MA353 Methods and Materials in the Teaching of Elementary School

Mathematics
Lakeview Elementary Weekly Reflection #4
Plan and Teach a Lesson
Alyssa Anttila
The lesson that I had to prepare was Mrs. Kendalls suggestion. It was on
greater than, less than, and equal to. This was in a second grade classroom, and I
thought that overall the lesson was very successful!
Before I began my teaching, the teacher gave me reminders of students that
have various learning disabilities and the things that I might do to compensate for
them. These would be giving one student specific responsibilities to help keep him
focused and engaged, as well as another seated closer to me so it would be easier
to see what I am modeling to the class. She also thought that it would be beneficial
to pick partners before the lesson began, because I will then be able to spot any
potential problems between the partners before the actual activity began. This was
a really helpful tip!
The learning environment in this classroom is set up in a way that students
are able to successfully work within partner pairs. This is possible because of the
desks being set up into an open half square, so it is easy to walk around to each
individual desk. There are also three little round tables that students are able to
work on that are at easy access.
During the first few minutes of class before I began my lesson, the students
were sharing seed posters that they had brought in to the class. This was something

really interesting to see! Right before I began my lesson, Mrs. Kendall explained to
students that I would be doing my lesson and that she expected them to have
exemplary behavior for me. The students were excited and interested in what my
lesson would be in comparison to the lessons Mrs. Kendall gives!
I introduced my topic by pulling out actual model examples of greater than,
less than, equal to that I had made previous to my lesson. I asked the class if they
have ever seen the symbols before and what they thought they meant. I then asked
students to give me fist to fives of their knowledge of the symbols that we were
going to use for my lesson.
Throughout my lesson, students were on task as they were working diligently
within their pairs. Some things that students seemed to struggle with were telling
me the different symbols that they were putting unto their worksheets. They put
them in correctly, but when asked what the symbols were they were unable to tell
me specifically what the symbol was. They would respond with bigger or smaller. I
realized through this that if I were to do another lesson like this I would have to
really clarify that the symbols mean, greater than and less than. I feel as though
part of students successes would be to develop a deep understanding to what is
being taught, which includes being able to correctly label what they are
doing/working with.
Some questions that students asked me after I questioned their symbols that
I had seen them write in incorrectly were, If this number is bigger than that
number, which way would I write in the symbol? I would respond with reviewing
what was taught at the beginning of the lesson and students were then able to write
in the correct symbol. This is another thing that I will have to work on clarifying with

similar future lessons. When students were finished with the activity, they would ask
me, What should I do now that I am done? This was not something I was prepared
for, as the activity worksheet was two-sided, but a student suggested working with
four digit numbers and is something that I then incorporated into the lesson.
Students seemed to be eager to work with four digit numbers and to be able to
display them to the class, so it worked out well for the lesson!
I ended this lesson by having partners come up to the whiteboard at the front
of the class and write numbers (two, three, and even four digit numbers!) that their
partner and they have come up with and tell the class if the two quantities that they
came up with were less than, greater than, or equal to. Students would then
respond with thumbs up or thumbs down if they agreed with what the group had
decided in reference to the symbol needed. If students didnt agree, I would ask
them questions such as, Why do you feel as though that symbol isnt correct? and
What should they have put in instead? Through asking these questions, students
were able to realize what they did or thought that was wrong and everyone was
able to learn from it!
The last few minutes of class after I had done my lesson were wonderful! I
had noticed students still playing the activity and writing down the three/four digit
numbers that they have found with the correct symbols. After questioning one
student, he excitedly told me, I cant wait to show my mom how I can do this with
four digit numbers and everything! This was the highlight of my lesson, knowing
that students are excited about what I taught them and that they cant wait to share
what they have learned.

The feedback or comments that Mrs. Kendall provided on my lesson were

spectacular! She loved the anticipatory set that I had of showing the symbols and
asking students if they have ever seen them before, and also how I had the whole
class to show what they knew about it in fist to fives. I also had a poster that
provided examples of each that I hung in the front of the class for students to refer
to which she thought was beneficial to my lesson. She also had great comments on
my why questions that I had asked throughout. Another thing that she was really
happy about was the time frames that I would give to help students to pace
themselves (Ex. 3 minutes to finish up!). She thought this was helpful to students
in the class that have disabilities and need that specific time pacing. I demonstrated
great flexibility she commented, which is something that I think is key!
Some things that I have to reflect and work on in the future she wrote about
in her feedback would be making sure that I have their attention before starting the
lesson and while giving directions, and to reinforce often. She also gave a helpful
suggestion of actually showing the number 56 and 26 through tally lines. I wasnt
aware at the time, but she gives students responsibilities of collectors/distributors
that I could have used that she thinks would have benefitted me. Another mark that
she made was to determine my noise tolerance. I seem to have a higher level of
tolerance than her, and she wanted to make sure if in the future I would stay
consistent with the level. Expectations for what others are doing while students are
sharing are another thing that I will have to work on, as well.
I am grateful to have the amount of positive, constructive feedback and
comments from her that I did! This will help me to reflect and grow as a teacher.

What went well in my lesson was the activity itself, as students were engaged
and eager to do it. Another thing would be the actual models of greater than, less
than, and equal to alligators that I created for each of the pairs. Students were
able to understand that these were tools and not toys (after first explicitly explain
this!) and use them to help guide them throughout the activity. I noticed quite a bit
of students using these models on their actual worksheets for the activity to help
them understand which symbol they should choose to write in.
What I need to improve upon with future lessons is making sure that I have
students attention before beginning the lesson and to reinforce what I want from
them often. Another thing would be my noise level tolerance. This is something that
I need to decipher and keep consistent with my teaching!
Overall, from this experience I have learned an exponential amount! I have
never really taught a lesson to an entire class before and it was a great learning
experience for me. I have learned a lot about classroom management and different
techniques to use to get students attention, as well as the different approaches
that I could use while teaching math in the future (ex. Using different
representations for a number- 15 written with tally marks/dots.). I will definitely take
with me all of the feedback and comments that Mrs. Kendall had written, and use it
to help me grow and strengthen as a teacher for in the future!