Lesson Plan Reflection

Due: March 29th,2016

Lexington Vandermeulen
300020450

EDTS 234
L. Boschman

What did you learn about lesson planning in general from both teaching experiences?
a) Generally, through creating a lesson plan, I learnt that teaching is not simply being an
expert on the topic and going into the classroom and sharing that knowledge with others
and telling them all that you know about that topic. Through the first lesson planning
experience, I learnt that practise is essential and that the hook can sometimes be
introduced before the topic to add suspense and to keep the students engaged. With The
Outsiders lesson plan, the lesson plan was mandatory to practice prior to giving it out to
the class. In general, I learnt that lesson planning is a mandatory thing and that the
lesson must be practised a few times prior to going out into the classroom and teaching it
because the class is very different that what most would expect. A lesson plan must also
be flexible enough to be able to change due to circumstances within the class because
the class may excel in certain activities of the lesson while other parts may cause the
class to struggle. Because of a lesson plan having to reach out to every student, a lesson
plan must reach out to every learning style and it needs to acknowledge the varying
types of multiple intelligences and that the lesson plan has to stick to the government
curriculum, however, incorporating different core subjects into that topic and making
sure as much of the class stays engaged. Lesson planning is very important for any type
of teaching experience, it is more likely to keep you organized and calm.

How does your anticipatory set hook students? Reference both lesson plans.
b) The anticipatory set for both lessons is made to keep the students attention, it prepares
them for the actual lesson, in The Outsiders, we did the auction with very select and
precise circumstances first so it gave the class a chance to not only be involved with the
lesson but also gave the students a first-hand opportunity to witness what it would be

Lesson Plan Reflection

Due: March 29th,2016

Lexington Vandermeulen
300020450

EDTS 234
L. Boschman

like to be a character in the book, being on either the rich or the poor side when given
circumstances that you have no control over. For the lesson that I taught myself, I made
the decision of reading a bedtime story to not only calm the students, but I kept in mind
my previously known knowledge that many young children enjoy being read to; by
giving a glimpse of the lesson prior to actually giving the lesson the teacher is more able
to keep the students engaged because to the interest in the student's mind that the have
recently sparked.

Describe how you decided on the activities in the development section for each lesson
plan. What were your guiding thoughts/goals? What were other considerations
within the framework of the lesson regarding students for both lesson plans?
c) Deciding on the development section was much easier for the peer created lesson plan
because I have gotten to know my classmates and I am much more able to relate to them
and the knowledge that they have compared to the grade one and two class that I created
my own lesson plan for. I know that college students and the grade nines that the lesson
plan was designed for are mature enough to write down answers and explain their
answers with the rest of the class. It was harder to create a development section for the
younger children because I also have to make sure that they would enjoy it due to their
lack of length for their attention span. My goal for both lesson plans was to ensure the
students knew exactly what was being asked of them. Not only that but, the students also
all learn in different styles so another goal was to try and meet almost every type of
those learning styles.

How does your learning experience for students support the achievement of the
Alberta Education Program of Studies outcomes you have selected for both lesson

Lesson Plan Reflection

Due: March 29th,2016

Lexington Vandermeulen
300020450

EDTS 234
L. Boschman

plans? How did you determine if your practicum teaching experience was successful
in the learning for your students?
d) For both lesson plans, I learnt that there has to be a positive learning experience for all
the specific outcomes to be met. To achieve these outcomes, the students have to want to
learn and to show some interest in the topic that is being taught. If the students have no
interest in the topic the students will disengage themselves from the class, resulting in
them not meeting any of the outcomes. I determined if I had achieved my outcomes by
the activities we did after the hook. The games we played in the lesson that I created
showed some of the students understanding. The thumbs up thumbs down game showed
directly if the specific outcome was met because it showed that the students were able to
distinguish between odd and even. The lesson Plan that was created by my group were
able to determine if the outcomes were met by the classes ability to answer the questions
that we gave them properly.

How does your closure and self-assessment invite students thoughtful reflection on
learning for both lessons?
e) Because the lesson I taught was for students of such a young age range, there was much
less thoughtful reflection made on their part compared to the lesson created by Mike,
Tanya, Jordan, and myself. The self-assessment was made for that lesson plan was
ensured by the questions that were discussed at the end of the lesson. Thoughtful
expression was brought up at the end of the lesson that I taught by getting the students to
use their creativity and use that creativity to draw something.

What did you learn from your peers feedback in class, both in the sharing stage and
the presentation stage?

Lesson Plan Reflection

Due: March 29th,2016

Lexington Vandermeulen
300020450

EDTS 234
L. Boschman

2. The feedback that I received from the class was very positive, I learnt that student like
seeing things first hand rather than just filling out a simple worksheet. The class discusses
how much they enjoyed not knowing the exact topic and how once we explained it after the
auction and why we did the auction it made sense of why it was held. The class commented
on how this was a very intriguing way to get their attention because at first they did not know
what was going on. In the presentation, we saw that over half the class was not engaged
because we did not allow them to be, for future reference I would have preferred for them to
do a small worksheet to still maintain the highest level of engagement within the class. In the
presentation stage, I learnt that it is best for the entire class to be doing something because I
noticed that those who were not able to participate in the auction were getting off topic. Both
the presentation stage and the sharing stage gave back valuable feedback that should be kept
in mind when creating future lesson plans.

What did you learn from your students feedback and your teachers feedback in your
practicum classroom from presenting your lesson?
3. I learnt that I need to be prepared for anything and that I need to have much more than I
think I need to be planned. Not only that, but I also need to be much more flexible with my
lesson plan and to not be upset when things do not go as planned. Some students excelled
much faster at the assignments than others and once I finally heard that first group say they
were done every assignment and task that I asked them to do, this lead to my mentor teacher's
feedback telling me that I need to plan more than I think that I will ever need, not only that
but to be calm when things like this happen and to come up with an educational game that the
class can do once every assignment is done. The students made me think about my patience
and the volume and dominance of my voice that I will need to grow as I move further into my
teaching career. In my previous practicum, my mentor teacher has also mentioned that I need

Lesson Plan Reflection

Due: March 29th,2016

Lexington Vandermeulen
300020450

EDTS 234
L. Boschman

to raise my voice and assert my dominance by giving a strong yet soft tone. The students of
my current practicum are not afraid, to be honest, so I was quickly informed that the students
much preferred the interactive games rather than the hundreds chart. My mentor teachers
taught me to accept these statements as a learning experience and not so much of being an
attack on my teaching style, as well as, to explain to the students why this chart is mandatory
for the learning experience. My mentor teacher taught me more of how to handle the classes
reaction while the students taught me first hand how to take criticism.

Reflect, personally, on your two teaching experiences. What will you take forward,
both positive and room for improvement, for your next teaching experiences?
4. From both teaching experiences I have learnt that getting be fully engaged will be difficult
and that I may not be able to reach every form of learning style, however, I will take from
both many learning experiences, and area of which I know I could do much better on. My
tone should be much more energetic and eager, by doing this it will show my excitement for
the topic, encouraging others to be as excited as I am. This energetic yet professional tone
makes it also seem as if I have a lot of knowledge about the topic. I will also take forward
that I need to work much more on my time managing skills and to always prepare myself for
the worst and never assume that things will go smoothly within the classroom. By doing this,
it makes it so that I will always have a backup plan. The best thing that I believe that I can
take forward from this experience is to not get overwhelmed and to make sure my lesson plan
is flexible, with a flexible lesson plan I am much more able to ensure a proper learning
experience and being forgiving if we do not get all the content in the lesson plan covered
rather than becoming flustered when not everything goes according to plan. I have also learnt
that the criticism that the grade one and two class gave me was a benefit for my teaching
career, and that I would much rather have students be honest so I can improve my teaching

Lesson Plan Reflection

Due: March 29th,2016

Lexington Vandermeulen
300020450

EDTS 234
L. Boschman

methods than them not care about the topic resulting in them getting poor grades, leaving a
negative impact on my ability to have a high-class average. Teaching both lesson plans has
taught me that I need to reach out to the students and get to know them to find what types of
hooks would be most appealing to them. Personally, I believe that with this experience my
next lesson will be much better than the most recent two that I have made plans for.