Individual Lesson Assessments Reflection

Background information
1. Discuss briefly in a paragraph the focus of your lessons (learning objectives)
in all 4 contents.
The objective for my language arts/social studies lesson was, While
participating in a read aloud and a discussion about the invention of the telephone,
TSW answer questions about the text during the story, write their own questions
and inferences, and examine answers about the book on dry erase boards, by
pairing and sharing with a partner and then sharing with the class how they came to
their conclusion based on the text. The objective for my science lesson was,
While participating in creating a graphic organizer and a diorama with two animals
of the same kind, TSW distinguish which animal will survive in that habitat, by
explaining what traits will help it to survive. The objective for my math lesson was,
While gathering information to compare, TSW be able to explain how the
information is measured using scaled bar graphs in terms of how many more and
how many less using a one step process, by creating a scaled bar graph.
2. Describe how you pre-assessed to know students were ready for each content
lesson. Readiness is critical in moving forward.
At the beginning of the language arts/social studies lesson I discussed what
was previously learned about main idea and supporting details in text. I pre-
assessed what they remembered by asking for a thumbs up/sideways/down to
ensure that they had a good grasp of this material before moving on. Before the
science lesson I gave each student a piece of paper and asked them to write one
sentence about what they thought a trait was. I explained that they should write
what they think it might be even if they werent sure. Before the math lesson I gave
each student a piece of paper and asked them to write their ideas of what they
think a bar graph is and what they think they measure.
3. Describe your formative assessments and scoring guides for each content.
The formative assessments that I used for my language arts/social studies
lesson was an anecdotal record during the think-pair-share portion of the lesson.
During this time I wrote some of the conversations that I heard and some of the
questions that the students wrote about the text that we read. I also had the
students write one sentence explaining how they think questioning during reading a
text helps with comprehension. The scoring guide that I used was a checklist that
focused on if the student wrote at least one sentence, the students response
focused on how they think questioning during reading helps with comprehension,
and if the students sentence makes sense. I scored these points with a yes, no,
or somewhat answer.
The formative assessments that I used for my science lesson was a habitat
that the students created where they had to choose which animal had the better
trait for survival. The students had to choose the correct animal to place in their
habitat and write one sentence explaining why they chose that animal to be more
likely to survive. The scoring guide was a checklist that focused on if the student
chose the correct animal to place in their habitat with the better trait to survive and
that the student wrote one sentence explaining why they chose that animal by
naming the trait that their animal had to help it survive. I scored these points with a
yes and no answer.
The formative assessments that I used for my math lesson was to have the
students create a scaled bar graph with the correct information. The students voted
on which ice cream flavor was their favorite out of four choices. The students then
created their own individual bar graphs with the information. The scoring guide was
a checklist that focused on if the student created the bar graph, put correct labels,
included a title, and included data correctly scaled. I scored these points with a
yes and no answer.
4. Describe the 2 children based on your observation logs.
According to my observation log the two children that I have observed have
many differences in their learning needs.
Student #1 is not on an IEP or any type of intervention program. She is on
target in all of the content areas and doesnt show any signs of falling behind. She
does well with reading and comprehension and works quickly and accurately. She is
always eager to participate and asks many questions, often out of curiosity and not
out of difficulty with understanding. She is so eager to participate that sometimes
she gives incorrect answers because she is too quick with responding. Once she
slows down to think about what she wants to say she does better. She is also on
target with math and understanding the concepts and strategies. When a new
concept is introduced she might make a few mistakes, but often asks questions and
wants to learn what she is doing wrong. It doesnt take her long to understand how
she made mistakes and to figure out the concepts. Once she understands how a
strategy works she often tries to figure the problem out in her head because she
likes to work quickly.
Student #2 is on an IEP and has difficulty with reading and comprehension.
He often asks for directions to be read to him and sometimes still has trouble
comprehending what he needs to do and needs additional prompting. His writing is
a struggle as he has trouble with spelling and correct letter formation. He often
leaves out vowels and his spelling tends to interfere with what he intends to write.
He frequently leaves out punctuation and writes short sentences that lack details.
When he is given a topic to write about he has trouble developing ideas on his own.
He often struggles with basic sight words and often will not try to figure them out
himself. He also does not use context clues to determine the meaning of an
unknown word. When asked a question about a text he does not go back to the text
to find an answer. He does do better with math and understands how to use the
strategies to figure out problems. He often does well with word problems when they
are read to him, but has difficulty with problems with more than one step. He does
well with counting money, interpreting graphs, and measuring objects. He often
hurries, though, which takes his attention off of the task at hand. He also gets
easily distracted and will often get out of his seat.

Reflection in Action
1. What were the formative assessment results each day and how would you
use it the next day in your planning? (You may want to create some table
each day that shows each childs results. Did you expect these results? Why
or Why not?
The formative assessment results for my language arts/social studies lesson
met my expectations for the most part. The students were to write one sentence
explaining how they think questioning during reading a text helps with
comprehension. Student #1 answered in a complete sentence that answered the
question thoroughly. She did not need prompting and wrote quickly and accurately.
Because of this students past work I did expect these results from her since she
does well with writing and comprehension. Student #2, who is on an IEP had the
same instructions, but his also stated that he could just list words to describe his
answer. Though he had this option he did write a sentence, which made complete
sense. He had many spelling errors and did not include punctuation, but his
meaning answered the question completely. I was happy to see these results and
was not expecting them from this student since his writing in the past often does
not make sense or is incomplete.
2. What type of feedback did you give to the children each day? Be specific
with the 2 specific children that you observed. Was this feedback appropriate
for the needs of the child(ren)? Why?
After the language arts/social studies lesson I verbally told Student #1 and
also wrote on a notecard that her sentence that she wrote was great and that she
was right about how questioning helps you to get more information. I also told her
to always remember to ask questions about everything that she reads. I taped the
notecard on her desk as a visual reminder for future lessons. I believe this type of
feedback was appropriate for this student because she understands what is told to
her and the notecard will encourage her to continue using the information. For the
math lesson I also gave verbal as well as written feedback on a notecard. I told the
student that her work was neat and reminded her for future lessons that she could
also put tick marks on the y-axis of the graph to be more accurate. For the science
lesson the student got verbal feedback as well as written on a notecard since she
responded so well to previous written feedback. I wrote about how she chose the
correct animal with the trait that would help it to survive and reminded her that she
would be able to use this information in future lessons about plant traits.
Student #2 also received a notecard and verbal feedback after the language
arts/social studies lesson. Though I believe the verbal feedback was more
meaningful to him, the notecard could still serve as a visual reminder for future
writing projects. I also gave verbal as well as written feedback for the math lesson.
I wrote that he drew the bars on his bar graph accurately, but to not forget to put
titles on graphs. I put the card on his desk as a visual reminder for future math
lessons. For the science lesson the student got verbal feedback and also written
feedback on a notecard. The student seemed to like having the visual reminders so
I thought this would help serve as a reminder for future lessons on plant traits.
3. How did you or will you help students use this feedback?
I plan on reminding the students of their written feedback that is taped on
their desks during language arts as they read texts in the future. I also intend to
remind them of labeling graphs as they move forward with learning about different
types of graphs. It will also serve as a reminder as the students move into learning
about traits that plants have in their future science lessons. These ideas will be a
form of schema that the students will be able to connect their future ideas and
learning to.
4. Describe what you learned about teaching and learning related to
assessment and feedback?
I have learned a lot about teaching and learning related to assessment and
feedback. It often takes many times of telling students something before it really
makes sense to them or for them to remember it. If a teacher tells a student
something just once they might understand the feedback in that moment, but they
will most likely forget the information soon after. I learned from observing the
students in my classroom that they often look at the written feedback on their desks
and read it to themselves. This ongoing feedback will continue to remind the
students of the concepts learned and what they need to work on or remember for
future lessons. I feel that they also have a sense of pride and accomplishment to
have a personal note from their teacher that is their own.
5. What would you have done differently during this lesson week? Why? Be
specific about teaching and instruction.
I think the number one thing that I would change with my lessons would be
the length of the lessons overall. When I wrote the lessons I figured the time
allotment pretty accurately, but I did not take into consideration how much time
would be taken up with discussions and questions from the students. The lessons
that I created did get completed from start to finish, but at times I did feel rushed. I
think in the future I will plan on splitting lessons of this length into two lessons to
allow for more discussion and extra time at the end to review. This will also allow
time before the next lesson for a review as well of the previous lesson.
One other thing that I thought went well, but could have had more variations
would be with classroom management and in getting the attention of the class. I
used techniques such as, If you can hear me hold up five fingers, four fingers,
three fingers, etc. I also used a technique where I say, Class class and the class
responds with, Yes yes. This also worked well, but I could see how the class would
eventually not respond as well if it is used too much. If I had more variations of
techniques such as these it might keep the class more interested and willing to
respond. I plan on finding more ideas to use for my student teaching in this area.
Student Perception Survey
Create a table of some sort to visually identify the results on the student
perceptions survey. What did you learn about yourself? What will you do differently
for the unit and for student teaching?
(See bar graph and reflection attached as a separate document below).