Marissa Montano

UTL 640E, Julia Haug

Reflection #2
Reflection #2
Teaches 4, 5, and 6 all centered around having my students write their annotated bibliographies for their research paper that is coming up. Mr. Bergen made sure I created lesson
plans that allowed the students to focus on the writing process especially developing their essential question for their paper and finding sources that could support their question. The class was
able to do this by two different activities: using annotated bibliographies to evaluate the sources
they have selected and viewing examples of how sources can relate back to an essential question.
Through the annotated bibliographies students selected six sources they were planning on using
for their paper and would have to complete summaries and reflections to help them analyze these
sources. In addition, the class viewed one of my own research papers, and how I used my
sources to support my essential question.
Two of my strengths that stood out in teaches 4-6 were communicating with students by
working individually with them as they worked on the annotated bibliography process. I would
go to each student and check up to see where they were at in the process such as were they having a hard time identifying good sources, have they developed an essential question, etc. The
student and I would work one on one during this time if they were having trouble; it also gave
the students the opportunities to ask me more questions about their topics. Working individually
with students was a strength in each of my teaches but it was more apparent in teaches 4 and 5
because this was a time where students were entirely focusing on starting their annotated bibli-

ographies and learning to identify what constitutes a valid source in terms of their research paper.
While planning out my lesson plan I also made sure I allotted a certain amount of time to go
around the room and speak with my students individually to evaluate how they were coming
along in the process. Another strength during teaches 4-6 was closing my lessons. This was
most evident in my sixth teach where I had the class view one of my own research papers as an
example of how sources tie into the overall essential question. During this lesson we analyzed
my paper and the types of sources that we used and after that the students continued on working
on their annotated bibliographies. During the last 5-7 minutes of class I used this time to close
the lesson and reflect on the objectives we had covered during the class period. I had the class
participate during this time by having them share examples of the types of sources they are finding during their research and how it has helped them develop their essential question. Furthermore, Mr. Bergen and my university observer, Ms. Troy were very impressed by my closure for
this lesson and how it got the entire class participating.
One of my weaknesses from these teaches was learning student names. I have the opportunity to observe each of Mr. Bergens classes which can be very confusing when it comes to
learning each students name. I have learned a lot of their names but it has proven to be a very
difficult task with so many students. One of my other weaknesses is transitioning from each step
of my lesson by getting the students attention. The students do not misbehave but they can get
loud which makes it difficult for me to project my voice in order to get their attention. This was
most evident in my 4th teach when I had to transition from Writers Notebook pair share and into
the explanation of the lesson.

How I will be improving or addressing my weakness during my final few teaches is during my observations I will engage in much more one on one time with my students in order to
memorize their names. This will be a difficult task but it is something that I need to improve on
for my last few teaches. Another area that I need to improve on is transitioning between the different parts of my lesson and making sure I get the class attention during this transition. It isnt
necessarily a big issue that I am having because as soon as I have their attention the class gives
me respect and focuses in on what I am teaching. It is only when the students are talking they
can get carried away and that is when it becomes difficult for me to project my voice in a classroom of thirty students and move on to the next part of the lesson. Overall, each of these areas
can be easily addressed during my final three teaches.