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TWS 8 Reflection, Self Evaluation, & Professional Development
Lesson Two
Math (TouchMath)
Section 1: Whole Class

A. The small group intervention benefitted the students learning. They were able to
explore with the TouchMath manipulatives and it also help them practice identifying
and counting numbers. There was apparent progress from low performing students
and above objective progress from high performing students.
B. As the different skill leveled groups rotated to my lesson, I decided to use different
terminology to explain how to use the TouchMath numbers with the lower group
than I would with the higher group. I used simpler terms with the lower group so
they can understand what I am trying to explain. While the students were writing
down the numbers and drawing that many circles, or the shape I instructed, I
decided to keep one specific shape for them to draw for the lower groups. For the
higher groups, I changed shapes that they had to draw each time to challenge them.
C. I should have had a more organized way of assessing them for the post-assessment.
I should have allowed the next student to start identifying and counting the
TouchMath numbers while the other student was finishing up. This would have
saved instructional time and would have had all students engaged instead of just
one student at a time.
Section 2: Three Individual Students
A. The most successful student is in the highest performing group in the class and
participates in every lesson and activity. She is helpful to other students that may be
in need of assistance. She has already had prior knowledge about identifying,
writing, and counting numbers one through five. She also does not have any major
behavioral issues, which directly increases her academic success.
a. I do not believe this high performing student was challenged enough because
she was very hyper active throughout the whole lesson. She seemed
uninterested because she was too advanced for what we were doing. I could
have challenged her more by having her match the card with number on it to
the card with the appropriate number of objects. For example, if she grabbed
the card with a number 6 on it than she would have to count on each card
until she found the card with 6 items on it.
B. The low performing student is the one resource student in the class. He is in the
middle-low group and tries to participate as much as he can. One reason for his low
performance during this lesson is that he has an IEP in reading and mathematics. He
also may not have had any prior teaching of this objective.

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a. I could have talked with the resource teacher prior to the lesson to plan a better
accommodation for him. I could have gathered strategies and terms that he is
familiar with to help him understand the concept better.
C. The average performing student is in the middle-low group and she participates in
most activities in lessons. She mainly participates in small groups or only when
called on. I do not think she has had any prior teaching of this objective so I think
that is why she is not excelling in this lesson. She also is not an outgoing learner and
will not ask a lot of questions to help herself learn.
a. I could have focused on her independently to make sure she understands the
material being taught. She learners better when she has to teach it to someone
else, so I could have spent more time allowing them to teach their partners the
numbers.
Section 3: Reflection

This lesson helped build schema for the students based on their prior knowledge of
counting numbers one through five. This lesson was designed to introduce and
teach students how to use the TouchMath numbers to count the numbers. The
students that already knew how to count numbers one through five had the
advantage to learning the TouchMath manipulatives.

I chose to use hands-on manipulatives such as the TouchMath numbers,

whiteboards, and dry erase markers. This allowed the students to have visuals to
work with and in return benefitted the students greatly. I also chose to work in
small groups so that I could work more closely with each student and their
developmental needs.

I was very familiar with the knowledge of counting and using the TouchMath
numbers; therefore, I could give more simple or complex examples. Examples and
modeling really help the students to see what is expected and the process of each
number.

With the lower leveled group, I had to modify the directions when they were
drawing the number objects on the white board. I had this group only draw one kind
of shape (circle). With the higher group, I instructed them to draw a different shape
each time. For example, draw three triangles and then draw six squares. I was trying
to make the lower group focus on the number of shapes they were drawing instead
of what shape they were drawing. I thought if I made the instructions simple and
direct than the students could focus more on the number.

Both objectives were met for this lesson. By the end of the lesson, 100% of the
students could accurately identify and count numbers one through five while using
the TouchMath numbers. I assessed the students individually by asking them to

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name each number and use the circles on the TouchMath numbers to count each
one.
For most of the lesson, time and routines went smoothly. I could have organized and
prepared better for the post-assessment to go more smoothly. I should have had
multiple students identifying and counting instead of just one. This would have
prevented the students from disrupting the student being assessed because he or
she is bored. This would have also saved instructional time.
These students benefit from learning in small groups because more students were
asking questions about the lesson and manipulatives. They also received more one
on one teaching time from me. I also learned that the students need to also have
something to do because they do not do well just listening to others identify and
count numbers.

Section 4: Reflection for Professional Development

1. Even though the post-assessment was successful, I want to organize post
assessments that are more time efficient and will meet all students needs. While
planning the post assessment for each lesson, I will concentrate on keeping the
students occupied with his or her assessment or practice with the objective.
2. My second professional goal is to make sure that I have an effective plan to
challenge the higher group more. I will need to take notes and observations before I
teach the lesson about what they may already know about the objective. I will also
need to possibly look at the next grades standard in the same subject area to
prepare them future knowledge.