Andrea Bowhall-Diaz

Lesson #3

ED 321 Self-Assessment (Please number each self assessment)

Planning and Preparation (AEA: Conceptualization, DiagnosisWTS: 1,7DISP: Respect Responsibility)
Explain and defend the decisions you made in choosing your objectives and the
assessment tools/strategies for this lesson. Even if the lesson was given to you to teach,
you must consider the effectiveness of the objectives and assessments.
The objective for the students to meet was that students will know how to calculate the
volume and surface area of any rectangular prism with no top. The students had just
completed learning how to calculate surface area and volume of whole rectangular prisms
(with tops) a few days prior. Learning how to find the surface area and volume of a
rectangular prism with no top is wise to teach as the next topic because they now have
background knowledge about prisms, volume, and surface area to build off of and
expand. I chose the assessments for this lesson to be observing the work they have
completed on the worksheet and also observing them explain their work to their peers.
By making them the more expert other, not only build their confidence in their work, but
it allows me to see if they understand the process of finding surface area and volume with
no top.
Classroom Environment (AEA: Coordination, Integrative InteractionWTS: 2,3,5DISP: Respect,
Responsibility)

What were the discipline issues that presented themselves during the teaching of this
lesson? How did you anticipate these and handle them?
I had the students working in groups of about 6, and I was not sure how they would
participate with one another. In order to make sure actions and attitudes stayed
reasonable, I used the PBIS model that all students are familiar with to set my
expectations (Be responsible, be respectful, be safe). Therefore, setting expectations I
think allowed them to know I was not going to let them continue the activity if it got out
of hand. I knew the classroom would get louder because the students were working
together, but again setting the expectation of when I say eyes up here, the classroom
should be quiet and they should be paying attention helped.
Instruction (AEA: Communication, Coordination, Diagnosis, Integrative InteractionWTS: 2,3,4,5,6,7DISP:
Respect Responsibility), Assessment (AEA: Diagnosis, Integrative InteractionWTS: 8,9DISP: Respect,
Reflection), Professional Responsibilities (AEA: Communication, Integrative InteractionWTS: 10DISP:
Collaboration, Communication)

After teaching the lesson and analyzing student work, describe how your decisions
impacted student learning. How do you know? How well did your assessment connect to
the lesson objectives? Are there changes you would make or things you could have done
differently?

Andrea Bowhall-Diaz
Lesson #3
I had the students working with Tupperware containers and calculating the volume and
surface area of when the container had a lid, and when it did not have a lid. By having
the students work with real, concrete materials, I feel it helped them understand the
difference between the two calculations. They were able to physically see why the
surface area would change between having a top versus not having a top because there is
one less side to count when there is no top. Also, looking at the activity sheet that went
along with the group work, I could see the students filling in the correct ideas. My
assessment of observing their work allowed me to see if they met the objective. By just
walking around I could not tell if their numbers were right, but I was able to see if the
volume of the container with and without a top were the same and if the surface area of
the container without a lid was a smaller number than with a lid; which was the main
idea. During the group activity, I could tell some students were not participating
completely. Therefore, I would have liked to change how I set up the groups. I really
just gave them the container, a ruler, and the sheet to fill out and expected them to know
how to separate the work amongst themselves evenly. After observing and seeing some
not participate, I realized I should have told them explicitly that one person should
measure, one person should calculate volume, one person should calculate surface area
with a lid, one person for without a lid, and told them specific jobs rather than expecting
them to do it themselves.
Consider student learning as you reflect on your teaching of this lesson. Explain how the
evidence you obtained in your lesson (assessment) demonstrated the degree to which all
students achieved your objectives.
By observing the worksheet from the activity, I could tell they understood the main idea of the
volume will remain the same for a prism with or without a top, and the surface area will be
smaller when a prism does not have a top because I could see the numbers on their sheet. Then
the stronger assessment piece was having them complete the story problems, and going over
them. I had students go up and explain their process of solving the problem to their peers, and
this was when I was able to tell how well they achieved the objective, and where they still may
need some help. This assessment allowed me to see they could meet the objective because
they could calculate properly, but it also allowed me to see that we could revisit how to tell if a
problem was asking them to solve for volume or surface area. The students were confused on
which the problem was asking them to solve for. Therefore, going over some key words that
indicate volume or surface area would have been helpful for them. Which we did for a short
amount of time, and that seemed to help them slightly.
Professional Responsibilities (AEA: Communication, Integrative InteractionWTS: 10DISP:
Collaboration, Communication)

Explain how you incorporated feedback from your cooperating teacher and supervisor, if
applicable, to the planning/teaching of this lesson. What decisions did you make based on
feedback received?

Andrea Bowhall-Diaz
Lesson #3
At first I had the students rotating groups, meaning they would have to get up and switch
stations. When I introduced this idea to my cooperating teacher, she gave me the
feedback that it would be easier if I had the stations (Tupperware) just rotate because it
would be faster and safer. I took her suggestion and only had the containers rotate, and it
helped keep the activity flowing. It made for quick transitions, less chance of
interruptions or misbehavior. Also, with how many students are in the class compared to
the size of the classroom, it made it safer.