Running Head: Competency F

Competency F: Reflective Planning and Instruction Matthew Cheatham Regent University November 17, 2013

Running Head: Competency F Rationale: Reflective planning and instruction is a key element for successful teachers because it embodies the notion that constructive criticism should be considered for classroom implementation. Every teacher makes mistakes, and that is especially true for those that are new to the profession, so advice that is given from those who have progressed past their initial mistakes makes for invaluable learning opportunities. Starting at my first placement in fifth

grade, I initially struggled with one very important aspect of teaching: introductions and closures to lessons. Perhaps because my mind was so preoccupied with communicating the lesson itself, I tended to discard the importance of introducing and closing lessons. After conferring with my cooperating teacher and noting this inconsistency, I put forth efforts to better my instruction. I then began to mentally employ a method of facilitating a lesson plan properly, and while it may seem quite elementary, worked quite well. I began visualizing my lessons like I was writing a three-paragraph story: definite beginning, definite middle, and definite end, and I was able to diagnose student participation and understanding much more efficiently using this method. For introductions, I would invoke student participation on material that was taught the prior class because it not only got the students ready for the upcoming material, but also allowed me to gauge the depth of their understanding just in case I needed to make any slight adjustments to the current lesson. For closures, a simple recapitulation of material by the students, either by discussion or by exit tickets, allowed me to gauge how well the students absorbed the material on that day. Tools such as KWL charts are student-centered, and can activate background knowledge prior to introducing a lesson, and I used them quite regularly. This clear introduction/closure methodology is also beneficial to the students because they receive more

Running Head: Competency F quality instruction and are allowed more time to switch gears during a full days worth of multiple disciplines. Soon enough, I began crafting my lesson plans with more clear introductions and closures. Even if these two parts of a lesson plan do not require very much time to facilitate, observe, and analyze, they are instrumental in the success of any lesson plan.