Lesson Self- Assessment #8

Name: Emily Michi

Lesson topic: Adding with multiple addends to number larger than 20.
Date: 11/30/2015
School/grade level/ number of students: Parkview / 1st/ 31
Name of Cooperating Teacher: Stefanie Dorf
Planning and preparation: Describe how your plan provided opportunities for active
engagement. How did you provide for the needs of diverse learners? Did you adjust your plan in
any way? Describe how and why if you did.
My plan was to read THE HUNGRY CATERPILLAR by Eric Carle and as the caterpillar ate
something new we would record on our math log. The math log had a ten frame and a space for
a number sentence. Having the kids work on their math log provided an opportunity for them to
be engaged with the work. I also had the students work with me, which helped the students who
needed more support. I slightly adjusted the plan because I was unsure how to have the students
independently write the number sentences. I found this lesson on NCTM illuminations. Their
lesson plan said to have the students write sentences and the compare them because the
sentences might vary. As the students and I were working through the book I filled in the ten
frames and number sentence on the document camera and then they did the same at their desk.
After a couple of examples I walked around a little bit and let the students do the work before
doing the task up front. In the end we did not have any variations with number sentences and I
hadnt clearly figured how I could set up the situation so the students did that part of the task
independently. I actually like that this lesson was so focused working all together. I think it was
a lot of good practice for the students and prepare them to do a follow up lesson where we do
something similar with another Eric Carle book.
Classroom environment: Evaluate the ways in which your encouraged student participation.
How did you elicit student responses? How did you engage them in responding to you and each
other? Evaluate your plan for individual, small group and/or whole class work. How effective
were these different organizational techniques for keeping students involved in your lesson?
During the lesson there were times that I had to stop and get the class to regroup. It helped to
bring the group back together and down a level. It is very easy for these students to get loud. I
periodically asked the students to put their heads on their desk. It took a little bit but eventually
the noise level reduced and we were able to reconnect. Working as a group was not the best
way to manage students at different levels. Some of the students who dont need as much support

were probably a little bored waiting. Having so many students in the class it is hard to find that
balance between both challenging and supporting all students. I also encouraged students to
raise hands to participate in our discussion. Sometimes this is difficult for me to keep focusing
on this skill because I naturally like discussions that are more free form but this group could not
handle it.
Instruction: Evaluate your choices of instructional strategies. Did they have the effect you
intended? Were the needs of all learners met? What changes would you make if you repeated this
lesson?
This lesson was heavily focused on us working together so that I could model for the students
what they were doing on their math log. Working together in this manner help to support the
students who struggle more. To wrap up the lesson we went over a couple of number sentences
and talked about different ways that we could have written them but still had the same result. If I
taught this lesson again I would try to incorporate more ways for students to explain there
thinking. The last day in the field I watched the instruction coach do a math activity with the
students where they were asked questions and the students used sign language to respond with
statements like I am thinking, I have a strategy, I was thinking the same or I have an answer. I
think using different ways for students to use non-verbal communication enhances a lesson. It
wasnt completely smooth for the group but they were working on it.
Assessment: What assessment processes did you plan and how did they work? What did you
learn from listening to student responses, examining their work or listening to their interactions?
How well did your assessment procedures inform you about student attainment of your lessons
objectives?
My assessment was to observe the students as they work to look for anecdotal evidence. I also
created a math log for the students to record their work. I reviewed their math logs to look for
evidence of misunderstanding and misdirection to be addressed. While watching the students
work I saw most students working. There were times in the lesson that it felt very chaotic but
looking past the chaos I saw the majority of students staying on track. I also observed some
students working but displaying incorrect work. I was able to check in with that student
individually to address the problem but all so as a whole class. Not by saying look what so and
so is doing wrong but reviewing the correct way to do it. As I reviewed the students log I noted

some students did not fill in their ten frame correctly, some wrote incorrect number sentences
and one student did not have the correct symbols in writing a number sentence. The latter
student was one I featured in my project and that was a similar issue he had in the linked lesson.
The lesson had the students working in a large group so I would like to address his issue in a
small group setting. Hopefully with more individualized attention we could figure out what was
going on.
Professional responsibilities: What did you learn from your cooperating teachers feedback on
this lesson? How will you apply it to future lessons?
My cooperating teacher did not give me feedback at this time for this lesson. She was distracted
at times with behavior issues. I also think that because I was being observed for the lesson she
did not to offer feedback.
Reflection: What did you learn about student learning and assessing from this lesson? How will
it affect your planning for future teaching?
This was one of few lessons from this semester that I felt like the work was really meaningful for
the students. They like reading and my introduction gave them an opportunity to share what they
knew about caterpillars. It was a great way to integrate a little science into the lesson. Having
lessons that are meaningful for the students help to engage them with the learning. For future
lessons I would like to search out more ways to integrate subjects. I also would like to figure out
how I can have them write number sentences but allow it to be more open ended. So that they
dont all have to be the same sentence just have the same results.