Reflection

PreAssessmentAnalysis:
BeforeIbeganteachingthismathunit,Igaveapretest,justlikeIwouldforanyofthe
othermathunitsthatIhavetaughtduringmystudentteaching.TheassessmentthatIusedwas
anassessmentthatwaschosenbytheKindergartenteamasawholeandisusedacrossthegrade
level.ThisassessmentisapagefromoneoftheKindergartenmathworkbooks.Ithinkthatthis
assessmentwaschosenbytheteam,becauseithasthestudentsdemonstrateanunderstandingof
howtoreadbothdigitalandanalogueclocks,aswellasanunderstandingthatclockscanoften
lookdifferent,butcanstilltellthesametime.WhenIgavethispretest,Ihadthestudents
completeitasoneoftheirdailymathstationrotations.Weuseabilitybasedgroupinginmy
classroom,soIjustleftthestudentsintheirabilitygroupsandhadthemcompletethepretest
duringthetimethattheyspendwithmeattheteacherledinstructionalstation.Itoldthestudents
thatthiswouldnotbetakenforagradeandthatIjustwantedtoseewhattheyalreadyknew
abouttellingtime.Ialsostressedtheimportancethateventhoughthiswasnotbeingtakenfora
grade,Istillwantedthemtotrytheirbest.Thisseemedtorelievealotofthestudentsasthey
begantopanicwhenIfirstgavethemtheworksheetandtoldmethattheydidn'tknowhowto
telltimeorhowtoreadaclock.
Overall,IwouldsaythatthestudentsdidwellforapretestattheKindergartenlevelfor
tellingtime.(TheyscoredhigherthanIhadexpectedthemto.)Everyonescoredwitha40%or
higherand60%(12outof20students)oftheclassscoredwitha70%orbetter.Inoticedthat
overall,studentshaveanunderstandingofhowtoreadadigitalclock,butwhenitcomesto

readingananalogueclock,itlookedasthoughmanyofthemstruggled.Basedonthisdata,I
knewthatIwasgoingtohavetospendmoretimeonworkingwithanalogueclocksthanIwas
withdigitalclocks.
OneofthedeficienciesthatIwouldsaythatthisassessmenthasisthefactthatitisonly
sevenquestionsandoneofthesequestionsreliesonthestudentsansweringtheothersix
questionscorrectly.Ifthestudentsdidnotcorrectlyanswertheotherclockquestions,theywere
oftenunabletocirclethetwoclocksthatshowedthesametimelikequestionnumberseven
askedthemto.WhenIwasgradingthepretest,Inoticedthatthiswasaquestionthatmanyofthe
studentsmissedanditwasoftenduetothefactthattheyhadntcorrectlyidentifiedthetimeson
theanalogueclocks.

MeansforAttainingGoals:
BasedonthepretestdatathatIcollected,Iwanttofocusinstructionaroundreading
analogueclocksandthenbeingabletocomparethemtodigitalclocks.Iwantedtomakethisunit
morethanjustlookingatpicturesofclocksandreadingthetimes,soIhadthestudentsactually
makingtheirownclocks,usingmanipulativeclocks,andonedaytheyevenbecameclocks
themselves.IalsodecidedthatIwantedtopresentthestudentswithopportunitieswherethey
wouldbeabletomakeconnectionswiththenumbersthattheywereseeingontheclockandthe
timesthattheywerereading,withthingsthattheyactuallydoonadailybasis.Oneoftheways
thatIdidthiswasthroughtyingliteracyintothemathlessonthroughmathbasedbooks.Oneday
Ireadthestudentsastorycalled
ItsAboutTime.
Thisstorytoldaboutthedailyroutineofa
preschoolboynotmuchyoungerthanthestudentsthemselves.Itshowedhowtheclockcycles

aroundfrom12:00ambackto12:00pmandthevariousactivitiesthattheboycoulddoateach
timeoftheday.Aswewerereadingaboutthingslikedinnertime,bedtime,andbathtime,the
studentswereabletotellmewhattimetheywenttobedandwhetherornotthiswasearlieror
laterthantheboyinthestory.
Idecidedthatforourintroductiontotellingtimelesson,thatoneofthegrouprotations
wouldactuallybespentmakingtheirownclocksthattheyweregoingtogettouseduring
instructionlaterintheweek.Thisactivityallowedthestudentstoexplorewherethenumbers
neededtogoontheclock.Ialsoallowedthestudentstotakethetimetocoloranddecoratethese
clockshowevertheywanted.Thisgavethemtheopportunitytoseethattherearemanydifferent
kindsofclocks,buttheyallhavethesamenumbersandtellusthesametimes.
AnotheractivitythatIchosetodoaspartoftheintroductiontotellingtime,wastoallow
thestudentstoactuallybecomethehandsoftheclockthemselves.Webeganthelessonby
talkingaboutthebasicfeaturesoftheclock(ithasnumbersthatgoinacircle,ithastwohands,
whatarethesehandscalled?,etc.)AfterIfeltlikethestudentshadabasicunderstandingofthe
twohandsandhowtheymovearoundtheclocktotellusthetime,Ihadthembecomethehands
ontheclockandtaketurnslayinginthecenteroftheclockthatwehadmadeontheruganduse
theirhandstobetheshorterhourhandandtheirlongerlegstobethelongminutehand.This
visualreallyseemedtohelpthestudentsunderstandthehandsoftheclockandhowtheymove
around,becausethroughouttheweekwhenwewouldmakeothertimesonthemanipulative
clocks,theywouldoftenreferbacktothesmallhandasthehourhand,justlikewemadeonthe
rugortheminutehandasthelonghandliketheirlegsandfeet.

Overall,whenitcametoplanningthisunit,Iusedtheresultsofthepretestandthe
informalassessments/observationsfromeachdayslessonstoguidethewaythatIplanned/
taughtthelessonsforthenextday.WhenIhadthestudentsdoingtheirgrouprotations,Ialso
foundthatIwasabletodifferentiatetheactivitiesthatIwasdoingatmytableamongstthethree
groups:thelowestlevelgroupmayhavespentthewholetimecompletingaworksheet,whilemy
highestgroupwasabletocompletetheworksheetaswellasplayagamewiththeclocks.Ifound
thatifItailoredtheinstructiontotheneedsofeachofthethreegroups,theyreallyseemedto
grasptheconceptfortheday,eachintheirownway.

AnalyzetheResults:
Thedatafromtheposttestshowedthatthestudentsreallylearnedtheinformation,
whetheritwasfromthevariousactivitiesthatIdidwiththemthroughouttheweek,orjustthe
repetitionofreadingandmakingtimesonclocksindifferentsituations.Basedontheposttest
assessment,100%oftheclassscoreda70%orhigherwith80%oftheclassesgettingaperfect
score.
Overall,IthinkthatthewaythatItaughtthisunitwentreallywell,basedontheposttest
scores.IfIweretoteachthisunitagain,IwouldtrytofindsomemorehandsonactivitiesthatI
couldhavetheclassparticipatein,eitherinsmallgrouprotationsorasawholegroupmath
lesson,insteadofusingasmanyworksheetsasIdidwiththesegrouprotations.Iwouldkeepthe
storiesthatIreadtothestudents,asIfeelthatthesegavethestudentstheopportunitytoapply
whatwewerelearningtoreallifesituations.

Inthelessonstocomeinthenextunit,Iwillbesuretokeepreviewingthetimefactsthat
wehavelearnedthroughthisunit,justtokeepthemfreshonthestudentsmindsandtogivethem
morepracticewithtellingtime.Imaymaketellingtimeoneofthegrouprotationactivitiesone
dayorImaytrytoincorporatetellingtimeintosomeofthemorningworkactivities.
Afteranalyzingtheposttestdataresults,IcansaythatIachievedmygoalsforthisunit.I
wentintothisunitwiththeSMARTGoalthat90%ofmystudentswouldmastertheskillof
tellingtimetothehourbyachievingascoreof85%orhigherontheposttestassessment.This
goalwasachieved,becauseIactuallyexceededmygoalandhad95%ofmystudentsscorean
85%orhigherontheposttest.Basedontheseresults,thereisntmuchthatIwouldchangeabout
thisunitifIgottoteachitagain,butIwouldliketostriveforallofmystudentstoreachthat
85%passrate.