Kelsey Mercadante

ELED 433
S.M.A.R.T. Goal Portfolio Project: Goal Plan
1. Select: What do I do well as a teacher of mathematics?
a. In my practicum junior year, I was in a pre-K class. I did mathematical smart
board activities with the children, which involved the children counting pictures
of objects on the smart board.
b. I know the basic facts of mathematics and I feel that I can teach children basic
mathematical facts such as how to add and subtract one digit numbers.
c. I can teach students how to round numbers (from what I have observed in my
practicum class).
d. Working one-on-one to help individual students.
e. Building relationships with students.
2. Reflect: What do I want to learn next in order to grow?
a. I want to learn how to teach children mathematic skills by using simple strategies
they can easily understand and use.
b. I want to learn how to teach children mathematics by using a variety of engaging
activities.
c. I want to teach children how to effectively solve problems in the most efficient
way.
d. I want to teach children how to apply math in everyday life.
e. I want to integrate technology into math lessons. (Moby math computer program)
f. For student teaching, I want to be able to learn how to develop effective,
powerful, and engaging math lesson plans that will allow students to understand
mathematical concepts.
g. For interviews, I want to be able to explain how I can develop powerful
mathematical lessons, and I want to be able to describe effective strategies and
methods I use to educate students in mathematics.
h. For interviews, I want to be able to communicate my past experiences in
classrooms and how I helped children understand mathematics by using a variety
of techniques and activities.
i. My goal: By December 5th, I will create an effective, engaging math lesson
with relatable follow-up math centers that include hands-on experiences,
while also showing children how mathematics can be applied to everyday life.
3. Project: What will I do to accomplish this?
a. Out of class: First, I will ask my teacher what mathematic skills I could teach
around the time I plan to teach my lesson (around November 19th). I will research
the Virginia Standards of Learning in math to see what fourth graders need to
learn. I will research engaging and hands-on math activities, games, strategies,
and lessons that involve children actively learning mathematical concepts. I will
make sure these activities involve teaching math SOLs for fourth grade. I will
keep track of the engaging ideas I seek so I can start thinking of activities to

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

include in my lesson. I will start saving and compiling ideas for my lesson plan. I
will make sure to connect my lesson to everyday life so students can effectively
connect to it and apply it. I will start to observe the children in my practicum
placement to see what type of activities they enjoy doing with math. I will then
start writing and creating my effective and engaging math lesson plan. I will think
of key objectives, and collect all materials needed for my lesson. I will go over
the lesson plan with my cooperating teacher to make sure everything I plan to do
is approved. I will revise, edit and finalize my lesson plan. Once I am done, I will
practice my lesson. During my lesson, I will teach to the best of my ability. I will
be very clear when teaching and I will value every students answers and opinions
during my lesson.
In class: As I read for class, I will make sure to compile any activities or ideas in
our books that I think will be beneficial to my lesson. I will try my best to
understand and learn mathematical strategies the professor introduces to us during
class. I will listen for any ideas that I could include in my lesson (engaging,
hands-on activities that would relate to fourth grade math). I will also listen to see
if the professor relates mathematical concepts to everyday life. If I have any
questions in class, I will be sure to ask the professor for clarification. I will also
ask my professor for any other guidance I may need.
To help students who are not improving toward this goal: I will make sure to
differentiate in my lesson plan to meet the needs of every student. I will provide
remediation in the forms of math games (card games, sorting games, matching
games, concentration, bingo), flash cards, technology (educational computer
games, smart board activities), and other hands-on resources. I will provide small
group intervention. I will also provide real life examples that fourth grade
students can personally relate to.
For documentation: I will record my progress toward the creation of my lesson
plan. I will make a chart and update my status of the creation of my lesson plan.
During my lesson, I will assess students to see how my lesson affected them. I
will record how the children do by using an assessing method.
Documents to include in portfolio: record/chart of my progress toward my lesson,
any activity/ math game materials, and any notes I take for lesson. I could also
include pictures of materials I use in my lesson (hands-on activities).
Integration with other courses: I will be sure to relate my math lesson to everyday
life situations. These situations could relate to social studies (money/economy). I
could also relate math to science if it involves measurement (experiments). I
know there are several of books relating to math concepts, which would
incorporate literacy into math. Lastly, word problems would greatly relate to
reading and writing when students read and create word problems.

4. Affect: How might this affect me as a mathematics teacher?

a. This will allow me to work toward my goal of creating engaging math lessons that
can create fun, hands-on experiences for children. This goal will also help me to
practice involving everyday life situations in my lessons, which I think is
important so students can relate to the math concepts while also knowing how to

apply it in life so it is meaningful to them. I am hoping this goal will help me in

creating powerful engaging lesson plans for students.