4.

0 contextual factors

a) The assigned classroom for my student teaching experience is a kindergarten class made up for 25 students. The school is smaller and is found in a rural area. Majority of the student at the school are of the African American race. The students in my class are bright and eager to learn material when it is taught in their learning style. I have learned to implement many different strategies into my planning and teaching of lessons to meet the needs of all of my students. There are not any students with linguistically, cultural, or health considerations that have an impact on my teaching and their learning. Overall, the behavior in the classroom is controllable and moderate for 5-6 year old children. Discipline is not a major issue in the classroom and the students are good at holding each other accountable for good behavior.

4.1 a) The standards I chose that align with my lessons learning goal are appropriate for the lesson and for the students, because it helps foster a positive classroom environment by allowing students to practice common curtsey of taking turns while speaking and listening. Another standard chosen to align with the lesson that is appropriate has to deal with dictating events in the order in which they happen; calendar. Students will dictate in their journals the correct date, number of days in school, and the weather condition outside at the time. These are all skills kindergarten aged students must comprehend and master. b) The students prior knowledge played a big part in the planning of the lesson, because requiring them to write the date, number of days in school, and the weather condition was something that was already in place before I had the privilege of being a part of my assigned placements classroom. Even though the morning routine already incorporated the calendar, I wanted to ensure all of the students grasped the concept and could verbalize the information if asked. By incorporating Whole Brain Teaching techniques into the already established content I am hoping to have more students engaged and participating so they remember the information just taught at the rug, when they go to their seats to write it in their journals independently. After introducing WBT techniques to the class prior in the semester I felt confident that the students would be able to handle a modified version of the morning routine they had been doing previously.

4.1.2 a) I plan to implement Whole Brain Teaching techniques into my morning routine lesson because there is research-based evidences that supports the idea of having the students entire brain involved and focused on the content at hand. Using gestures as well as words to teach and learn activates both sides of the brain enhancing the ability to retain and grasp information.

B) This instructional strategy requires students to participate and stay engaged during the lesson. WBT makes learning enjoyable for students because they are allowed to be vocal, active, and interact with their peers. Student are vocal and active when asked to mirror my actions and words while teaching content. When I asked the students to teach each student swivels to a predetermined partner and takes turns teaching the information using gestures. Having students use gestures while verbalizing information works both sides of the brain, causing information taught in this manner to be comprehended and remembered better. This same strategy is used when giving direction/instructions to the whole group as well as teaching content.

4.1.3

a) The main focus of the lesson plan requires students to dictate the date, number of days in school, and the weather in their journals independently, after the information is taught and reviewed on the rug as a whole group. This activity addresses student learning needs because kindergarten aged children must be taught and know how to use a calendar in everyday life. Students will use this skill both academically and socially in the future. B) During the course of the lesson I will monitor student learning by observing students conversations during the turn-and-teach sections. Watching the group for gestures and verbal participation during the lesson is another way I will judge student comprehension of the lessons goal while teaching. c) At the conclusion of the lesson students will be asked to go to their seats and independently fill in their journals the date, number of days in school, and the weather the way it had just been taught in whole group. By checking journals during center time I can see who completed the assessment correctly and who needs extra help with the concept. These responses will be integrated into the lesson plan through the accommodations and procedure parts. The student work I chose for this lesson was picked because it is part of the students daily morning journal routine.

4.2.1 a) Content area language was used effectively during the lesson because I modeled for students the proper way to verbalize the date, number of days in school, and the weather before requiring the students to turn-and-teach the content to their partners. Proper nouns were also briefly reviewed during the lesson while discussing the day of the week and why the first letter should be uppercase. b) The instructional strategies used during the lesson consist of modeling and incorporating Whole Brain Teaching. By modeling for the students what I was expecting as far as behavior and content instructions were followed. Implementing WBT strategies in the lesson kept student engaged because their participation could earn points for their team. The lesson also included many questions I would ask the group as a whole to encourage thinking. For example, I asked If today is Thursday what will tomorrow be?. To engage students in higher order thinking questions I asked questions that were open response, like when I asked the class; Whisper to your partner what kind of pattern we are doing instead of asking a yes or no question, Are we doing an ABB pattern?.

c) Having the whole group engaged in critical thinking components of the lesson promoted student learning, because everyone is expected to participate and are held accountable to do so by their teammates and partner during the lesson. Since student were already engaged in the lesson it made it much easier to get the whole group to process and respond to critical thinking. For example, in the video I ask the students, If today is Thursday, what will tomorrow will be? this question requires critical thinking, and was answered by the class as a whole. d) Reading was integrated effectively in the lesson by having the class as a whole read two letter blends off flashcards in unison, at the beginning of the video. Kindergarten builds the foundation to begin reading for most students, therefore by including review of letter sounds in the lesson I am promoting effective reading.

4.2.2 a) I monitored student learning during the lesson by listening to whole group responses to the questions I asked and the content I presented in the form of flashcards. During the lesson when the focus was on the calendar I observed students gestures during turn-and-teach to gauge comprehension. Once I saw evidence of learning during the lesson my decision was guided to proceed with the lesson. For example, in the video I observe the students correctly teaching the date, number of days in school, and the weather to their partner, therefore I decided to move on to the formative assessment; having students write the information in their journals independently. b) The feedback I give during my teaching to individuals, groups, and/or whole class are always positive, which in return advances and promotes student learning and participation. For example, in the video when a team answers a question correctly they were given a point for their team on the score board. In the video I also give feedback in form of praise to individuals, like when I say, Lets give Dallas a 13 finger-whoo! after he answers a question correctly. If a student gives a wrong answer to my question, like in the video when I asked a student to name the days of the week we come to school and he started with Sunday.. I simply responded by turning his answer back into a question for him to answer, Do we come to school on Sunday? causing him to self-correct and respond appropriately. c) Using verbal and nonverbal communication techniques in my lessons fosters student learning in many ways. Verbal communication was used in the lesson to instruct students to turn-and-teach at appropriate times. Nonverbal communication was present in the lesson through means of body gestures; clapping hands together for uppercase letters, putting a pretend bubble in your mouth to communicate that you are listening. These techniques foster student learning because it helps keep student engaged and participating in the lesson.

4.2.3 a) The classroom management strategy used that is most obvious in the recording of my lesson is the implementation of Whole Brain Teaching. By asking students Mirrors please and holding up my hands, they respond by repeating me and copying my gestures. Content is paired with gestures to utilize both the left and right sides of the brain, hence the name Whole Brain Teaching. Students are asked to then

turn and teach the content and corresponding gestures to a predetermined partner. The class is divided in two groups considered teams. Each team has a name, during this lesson there was a Dinosaur and Fish team. Teams are awarded tally points on a score board post on the classroom wall for participation and accuracy in responses. At the end of each day there is a winning team that receives a small reward; piece of candy, extra minute of recess, etc. These WBT techniques are present during the recorded lesson for beginning to end. b) WBT engages students and promotes a positive learning environment in the classroom by allowing students the opportunity to move, talk, and participate during the entire course of a lesson. There is also a friend competition between the two teams in the class, causing students to want to learn and participate. In the video you can clearly see that the students are excited and engaged with the lessons content.

4.3.1 a) The two student work samples chosen to represent a result of the lesson were taken up for the use of artifacts a few days after the lesson was taught, because the calendar, number of days in school, and weather charts are used in their journals daily by the students. The information taught the day of the lesson recording included: Thursday April 10th 2014, 143 days of school, and the weather was sunny. b) Both work samples selected demonstrates learning relative to the lessons goal, because the charts were filled out correctly and corresponded with the information taught during the whole group lesson. The date, number of days in school, and weather chart were all filled in accurately. c) The feedback I provide to the students in regards to the Morning Time lesson comes at the end of each week when all of the journals are checked for accuracy. For the student whom filled out their charts correctly I give feedback in the form of positive reinforcement; a sticker, candy, etc. The students identified having difficulty completing the week long assessment will receive feedback in the form of small-group or one-on-one teaching to help better understand the content being taught.

4.4.1 a) The student met the lessons learning goal at the level of expected; accurately. In the video of the lesson this is apparent at the end because the student are able to teach the date, number of days in school, and the weather condition to a partner using gestures that correspond. The students then all went to their seats and filled in the information in their journals independently. b) It is always funny to see and hear yourself on camera, but I found this assignment to be beneficial to my teaching. It was neat to see that the WBT techniques I have been implementing from a different point of view, opposed to standing in front of the students. From viewing the lesson I am able to see how conscious I am in making sure each student feels important and that their opinion/comments matter. I feel as though the students feed off my energy while I am teaching resulting in their excitement to learn. In the video you will notice that while I am talking it appears that several of the students are not paying attention, instead of stopping my lesson to tell them to I will say their name in while teaching the whole group to pull them back on track. I have found this strategy to work really well,

after all you cannot blame a kindergartener for losing focus during a 15 minute long lesson. My corresponding teacher and I decided not to tell the students I was filming the lessons as a result of failed previous attempts. I think that a few students knew the lesson was being filmed so they acted out a little. In the future I think I will be more conscious of making sure students are engaged throughout the entirety of my lessons, to the best of my ability.

C) Honestly, there are not any major changes I would make to this particular recorded lesson. Through both formal and informal assessment I was able to see that every student met the lessons goal. I believe I planned and implemented the lesson in a way that was meaningful and engaging to the students in order to foster their learning.