Reflection

Math

Next Steps

Based on this data my next steps would be to focus on telling time to the half-hour. When
I created the questions I did not quite think them through I guess. It was slightly hard to tell since
the number of students who could have gotten the answer right in each category was not the
same. However once I turned them into percentages, I found that telling time to the half-hour had
the highest percentage at 85% difference between correct and incorrect. Questions relating to
half-past was 55% and telling time to the hour was only 20%. I would do a remedial lesson
where the student strictly focuses on telling time to the half-hour. I would use practice sheets and
various activities and movement videos like Jack Hartmann to reinforce this concept. In terms of
telling time the hour, I would pull these students aside and work with them one-on-one to help
clear up any misconceptions or confusion. For the students who struggle with half-past, I would
do something similar to telling time to the hour. I would work with them one-on-one or in a
small group. Andrew Miller from Edutopia wrote an article about the power of small-group
instruction. One of the biggest benefits that stood out to me while I was writing this article was
using small group instruction to listen and learn. Miller says “A teacher might create an activity
for students to engage in and then observe what they do, asking probing questions to learn how
they are engaging with the task. This can in turn lead to better planning and instruction” (Miller,
2020). Learning how the students think can help me plan instruction better and help clear up any
misconceptions in their thinking. This can only be done in a small group.

Did I expect these results?

 As I was analyzing the data I was quite surprised by how poorly students did. While I
was creating the assessment I was expecting the students to do well on it because they would
have worked on both of these concepts during that week. These concepts were also reinforced
through the use of morning work. Not only that but the students seemed to be very confident in
their answers while we working on the workbook pages together. I think that these results were
very telling as to the power of formative assessments.

Social Studies

Next Steps

While I was thinking about the next steps for this lesson I concluded that it would be
better to extend the students learning on this topic rather than keeping it simple. I would talk
about how to budget currency and having the students earn their currency through tasks like
picking up trash on the floor, or acts of kindness. This relates to the second-grade standard found
in the model curriculum. I would not expect the students to complete several tasks to earn their
20 squares but I would want them to get them to earn at least part of their squares to spend at the
store. However, this would require the lesson to be across several days. I chose to move on to
more complex topics because the students all got 100% on meeting the objective. The neatness
was the only thing that would change over time and with practice.

Did I expect these results?

If I am being perfectly honest, I was not expecting these results. However, when I initially
created this assessment I was going to have the students purchase five items for their suitcase.
However, once I started doing this lesson I needed to pivot and only have them purchase three
items so I should have taken more squares that were needed to purchase it but I did not think of
that until now. However, in terms of the exact standards, it would not be hard to meet this
standard because the only expectation for it was that the students would participate in an
economic exchange.

LA Assessment

Next steps

The next step after looking at the data for this assessment would be to have the students complete
a similar check independently and turn it in. This assessment was completed as a group. Since it
was completed as a group, I only directly assessed five students based on their initial impressions
of the questions. In order to get a better read on how the students understand a text I would need
to have them complete an independent comprehension check. One way I can do this is through
random questions. This correlates to research because the article 10 Creative Ways to Check
Student Comprehension is one thing suggested. They state that,” the simplest and most effective
way is to randomly ask students questions to sum up or review a lesson” (Abepiusc, n.d.). They
continue to recommend using popsicle sticks and have them to give an example or retell a story.
Did I expect these results?

I was expecting these results once I needed to pivot this assessment from the initial idea.
Once I saw how quickly class time was being used, I decided that I needed to pivot the initial
idea. Instead of having each student get out their Chromebook I just read the question aloud and
had the student call out the correct shape for the answer. The students should have been able to
get all the questions correct because we completed them together. The only way that they would
not have gotten one correct is if they were not paying attention.

Science

Next Steps

After looking at the assessment data I think the next step is to look at more real-life examples of
each type of eater. While the students have a special interest in dinosaurs, I think that I needed to
include more than just pictures of real-life examples of each type of eater. I should have had a
station that focused on real-life animals instead of the dinosaurs. Overall, the students did well
but I think that the students needed to have these examples. I plan on doing another mini-lesson
that focuses solely on these examples and then reassessing the students to see if it makes any
difference. I also think that I will try to include dinosaur facts in my lessons because it seems to
be a big interest piece. When students are interested in a topic they tend to be more engaged with
it.
Did I expect these results?

I was not expecting these results. While I was creating this assessment I was expecting that the
students would be able to transfer their knowledge of herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.
This was not the case for all the students.

Overall Results

Next Steps

After looking at the objectives met, I think that I need to spend more time on math with these
students. This includes small group instruction to listen to the struggling learners think aloud.
From this overall data, I can see that I need to trust the students more and have better time
management. Many of these assessments were skewed because of a lack of time management
and doing some of the assessments as a group.

Did I expect these results?

I was not initially expecting these results because all of these assessments were supposed to be
done independently but after several pivots, this is how the data came out. I did learn a lot about
myself and classroom management.
When reflecting on the feedback you provided for the 2 students and the whole class
(students you taught), do you feel this effectively provided them with insight into
their learning about the content? Why?

While I was reflecting on the feedback I provided to two students I noticed that they had
very similar needs. Both of them needed written feedback to be read aloud and needed reminders
that they were both doing good work even when they sometimes got things wrong. I feel that the
feedback I gave them was stronger than it used to be but still a little vague. I still used terms like
a great job and left it at that. However, I noticed that I am starting to give more specific feedback
to individual students learning. The insights I provided them gave them a little more detail as to
what I was looking for and what they wrote down or gave more of an answer. The feedback that
I gave them was not content-specific. Instead, it seemed like the feedback was more related to
skills like gluing and handwriting more than the actual content.

While I was reflecting on the feedback I provided to the whole class I noticed similar
things to the two students. I noticed that the feedback was not based on the content area. Instead,
it seemed like it was more focused on things like color, handwriting, and other technical things.
Because this is true I think that I provided the students with feedback relating to their learning
but not about the content area. Although arguably, I did not even give them feedback relating to
their learning it was small things that might not have even need pointed out. One example of this
is the feedback I gave students on their suitcases. I told several students that they needed more
color. This was not going to change how they learned or affect any part of the content area.

How did you or will you help students use this feedback? You will want to discuss
the concrete ways you will use to remind them of the feedback and the teaching
strategies you will incorporate to have them use the feedback in a follow-up lesson.

One way that I am going to help studnets use this feedback is by taping their rubric to their desk.
During similar activities. I will keep the rubric in a folder with the students name on it. When we
do a similar activity or another project based activity, the student will receive a copy of the
rubric. Another way that I am going to help students use this feedback is to compare their work
to previous work. For example, I will make sure I noticed small growths like if the student has
less glue marks or if they are writing an letter better. These students don’t usually get good
feedback so it is important that the teacher candidate does that. I will also have independent
conferences with the students who are struggling. I will spend time with individual students
working on skills like handwriting, and additional skills practicing content. For students who are
accelerated, I will work with them individually giving them challenges. These challenges will be
based on the content area but give them a chance to explore the content using the internet or with
the next grade levels material.
Describe what you learned about teaching and learning related to assessment and
feedback? Please be specific and use some concrete professional citations in your
answer.

When it comes to teaching and learning using assessments I learned three key things.
First, I learned that it is incredibly easy to use paper/pencil assessments but more difficult to use
other materials as an assessment. As I was creating my assessments I noticed that I was having
the students do a lot of writing and other paper pencil style assessments. Once I noticed this I
tried to come up with a different type of assessment like an oral assessment but I struggled to
come up with how to do it without having it take up more time. I plan to incorporate different
assessments during my unit week. Second, I learned that it is hard to not give students too much
help while they are completing their assessments. I want all my students to be successful
however, when it came to doing the assessments the several students tried to ask me several
question that would give them the right answer. It was very hard to not give answer their
questions. Third, when it came to creating these assessments I found hard to differentiate
assessments. I think that it was so difficult because I was still trying to figure out what the
students could and couldn’t do. This lead to a few of the assessments being to advanced for
them. During my unit week, I will know more about the students abilities so it is easier to create
assessments.

When it comes to giving students feedback I learned two things. First, I learned that it is
harder to give feedback than what is it seems. I thought that it would be easy to just give students
a star and tell them they did good work and if they got something wrong the rubric/scoring guide
would tell them what they needed to work on. However, this was definitely not the case. I should
have known this from past classes but I didn’t realize how hard it was until I actually tried it.
Second, I learned that it is easier to remind the students of the previous feedback. The students
who were given the concrete reminders did better on the work that they did for my mentor
teacher.

In the future I am going to use the Oxford universities system for giving feedback. They
give three pieces of information that should be included in feedback. The first peice is a strength
of their work. They say that when students know what they are doing well they are going to keep
doing. This makes logical sense. However, they caution teacher to make sure the strength is
based on their work not on the students personality. The second piece of information that should
be included in feedback is something that is holding their work back. When doing this they
recommend that the feedback should avoid overally negative words like awful and should
instead point out where the error was why it is an issue. Again this makes sense but it is hard to
do that if something just sems wrong but it is hard to tell exactly where the issue is. The final
piece of information that needs to be included in the feedback is one or two steps the student
could take to improve their work. This part can be done orally and then written down or simply
just one or the other. They also say that there should be examples of the feedback. This provides
a studnet with what they should do instead of focusing on what they didn’t do. The biggest thing
that stood out to me while I was reading this article was making the feedback a two way
conversation. This is important for me because as I am learning about the students it is important
for me to hear how the students are thinking before I tackle misconceptions.
What would you have done differently during this lesson week? Why? Be specific!

After each lesson I wrote down some glows and grows. There were some similarities that
came across each of the content areas. However there were some changes. During my first lesson
the biggest changes that I need to change was that I needed to move around more and not have
the students come up to the board. Instead, I would have the students tell me what they were
thinking. I would do this because it took students too long when they were writing on the board.
The second thing that I would do differently during that lesson would be to make sure I have all
of the students attention before I start talking. While I was teaching I was using the attention
grabbers that they have been doing all year. However, the students were going through the
motions so it meant that they weren’t actually listening to me. This lead to confusion. In the
future I will use the attention grabbers but make sure that I have all the students look at me with
nothing in their hands before starting to give directions. A third thing that I noticed during the
first lesson was that I did not give clear enough directions this lead to chaos. This happened
during the game of Scoot. I tried to have the students sit at their desks and move desks. However
the way the desks were set up was not conducive to this. I should have had the students sit in a
circle and move the cards instead of have each students move. That is what I would do in the
future. I would make these changes to help the students make the lesson run faster so that there
would be more time for activity.

During the second lesson, Language arts and Social Studies, I that I needed to be better
prepared with the materials. When my mentor teacher first gave me the wonders book to look at I
misunderstood what I needed to do. In the future I am going to look at the book closer and clarify
what I need to do with my mentor teacher. The second thing I need to do differently in the future
is continue to have better classroom control. In the future I am going to make sure I have the
complete attention of the students before talking. I will also have things for them to do during
down time. A third thing that I would do differently in the future is to have less options for the
students to choose from. When it was time for the students to come choose what they wanted in
their suitcase it they did not know what to pick. I would offer the students four options instead of
ten different options. This would allow the students to still have a choice in what they want in
their suitcase but it would take less time. I would do these things differently because it would
allow the activity to take less time and allow the students to focus more on the currency aspect
rather than decision making.

During my third lesson, Science, there were three things that I would improve. The first
thing is that I will create simiplier worksheets for each station. The worksheets were all to
complex for the students to complete. These paper were better suited for second or third grade. In
the future I will use more pictures and better directions. During the lesson I ended up throwing
out the papers and having the students respond orally. This went well but I needed to have an
answer key to know if the students were getting the answers correct. The second thing that
needed to be done differently would be to have more than one Chromebook for the station where
the students worked together to make a dinosaur. There were several fights that needed broken
up because I only used one Chromebook. The final thing that I would have done differently was
to use the desks for the stations. There were some stations that were better suited to being on a
desk rather than being on the floor. I would do these things differently because it would allow
the students to gain more content knowledge and for the students to have less chaos.
 References

Contributor, B. (2013, March 20). 10 Creative Ways to Check for Student

Comprehension. Busy Teacher. https://busyteacher.org/14912-how-to-check-

comprehension-10-creative-ways.html

Miller, A. (2020, July 13). Strategies for Improving Small Group Instruction. Edutopia.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/strategies-improving-small-group-instruction/

Ohio Department of Education. (2019, June). Social Studies Model Curriculum . Ohio

Department of Education.

Oxford Teaching Ideas. (n.d.). Giving effective feedback. Www.ctl.ox.ac.uk.

https://www.ctl.ox.ac.uk/giving-effective-feedback