Reflection

Studentteachinghasbeenthemostlifechangingandrewardingexperienceofmylife
thusfar.IfeellikeIhavegrownmoreinthreemonthsthanIeverthoughtpossible,andIam
goingtomissmycooperatingteachersandmystudentssomuch.Ihavelearnedinvaluable
lessonsfromthisexperiencesuchasclassroommanagementandhowtojuggleallofthe
responsibilitiesofbeingateacher.Ihavelearnedtheimportanceofbeinganactivememberofa
schoolcommunity,byattendingPLCmeetings,facultymeetings,chaperoningschooldances,
andjoiningtheColorRuncommittee.Ialsoexperiencedparent/teacherconferences,andseveral
parentmeetingswhereIlearnedfromexperiencedteachershowtodiscusschildrensstrengths
andweaknesseswiththeirparents.Oneofmyfavoritethingshasbeengivingupmylunchtime
sothatstudentscouldcomeinandreceiveanyextrahelporoneononeinstruction,andIamso
happythatmystudentstookadvantageofthisextraassistance.Mylunchtimehasalsobecomea
placewheremystudentscomejusttorelaxandsocializewitheachotherandIfeelvery
accomplishedthattheyevensayitsmorefunthanlunchinthecafeteria!
IfeellikeIhavegottenoutofthisexperience,themostIcouldhaveandIamleaving
withnoregrets.Ilearnedhowtointegratereallifeissuesintotheclassroomandhowtomesh
readingwithwritingdailyintheclassroom.Mystudentshavetrulygivenmetheconfidencethat
IwillsucceedinthisprofessionandIamexcitedtocomebackandvisitthemandmy
cooperatingteachers.Ihavebeengiventheopportunitytobesocreativewithmylessonsand
activitiesandIhavesomanygreatresourcesandthingsthatIamgoingtocarryoverintomy
ownclassroominthefuture.IhavepracticedgettingbetteratpacingmylessonsandIfeelthatI
havebecomeverygoodatkeepingmylessonsstudentfacilitated,byaskingmanyquestions
throughoutalessonandengagingmystudentsasmuchaspossiblefrombeginningtoend.
ChildrenneedloveandpositiveacknowledgementandIvelearnedhowandwhenitis
appropriatetogivethemtoughlovewhenitisnecessary.Iwillneverforgetmyexperience
studentteachingorthechildrenandcolleaguesIhaveworkedwiththroughoutthesepastthree
months.ForeachofthelessonsthatwereobservedbymyRidersupervisor,Iwasrequiredto
writeareflectionaftereachofmylessonswastaughtanddiscussedwithmysupervisor.Ihave
includedthesesixreflectionsinthispaper,toshowmygrowthandhowIselfreflected
throughoutmystudentteachingexperience.
LessonPlan:1
SubjectandTopic:LanguageArts/TheRemarkableLeech
GradeLevel:6thGrade
Dateoflesson:January31,2017

ThereweredefinitelymanythingsthatIfeltwentrightinthislesson.Theuseofthe
KWLchartcontinuestobeextremelyeffectiveformystudentsforunderstandinganonfiction
text.Bychunkingtheirknowledgeinto,Know,Wanttolearn,andLearned,theywereableto
activatepriorknowledgebeforereadingorwatchingthefilm,wereabletoposequestionsthat
theyhopedwouldbeanswered,andtakenotesandlistenactively,inordertodiscusswhatthey
learned.Sinceweranoutoftimetoworkonthegroupposters,Ihopetogetanevencloserlook
intowhatmystudentsunderstandingamainideasandsupportingevidence.Ibelievethatwhen
Ibrokedownthereading,andaskedmystudentstotellmewhattheimportantthingsarewe
needtolookforandtakenoteofwhilereading,theywereabletoidentifysupporting
details/facts,themainidea,vocabularywords,andmeaningsofillustrations,wereallimportant
whencomprehendinganonfictiontext.Askingmystudentstomakeinferencesthroughoutthe
lesson,basedontheTitleTheRemarkableLeech,andtoalsomakeinferencesaboutwhy
leechesgrowthreetimestheirbodysizewhentheyattachtohumanskin,basedonwhatthey
learnedandsawfromtheshortfilm.Theywereabletotellmethatbyidentifyingtheword,
REMARKABLE,inthetitle,theycaninferthattheauthorofthisspecificstorywillhavea
positiveopinionaboutleechesandtheirpurposes.Theywerealsoabletotellmethatthereason
forthegrowthofaleech,isthattheybecomefilledwithbloodastheyfeed.Theywereableto
supporttheirclaimswithevidencetosupporttheiranswers.Ithoughttheshortfilmwasagreat
hook,becausesincemystudentsareyoungandinsixthgrade,Ifeelthisvideocapturedtheir
attentionandgotthemexcitedtolearnmoreaboutleeches.Throughoutthelesson,mystudents
weresuccessfullyabletoidentifythemainidea,supportingdetails/facts/evidence,and
vocabularywhenwediscussedeachheaderofthepassage.IdefinitelythinktheKWLchart,
Postitnotes,andReadforRealareextremelyeffectiveformystudentswhentheyarereading
nonfictiontextandIwillcontinuetousethesetoolsinfuturelessons.IknowthattheKWLand
Postitnoteswereeffective,becauseasIlookedovertheirKWLchartsandPostitnotes,Icould
seeallofthenotestheyhadtaken,andmanyofthemsharedtheiranswersthattheyputonthe
KWLchart.Also,Iobservedmystudentstakingnotesthroughoutthereadaloud,andwhenI
askedaquestionaboutacertainpassage,mystudentswereabletogiveanaccurateanswerand
supporttheiranswerswithevidencefromthetextorfilm.

Ialwayswantmystudentstounderstandandapplythedifferencebetweenathesis
statementandanopinionorfact.Inordertodoso,Iaskedthemthroughoutthereading,What
wouldbeastrongthesisstatementforthissection?Iwantthemtoconstantlybepracticingthe
Applicationsofgeneralizationandinference,bystoppingaftereachsection,toaskmystudents
tousetheevidencetheyrereading,tocomeupwiththemainideaofthesection;thentotake
thatmainidea,andturnitintoathesisstatement!Whatcouldyouargueusingevidenceyou
foundinthetextorfilm?Fornow,IreallywanttostickwiththeKWL,postitnotes,andread
aloud,systemthatwehavebeenusingthusfar;however,Idefinitelythinkthatasmystudents
becomemorecomfortableusingtheseLanguageArtsskillsandconcepts(inference,
generalization,mainidea/thesis,supportingdetails,vocabulary)whentheyreading,Iwillableto
branchoutandusedifferentformsoforganizationforthestudentsaswellasallowingthemtodo
moreindividualreadingandsynthesis.IwanttocontinuereinforcingtheseL.A.skills,sothat
theybecomesecondnaturetomystudentswhenevertheyarereading,andthateventually,they
willalwaysbelookingfortheseconceptsortheopportunitytousetheseskills,inanyreading
thattheydowithoutbeingtoldtodosoorbeingactivatedbyotherstodoso;rather,theywill
activatetheseskillsandconceptsontheirown.

LessonPlan:2
SubjectandTopic:LanguageArts/ArgumentthroughAdvertisement
GradeLevel:6thGrade
Dateoflesson:February15,2017

I feel that my Fact, Warrant, Claim lesson was very successful, and I am very excited
that my students were able to understand these concepts, especially what a warrant is and how it
is different from a fact, which was my main concern going into the lesson. I feel that this lesson
taught me most to be confident in allowing my students to facilitate the lesson and to be
confident in my lesson. I feel that the lesson went very smoothly and I was able to keep the
lesson moving in the right direction, while still having the students be the facilitators and
allowing them to ask and answer plenty of questions on their own. I also felt as though my
students had a very strong grasp on being able to revisit their prior knowledge of advertising that
we had been working on in previous days, and were able to make connections to the new
material in order to better understand the concepts.
I feel that the biggest change from the first lesson that I did on my own and this lesson
now, was my classroom management and my teacher voice. I feel that I have definitely found
my teacher voice, and this has been the biggest confidence booster for me as well as the reason
I feel my students were able to take over the lesson more this time. I definitely paid attention to
the feedback I received for my first observation, which was mostly about surveying the room and
keeping the right proximity between my students and I in order to keep my students engaged
and focused. This time, I felt like I was able to walk around the room the entire lesson and call
on mostly every student at least once during the lesson, giving those students who dont raise
their hand often, the same chance to participate in the lesson as well as gaging if every student
was paying attention and on task.
I think the biggest thing I took away from this lesson is to always be prepared for
technology not to work when it is time to do a lesson that involves technology, which in this
case, was a PowerPoint that included a YouTube link of a video advertisement. When it took the
video more time to load than I had anticipated, Mrs. Ridolfi stepped in to ask the students some
review questions to keep the lesson on task and keep the down time at a minimum. I learned that
I should always have review questions or a back-up activity planned, in case there is a technical
malfunction.
Overall, I felt very confident in this lesson and I also feel like the PowerPoint I created
was well put together and very effective. I felt that the decisions I made regarding the
PowerPoint paid off very well and I learned that how I present the information on the
PowerPoint to the students is just as important as the information itself. For instance, I decided to
present the question or heading of a slide first, without any definition or information, and ask my
students to first make inferences or activate prior knowledge to see if they can come up with the
answers on their own and head us in the right direction. Then, I put the grammatical definitions
or important information I wanted them to write down on their worksheets, onto the overhead
projector screen, so they could copy down the answers, only after they had time to have a class
discussion about the possible answers and make their own assumptions about the answers first.

Lesson Plan: 3
Subject and Topic: Language Arts / Argument Essay (Tone/Mood)
Grade Level: 7th
Date of lesson: March 2, 2017
I was very proud of the way my seventh grade students handled today's lesson about mood and
tone and I am very excited to read their introduction paragraphs in class tomorrow and see if they
followed the directions of the checklist as well as their ability to use tone to focus their essay on giving
off a certain type of feeling. I feel that for the past couple of essay assignments, some students lost points
simply when it came to following directions or they were missing some parts that they needed in each
paragraph. I am looking forward to seeing how the new checklist that Mrs. Ridolfi and I created will help
them with their writing and organization.

I feel that I learned a lot from this lesson and the biggest thing was time management. I definitely am
going to take what I learned and apply it to my future lessons. I am going to write the times on the board
and on my lesson plans for each piece of the lesson so I can pace myself and stay on track in order to have
the lesson completed without being rushed at the end. I also learned that it is okay to take out a part of the
lesson if it will not affect the overall lesson.

I feel that as a student teacher and someone who is still in the process of the early stages of teaching,
time management is something that new teachers can struggle with early on and even find themselves
sometimes letting the time slip away from them even when they are seasoned teachers. I feel that writing
the times down next to my lesson as well as on the board will not only provide me with a reminder to
keep the lesson on track, but will also be a visual for the students to see how long we will spend on each
piece of the lesson as well as how long it is expected for them to be able to complete each task.

This lesson helped me to continue feeling confident as a teacher because I feel that my students
really care for me as much as I care for them. I feel that we have established a really strong and
comfortable relationship with each other and the classroom environment is a positive and safe space to
learn and share ideas in. I feel that this relationship can be funny and playful at times, but my students
also respect me and see me as another authority figure in the classroom just as they see Mrs. Ridolfi. I
feel that as we continue this relationship moving forward, my students will be become more and more
confident in their writing abilities which will ultimately lead to them mastering these necessary skills for
writing.

Lesson Plan 4:
SubjectandTopic:LanguageArts/FreaktheMightynovel
GradeLevel:7th
Dateoflesson:April5,2017

IamveryproudofthislessonbecauseIcreateditmyselfandputeverythingtogetherforit.I
reallybelievethatthislessonisareflectionofthekindofteacherthatIwanttobe.Ithinkthatthislesson
hashelpedmetolearnmoreaboutgraduallyreleasingresponsibilitytomystudents.Ithinkasanew
teacher,IamnervousthatIwillleavemystudentsouttodryandnotgivethemalltheinformationthey
needtosucceed.However,Ivelearnedthatitisimperativeforstudentstobeabletosometimestrythings
withouthavingalloftheanswers,becausethentheywillbeabletoseeiftheyunderstandthetaskor
contentathand.Ialsothinkthatbylettingmystudentsattemptanactivitywithoutalloftheinformation,
theywillcomeupwithquestionsastheyprogressthroughtheactivityandthesewillbegreatstopping
andteachingpoints.
IfeelthatIamcontinuingtodowellwhenitcomestostudentcenteredfacilitationofthelesson,
byengagingmystudentsandgettingthemtoactivelyparticipateinthelesson.Ihaventhadthisclassin
groupsorteamsbeforethisunit,soIthinkthislessonhelpedmetounderstandhowIcanmaximizethe
usefulnessofstudentsworkingingroups.Ifeelmorecomfortablenowbeingabletothrowoutataskor
activitytomystudents,andletthemgrapplewiththequestionsandideaswithintheirgroups,sothatthey
aregettingthatactivesmallgroupengagementwithoneanother.Iamveryexcitedtoseewheretherest
ofthislessontakesusandtoseethefinalprojectsthatmystudentscomeupwith.

LessonPlan:5
SubjectandTopic:LanguageArts/BlazonPoetry
GradeLevel:6thGrade
Dateoflesson:April11,2017
Ifeelthatworkinginaclassroomwithstudentswhohavedisabilitiesisdefinitelyachallenge,but
Iamreallyenjoyingmyexperiencesofar.Ifeelthatmybiggestchallengeismakingsurethateachofmy
studentsisstayingengagedandunderstandsthelesson,andIlearnedthatthebestwaytodothatistoask
questions.Asanewteacher,IfeelthatoneofmybiggestchallengesthatIfacewithinmyselfisaccepting
thatitisokayandactuallyveryhelpfulforstudentswhenyourepeataquestionoverandovertoeach
student.Itmayseemrepetitiveanditmaytakesometimefromthelesson,butitiscriticalforlearning
whethermystudentsareengagedandunderstandthelesson.Mystudentsareextremelyhighfunctioning
andIlearnedsomanynewthingsfromthemeveryday.IthinkitisextremelyimportantthatIcontinueto
askquestionsthroughoutthelessontomystudentsindividually,becausealthoughonestudentmightbe
engagedandknowtheanswer,thatdoesntalwaysmeanthattheothersevenstudentsintheclassare
engagedandknowtheanswer.

Ienjoyedthislessonspecificallybecausemystudentshadtowriteapoemaboutthemselves,soI
couldseewhatcharacteristicstheyusetodescribethemselves.Thisgavememoreinsightintowhomy
studentsareandhowtheyseethemselvesandtheworldaroundthem.Icouldlearnmoreaboutthekind
ofpeoplemystudentsareandwhatcharacteristicstheyareproudofinthemselves.Ilearnedthatmanyof
themreallyenjoywritingpoetry,whichmakesmehappybecausepoetryissomethingIhavealways
lovedreadingandwriting.

LessonPlan:6
SubjectandTopic:MoodandToneinPoetry
GradeLevel:7thGrade/SpecialEducation
Dateoflesson:April26,2017

I was very pleased with how this lesson went and I feel that I was able to combine the
things I learned from the previous two observations into this lesson. The first thing I really
wanted to focus on was getting more students involved and even though I always like to ask a lot
of questions throughout the lesson, I wanted to focus on getting more students answers to the
same questions to make sure that they had an understanding, rather than just asking one student
and moving on. I feel like this helped my students to be more prepared because they knew there
was more participation coming from the class at each turn of the lesson, so they were ready and
paying attention because they knew they might be called on. I felt that I was able to really get a
lot more answers from each student and keep repeating the questions and answers. I feel like I
still have to work on some pacing, and just I definitely am working on getting past that constant
notion in my mind that every single student will understand every single part of the lesson every
time. Not all students will understand everything the first time it is taught, but that is okay. Ive
learned that it is okay to move on and keep the lesson moving, and go back to revisit the
concepts at a later time.

I love the movie trailers that I used for this lesson and I will definitely use them in future
lessons, because I feel that as we discussed, this was when my students were most engaged. In
the future, I want to keep working on moving through the whole lesson and then going back to
revisit the areas that kids were having confusion. The other thing I focused on that we discussed
in observation 4 is that I dont always have to give all of the information right away. I really felt
that going through the poem first and practicing and using the skills before putting the tone and
mood label on the strategy was very successful for this lesson. This lesson was more of a
discovery lesson and the students felt like they already knew the strategy because we had
practiced it already before introducing the name of the strategy. I really feel that this played out
very well because the students were doing something they werent even aware of, and then were
given the recognition that they had being doing this strategy all along. I will definitely revisit the
movie trailers when we continue this lesson, so that my students can really see what different
elements make up the mood and tone of a work.