Monday January 27th, 2020

Today, my mentor teacher was absent, and therefore, I was accompanied by a substitute.
This was not my first time working with a substitute, so I was comfortable and relaxed
throughout the day. The morning session was pretty simple. Students first had their Unit 4
Chapter Tests on their Chromebooks. Throughout this time, I walked around the classroom and
assisted any students who needed it. For example, I assisted students by reading the question
aloud or asking them to remember key concepts we learned throughout the unit. After the
completion of the math tests, the students had Enrichment. Enrichment is a program within my
field placement school where a teacher comes into the classroom and discusses different
techniques and strategies to help enhance the students’ brain power. Furthermore, they often
complete very interactive and hands-on activities where students learn about the brain. The
students participate in Enrichment every two weeks. The students and I then proceeded to
Fundations (Foundations) and then onto our read aloud with “Because of Winn-Dixie” by Kate
DiCamillo. Students and I then proceeded to lunch. After lunch, we continue our day with
writing. Today, we were focusing on writing a hook for our How to Make Hot Chocolate
writings. But, the main reason why I am so excited about today’s reflection was due to our
science lesson! Today, students completed a really interactive and hands-on lesson about forces,
friction, and motion. More specifically, how different types of surfaces cause more or less
friction when an object rubs against it. Throughout the week and the past unit, we have practiced
and learned the definition and concept of friction. This specific lesson concentrated on reviewing
and applying what the students had learned. The objective of the lesson was as follows: Students
will be able to collect data about friction by making accurate and precise observations and then
analyzing the data to make data-based inferences about friction and motion. Throughout the
whole day, I had been teaching the lessons, however, this science lesson required a lot of
preparation and understanding, and I had to complete it without my mentor teacher. Fortunately,
I was extremely comfortable within my field placement classroom. In general, I was excited and
eager to start the lesson!
Within the beginning of this lesson, I made sure to demonstrate my excitement and
enthusiasm about the concept to promote students’ engagement. Additionally, I made sure to
state and discuss my objectives and goals for this lesson with the students. To start the lesson, I
had students participate in the activity, think-pair-share. Students were to discuss what they have
previously learned about friction, surfaces, and motion for five minutes. For this activity, I paired
students with others at their table. For the five-minute discussion, I asked students to share their
understanding on, what is friction? – how does the surface of an object influence the friction? -
how does friction influence motion? After think-pair-share, the students quickly summarized
their discussion and we reviewed these questions as a whole. I, then, explained the procedure and
instructions for the main hands-on activity. I explained to students how they will be in groups
and will use various objects like, hardcover books, small bean bags, rubber mats, buttons, and
coins, and throw them across various surfaces like, sandpaper, tile, carpet, and concrete, and
observe the friction between them. I had to obtain these materials and resources from the third-
grade closet, the gym teacher, as well as a third-grade teacher who is also completing this lesson.
I continued to discuss and explain to students that throughout the activity, they will also have to
complete a worksheet that allows them to write down their predictions and observations about
friction between the items and the different surfaces. Throughout the lesson, I consistently used
Positive Narration to reinforce the students’ positive behavior. For example, one student was
throwing the items appropriately and I reinforced this behavior by stating, “Awesome work
(Name)! I really like how you were able to successfully throw the item while still allowing it to
slide on the surface! Great job!” Furthermore, I also used the classroom bell to maintain effective
classroom management. Additionally, at the end of the lesson I also asked questions to gain an
understanding of if and what the students had learned. The questions I asked the students at the
end of the lesson were, which surface had the least amount of friction? – which surface had the
most amount of friction? – which item had the least/most amount of friction? – how does your
investigation and experiments prove your thinking? To conclude the lesson, I, then, had students
again discuss with different partners this time and only for two minutes. Furthermore, after the
two minutes, I had students share their findings and thinking with the whole class. In general, the
students were engaged and active throughout the activity and lesson. Additionally, I was really
pleased with how the students reacted and interacted with this lesson! Overall, the students really
comprehended the concept and understood the overall main ideas.
This experience allowed me to understand my abilities and skills as a teacher in an active
classroom. Additionally, it was interesting to be able to work with a different type of teaching
style and observe how the students interacted and reacted to the substitute’s techniques,
practices, strategies. Throughout the classroom, the substitute was very laid back and relaxed.
She has been a classroom substitute before, so the students and I have been able to develop a
great relationship with her.
In conclusion, I am grateful for this opportunity as it allowed me to ensure that I am well-
prepared as a teacher, resource, and reference to all learners.

Reflection:

For this day, I knew my mentor teacher was going to be absent and I was excited to have
another opportunity to really work one on one with the class. Over time, I had grown extremely
comfortable with my field placement classroom and the overall school. Additionally, I had
worked with students without my mentor teacher before (with substitute), so I was not nervous
about this experience. Moreover, the students have learned that I am another teaching figure in
the classroom, and we have both developed and grown our relationship with one another. In
general, I found this experience to be eye-opening and significant as I was able to enhance and
further my teaching practices, strategies, and techniques.
Throughout my reflection and using the Danielson’s Framework for Teaching to evaluate
any themes within my journal entry, I observed that I participated in most, if not all, of the
domains. Within the lesson, I participated in 1b: Demonstrating Knowledge of Students and 1d:
Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources. I was able to participate in 1b: Demonstrating
Knowledge of Students by accessing their prior knowledge and allowing students to reinforce
and further these ideas. Furthermore, I was able to demonstrate my ability within 1d:
Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources by obtaining the necessary materials needed for the
lesson in order to create an interactive, equitable and hands-on learning experience. Through
prior experience, I have been able to learn where the resources and materials are kept and
organized. Moreover, this has allowed me to become independent throughout the classroom and
overall school. Additionally, throughout my journal entry and lesson, I was able to participate in
many components throughout Domain 2. I was able to observe my participation in 2b:
Establishing a Culture for Learning through stating the lesson objective to the students and
through my facial gestures and body language. Through these factors, I was able to create a
learning culture ready for the lesson and ready to participate in the activity. Students were able to
respond to and mimic my energy throughout the lesson. I was able to analyze my incorporation
of 2c: Managing Classroom Procedures by my use of the classroom bell in order to transition
students from one round to the next. The classroom bell has been an effective implementation
throughout the classroom and has overall enhanced the students classroom behaviors. I used
Positive Narration throughout the lesson to manage student behavior. This incorporation allowed
me to evaluate my participation of 2d: Managing Student Behavior. Through the use of Positive
Narration, students were able to maintain appropriate and engaging behavior. Moreover, the
incorporation of Positive Narration allowed me to create an equitable and responsive classroom
environment and climate. Throughout my lesson, I was able to demonstrate my participation in
2e: Organizing the Physical Space by organizing the classroom and students to maximize their
learning and comprehension. I had grouped students within heterogeneous grouping to provide
opportunities for students to expand, broaden, and deepen one another’s thinking. Furthermore,
throughout Domain 3, I was able to continue my teaching experience within these diverse
components. Throughout my reflection, I was able to observe how I practiced 3a:
Communicating with Students by effectively discussing and modeling the procedure needed
from students for the activity. Moreover, the students and my prior relationship definitely helped
in creating supportive and encouraging learning experiences for all students throughout the
lesson. Additionally, within my reflection, I was able to evaluate my participation in 3b: Using
Questioning and Discussion Techniques. During this lesson, I concentrated on Bloom’s
Taxonomy and how I can ensure students are thinking throughout the higher levels and engaging
in critical thinking. Specifically, I asked questions before, during, and after about the concepts
and ideas presented within the lesson to observe the students’ comprehension and retention. “I
believe most of my questions focused on higher level thinking for the students. When focusing
on using Bloom’s Taxonomy to analyze and reflect on my questions, I was able to observe the
use of knowledge/remembering, comprehension, application, and evaluation. When reflecting on
the questions I provided, I observed how the students had the opportunity to remember, describe
and understand friction and how it influences motion in their own words. Additionally, students
had the opportunity to apply their knowledge on how friction is related to various objects and
items. Throughout the worksheet, students also had the chance to evaluate the learned
information through having to make new predictions about friction”
(Prunty_Tara_Week_5_Analyze_Questioning_and_Discussion_Techniques). Throughout my
reflection, I also observed and analyzed my incorporation of Domain 4 to help provide all
students with an effective and reflective classroom environment and climate. Within analyzing
my journal entry, I was able to observe how I contributed to 4a: Reflecting on Teaching. After I
completed this lesson, I reflected on how effective or ineffective the practices, strategies, and
techniques were that I used throughout this lesson. Moreover, I was able to observe how the
students interacted and reacted with the information and concepts presented in order to
effectively implement any modifications or adjustments to the lesson. Additionally, I am able to
use this reflection to help guide my future teachings. Furthermore, this journal entry
demonstrated my incorporation of 4d: Participating in a Professional Community and 4e:
Growing and Developing Professionally because I was able to enhance and deepen my
relationships with other grade and substitute teachers. Specifically, I was able to respectively and
effectively communicate with other teachers and educators to provide a meaningful and
encouraging learning environment for all diverse learners through the use of manipulatives.
Additionally, before my lesson, I was able to discuss with the other grade teacher appropriate
practices and techniques to use throughout the lesson to help create an interactive and equitable
classroom environment and climate. Lastly, through my analyzation, I was able to observe my
participation in 4f: Showing Professionalism. I was able to demonstrate this feature by being the
head teacher and making the appropriate decisions for the classroom to ensure a fair and
educational classroom environment. Additionally, by continuing to display respect to all of the
students and staff. In general, I am grateful for this opportunity as it allowed me to enhance my
experience and confidence throughout the classroom. Overall, this experience and reflection has
reinforced the importance of effective classroom management, beneficial relationships, and
accurate comprehension of content and concepts to ensure a classroom environment that allows
all learners to grow, develop and inspire.
The students’ learning was affected by this because it has allowed me to become more
assertive and confident and therefore a better, more responsive teacher and resource.
Additionally, I was able to observe the students’ interaction with a very interactive and hands-on
lesson. Moreover, how well the students responded to this activity, therefore leading to my
mentor teacher and I planning more lessons where students are responsible for completing the
process and concept themselves rather than just observing the modeling of the activity. Since this
lesson, my mentor teacher and I have implemented various lessons where students learn to work
through the process with diverse manipulatives. From this lesson, I was able to observe how the
interactive lessons provided my field placement students with a greater chance to comprehend
and retain the information and material. Moreover, the students became very engaged and
excited to test out the experiments and observe friction with real life objects! In general, this
experience allowed me to observe how the students interact within a diverse learning
environment.
Throughout my experience, I have learned the importance of knowing your students and
resources. This lesson concentrated on my knowledge of the students prior understanding and
practices. In order to create a reflective learning experience, I needed to understand the students’
acquired knowledge to be able to successfully build and further the students’ understanding of
the concepts. Additionally, this lesson incorporated a lot of resources and materials that I needed
to obtain through relationships and prior understanding of supplies. Without these factors, I feel
that the lesson would have not been as engaging or educational. A goal I have set for myself as a
result of this learning is to implement more lessons that focus on real world concepts and that
allow students to actively participate throughout the lesson. Furthermore, another goal I have set
for myself is to continue creating and developing relationships within the school community.
In conclusion, I enjoyed this experience and being able to reflect on it. This opportunity
and experience provided me with the chance to challenge myself and enhance my practices.
Additionally, it allowed me to reflect on the significance of incorporating appropriate and
reflective practices, routines and responsibilities to create meaningful and equitable learning
experiences for all types of learners. Furthermore, this reflection allowed me to evaluate and
examine my strategies, techniques, and practices to ensure that I maintain a supportive and
responsive classroom environment and climate. Overall, I am excited to continue my teaching
experience as my field placement classroom and student teaching experience has been extremely
beneficial and educational!