Daily Reflections

Record a daily reflection after teaching each lesson by responding to the following
prompts: (TPEs 12, 13)
1. What is working?
Lesson 1a students were enjoying the story especially that I was reading to them. The
text opener I gave them before the opening prompted a great discussion that went on for
10 minutes. The students especially liked the end of the story that had a big reveal that
Charles wasnt a real person after all. They starting buzzing about what that could mean.
2. What is not?
I needed to have my documents closer at hand. The lesson got off to a rocky start because
I had left my text openers in another area the classroom. Also some of the students in the
front of the class where I was reading had lost the back of earing and they became
obsessed with finding it. As a result a lot of the students in the area were distracted trying
to look for it. I should have stopped what I was doing to get them back on task but I
didnt notice it until I had finished reading. I noticed that I ddint have a clear closer
prepared for the lesson and that made the end a bit awkward and drag on longer than it
should have. Also I didnt feel very confident about the lesson going in and I think that
made the students feel a bit lost, especially in the beginning.
3. For whom?
For English Learners, I focused on reading with expression so they could learn fluency
through modeling. For students who were on the edges of the class I wasnt really
engaging them because I was seated at the front in a static position.
4. Why? (Consider teaching and student learning with respect to both content and academic
language development.)
The language like insolently I felt could have been front loaded. The Junior Great
Books suggested not frontloading it but I think it would have made the reading easier to
digest for ELLs. The assessment I gave said that the constructed response was optional,
but I made it mandatory. This was confusing for some students.
5. How does this reflection inform what you plan to do in the next lesson?
This reflection helps me in the sense that I believe I should move about the room more
when I re-read the text. I need to have all my documents prepared before starting and I
need to practice the lesson a few times before executing it in front of the class. I also
would likely have altered the assessment so the language was more clearly indicating that
the constructed response was mandatory.
Daily reflections will be submitted with Task 5. Reflecting on Teaching & Learning.
Daily Reflections
Record a daily reflection after teaching each lesson by responding to the following
prompts: (TPEs 12, 13)
1. What is working?
Lesson 1b I had my paperwork prepared for this lesson and had the book projected on
the overhead and was modeling marking the text for the students. The students were
marking the text as I was going through. I was starting to feel too stationary and didnt
want to model the whole text so I did manage to get up and walk around the room more

2.

3.

4.

5.

which helped me deal with classroom management better. The students appeared to
understand the instructions of the assessment on the front side of it where they had to
mark their text. Having students just be responsible for marking the text A for admire
and D for disapprove lowered the threshold for the students on what they had to do
while reading. Having the students share out their responses.
What is not?
I complicated the lesson by having the students write on the back of the form examples
they had found and to respond why they thought it was an example of someone admiring
or disapproving the behavior. It made the lesson clunky and less focused. Only half the
students actually wrote anything on the back. Also the fact that students were marking for
the words admire and disapprove as opposed to approve and disapprove was problematic.
The fact that I was still in this teacher directed space wasnt very engaging for the
students. My energy level was low on this one.
For whom?
For English Learners especially having two words that arent exact opposites of each
other makes it confusing for them to understand. I ended up teaching them what the word
admired meant as some people didnt know. In that sense it could be seen as a positive,
but for the flow of the lesson it slowed things down. Some students on the fringes of the
class were somewhat unengaged and became more disruptive due to this being a
primarily teacher directed lesson.
Why? (Consider teaching and student learning with respect to both content and academic
language development.)
Admire and approve mean to different things, but they are related. Using approve as I
stated above would have been a more natural antonym to disapprove and still starts with
an a.
How does this reflection inform what you plan to do in the next lesson?
This reflection helps me see that I still need to bring my energy level up in the classroom.
I need to move around the room more and while having the ELMO and projector in the
front ties me to have the class be more teacher directed, there has to be ways I can make
the lessons more engaging.
Daily Reflection (Lesson 2)
Reflection
The students were more engaged this time around as they had more to do. I had
gotten over my cold finally and was able to have more energy. One particular part that
worked well was when I was clarifying for the students what the word fresh meant. I
asked the class directly what they thought the word meant in the context of the story. One
student said it meant cool. I joked that that would be more like Fresh Prince of Bel
Air. I was afraid that I dated myself but they all were familiar with the show and thought
the reference was funny. I gave the student credit for his understanding and just clarified
that while that was one meaning of the word, in the story the author means rude or
disrespectful. All the students seem to get a clear understanding after that which was very
important to their success on the assessment.
I modeled filling out the first page of the assessment. That helped most of the
students at least get that part right and when I graded the assessment later on, only one
student did not fill it out. This student is routinely not on task and decides to do whatever

he wants with his time regardless. Im hoping I can find a way to engage him in later
lessons.
Lastly, I noticed that I didnt put quote marks on my example, that may be a
problem later on for students as that was something I asked them to put on theirs.
Daily Reflection (Lesson 3a)
Reflection
I was doing the story map today and it went well. The parts that I thought were
most effective was that I was writing directly on the smart board what people called out
in the class. It was more engaging and it helped me to understand if students were
understanding the story and could find evidence.
One thing that became a problem was that one of the students desks was touching
the teachers desk that was throwing off the smart board alignment. I had to reset the
alignment twice in the lesson which slowed down the lesson and students instantly took
as an opportunity to start getting loud. I asked the student to back his desk off a bit and
that helped to keep the smart board working. The other issue with the smart board was
that the writing from the digital pen was chunky. I wasnt experienced using the smart
board so when things didnt work right it slowed me down.
It might have been better if I had typed it directly into the form I created. I was
trying to avoid that though as I didnt want to be sitting down during the lesson. Overall
despite the technology issues the students were engaged in the process and found a lot of
examples of characters and settings I had not thought about before. Sharp class!
Daily Reflection (Lesson 3b)
Reflection
Today I had students answer a new interpretive question that was not from the
Junior Great Books. The master teacher and I had discussed the question before class and
had agreed it would help the students gain a deeper understanding. The question about the
difference between Laurie and Charles and actions did require me to once again tell the
students Charles is not real, right? 95% said Right and one or to said Hes not?.
Im not sure why the students are confused on this point after reading the story so many
times, but its clear I have to make sure they are clear on it before we get to the play
lesson.
The students came up with interesting reasons why they thought Laurie was doing
or not doing the things Charles was doing. Having the students find examples before
trying to answer the question. Initially I did not provide a sentence starter to the students
but they were struggling so I later wrote them out and put them up. Up until this point
students were not having trouble getting started on writing so I did not use sentence
starters. This question since it did not come with a worksheet may have been more
difficult in that regard.
Daily Reflection (Lesson 4a)
Reflection
My lesson just ended now. It was broken up by lunch. It went pretty well. I didnt
record it because I just wanted to focus on the students. Though I think I could have
recorded it and gotten some good material. I can definitely feel like each time I get in

front of the classroom I feel more and more like the teacher.
Im managing the whole classroom pretty well now, with the exception of 2 or 3
young men every one stays on task and produces thoughtful work. Its the same 2 or 3
young men that are often off-task no matter what the class is doing. Specifically, certain
aspects worked really well. I used a timer this time to make the lesson a bit more efficient
which helped me and the students stay more focused. Also I think the articles proved
interesting for the students. One young woman stated that she was really getting into it.
The students had trouble in some part with the close reading aspect where they
were looking for parts in the article that helped them understand the subjects perspective.
In retrospect there may have been more specific ways I could have asked them to find
this information. Perspective is somewhat abstract as a concept so they may have thought
to highlight the whole article or may have not highlighted any of it. I tried to model it in
the beginning by underlining a section of each article that stood out to me as providing
the perspective of either parent, female student being bullied or teacher.
The students in the middle of the room have shown that they are reading at grade
level and can handle complexity so I assigned them the teacher article that had more
detail. The difficulty arose in how I explained why I was giving them the article and not
another group. The truth of the matter was that I genuinely knew that this article would be
a challenge for the other groups but saying that might make those groups feel inferior. I
thought mid-lesson that the articles should be rotated so that the whole class gets to read
each article. When the class shared out what they found in the article it became revealed
that one young man only had read a paragraph.
I confronted him publicly as I felt that this was general behavior that was
exemplary of students difficultly managing their time effectively. I also feel responsible
as a teacher, as I could have found ways to become aware of where he was in the process
and whether he was engaged. It appeared when I circled around that he was on task but
not it becomes apparent that this was not the case. I had him read the article while
everyone else was doing a reflection. He was already writing a reflection I stopped by
and asked him what he could be reflecting on, and he responded the first paragraph. I felt
that it was more appropriate for him to use that time to read the article and experience the
perspective as that was the main objective of the lesson. The lesson ended with me
having one person from each article share out their reflection.
One student who read the bullying article shared how she personally connected
with the issue as she had experienced bullying. She also shared that she felt compassion
for the bully as well as they likely didnt have good parenting. This reflection represented
my ideal of the lesson experience. I wanted the students to really put themselves into the
shoes of the person in the article so that they could effectively write from that perspective
when they work on part 2 of this lesson. It might have been effective if I had shared my
own reflection of each article but I wanted to really here their perspective and I have
found sometimes that when I share my thoughts the students just copy it and dont think
for themselves.
Daily Reflection (Lesson 4b)
Reflection
The students absolutely loved this lesson. They finally starting writing their plays
by first filling out the story frame. They appreciated the fact that they could take the

original story and then add their own creative touches to it. The students especially
enjoyed that I let them give their own names to the teacher, little girl character and her
parents.
Working in groups is definitely favored for the students. I will definitely favor
group work myself in the future. One thing that worked especially well was that I took
time to figure out who was in each group ahead of time as opposed to having students
choose. They would have likely chosen to work with their friends and not been very
productive.
One of the groups in the back was not working very well together. One member of
the group had actually moved forward with filling out the story frame but the other
students did not listen to her or ask for her input. This was despite me repeatedly cycling
around and suggesting that they ask her for input. The other members of the group did
not come up with anything and spent their time staring off into space. I could not figure
out why they werent doing anything.
I had the students share out regularly and they all were coming up with great
ideas. Some of the groups were so efficient that they were ready to move on to writing
dialogue even within the first day of writing. Im excited to see what the final plays come
up as. But that will be after PACT has already passed.
The part Im happiest about is the student who was not very engaged in the whole
process of this unit actually was very animated and contributing his group. I was very
careful about which group I placed him with and made sure he was with a group of
students that wouldnt let him off the hook.
Daily reflections will be submitted with Task 5. Reflecting on Teaching & Learning.
Reflection Commentary

Reflection Commentary
Write a commentary of about three single-spaced pages that addresses the following prompts.
You can address each prompt separately, through a holistic essay, or a combination of both, as
long as all prompts are addressed.
1. When you consider the content learning of your students and the development of their
academic language, what do you think explains the learning or differences in learning
that you observed during the learning segment? Cite relevant research or theory that
explains what you observed. (TPEs 7, 8, 13)
There are definitely some vocabulary words that probably should have been frontloaded prior to
me reading the passage in . The sequence of events though is that I do a read aloud and have
students follow along. The type of speech and customs spoken about in the story like washing
someones mouth out with soap and spanking 1st graders might have seemed extreme or
unfamiliar to students. My efforts to have the students generate their own reason could have been
modeled ahead of time by me presenting my own thoughts about why people misbehave.
Perhaps this can be considered a leveled activity as some students may have difficulty generating
their own ideas about misbehaving but can pick from options provided. Some of the language in
the story may have been challenging for ELs in the classroom and even for some of the RFEP
students.
Papalia, et al. (2012) observed that that is sensitive to stimulation resulting from peer
influence, and a slow and steady development of the brains cognitive control network (P.
361). In essence students in the 6th grade are driven by social concerns more than academic
concerns. For this reason, I must find ways to appeal to them socially as well as academically.
One way to do this would be make my language instruction appeal to what they are doing
socially. I did this to some extent in the class by speaking of the students own behavior.
However, behavior in the classroom that is driven by peer pressure that is disruptive is just met
with disdain. Students need to be social but they are not able to in the classroom because it is a
very specific and focused environment.
Another reason I saw many differences in learning in the classroom was due to behavior.
Most of the students were engaged and ready to learn but some of them, were ready to play.
These students made it more difficult for others to focus and often disrupted and disrespected me
and other students. These students were often if not always the same ones who did not complete
their assessments properly, completely, or at all. I had to spend most of my time trying to get
them to task and was not able to spend as much time with students who were engaged but needed
help. In my video one of those students made a lot of noises with his table which are audible. He
was also muttering to himself. Ive spoken to the master teacher several times about his behavior,
but no one in the school has offered any solutions. What I have learned from experience working
with this student is that he is only successful when I work with him step-by-step on an individual
basis. As B.F. Skinner stated A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can
do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying. 1 As a teacher Ive learned the
greatest quality is patience and determination. I dont believe in bad students. I believe that
everyone can learn and will learn given the right motivation and circumstances. That belief paid
off later on as I saw the same student become very engaged in group work.

1 (Beyond Freedom and Dignity, 1972)

Haim Guinot stated in his work Teacher and Child 2

I have come to a frightening conclusion.
I am the decisive element in the classroom.
It is my personal approach that creates the climate.
It is my daily mood that makes the weather.
As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a
child's life miserable or joyous.
I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of
inspiration.
I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.
In all situations, it is my response that decides
whether a crisis
will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child
humanized or de-humanized
This passage was clearly evident to me in the classroom as I noticed every time my
approach changed my outcomes directly changed. On days where I was sick and had no energy,
my voice became duller and monotone. The students were sedated or disruptive. When I
approached the students on an equal plane they responded with smiles. When I approached them
as a disciplinarian they coiled or made it a point to ignore whatever I asked of them. Students
ultimately know what is in a teachers heart. They can read a teacher integrity like a book.
I also noted the converse was true. The students mood that day inspired me or dragged
me down. When the students were happy and engaged I responded with greater vigor and
engagement. This is similar to what an actor experiences with their audience. Its not a far cry to
state that teachers are akin to actors and that having acting skills makes one a better teacher. I
would want to invest in some course work in theatre for this reason.
2. Based on your experience teaching this learning segment, what did you learn about
your students as literacy learners (e.g., easy/difficult concepts and skills, easy/difficult
learning tasks, easy/difficult features of academic language, common
misunderstandings)? Please cite specific evidence from previous Teaching Event
tasks as well as specific research and theories that inform your analysis. (TPE 13)
Students didnt understand the meaning of the word fresh which was fairly easy to
explain by speaking about a person being rude or talking back or having an attitude. Most of
them were following along in the story but the true comprehension will be revealed in the second
reading where they have to identify areas where someone seems to admire/disapprove of
Charles. Students didnt understand the word insolently which I actually was prepared for them
not to understand. I learned that students need more complicated concepts broken down into
smaller pieces. When I first introduced the writing prompts, I assumed that the prompt was clear
but the students were frozen and didnt know what to do. I quickly brought in the story map
concept again to help them break down their characters, settings, problems and solutions. Time
in front of the classroom is very tense at times and can seem like it last longer than it does.
The students were not reading literature before this sequence of lessons and had trouble
understanding that the author had left out details from the story as a dramatic device. I gave them
2 Dr. Haim G. Ginott (1975), Teacher and child: A book for parents and
teachers, New York, NY: Macmillan. ISBN 0-380-00323-6.

a lecture after one of the lessons on how authors will leave out details that they reveal later on as
a twist or in some cases never reveal to keep the reader guessing.
Despite being designated English Learners all of the students that had that designation
had a lot of linguistic skills. One thing I did have to do with them was work with them
individually when I cycled through the classroom after providing initial instructions. The
assessments did show that they had some spelling issues in their writing. However, so did the
English only students. One student who reads at a very high level and is English speaking first
language gave very little effort towards filling out the worksheets and wasnt very engaged for
the first half of the lessons. Some of the best scorers I got back on the assessment were from
English Learners and redesignated students. This supported my belief that those designations
dont tell the full story about where a student is.
One of the most longstanding misunderstandings throughout the lesson sequence was that
students were confused for a long time that Charles was not a real person, that Laurie made him
up and that Laurie was not crazy or possessed. Its hard to say what caused some of the students
to be confused about this fact for much of the time. The resulting confusion that became apparent
in the assessments when students proclaimed that Charles was a bad influence on Laurie, or
that Charles was threatening students, made it clear that without understanding this key idea
students were cut off from deeper understanding of the interpretive questions. Luckily, the whole
class was on board with this understanding by the time we started writing the play. Working in
groups should solidify this understanding for them.
3. If you could go back and teach this learning segment again to the same group of
students, what would you do differently in relation to planning, instruction, and
assessment? How would the changes improve the learning of students with different?
needs and characteristics? (TPE 13)
I would go back and spend more time front loading the vocabulary words like insolently,
incredulously, and cynically. Perhaps we could use a KWL chart to identify what students
already know about the words. I also would likely move the camera to different location as it was
pointed at a student who has a tendency to want to be the star of the classroom and he was
making lots of gestures to the camera every moment he could. I would also want to read
determine what parts of the story I could emphasize in terms of reading within a character or
voice to make things more interesting. I was familiar with the story and words but there were
sections that I tripped over because the authors writing was somewhat clunky with the dialogue
and narrative text. I could do more to organize how I would introduce the lesson, what the
expectations were and after the lesson was over, explain what we would be doing next to create
anticipation. A lot of the students were excited for me to read them the next story which Im
happy about, but some of that may not have occurred if I was more clear that we would be
working with this one story for the whole week and that we would be engaging in close reading.
Additionally, it might have been helpful for them to write down some of the other
students thoughts from the class. I could keep track of responses by typing them up on my
computer.
To improve engagement, I should have had students read aloud the text on one occasion
at least so it wasnt so much of me reading the story. As noted above in Papalia, et al (2012)
students are more socially driven at the stage of early adolescents. The more opportunities they
had to hear their own voice would have improved their fluency and created more engagement
overall.

Another aspect I would have done differently would be to have more group work
throughout the lesson sequence. When I had the students get into groups to start writing the play
they became really excited about the prospect. The class was a lot more fun for me as well on
that occasion. This also helped me with checking in on students as I didnt have to go to each and
every one of the 28 students. I could just check on each group and get them on task.