Payton

8. Reflection, Self-Evaluation, & Professional

Development (LO 4.2 &4.3)(APS 2, 3, 10)
I would like to think that my instructional decisions
impacted the students in a positive way, but not to the
extent I would have liked. During my full-time teaching I felt
pressured to follow most of the instructional decisions
established by my cooperating teacher. With that being
said, my amount of influence on instructional decision was
limited, but I did the best I could.
Whole Class
Even though I followed the structure of my cooperating
teacher and was limited to the amount of instructional
decision making, I believe the whole class did learn from my
teaching. I say that because when teaching, I brought a new
classroom environment. An environment where students
and I were both learners learning new things together. In
that environment created, mistakes were encouraged.
Occasionally, I even made them and so did the students, but
since we all were learning mistakes were acceptable. Yes, I
did mess up, I did get confused, and I did leave things out by

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mistake, but since the students recognized that I was

learning how to become a better teacher that made it easier
for them to truly be learners.
While learning how to become a better teacher,
everyday I revaluated my lessons for things I could have did
differently for next time. Since I always revaluated my
lessons and since my lessons always built off each other, I
would always have to make modifications. One day, I
realized the way I was teaching a concept was too hard for
the students to grasp. Once I noticed this, I asked the
students if anyone of them had any suggestions and sure
enough one student did. I asked the student to come to the
board and explain their process, which was indeed much
easier than mine. By making that modification to that lesson,
the students then understood the lesson for the day.
I have always heard that it is okay for the teacher to not
always have the answers and if they do not it is okay for
them to call on a student. The reason why allowing that
student to show the class and myself their process is
because it allowed the student to be the teacher and the

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teacher to be the student. Showing the switches in roles

betters the classroom community.

How did you engage or motivate the students successfully?

When starting every lesson of the unit, I always tried to
find an interesting way to grab students attention. Along
with making the lesson interesting and fun I also wanted to
engage students by letting them know that the information
they learn is useful to them in the real world. When dealing
with fractions, there were many times when students would
get discouraged and say they did not understand any of it.
To motivate them I would tell students to not say they did
not understand any of it, but instead tell me exactly what
part they did not understand.
What instructional mode(s) was employed?
Throughout the unit, I tried really hard to use different
instructional modes. When working with whole class, I did a

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lot of direct instruction. Doing direct instruction with whole

class allowed me to get all the important information taught
at once. Once the main information was delivered, I then
sometimes held small group instructions. The small group
instructions were based off of ability levels. For example, the
approaching standard students would all meet together to go
over a concept together. In both whole group and small
group instructions, I always used demonstration. I
demonstrated how to take the steps needed to take to solve
math problems.
How effectively did you use instructional aids?
With this unit, I did not use instructional aids as much
as I wanted to. I did occasionally use whiteboards when
giving formative assessments. The students would write
their answers on the whiteboards and hold them up for me
to check. When teaching many of the lessons I would play
the introduction video provided by Math Connect. The videos
would state vocabulary and give an example and then solve
it as students watched. Unfortunately, I did not use many

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math manipulatives. The reason why I did not use many

manipulatives is because often time was limited.
Were the students actively or passively involved?
For this unit, I would say the students were most
actively involved and sometimes passively involved. Take
for an example, when watching the Math Connect videos the
students were passively involved; they simply watched as
someone else worked the problem out. Students were most
actively involved when technology was used in the lesson.
One day we used Math Jeopardy and the students came to
the SmartBoard in groups and worked out math problems.
Did you present the information in a clear and logical
manner?
Before every lesson, I would re-teach myself every
concept. By re-teaching myself every concept, I was aware
of what kind of problems students may have or what kind of
questions they may asks. With that being said and since I
taught math, the math lessons taught were taught in a
logical order. Since math is a subject with many layers, even
with preparation, I would often not present information in the

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clearest way. When that occurred, I would stop and start

over.
How effective were the materials and resources you selected
for the lesson?
The material and resources used in the lessons were
very effective. The workbooks allowed each student the
chance to work at their own speed. When technology was
used, it gave technology savvy students the opportunity to
work with math using what they are most familiar.

Were you able to or could you in the future relate the lesson
content to the lives of the student?
With fractions it was much easier when making the
lessons relatable to students. I often used pizza scenarios
when explaining concepts to students.

Describe any discipline or classroom management

techniques used during the lesson.

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Managing the classroom during the unit was a bit

difficult. Sometimes it was very difficult for me to teach my
lessons due to the students always wanting to talk to each
other. To keep the students from talking to each other I used
many different strategies. Most of the strategies I tried did
not work. The one strategy I used that did work was calling
the name of whatever student that was talking name while I
continued to teach. Over time, I learned each students
voices and I would often call their name without even turning
away from the SmartBoard. Another classroom
management strategy I found to work for me was to snap my
fingers in the direction of the student that was talking.
Snapping my fingers allowed me to keep teaching and call
done on inappropriate behavior.

Reflect on your interactions with the students. Would you

describe your treatment of the students as being fair,
respectful, and ethical?
When interacting with the students, I would definitely
say they enjoyed being around me. I made it a point to

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make sure that all my students knew I cared for them. I

showed this to all three class of students by conversing with
them during lunch. I also wanted the students to know that I
am maybe older than them, but I am still cool. So in showing
students that I may be a teacher, that knows how to kick a
soccer ball I often played with them at recess.
For majority of my student teaching, I treated every
student with respect and fairness, but I am not perfect and I
am still learning; therefore, I mess up sometimes. During
the few times when I was not respectful to student and fair
to them, I recognized it and then apologized to them for all
to hear. With me apologizing shows the student that Mr.
Payton makes mistakes and when he does he owns up to
them and says he is sorry.

Three (3) Individual Students

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The student that was most average in performance would have
to be a female student from Connie Maxwell. This particular student
has a very interesting story. Before coming to Lakeview as a new
student, she was taken from her home and family in Union, South
Carolina and brought to Greenwood. Three days after being taken
away from all she knew, she then had to start a new school, learn new
teachers, and make new friends. With all of the stress of being the
new student this particular student coped with all the stress much
differently. Instead of being the new student that was observant, and
quiet this student came in totally opposite; she came in at full speed.
On her first day she called boys her boyfriends, bullied other females
students, cursed at the teachers, and was sent to the office.
The student continued to display those qualities for a whole
month. It was not until she got use to the new environment that she
began to calm down. While getting use to the new school, she also
eventually realized that Ms. Frazier and I really did care for and loved
her charming personality. By the end of my student teaching, the
child and I were on a common ground. A common ground where she
knew I respected her and I knew she respected me. I have never
encountered a student quit like her. I will forever remember this
particular student.

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The student that was least successful would have to be one of

my African American males. Unlike many of his classmates, this
particular student was not disrespectful he just was extremely talkative
and never possessed the desire to complete any of his work. He talked
all the time. For example, he talked in the hallway during bus duty, he
would talk to his classmates during instruction, and he would talk to
himself. Since the students main focus every day at school was to
talk, he never completed his work.
During my student teaching experience, I honestly do not believe
this student has ever completed a whole assignment. Ms. Frazier
would always have to beg with the student to get his work done and
stop taking. So when I did my full-time teaching I adopted her way of
doing things so I begged with him too. One day, I was so sick of having
to redirect the student I threaten to take away his recess. No matter
how much I redirected and threaten to take away things I truly believe
that the student could not help it. With this student I finally observed
how a student truly could not stop talking and could not pay attention
long enough even if he tried and wanted to.

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I am sure this will not be the first nor last time I will have a
student that is talkative and cannot complete work. When having to
deal with a student like that I will be more prepared. Next time, I will
make a statement like I bet you will not complete the first three
questions before the minute hand is one the three. If that student is
competitive person that statement will work.

The student that was about most successful would have to be

one of the Caucasian females. She truly embodies the idea of what
the perfect students is. She was naturally nice and respectful to
herself and her classmates. You can tell someone at home taught her
manners; she constantly said yes sir and no sir when she was asked a
question. I honestly believe during my whole student teaching
experience, I have only had to redirect her behavior three times.
Along with having all of those outstanding attributions, this
student is naturally gifted. Out of the entire students in Ms. Fraziers
she was the only student to constantly get all As placing her on the A
honor roll for her class. There were many times when I used this
student as a source when I was not sure of a procedure or answer.
When encountering another student like her, I will make sure I express
how greatly I appreciate them. I feel many times students like her
often go unnoticed.
Reflection on possibilities for Professional Development

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One professional development that TWS has given me insight on
that I need to know more about would be what are the best ways to
teach students that have ADHD. In my effort of trying to gain more
knowledge, one step I could use would be to talk with a special
education teacher and ask for any suggestions. Another way could be
for me to go to a conference and learn from individuals that have
studied this topic
Another professional development I could definitely use would be
to learn about the most effective ways to use math manipulatives. One
step I could take to improve my performance would be go to other
teachers and ask them what were the best ways they have used math
manipulatives. Another step I could take would be to use video on
Youtube to learn more about math manipulatives.