Individual Lesson Assessments Reflection

Background information
1. Discuss briefly in a paragraph the focus of your lessons (learning
objectives) in all 4 contents.
Two of the lessons I taught during lesson week were based on pumpkins,
while one focused on careers, and the math lesson focused on counting. The
math lesson was focusing on making a connection with counting beads on a
number rack, and matching them with the correct written numeral. The
language arts lesson focused on the students actively engaging in the
reading to answer questions about the theme of the reading. The science
lesson focused on the 5 senses. The students were to observe and explore a
pumpkin in order to describe it using their 5 senses. The final lesson was
based on careers. The lesson focus was for the students to talk about jobs in
their community and how the people working are activity engaging in their
jobs for the common good.
2. Describe how you pre-assessed to know students were ready for
each content lesson. Readiness is critical in moving forward.
In order to plan my lessons, I sat down and had a conversation with my
cooperating teacher to figure out what sorts of things would be appropriate to
teach. After a discussion of each of each of the four content areas and the
readiness of our students, I arrived at how to pre-assess the students. For
language arts, I looked at the kind of questioning the teacher was using in her
lessons and incorporated it into my teaching. This lesson focused on the
theme of fears. Earlier in the week, the teacher spoke about fears and the
students were able to discuss their own personal fears. The students have
been working with pairing numbers with their numeral in class, so that let me
know they were ready to work on that skill on their own during this lesson.
During the stem lessons, the students have been working with the 5 senses.
They have gotten familiar with this concept, so I planned my lesson around
continuing this skill. For the final lesson, the students were talking about
firefighters for fire prevention month. The students were able to describe
firefighters in detail so I decided to focus on multiple careers and community
helpers. Planning my lessons around pre-assessments helped me to meet my
students learning needs.
3. Describe your formative assessments and scoring guides for each
content.
In the classroom I am placed in, formative assessment is mainly observation.
For my lesson week I did 2 rubrics 1 observation and 1 checklist. Each form of
assessment focused the lesson objectives and checked whether or not the
students had an understanding.
4. Describe the 2 children based on your observation logs.
The two children I observed throughout the weeks are very different from one
another. The first child is a verbal learner and seems to understand most of
the content. She is good at expressing her thoughts and completing her work

in a timely manner. The second student I observed is a below grade level

learner. He struggles to grasp concepts and just recently learned his letters.
This student struggles with his fine motor skills as well. He has difficulty using
scissors and use a pencil. The child takes a long time to complete any of his
work.
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 were as expected for the most part. A
majority of the students were able to successfully participate in, and
complete the activities planned for the day. When the students were able to
complete the activities successfully, I knew I could continue with my original
plans. If the students were not as successful as they were, I would have had
to go back and reteach. For all four of the teaching days, 80% or more of the
students were able to be successful with the activities planned. The materials
planned were age appropriate and on the students level. I expected the
results I got. By watching my cooperating teachers teaching and the way she
executes lessons, I was able to see how the class responds to her, and what I
should plan in my own lessons. By completing the observations in this
classroom, I was able to plan to the needs of the classroom and execute 4
successful lessons.
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?
Throughout this teaching week, I used a lot of verbal feedback. None of the
students in the class can read at this point, so any checklist and rubric made
is for myself to use. On the first day I used observation as a form of
assessment. For student 1, I gave her verbal feedback, which she benefitted
from. She seems to be a verbal learner, so being able to hold a conversation
about her work seemed to work. For the second student, I assisted him with
the activity more than any of the other children. I encouraged him to hold his
scissors the correct way, since he seems to have a problem with his motor
skills. By talking through the work and counting together during the math
lesson, the student was able to move at a slower pace, and seemed to
benefit from this. On day 2 I used a rubric to score the class. Student 1 asked
questions and made comments about her work, which I responded to
positively. She completed the activity successfully and enjoyed the verbal
feedback. Student 2 participated in the read aloud by doing the sort in front
of the whole class. When he went back to his seat, he was able to
successfully complete his own individual sort. While he was working on this
activity, I gave him positive feedback and guidance. His confidence seemed
to be boosted, and the extra practice seemed to reinforce the lesson. On the

third day of lessons, I used a checklist in order to check for students

understanding. The checklist was effective for this student because it
involved questioning and direct interaction with her. While completing the
checklist with student 2, I used positive verbal feedback and questioning.
This student seemed more willing to participate, when praised for his work.
On the final day, I used a rubric to assess the sort the students completed.
Student 1 was able to talk about each sense with the teacher individually to
assess if the student understood the content. This student verbally explained
her reasoning and completed the activity successfully. For student 2, I used a
different rubric to assess his fine motor skills along with the activity. I put a
sticker on his scissors where his thumb goes, which seemed to help him with
his cutting skills. During lesson week, I used checklists and rubrics for myself,
however, the students inability to read limited me to only using verbal
feedback in this classroom, which seemed to be beneficial for this group of
students.
3. How did you or will you help students use this feedback?
I used this feedback to prompt my students the next day in the lessons. By
using verbal feedback, the students are able to hear what they need to
improve upon while the activity is taking place, and what they are doing a
great job on. Using verbal feedback will help guide the students figure out
what needs improved upon and what skills are fine.
4. Describe what you learned about teaching and learning related to
assessment and feedback?
Throughout this week, I learned many things about assessment and feedback
related to teaching. Although I have my own teaching style, I feel as though I
had to follow my cooperating teachers style while executing my lessons. The
students in this class are used to learning from her way, and the one day I
mixed it up, the lesson seemed to be less effective. Keeping a routine in the
classroom is crucial. Making age appropriate assessments are so important.
Being able to talk to your students and give them feedback is extremely
important. If you cannot get on their level and relate to them, and guide
them, the lesson will be unsuccessful. Having strong verbal feedback skills is
important, especially if the students can not read.
5. What would you have done differently during this lesson week?
Why? Be specific about teaching and instruction.
During this week, I would have paced my lessons better and tried to have
better classroom management skills. Sometimes the lessons felt rushed, or
the activities seemed to take too long. While conferencing with individual
students, the whole class sometimes got unruly. I need to figure out how to
be able to talk to the students to give them verbal feedback and conferences,
while the rest of the class stay on task. It is difficult to conduct a good lesson
if the class is too loud or distracted. During unit week, I hope to improve upon
my classroom management skills.
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?
The survey told me a variety of things about my teaching. Under the care category,
each student scored me with yes. This tells me I am caring in the classroom
environment. Under the control category, I received mostly yes and a few maybes. I
think I need to be clearer about what and how I am teaching during unit week and
for student teaching. In the clarify category, most of the students said yes, while 2
said no for 2 questions. I need to figure out how to better explain myself so the
whole class can come to an understanding. In the challenge category, one student
said maybe for 2 questions. This tells me that my teaching is appropriately
challenging. In captivate, the students all said yes for the first two questions. On the
final question, some students said maybe on relating the content to their everyday
lives. In my teaching I will try to make stronger connections. Some of my students
struggled with the confer category. While I got mostly yes, I received maybes in this
column more than anywhere else. Although my students feel like I am caring, they
struggle to feel like they are allowed to ask questions. I need to figure out how to
connect with the students more to make them more comfortable with asking
questions. On the final column, the students answered all yes, with only one maybe.
When it comes to consolidating with my students, I feel as though that skill is pretty
strong. By completing this survey I was able to get a better idea of how to change
and better myself as a teacher.