8. Reflection, Self-Evaluation, & Professional Development (LO 4.2 & 4.

3) (APS 2,
3, 10)

TWS Standard
The teacher analyzes the relationship between his or her instruction and student learning in order to improve teaching practice. The teacher uses on-going analysis of student learning to make instructional decisions. The teacher identifies area of need for personal professional growth.

Task
Reflect on your performance as a teacher and link your performance to student learning results. Evaluate your performance and identify future actions for improved practice and professional growth.

Prompt
Provide a reflective critique for the showcase lesson(s) relative to instructional decisions. Your discussion should be thorough and insightful using specific information and examples to support your analysis. The reflective cycle includes what you did and why, critique of those decisions, and what you might change or need to change to improve impact on student learning in the future.

Section I: Whole Class

I taught my showcase lesson on November 7, 2013 and November 8, 2013. Both lessons were science lessons with instruction about electricity. To prepare for the lessons, I planned heavily with the fourth grade teacher who planned science for the grade-level. I felt the need to bring real-life connections and manipulatives since the students had trouble remembering items from the previous unit. To begin the first lesson (Transformation of Electrical Energy into Light, Heat, and Sound), I decided to bring in a manipulative of each representation. The manipulatives included: a light-bulb, a lamp, a hairdryer, and a laptop with speakers. To introduce the lesson, I had students raise their hands if they had ever used any of the following items this week: light-bulb, hairdryer, radio, and toaster. The students didnt know why I was asking them this, until I said, Those of you that raised your hand, and did you know that you have transformed electricity? My lesson objective states: The student will be able to recognize electrical devices that transform electrical energy into light, heat, and sound. This simple introduction was done to begin building their schema, plus it was a real-life connection, asking students about appliances they or someone in their household use on a daily basis. Next, I moved on into introducing the content of the topic. I planned the lesson in a logical order. The first topic was, What is electrical energy? Before we could go any further in this lesson, the students had to know exactly what electrical energy was. This was crucial that student understood how electrical energy is created, as this would make the lesson easier on the student. From this, we moved into the first type of transformation mentioned in the indicator, transforming electrical energy into light energy. As planned, for each section I was introducing, I had a question that led into the content I was about to present. This was done, so that the student had an idea of where we were going or about to learn. The question for this was, Do you know what happens when you turn on a light-bulb? Immediately after saying the question, I asked for student feedback, while pulling a manipulative out of the bag. Even though most students should know what a light-bulb is, there was a slight possibility that some students may not have an

appropriate schema about a light-bulb. Regarding student feedback, the most common answer was: The light-bulb glows. While I agreed with the answer, as the students were not wrong, I did indicate that there was more that I wanted from them regarding the question. Most of the students looked confused and some looked horrified. I simply reminded the students to not freak out, we havent learned this yet. This was done to help students who have the mind-set of always being right (especially the students who are in Gifted and Talented) from completely shutting down. I then modeled, step-by-step, the process through which the electrical energy travels to turn the light-bulb on. Instead of instructing and moving on, I ensured that each student understood the flow of electrical energy through a lamp to the light-bulb. I repeated the process three times; for the final time, I had the students orally recite the process with me (this helped the auditory learners). As mentioned, to ensure that the students understood the process, after we recited whole-class, I asked individual students to then recite it. In conjunction to the flow of electrical energy, we also had to learn resistance. I remembered that the students had an idea of this word through some of the books and vocabulary words they had been exposed to earlier on (resist was a spelling word). I asked students to think back to what resist meant and I had three students orally explain to the class. We agreed that all of the definitions were correct (two were the same). While students were explaining things orally, I ensured that I was not repeating student answers, reminding students to speak to their audience and speak loudly so all students could hear. After coming to a plausible definition, I then showed the students, through manipulatives what resistance looked like. This is where I pulled out my second manipulative, the energy-efficient (spiral) light-bulb. I screwed the lightbulb into the lamp and turned the switch. I asked students to look for a difference (the spiral light-bulb produced less light). With resistance fresh in their brain, I asked, Why do you think this light-bulb doesnt shine as bright? After this portion of the lesson, I had to unscrew a hot light-bulb. This is where I incorporated Safe School Climate Act (SSCA), by instructing the students near me, not to touch the light-bulbs as they are hot. The next section to introduce was the transformation of electrical energy into heat energy. I decided to introduce this next section with a branching of the previous lesson. I asked the students to think about what happened to the light-bulb the longer it was left on while in the lamp. This was a great way to transition from light energy to heat energy. The majority of students recognized that the light-bulb was getting hot (evident by me burning my hand). The remainder of the lesson went very well, as it was repeated in the same fashion as the first topic. Including introducing the topic, explain how it works, having the students recite how it works, and giving real-life examples. As mentioned, I believe that the reason for the success of this lesson was the fact that I attributed to all of my students learning styles. My fifth lesson was the second and final lesson in this showcase. This lesson focused on identifying parts of the circuit. To introduce the lesson, I gave the students a pre-assessment. This assessment was also on the pre-assessment. The students had to identify the parts of a circuit (wire, light-bulb, switch, and battery). I drew the symbols for each on the smartboard and had the students determine which symbol went with which word. Instead of having a review session of the pre-assessment and determining the correct answers, I wanted the students to check their own work. They were told throughout the lesson, you will see the symbols of each and if you got the correct answer, put a check mark, if not, mark through it and correct it.

Even though this lesson did not have any fun activity or many hands-on activities, I decided to make it as interesting as possible, so I could have the students interest. I decided that today we were going to be explorers. Our task today was to explore the parts of a circuit and decide what makes a circuit. First, we had to take notes. The first set of notes was on electrical circuits. We had to know that an electrical charge in motion is called an electric current and that it must travel along a planned path. Then, we introduced the parts of a circuit. The first part to introduce was the wire. The symbol was given (and drawn), allowing the student to check their answer from the pre-assessment. The main reason I decided to have the students check this way, was to ensure that they were learning and not just relying on me for answers. I believe this worked as the improvements on the post-assessment for this section were tremendous. I also decided to use previous examples, including the lamp from yesterday. My reasoning behind this was the students connected so well with the lesson, I figured I would bring this back in and help them connect with this lesson. For the circuit (second part), again, the symbol was given (and drawn), allowing students to check their answer from the pre-assessment. When understanding whether the switch was open or closed, I decided to use a real-world example. I used the light-switch in the classroom. This was a great way to show open and closed circuits. When the circuit is closed, the lights are on as the path is closed and electricity is reaching everything. However, when I turn the lights off, the switch opens and electricity cannot reach everything, thus no light. The students seemed to grasp this very well. Thirdly, the battery was introduced. This section did not need much introduction; however, I assumed nothing and continued with an in-depth example. In a video the students watched two days prior to the lesson, Bill Nye, gave a great example of how a battery works in a circuit. The students had some trouble with it during the video, so I decided to bring into my lesson to help clarify. I used the example of how a water pump pumps water through the pump, causing it to flow. A battery works in the exact same way as the water pump in an electrical circuit, as it pumps the electricity through the circuit. The students grasped the concept this time around. I believe it was due to the fact that I made a connection with a visual they had already seen in a video. The last section was a review lesson, the light-bulb. The light-bulb was a main part of our lesson yesterday and the students did excellent at recalling how a light-bulb changes electrical energy into light energy. This success was done through constant recall during the previous lesson and making the lesson meaningful and having visuals. To end the lesson, the students again logged into their science notebooks. This helped me understand if the students could formulate their own form of learning by explaining it. If a student can explain it, they understand it. Many students excelled at this, thus allowing me to understand that the content was learned by the student, thus causing a successful showcase experience.

Section II: Three Individual Students A. The student who was most successful was student 17 (low student). On the pre-assessment,
he scored 3 out of 9. For the post-assessment, his score jumped five points to 8 out of 9. Two possible reasons for his success with the two lessons could be the fact that I prevented his disruptive behavior from happening. The student is allowed to sit on the carpet, as it helps him focus, however, he is also surrounded by three or more students who cannot see. This gives him

an audience and causes him to begin disrupting the other students by talking or playing. Before each lesson, the student and I agreed that he could sit on the carpet as long as he paid attention. If he was caught being disruptive or off task, the student would be asked to go back to his seat. The first lesson, the student was told to go back to his seat. To me, this minimized his chances of becoming disruptive and also getting off-task. When he has nobody around (he is in a spot all by himself) he focuses and pays attention. The second day (and second lesson), the student again, had the same agreement. He paid attention and was doing everything asked of him. Secondly, another factor of his impressive improvement could be the fact that I geared this more towards his learning style. This student is a visual learner, which means that use of visuals and aids are crucial for his learning style. He was able to see how both the transformation of energy and circuits (thought a SMART Board interaction) both worked. He could recite how the transformation of energy in a light-bulb happened, which was shocking, as he usually tries to scurry away from the answer. B. The student who was least successful was student 11 (high performing). On the preassessment, she scored 7 out of 9. On the post-assessment, she scored 8 out 9. Though this is a positive increase, she did something that I thought was not like her. On the pre-assessment she answered the fourth question correctly. However, on the post-assessment, she answered it incorrectly, hindering her from a higher increase. Reasoning behind this error could be blamed on me. Even though I did give a great example of sound energy, I did say during the heat energy section that a hair-dryer makes noise. However, I did not link the hair-dryer with the sound energy, which could have confused the student. Another reason the student couldve not improved, she didnt spend a sufficient amount of time on her post-assessment. I believe this comes with her background of being a Gifted and Talented student and rushing through work that does not involved Gifted and Talented (this was evident in other GATAS students, as well). C. The student who was about average was student 5 (average performing). On the preassessment, she scored 5 out of 9. On the post-assessment, she scored 6 out of 9. During the preassessment, it is noted that she missed the first two multiple choice questions and two identifying parts questions. During the lesson, I routinely checked on her learning progress by asking questions. The first lesson, she was hesitant at answering questions, looking terrified to answer, fearing to be wrong. After telling her that it is okay to be wrong, she did lighten up. The first reason I believe her gain was not significant, was due to the fact that she was talking to her neighbor, thus becoming off-task during some parts of the lesson. Secondly, she does struggle in science (while she does give it her best shot). I believe that a disliking of any subject, especially science for her, caused her to completely shut down during the post-assessment.

Section III: Reflection on additional 2-4 lessons Lesson 1: Division with Repeated Subtraction (Mathematics)
I taught my first lesson on October 1, 2013 at 10:00am. The topic of this lesson was using division with repeated subtraction. The lesson lasted one hour and thirty minutes, which was thirty minutes over the allotted time for math. The reasoning behind this was the I did not do an efficient job of time management, as I assumed that the students already knew how to complete a number line, even though they had the idea of creating a number line, they didnt actually know how to apply what I had been doing into their own learning, this activity was scheduled to take ten to fifteen minutes, actually took almost twenty-five to thirty minutes.

The instructional decision I made, was to give direct instruction. This method is out-dated due to common core, as I learned after my lesson. However, I felt that in my lesson, the idea of skip-counting with a number-line, which is a visual concept, was needed, so I instructed and gave plenty of examples. However, due to the Common Core Standards, I was informed that I need to have the students come up and do it, that way they are experiencing their own learning. To correct these instructional methods, the following day, I sat and observed the cooperating teacher, taking notes on how she taught math. In future lessons, I plan to have more student interaction and asking more challenging questions, asking students to explain their mathematical processes and thinking skills. Upon the completion of this lesson, the students excelled at the content, which I thought was very successful. The students could talk to me about the processes, as I asked them to. However, when it came time to apply their knowledge, they had difficulty. This where I believe that I could have used the Common Core methodology of teaching and have students interact with the learning process, the results, in my opinion would have been much greater. I plan on teaching another math lesson in the near future, hoping to make instruction more student-driven that teacher-driven. The students did enjoy the opening interaction to the lesson, because they got to become involved in the lesson. The opening included a real-world connect. According to my TWS 1, the students enjoy sports. I decided to show the following problem, 10 divided by 2. There were ten runners, each team had two runners. How many teams were formed? I had all ten students line up at the front of the class. I named two students and gave them a sign with their team name (Team Orange, Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow). We then made the connection, that every time I paired a team, I was subtracting two runners from the total of ten. However, after hearing feedback from my cooperating teacher and just reflecting on the lesson I realized that there was a missed opportunity, to where the students could have solved the problem and interacted with the SMART Board, rather than myself doing all of the work.

Lesson 2: Inquiry Skills (Science)

I taught my second lesson on October 3, 2013 at 11:00am. The topic of this lesson was inquiry skills. This lesson lasted fifty-five minutes, which was a normal amount of time, as science is taught from 11:00am-11:55am. The instructional decision I had to make before the lesson, occurred during the first portion of the lab, in which students completed the first part of the lab. I would have to notice how the students reacted to the content and how well they understood the content before moving forward with my lesson. I also observed my cooperating teacher and how she presented the lesson to students, as these implementations to my lesson could help my lesson tremendously. During the lesson, I had review specific points, as many students did not understand, such as: plotting on a graph (or coordinate plane), as the cooperating teacher informed me that the students had not yet been exposed to plotting on a graph. This took some extra time and needed much more interaction with this.

Upon the students performance of this lesson, most students understood the content of inquiry skills, however, I noticed that some still lacked the graphing your data section. I would go back a re-teach on how we use our data and interpret our data. The students struggled with plotting the points, creating a consistent scale, and locating the X and Y axis on the chart. To help with this, more student interaction with the chart, having myself plot the first point, showing and modeling how the students are supposed to plot the points, then have students come to the board, with myself helping if the student needs it. For this lesson, I enjoyed having the students prove their thinking to me, I would implement this into future lessons, as my cooperating teacher and myself agree, if a child can speak it, they understand it. This has really helped pin-point whether a student understands the material than simply a yes or no. The efficiency of technology usage in my lesson, was very efficient! I used the docuviewer camera so that way students could see their worksheet on the board, as I felt this would help students follow along in the lesson. I had students come up to the SMART Board and write their data (I later took over for time restraints), that way as previously mentioned, they could have some type of evidence to look at, rather than me standing in the front of the classroom and just talking about it. The SMART Board also came into play when I had the students log in their journals, as I could show them the question and exactly how I wanted them to write it in their journals. The behavior management system I used closely mimicked what I observed from my cooperating teacher. If the students, as a whole, got too loud, I would say, Ill wait on you, Im not going to talk over you! and wait until the students got quiet. I would also use sentences such as: 5,4,3, back to me! or Were thinking, not talking. The student hate when I fuss at them and immediately straighten up. However, if an individual was acting out of order, I would individual call that student and ask them to get right (the first offense), if the offense was repeated throughout the lesson, I would then warn them that they would have to walk a lap at recess, if they continued with that behavior. I felt that this method really works, because students really value recess and hate walking laps. By this time, the students know I mean business and that I am not afraid to take their recess time for inappropriate behavior. As the facilitator of this lesson, I treated all of the students the same. Each student was valued for their opinion, even if they got the wrong answer. Students in fourth grade do not enjoy getting the answer wrong, they feel as though they all have to be right. If a student happened to get the question (or questions) wrong, I would also provide them with positive feedback, such as: Good try, keep thinking! or Not exactly, but your brain is working, keep going! that way it would not discourage students to feel like they have to be right. As a matter of fact, I admitted to a mistake in my lesson and told my students, Even though I look superhuman, Im not, Im human, and I make mistakes.

Lesson 3: Light Review Lesson (Science)

I taught my third lesson on November 5, 2013 at 11:00am. The topic of the lesson was the basic properties of light including brightness and color. This lesson lasted sixty minutes, which is five minutes over the normal limit of the science block, as we had a slow beginning of the lesson. Also, this was not a traditional science lesson, as this was review session, covering material which had already been presented. The instructional decision I had to make before presenting the lesson, was what material had already been covered and what was going to be assessed the following day. To help with this, I used the student workbook for science as a guide, as well as my cooperating teachers lesson plans from the previous week. During the lesson, I reviewed the big concepts that were presented from the indicators (SC Science Indicators 4-5.1 through 4-5.4). I did have to do some review on items that were briefly touched on such as: prisms, shadows, and absorption. These concepts were presented through a multimedia video, however, the students did not respond well, so a deeper discussion was necessary. The students responded well to the material including: vocabulary words, visuals (pictures), and talking about how each worked. Upon the students performance with this lesson, I noted that students were able to respond positively to the material. The majority of the students were able to quickly answer the Stop and Think questions which were provided on the PowerPoint. I feel that the aspect of using Stop and Think in the lesson, helped students who were struggling with the content. Also, the usage of real-world examples (shirt colors, rainbows, etc.) helped students make an even stronger connection to the content. When asking students to respond to the Stop and Think questions, it provided me a great example of student learning. My cooperating teacher and I consistently agree on the concept of, if the student can explain it, the student understands it. This was one of my key-points I made during mid-term to have students explain their thinking processes. The efficiency of technology in this lesson was tremendous! For the lesson, technological aspects such as: PowerPoint and the SMART Board were needed. I felt having a visual representation with previously learned material in this form, helped students see the content and giving pictures, helped students tremendously as they were making real-life connections with the pictures. The last piece of instructional technology was the clicker. This helped me, as a clinical student, as I could carry it and move around the classroom. I found this much more resourceful than standing behind the laptop and clicking for the PowerPoint presentation, as it helped cut down on behavior and if students werent paying attention I could walk behind them and help them get back on track. The behavior management techniques I used during this lesson closely mimicked that of my cooperating teacher, which is what the students are used to. If the students, as an entire class, were getting off-task, I would simply say, 5-4-3, back to me! and the students would begin to refocus their attention to the lesson. For an individual student who was constantly struggling to pay attention, he was warned the first time and asked to fix his behavior. The second time I caught this behavior, he was asked to go back to his seat, as he began to disrupt other students learning. The final time, he was given a consequence of having to walk laps at recess. After the giving of a consequence, the student focused on the material. During the Stop and Think process, students would immediately raise their hands. I wanted students to literally stop and think about the material, so I politely asked the students to, Think harder, to make sure youre correct. Sometimes throughout the presentation, students would chat during the Stop and Think and the students, as a class, were reminded that Were thinking, not talking. I felt the

behavior management in this lesson was greatly improved than my behavior management of the first immersion, as I addressed behavior immediately and didnt keep giving the same warning. The students knew that one they were warned, I meant business. As the facilitator of this lesson, I treated all students the same. Each student was valued for their opinion and applauded for answering questions, even if it was the wrong answer. The students do not enjoy getting the incorrect answer. As the facilitator, I felt it was necessary to applaud the students response, to make them feel better about answering the question, rather than just staying quiet. Each incorrect answer was followed by, Think a little deeper, youre on the right track. and Thank you for answering, I really appreciate it! Students responded well to this method, even students who would freak out if they got the answer wrong.

Section IV: Reflection of Professional Development

Implementing Common Core Strategies in Mathematics and ELA The reason I chose this developmental goal was due to the outcome of my first lesson and not implementing Common Core successfully. At mid-term, I created this goal to work on during my second immersion week. Even though I did work and excel at this goal throughout the semester, it was in the subject of science. Even though this was good practice, science is not an area study under the Common Core spectrum. For student teaching, I will be teaching all of the subjects, where I have to implement Common Core in mathematics and language arts. I want to continue to efficiently excel at the implementation of the standards, as I will not only have to do this in student teaching but I also will have to do it throughout my teaching career. STEP 1- Continue to ask more questions that require students to think, rather than asking simple questions. This worked well in science, especially when I had students explain their thinking. STEP 2- Do not just teach the content. Have students lead instruction. My second step towards this progression would be to give more control of the instruction to the students with myself acting as the facilitator. Having more students explain their learning and teaching of their learning. Classroom Management and Preventing Behaviors The reason I chose this developmental goal was due to the fact that I had so many behavior disruptions during my first lesson. After sitting with my cooperating teacher, it was noted that I did not stop the behaviors before they happened, even though I was aware of the situation. From this point forward, if I noticed the slightest distraction from students (getting up, talking, etc.), I immediately handled it. Even though this got better and more consistent over time, I would still like to work on this goal for student teaching.