planning the mini-unit, I decided to include more turn and talks in each lesson
than written in the Lucy Calkins unit book. This allowed me to see what the students
were thinking during the lesson. I also included a lesson with drawing and a lesson
that used the Chromebooks to read. This was added based off of the students
interests. Many of the students in the class struggled with reading and writing.
Including the students interests strikes their attention toward the lesson.
B. The first lesson of the unit focused on the definition of prediction and gave students
time to practice making predictions. From the pre-assessment I saw that the
students did not fully understand the definition of prediction. I then modified the
lesson to focus and review the definition of prediction. From the post-assessment I
noticed that the students could fully create and draw out a prediction. I used the
information I learned from lesson one to adapt lesson two.
Because of the first lesson, I decided to review the definition of prediction once
again before I started the lesson. This time the scores came out more positive. This
showed me that I was ready to have the students dig deeper to find details to back
up their predictions.
Lesson three focused on story retell. From the assessments, I could see that the
students could create retells, but they lacked details. This showed me that the
students fully needed the lesson as it was written.
Lesson four and five originally were for one lesson. I decided to split them because
of the students learning styles. The one lesson became two partner days for the
students. Based on the prior lessons, the students could use the extra work and
what better way to learn than with a fellow classmate. The students helped push
each other and assisted one another, better than I ever could have individually.
 C. When teaching the lesson again, I would continue to have the last lesson split into
two different lessons. I would modify the last half of the lesson by creating a final
project to keep students on task. After two full days of partner work, the students
became rambunctious and slowly got off task. I feel that if I included a final project,
the students would take their partner work more serious. I would also like to include
more drawing or reading from the Chromebooks. The students really enjoyed the
lessons for reading that included something else other than reading a paper book
and writing in their journals.

Sections 2: Three Individual Students

A. Higher achieving student: This student was very successful in every lesson. They had
an eight point gain between their pre-test and post-test assessment. I believe this
student was successful was because they were always attentive during the lessons. I
could always count on this student to be listening and answering questions as I
asked them. I also believe they were successful because they felt challenged. This
student would tell me of how they previously did not do well in school. After seeing
their grades in third grade, they began to feel confident and work hard to maintain
the grades. This student would tell me of how they would read and study at home as
well. This student was challenged by the lessons because they would often come to
me with even more questions pertaining to the topic. The student had a large sense
of curiosity. I believe that in the future, I would try to work more one-on-one with
this student to push them further with higher order thinking.
B. Average achieving student: This student had a seven point gain between their pre-
test and post-test assessment. This student scored in the 80s for every assignment. I
believe this student was successful in the lessons because they were dedicated. They
would attempt to do their very best. When they would raise their hand, I would be
sure to call on them to hear their thoughts on the subject. This student also had a
lack of success in the lessons, and I believe this was because they were too busy
talking to their friends. In the future, I could make sure that the students sit beside a
designated partner, in order to prevent chatting.
C. Lower achieving student: This student made a six point gain between their pre-test
and post-test assessments. I believe the main reason for this students lack of
success was caused by the loss of additional help. This student previously received
ESOL help during reading lessons. I believe the student was having a hard time
adjusting to the change. I would like to see this student receive RTI during reading if
a spot becomes available. The student also struggles with their attention. I would
often see this student staring off away from the board or speaker. I believe this was
caused by a lack of interest towards reading since there is great difficulty in the
 subject. In the future I would like to use the students interests to help spike their
interest in reading. I would also sit them closer to me or the board during lessons on
the carpet.

Section 3: Reflection on Mini-Unit

1. How did my lesson accurately reflect and connect to students lives, prior knowledge, and
background information to enhance learning?
The reading unit I taught connected to the students personally because I knew how the students
learned best. I also had the pre-test assessment to see what prior knowledge the students had
on the subjects. According to the pre-test, only seven students were thinking on a third grade
level when it came to predictions and story retell. I also knew what students could be partnered
together and which students had behavior or attention difficulties during instruction. Knowing
these things about a class can help lessons run smoothly so that each student can learn
effectively.
2. How did my selection of strategies, activities, and resources enhance the delivery of my
lesson?
By using different teaching strategies I was able to help the students stay connected
during the lesson and the assessments. The students read from their Chromebooks and
the Smartboard. Students use technology every day out of school. If the students know
how to operate the technology, you might as well use it to boost their reading. The
students also love to talk. This gave me the idea to create more turn and talks during my
lessons. The students were able to learn from not only my thoughts, but their peers
thoughts as well. All of the students would have opinions or thoughts they wanted to
share. Using turn and talks allowed the lesson to run much more quickly, in order to
leave time for them to practice. I also used the students art interests during the first
lesson of the unit. Since the students love drawing, I decided to use it for them to
explain a prediction.
3. How did my knowledge and understanding of the content help the students achieve the
planned lesson objective?
For majority of the time I had full understanding and knowledge of the content. There
were a few times that I would be asked a questions and I would have to tell the student
that I would get back to them with an answer. I believe that my understanding of the
content assisted the students in their learning. I also believe that when I did not know
the answer to something, the students saw that I too had to study and learn the
material.
4. What adjustments/modifications did I make as I taught the lessons? Why did I make these?
I modified the Lucy Calkins lesson to fit the students needs. I focused more on
terminology than the book had planned for me to. I had noticed from the pre-test and
 first lesson pre-assessment that the students were not that familiar with the terms. I
also added additional turn and talks during each lesson, as well as thumb ups and
downs. This allowed the students to be involved during times when I would be
introducing an idea or topic. It also gave me an opportunity to receive feedback from
the students and make sure that they were attentive during the lesson.
5. Were the lesson objectives met? How do I know? What evidence of learning did the
students provide?
The students did meet each lesson objective, as well as the full unit objective. Each of
the students had a gain between their pre-test and post-test assessments. The smallest
gain was three points, and the largest was a twelve point gain. Referring to the graphs in
the Teacher Work Sample Six, each of the individual lessons had an increasing gain.
Each lesson about predictions built on the previous lesson. If a student had not learned
the material from the previous day, their scores would have fallen.
6. Did I prepare and manage my time and routines so that instructional time was maximized.
I prepared a great deal of time for each of the lessons. I would create any needed
posters prior to the students entering the room. I would have the Smartboard on if it
would be needed. I also would have the mentor text and Lucy Calkins Unit One book
beside me if needed. During instruction, I believe I managed the time very carefully in
order for the students to have efficient time to practice their new skill. I believe I
struggled more with the time during independent or partner work. I would go around
and visit with individuals or partners and lose track of time. One of the best parts of the
lesson was the routine. The routine helped the lessons run smoothly because the
students knew what to expect. After related arts they would come directly to the carpet.
They knew that when they were to turn and talk it was to be about the discussion topic.
7. In teaching this lesson today, what did I learn about this group of students or individual
students that I will now use to facilitate student learning for future lessons?
I learned from this particular group of students that I needed to pay close attention to
lessons to see if they were too much for them. After I split the last lesson of my mini-
unit, I saw an increase in scores. I would like to take this information to heart, in order
to help the students in the future. I also learned that I needed to review terms in order
for the students to understand test questions in the future.

Section 4 Reflection for Professional Development

1. The first professional development goal that I have is behavior management. This class
had a variety of behavior problems varying from bullying, talking, and to sleeping. I
could handle the bullying and talking effectively. I would like to see how other teachers
address sleeping in their classroom. I noticed that majority of the students that would
sleep would put their arms or knees inside their shirt. I would address that it is not
 appropriate to do that, but the student would continue to do so. With me telling to
student to repeatedly take their arms or legs out of their shirt, I would be interrupting
my lesson. I would like to see how to properly address this without disturbing the
lesson.
2. The second professional development goal that I have is time management. I have no
difficulties breezing through the instruction, but I tend to get caught up while I am
visiting during practice time. In the past I had difficulty with wanting to hear every
students thought. I chose to adjust my lessons by adding in turn and talks so that I
could get a small amount of feedback during the lesson. I would like to be able to find a
way to receive feedback and give additional help to students more effectively during
practice times.