Describe an instance or particular encounter that comes to mind. Why did you pick that instance? What is so perplexing about that particular moment?
One instance from my lesson that comes to mind is the fact that one of my students, who normally has a difficult time following directions, was really engaged during this lesson. Mark (pseudonym) played well with his partner and completed the journal entry with really no instances. At the end of the lesson, he was able to move his clip up for being on task and following directions. There were times I would walk over to him and his partner, who is one of our below level students, and he was helping her count the dots on her card. Unfortunately, he and his partner were sitting off screen in my video and I was unable to get them on film. During the journal entry (21:41), I walked over to check on him and make sure he was completing the directions and a big smile came across my face. It made me feel really happy as a teacher, that I was able to keep him engaged in an activity. When I chose students to help me come up and model the problem, I made sure that he was one of the students I called on.
If you were going to teach this lesson to the same group of students, what would you do differently? Why? What would you do the same? Why?
If I were going to teach this lesson again one thing I would keep the same is the game. I would however change the way I explained the game to the students. I felt that they had a hard time understanding the rules. While observing the partners playing together, I noticed one pair were just trying to find the matches by flipping all the card over. This is a misconception that could have been prevented if the students understood the rules of the game better. One way I could have changed this is to ask one of the students to repeat the rules back to me. Another way is to stop the students that had the misconception and show them how to play the game, which I did. Also while giving the directions for the game, I will remind the students that it is ok to use your fingers to help you count. Some students in the class have a hard time with one-to-one correspondence, so allowing them to use their fingers may help them count correctly.
One thing I would change about the lesson, is the journal entry question (Starting at minute 19 and going to the end of the video). I feel that this question did not go along with the lesson. For the lesson, students were counting dots in different configurations but the journal entry had to do with a table with five students being on one side and four being on the other. First of all, this question was a little too hard for the first nine weeks of Kindergarten. Many students were confused about what the question wanted to know. When I asked one student how many students were sitting at Table A they answered four (24 minutes) and then I asked another student if they could help my friend and that student answered five (24:15). Towards the end of the video, I noticed that most students in the class did not understand the question. So I came up with another way to teach it to them. I called up five students to stand on one side of my pretend table, then I called up four students to stand on the other side of my table. Then together as a class, we counted all the students at the table. More students seemed to understand the problem better when it became a real life situation.
Analysis
Identify an individual or group of students who had difficulty in today’s lesson. How do you account for this performance? How will you help this (these) student(s) achieve the learning objectives?
Overall with the game, not many of them had difficulties however, I feel that the whole class had trouble with the journal entry question. I talked with my CT after the class was over and even she agreed that the question was a little too advanced for the students at this time of the school year. The students are just now beginning to add numbers together. I even modeled the problem on the ELMO as the students completed it in their math journal and when I asked them to tell me the total number of students sitting at table A, the first student said four and the second said five. One way I was able to help the students with this problem is to model it using real students in the classroom. The students who are visual and kinesthetic learners were able to see the problem play out using their friends. I even took the problem one step further and used higher order thinking when I asked the students what would happen if I took one student from this side of the table and moved them to the other side of the table (26:55). The students knew I still had nine students at my table. Since this lesson, is something that they will be tested on at the end of the school year, my CT and I will return to problems like this one to help the students understand that they can use models to help them solve it. We will try different things like letting them use manipulatives or reminding them they can use their fingers to help count.
Describe how you assessed how the lesson impacted student learning? What worked? What would you change?
For this lesson, I assessed the students by walking around while they were playing the game and using a spreadsheet that I created. There were four columns, the first contained the names of the all students, the second wanted to know it the students were following directions or not, the third wanted to know if the students understood the concept and the final column was a place for comments. I used this to show me if the students were following the directions of the game and if from my observation whether or not they understood the concepts. I would change this up a bit because I found it difficult to write in comments about what the students were doing. Also I feel that this is something that would work better in an older grade level. For Kindergarten, something simple like stopping at each group and watching them play the game for a round or two is a way to see if they are understanding it or if I need to step in and help them. I did find out from my CT, after the lesson was over, that one of my pair worked together to help each other with their counting. This is something I wished I would have witnessed firsthand. The two students that helped each other out are considered below level. They were able to discuss and come up with the correct answer on their own.
One instance from my lesson that comes to mind is the fact that one of my students, who normally has a difficult time following directions, was really engaged during this lesson. Mark (pseudonym) played well with his partner and completed the journal entry with really no instances. At the end of the lesson, he was able to move his clip up for being on task and following directions. There were times I would walk over to him and his partner, who is one of our below level students, and he was helping her count the dots on her card. Unfortunately, he and his partner were sitting off screen in my video and I was unable to get them on film. During the journal entry (21:41), I walked over to check on him and make sure he was completing the directions and a big smile came across my face. It made me feel really happy as a teacher, that I was able to keep him engaged in an activity. When I chose students to help me come up and model the problem, I made sure that he was one of the students I called on.
If you were going to teach this lesson to the same group of students, what would you do differently? Why? What would you do the same? Why?
If I were going to teach this lesson again one thing I would keep the same is the game. I would however change the way I explained the game to the students. I felt that they had a hard time understanding the rules. While observing the partners playing together, I noticed one pair were just trying to find the matches by flipping all the card over. This is a misconception that could have been prevented if the students understood the rules of the game better. One way I could have changed this is to ask one of the students to repeat the rules back to me. Another way is to stop the students that had the misconception and show them how to play the game, which I did. Also while giving the directions for the game, I will remind the students that it is ok to use your fingers to help you count. Some students in the class have a hard time with one-to-one correspondence, so allowing them to use their fingers may help them count correctly.
One thing I would change about the lesson, is the journal entry question (Starting at minute 19 and going to the end of the video). I feel that this question did not go along with the lesson. For the lesson, students were counting dots in different configurations but the journal entry had to do with a table with five students being on one side and four being on the other. First of all, this question was a little too hard for the first nine weeks of Kindergarten. Many students were confused about what the question wanted to know. When I asked one student how many students were sitting at Table A they answered four (24 minutes) and then I asked another student if they could help my friend and that student answered five (24:15). Towards the end of the video, I noticed that most students in the class did not understand the question. So I came up with another way to teach it to them. I called up five students to stand on one side of my pretend table, then I called up four students to stand on the other side of my table. Then together as a class, we counted all the students at the table. More students seemed to understand the problem better when it became a real life situation.
Analysis
Identify an individual or group of students who had difficulty in today’s lesson. How do you account for this performance? How will you help this (these) student(s) achieve the learning objectives?
Overall with the game, not many of them had difficulties however, I feel that the whole class had trouble with the journal entry question. I talked with my CT after the class was over and even she agreed that the question was a little too advanced for the students at this time of the school year. The students are just now beginning to add numbers together. I even modeled the problem on the ELMO as the students completed it in their math journal and when I asked them to tell me the total number of students sitting at table A, the first student said four and the second said five. One way I was able to help the students with this problem is to model it using real students in the classroom. The students who are visual and kinesthetic learners were able to see the problem play out using their friends. I even took the problem one step further and used higher order thinking when I asked the students what would happen if I took one student from this side of the table and moved them to the other side of the table (26:55). The students knew I still had nine students at my table. Since this lesson, is something that they will be tested on at the end of the school year, my CT and I will return to problems like this one to help the students understand that they can use models to help them solve it. We will try different things like letting them use manipulatives or reminding them they can use their fingers to help count.
Describe how you assessed how the lesson impacted student learning? What worked? What would you change?
For this lesson, I assessed the students by walking around while they were playing the game and using a spreadsheet that I created. There were four columns, the first contained the names of the all students, the second wanted to know it the students were following directions or not, the third wanted to know if the students understood the concept and the final column was a place for comments. I used this to show me if the students were following the directions of the game and if from my observation whether or not they understood the concepts. I would change this up a bit because I found it difficult to write in comments about what the students were doing. Also I feel that this is something that would work better in an older grade level. For Kindergarten, something simple like stopping at each group and watching them play the game for a round or two is a way to see if they are understanding it or if I need to step in and help them. I did find out from my CT, after the lesson was over, that one of my pair worked together to help each other with their counting. This is something I wished I would have witnessed firsthand. The two students that helped each other out are considered below level. They were able to discuss and come up with the correct answer on their own.