Armanda Morico

SPED 245
Dr. Elfreda Blue
Reflection of Lesson #5

For lesson number five, I wanted the students to continue with last weeks English language arts
lesson. In part one of the English language arts lesson, the students were introduced to the graphic
organizer- Story Map, and learned how to properly fill it out. The Story Map graphic organizer was
chosen to assist the students in prewriting their ideas for their comic strips. The graphic organizers
focuses on the key elements: title, author, main characters, supporting characters, setting, conflict, and
resolution development. In order to introduce the topic of comics to the students, I thought that having
the students fill in a blank comic with text would be an engaging opening activity. Students had to fill in
this blank comic with text that made sense with the illustrations.
As part of the last day with us Hofstra tutors, the students were rewarded with a pizza party. The
students were very happy and full of energy, but the party left us tutors with very little time to work with
our students. I wanted students to be able to get as much time as possible to create their comic strips on
the computer, so I jumped right into the lesson once we arrived in the computer room. Originally, I
chose to use peer editing as the strategy to be learned, in order to offer students additional support with
their narratives if they needed it. First, I would show the students a PowerPoint presentation that spoke
about the how peer editing is a method that allows students to offer each other constructive feedback to
improve their writing and communication skills. For the modeling section, I would model peer review
by choosing one students story map graphic organizer to read aloud. I would ask for a volunteer, and
would give the student a pair of headphones and music to listen to, so that the student would not be able
to hear us talking about her story map. If I were to model peer review, and have the students offer each
other constructive feedback, there would no time to actually construct their comic strips. Due to the
limited time that we were given, I thought it best to allow the students to simply begin working on their
comic strips. Students paid close attention to the contents of their story map, and used these elements to
develop their comic strip. As I mentioned earlier, time was truly limited. By the time the students were
called for dismissal, the majority of the students were only able to complete one frame of their comic
strip.
If I had to describe this lesson plan in one word, I would definitely define it as chaotic in every
sense of the word. Students were excited about being given pizza, and us instructors were thrown off by
the limited time we were given to try and tackle our lesson plans. I cut my lesson in half, and had the
students focus on developing their comic strips. When I look back, I think this happened for a reason.
Before I started writing this reflection, I went back and reread my entire lesson plan. What I came to
realize was that a lot of things didnt make sense, and there were certain things I would definitely do
differently if given the chance. For example, peer editing was not the strategy I should have focused on.
This strategy would require more than five minutes, which was the amount of time I set aside for
modeling this strategy. I do not believe that peer review would be an appropriate form of assessment that
would provide me as an instructor with information about what each student might need additional
support with. Too much time would have been devoted to teaching these students what peer editing is,
and not enough time would be spent on actually giving and receiving feedback and constructive
criticism. Instead, peer review would be a good strategy to use with the students once they had finished
their comic strips. In addition, I realized that my assessment did not match my behavioral objectives.
Instead, I should have focused on a strategy that would allow the students to use their story maps to
construct their comic strips. Thinking about it now, sequencing would have been a better topic to focus
on. Do the students understand how to sequence a story, with a beginning, middle, and end? Can the
students place the contents of their own story map in an order that is logical? How will the student create
a comic that is in sequential order, which includes a title, main characters, supporting characters, setting,
problem, and resolution? In my opinion, focusing on sequencing would allow me as an instructor to
better understand what the strengths and weaknesses each student possessed within their planning and
writing.
A lesson plan is never perfect, and there is always something an instructor can do better. In my
case, I can name at least three things I could have done better. My lesson plan was not well organized,
the assessment did not match the lessons objectives, and the strategy to be learned would require an
entire lessons focus. I could be upset about creating a lesson plan that ultimately did not challenge and
support my learners, but instead I will take this as yet another learning experience. One of the most
important things an individual can do is to acknowledge their mistakes and take responsibility for fixing
those mistakes. Writing these lesson plans in UDL format has been difficult, but this practice has been
truly helpful in preparing me for my student teaching in the fall. Our days at Caroline G. Atkinson
Intermediate School have come to an end, and I can honestly say that I have grown a special relationship
with my students. These students have truly helped me to become a better instructor, and I hope that in
some minor way, I too have helped them become better students.