Jordan Suber

TWS 8 Reflection, Self-Evaluation, & Professional Development

Section 1: Whole Class reflective discussion should include:
A.) How your instructional decisions impacted the whole classes learning (in a positive or negative way) specifically addressing modifications implemented (or needed but not implemented) as a result of teaching and student performance in all learning domains. I believe that overall my approach of presenting my lessons and constructed assessments, provided a supportive learning environment for all of my students. I am aware that there may have been a few times where I gave instructions to the whole class and then had to pull one or two of my students aside and give them my instructions again on an individual basis for the reason that they were my less inclined learners. By doing so, this acquired my time away from the whole group and in return unanswered questions they may have had at the beginning of the lesson. Some students have the attitude that if I do not get my question answered right now, I wont ask it. I am scared that the time I was spending giving repeated directions were opportunities wasted to answer vital questions my other students may have had. I also feel that after my first or second lesson, I was able to utilize my experience from those previous lessons with my third graders to better prepare me for accommodations that needed to be made from that point forward. By making these accommodations for those future lessons, I was able to better facilitate learning throughout the class room as a whole group an individual group, as well as with my lower learners. B.) Information on what should be changed when teaching the lesson again to promote greater student learning. This should be relative to instructional objectives, instructional decisions, etc. I feel like maybe I should challenge my students a bit more. In some of my lessons, I felt that they finished the assignment that was given quicker than what I expected. I came into this clinical after having my clinical 329 in a Kindergarten setting. Adjusting from kindergarten to third grade was a challenge for me. It is completely different and a totally different environment in a higher grade. After experiencing that environment with younger children I feel that I may have underestimated my eight and nine year olds just a bit. I went by the Common Core standards that they need to be taught, although I could have had them thinking more in depth in some of my lessons. I think that is one major area I would change in my teaching, especially to whole group. I would challenge

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my students as a group a lot more and give them broader opportunities to help each other find their own answers to questions that could potentially increase their confidence level and comprehension level by exploring and researching for clues and answers to things.

Section 2: Three Individual Students reflective discussion should include:

A.) Identify and describe the student that was most successful. Provide two possible reasons for this success. Consider your objectives, instruction, and assessment along with student characteristics and other contextual factors under your control. Claudia was my high academically performing student in this clinical experience. Claudia is a Gifted and Talented student along with being very intelligent and mature for her age. Claudia does not usually finish assignments first because she takes her time and analyzes each part of her work while going back at the end and tracing her steps to make sure she did everything the way it was supposed to be done. She was very specific with all of her activities and with her writing. Claudia had very few mistakes in her writing and when she read to me, she knew when she had made a mishap and would reread the sentence the correct way. You may have some students who over analyze situations or do not analyze them enough but this child did just the right things. She always had her hand raised to answer any question you would ask and always had the right answer that seemed to be more elaborate than others. B.) Identify and describe the student that was least successful. Provide two possible reasons for this lack of success. Consider your objectives, instruction, and assessment along with student characteristics and other contextual factors under your control. Discuss what you could do differently or better in the future to improve your students performance. Noah is my quiet child. He did not talk much at all unless you went to him and asked him questions and even then he never seemed to have answers for you. He would just sit and look at you and shrug his shoulders. I found that this was not just with me and while I taught. The other day I was sitting in a rocking chair near Noah after Mrs. Andrews had given an assignment to all of the students and I observed Noahs actions. He was just sitting there playing with his pencil and not doing anything with the activity they were supposed to be doing. I said his name to get his attention and asked him what he was supposed to be doing and he just looked at the activity and said, This thing. I said, Noah why arent you doing it? and his response was, I dont know. After talking to Mrs. Andrews, she said he does that with almost all of his work and he barely gets things fully completed. I asked her if when he does complete things are

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they accurate and her response was that most of the time they are readable and you can interpret what he means after answering a question, but he has a hard time comprehending instructions and information. I have noticed that he would only complete my assignments half-way when I gave them during my lessons, but the parts he would complete were done mostly correctly, just very sloppy. He never answered questions when asked during an interactive read-aloud and when he is called on randomly, he does the shrugging shoulders motion like he does not know. I personally think he just has difficulty paying attention because he seems to venture off into his own thinking and his own world during lessons. C.) Identify and describe the student that was about average in performance. Provide two possible reasons for this success. Consider your objectives, instruction, and assessment along with student characteristics and other contextual factors under your control. Discuss what you could do differently or better in the future to improve your students performance. Evelyn is a smart child but having her first language being Spanish did not help her much in class. She went to speech every day during our Reading and Writing time. Evelyn would not talk in class whether it is to another peer, to the teacher, or to me. She would only nod her head and that was it. I feel like this stumped her learning because if she had a question about something, she would not ask questions. Instead she just continued throughout the day with unanswered questions and confusion in different areas. I feel as though if she would have been more opened and talked to us then she would have performed very well in class and on assignments because she seemed to be very intelligent. She could talk English but just choose not to speak at school at all. I do know that the speech teacher had her talking and reading in her sessions with her but she would not speak in class.

Section 3: Lesson Reflections 1-5 Lesson 1: Social Studies (Coastal Zone)

What instructional decisions did I make before and during the lesson and
why? I decided to teach this lesson as a whole group. The standards were age and grade appropriate. The students performed accurately and respectfully. During this lesson I had them illustrate their own ideas from the Coastal region and then write facts on the back of their sheet from what they learned in the lesson. At first I had them drawing their pictures and then once finished I had them writing the facts on the back, but once they started I saw that some children were spending more time on the drawing than the facts. In the middle of them illustrating, I had them stop and go ahead and write their facts so that I knew I

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would have their ideas and concepts that were taken in on paper! This helped me better assess my students at the end of the lesson. Based upon student performance, discuss the instructional decisions for the next or future lesson. For the next lesson I would try to make the activity more extensive. Maybe have some higher order thinking questions for them to answer along with talking about the facts they took from it. Instead of doing an individual region, I might focus on all of the regions and let them focus in on their favorite region. Other questions to consider in your reflection: How did you engage or motivate the students successfully? For this lesson I motivated the students by taking objects from the Coastal Zone in a bag that was called the secret bag and they only got to see what was inside after they completed their sheets and if they listened carefully. What instructional mode(s) was employed? (lecture, small group, demonstration, experiment, etc.) I taught the lesson as whole group and they completed their sheets as individuals. How effectively did you use instructional aids, i.e., whiteboard, video, calculators, manipulatives, computer, etc.? For this lesson, I did not use technology because I did a read aloud with them along with looking at real life objects so we focused on hands on activity rather than using the smart board. Were the students actively or passively involved? How so? I feel like the students were actively involved during the lesson by getting to hold the items and handle them to explore the Coastal Zone. They were allowed to use their sense to identify the objects and to look at them up close. Did you present the information in a clear and logical manner? How so? I feel as if I did present the material in a clear and logical manner because after post assessing my students, I feel that they all took something form the lesson and I had tons of facts on the back of their papers! How effective were the materials and resources you selected for the lesson? The resources and materials I used were effective throughout my lesson. Were you able to or could you (in the future) relate the lesson content to the lives of the student. I was able to connect the lesson to my students lives by relating the objects to things they may have seen at the beach or on trips. Describe any discipline or classroom management techniques used during the lesson. Were these techniques effective or would you employ a different technique the next time? If a child was not doing what he or she was supposed to be doing I would point out the positive things I would see from students around them and they would

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correct their behavior quickly to be able to get praised as well. This worked throughout the lessons when a child was misbehaving. Reflect on your interaction with the students. Would you describe your treatment of the students as being fair, respectful, and ethical? How so? I do feel as though the way I treated my students during this lesson was fair and respectful. I always set my rules at the beginning of my lesson before starting anything and I think by doing that I get the respect I want and they will receive that in return from me as well. This lesson really showed that and they are a great group that really pays attention in all lessons given. Were you able to summarize the lesson and relate it to the following lesson or homework assignment? The lesson was an easy summarize. At the end we called out some facts that they learned and we made a booklet to keep in their classroom out of their illustrations and facts they wrote down. Was your estimated time allocation for this lesson as noted in your lesson plan accurate? If your time varied, what factors contributed to this variance? My time allocated for the lesson was accurate. My teacher gave me about forty-five minutes and it took right around that long.

Lesson 2: Science (Habitats and Adaptations)

What instructional decisions did I make before and during the lesson and
why? I decided to teach this lesson as a whole group. The standards were age and grade appropriate. The students performed accurately and respectfully. Based upon student performance, discuss the instructional decisions for the next or future lesson. The students performed very well on this lesson. I had them make a flip book that they could post inside their journals and I think for the future I would have them already pasted in the journals and folded the way they needed to be prior to the lesson. The students seemed to have a hard time folding the paper correctly so this caused us to spend just a little bit of extra time with the folding aspect of it. Other questions to consider in your reflection: How did you engage or motivate the students successfully? I motivated my students and engaged them by allowing them to choose which animal they would be writing about. Since it was their choice, they were engaged during the reading to listen for their animal and the facts about that animal. What instructional mode(s) was employed? (lecture, small group, demonstration, experiment, etc.) I taught the lesson at the carpet in whole group and let them work individually on the assessment activity. They were allowed to talk at their tables as long as they remained quiet.

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How effectively did you use instructional aids, i.e., whiteboard, video, calculators, manipulatives, computer, etc.? We used the smart board to post our facts about the animals and their habitats after the reading. I also used the smart board to write any words they needed help spelling on there so they would know how to correctly spell it. Were the students actively or passively involved? How so? The students were engaged and involved during the entire lesson. They were able to talk while working which kept them involved because they were so into showing and helping each other with their animals. Did you present the information in a clear and logical manner? How so? Based off of what I got through completing my post assessment I do feel as though I was able to present my information clear and logical. How effective were the materials and resources you selected for the lesson? The resources and materials I used were effective throughout my lesson. Were you able to or could you (in the future) relate the lesson content to the lives of the student. I am sure I could relate this lesson to the students lives by asking them about their habitats and seeing what they need to survive and then we could relate it to our individual animals and compare our selves to see which one we matched up with the best. Describe any discipline or classroom management techniques used during the lesson. Were these techniques effective or would you employ a different technique the next time? If a child was not doing what he or she was supposed to be doing I would point out the positive things I would see from students around them and they would correct their behavior quickly to be able to get praised as well. This worked throughout the lessons when a child was misbehaving. Reflect on your interaction with the students. Would you describe your treatment of the students as being fair, respectful, and ethical? How so? I do feel as though the way I treated my students during this lesson was fair and respectful. I always set my rules at the beginning of my lesson before starting anything and I think by doing that I get the respect I want and they will receive that in return from me as well. This lesson really showed that and they are a great group that really pays attention in all lessons given. Was your estimated time allocation for this lesson as noted in your lesson plan accurate? If your time varied, what factors contributed to this variance? My time allocated for the lesson was accurate. My teacher gave me about sixty minutes and it took right around that long.

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Lesson 3: Integrated Arts (Sequencing/Illustrating)

What instructional decisions did I make before and during the lesson and
why? I decided to teach this lesson as a whole group. The standards were age and grade appropriate. The students performed accurately and respectfully. Based upon student performance, discuss the instructional decisions for the next or future lesson. I would not change anything about this lesson because I feel like it went very smoothly. This was my showcase lesson and the lesson I videoed. After going back and watching the video I think the only way I would change it is by walking around a bit more while they partner talked or stop and jot time. Other questions to consider in your reflection: How did you engage or motivate the students successfully? I was able to have the students do motions with the book as I read and this kept their attention during the entire reading and had them excited for what was next. What instructional mode(s) was employed? (lecture, small group, demonstration, experiment, etc.) I used whole group to teach the lesson and I used small group and individual as they worked on their pumpkins. How effectively did you use instructional aids, i.e., whiteboard, video, calculators, manipulatives, computer, etc.? We were going to listen to Halloween music as they worked on their pumpkins but we could not because the cd player was not working properly. Were the students actively or passively involved? How so? The students were actively involved by making motions with their feet, hands, and head during the reading. All students were involved and having fun making the motions. Did you present the information in a clear and logical manner? How so? Yes I did present the information clearly and logically by modeling what we were going to be doing for them before actually having them do it. How effective were the materials and resources you selected for the lesson? The resources and materials I used were effective throughout my lesson. Describe any discipline or classroom management techniques used during the lesson. Were these techniques effective or would you employ a different technique the next time? If a child was not doing what he or she was supposed to be doing I would point out the positive things I would see from students around them and they would correct their behavior quickly to be able to get praised as well. This worked throughout the lessons when a child was misbehaving.

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Reflect on your interaction with the students. Would you describe your treatment of the students as being fair, respectful, and ethical? How so? I do feel as though the way I treated my students during this lesson was fair and respectful. I always set my rules at the beginning of my lesson before starting anything and I think by doing that I get the respect I want and they will receive that in return from me as well. This lesson really showed that and they are a great group that really pays attention in all lessons given. Were you able to summarize the lesson and relate it to the following lesson or homework assignment? I was able to follow up and summarize this lesson by reminding them that what they did with their pumpkins were theirs to take home and they could add more to it after getting home if they would have liked to. We learned about sequencing and the next class they had the next time I was in the room, they had to sequence the events in the new book they were reading and we reminded them of how this lesson helped them learn how to do that. Was your estimated time allocation for this lesson as noted in your lesson plan accurate? If your time varied, what factors contributed to this variance? My time allocated for the lesson was accurate. My teacher gave me about thirty minutes and it took right around that long.

Lesson 4: Math (Multiplication using Combinations)

What instructional decisions did I make before and during the lesson and
why? I decided to teach this lesson as a small group. The standards were age and grade appropriate. The students performed accurately and respectfully. Based upon student performance, discuss the instructional decisions for the next or future lesson. They students performed very well on this lesson. I feel as though it was easier for me to touch on these factors of multiplication with them being in a small group while I was teaching and refreshing. I had about 2-4 students in a group at one time and worked very well together. Other questions to consider in your reflection: How did you engage or motivate the students successfully? I had them work with manipulatives to engage them in the activity. The manipulatives were clothes that they could match up to form different out fits. Even the boys loved to do this! What instructional mode(s) was employed? (lecture, small group, demonstration, experiment, etc.) This lesson was a small group lesson all the way through. How effectively did you use instructional aids, i.e., whiteboard, video, calculators, manipulatives, computer, etc.? I was not very effective when it

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came to using technology in this lesson. I worked at a small table with students group by group and we never once went over to a computer or technology. Were the students actively or passively involved? How so? The students were actively engaged and involved during the lesson by being able to actively participate using their manipulatives. Did you present the information in a clear and logical manner? How so? I felt as though I presented myself and lesson in a clear and logical way because the students had a fun time and learned the combinations way of multiplying quickly. How effective were the materials and resources you selected for the lesson? The resources and materials I used were effective throughout my lesson. Were you able to or could you (in the future) relate the lesson content to the lives of the student. I related this activity to their real life situations by allowing them to make outfits like they would do when picking out their own outfits for school. Describe any discipline or classroom management techniques used during the lesson. Were these techniques effective or would you employ a different technique the next time? If a child was not doing what he or she was supposed to be doing I would point out the positive things I would see from students around them and they would correct their behavior quickly to be able to get praised as well. This worked throughout the lessons when a child was misbehaving. Reflect on your interaction with the students. Would you describe your treatment of the students as being fair, respectful, and ethical? How so? I do feel as though the way I treated my students during this lesson was fair and respectful. I always set my rules at the beginning of my lesson before starting anything and I think by doing that I get the respect I want and they will receive that in return from me as well. This lesson really showed that and they are a great group that really pays attention in all lessons given. Was your estimated time allocation for this lesson as noted in your lesson plan accurate? If your time varied, what factors contributed to this variance? My time allocated for the lesson was accurate. My teacher gave me about twenty-five minutes and it took right around that long.

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Lesson 5: ELA (Text Features)

What instructional decisions did I make before and during the lesson and
why? I decided to teach this lesson as a whole group. The standards were age and grade appropriate. The students performed accurately and respectfully. Based upon student performance, discuss the instructional decisions for the next or future lesson. I loved this lesson so much because all the students really got involved and excited about cutting some magazines up to make their own portfolio as we called it. Using the word, portfolio made them feel professional and grown up. Next time I would probably use partners instead of groups since they had to work together to make one text portfolio per table. Partners would make it less hectic to see who is finding what feature. Other questions to consider in your reflection: How did you engage or motivate the students successfully? I engaged my students by allowing them to see some examples from different sources and then letting them work as a business to decide who did what job and how they were going to manage their group. They love responsibility when its given to them and they get all excited to get to work together so the entire time they were very engaged. What instructional mode(s) was employed? (lecture, small group, demonstration, experiment, etc.) This lesson was taught in Whole group and divided into small group to do the activity. How effectively did you use instructional aids, i.e., whiteboard, video, calculators, manipulatives, computer, etc.? We used the smart board to classify our text features and we used magazines as models to show what different text features looked like. Were the students actively or passively involved? How so? The students were actively involved by cutting and pasting the features into their own portfolios. Did you present the information in a clear and logical manner? How so? I feel that as a reflection from my post assessment I had presented my lesson in a clear and logical way because the children made some wonderful portfolios and they were very proud of their work as well as I was! How effective were the materials and resources you selected for the lesson? The resources and materials I used were effective throughout my lesson. Were you able to or could you (in the future) relate the lesson content to the lives of the student. We related this lesson to their everyday life experience by learning where text features are and what they show you in an informational

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text, they will be able to pick up a magazine or non-fiction book and can know where in that book to go for their answers. Describe any discipline or classroom management techniques used during the lesson. Were these techniques effective or would you employ a different technique the next time? If a child was not doing what he or she was supposed to be doing I would point out the positive things I would see from students around them and they would correct their behavior quickly to be able to get praised as well. This worked throughout the lessons when a child was misbehaving. Reflect on your interaction with the students. Would you describe your treatment of the students as being fair, respectful, and ethical? How so? I do feel as though the way I treated my students during this lesson was fair and respectful. I always set my rules at the beginning of my lesson before starting anything and I think by doing that I get the respect I want and they will receive that in return from me as well. This lesson really showed that and they are a great group that really pays attention in all lessons given. Was your estimated time allocation for this lesson as noted in your lesson plan accurate? If your time varied, what factors contributed to this variance? My time allocated for the lesson was accurate. My teacher gave me about thirty minutes and it took right around that long.

Section 4: Reflection for Professional Development

Identify two professional development goals that emerged from your insights and experiences with the TWS and two ways in which you can improve these areas. Spelling and saying um are my two areas that are my weaknesses that I have found during this experience with my 429 clinical. I noticed after watching myself on my videoed lesson that I say, um a lot during my lessons. This really irked me after watching the video. I know it is something I picked up from my cooperating teacher because looking back now, she says, um so much during her lessons as well, especially while giving directions. I plan on practicing on just pausing when I need time to think of what to say next, rather than filling those pauses in with nonsense words like um. I also plan on recording more of my lessons to see if the issue improves because I only videoed one lesson and I found so many little things that I could change or do better while going back and watching myself teach. Spelling was also a big thing for me during lessons. Before I taught a lesson, for example the Habitat and Adaptations lesson, I made a vocabulary sheet with the words I wanted to point out to them and I made a script of what was going to go onto our anchor chart because I did not want to begin teaching these things to the children and then not be able to properly spell

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them once I go to write them on anchor charts. I think one of my biggest fears is to be at the front of the room writing something on the board and not know how to spell it or forget how in front of my class. I plan on making sure I am extra prepared when it comes to writing anchor charts or information on the board and familiarize myself with the vocabulary in whatever lesson I am teaching. I can also have a small dictionary beside my board just in case I have a word I need to look up.