Daily Unit Reflections

Day One:

Take one lesson guide and discuss what would be the next steps for students who did not meet
your objectives.

During the first lesson, students answered a question about why Neil Armstrong’s
footprint remains on the moon but our footprints on earth do not stay for that long. Students were
able to write a quick educated guess fairly easily on why they believed footprints are preserved
longer on the Moon than Earth. After completing the lesson about the differences between
Earth’s atmosphere and the moon’s atmosphere, students struggled more on how to incorporate
scientific facts into their answers to the Neil Armstrong question. Many were focusing on the
new facts they learned but were unable to apply scientific reasoning to their responses to explain
the why. My next steps for this lesson would be to create a word bank for students to use when
answering the same question, a second time, to help inspire students on the types of words I
wanted to see in their responses. I think this would help because it would give students more
scaffolding on the direction that I wanted their answers to go in.

How and why did you use the pre-assessment data of students’ knowledge, abilities, and
interests as you designed your curriculum and made instructional decisions?

The students were really excited to learn that we were beginning a new unit on earth and
space science. They were focused while completing the pre-test and most had some ideas about
how to answer the Neil Armstrong question before I even began teaching them anything about
the earth and the moon. During the lesson, students were well behaved because they were so
interested in the videos and content that I was sharing with them. They were eager to learn more,
ask questions, and share the knowledge they already knew about Earth and Space.
The part where I lost the students was at the very end of the lesson when I asked them to
flip over their Armstrong worksheet to answer the question again using the information, we
learned in the lesson today. The students were stuck and could not understand why I was asking
them to answer the question again. I ended up showing the class a diagram we had looked at
earlier that showed the earth’s atmosphere and some of the things that occur in each atmosphere.
This helped some students, but other students were still at a loss.
After reading over each child’s response at the end of the day, I realized that some
students responded to the question in the way I wanted them to and some did not. Upon further
reflection, I decided that a word bank would have been beneficial for the students so that they
knew what type of academic scientific language I was expecting them to use. Next time, I would
write an example answer for us to read before I ask them to answer the question on their own. I
also think I would wait to ask them to rewrite their answers to this question until the very end of
the unit.
Day two:

Academic: What were your concerns; what worked; what did not; challenges?

The second lesson of this unit was very tactile. I set up a diagram that showed the
students how the moon reflects the sun’s light. It was very useful to have a physical
representation for the students to look at and explore during this unit, because space is such an
abstract science that we learn about, unlike other sciences such as plant and animal science
where we can see, touch, feel and hear the objects we are learning about. Students were able to
see why the moon’s appearance changes during the phases of the moon.

Next time I teach this lesson, I would create a bigger diagram where the students had
more space to explore the diagram. This diagram was limiting in that only one student could be
in the space at a time and rotate as if they were the moon. If I created a bigger diagram, there
could be maybe two or three students at a time in the diagram with their back all facing one
another. The challenge with having only one student in the diagram at a time is that the rest of
the students have to wait for their turn. Another challenge is that I have to remember to explain
the same thing for every student when they enter the diagram because I want to make sure they
all get the same information during the lecture. For example, one of the things I was explaining
while they were turning in the diagram is that they were starting by facing the new moon,
because that is the beginning of the Phases of the Moon. Then they were rotating
counterclockwise in the diagram because that’s the direction the Earth rotates and the direction
the Moon orbits the Earth.

How and why did you use funds of knowledge data in designing the unit?

I used funds of knowledge in designing this unit because I wanted to make sure I was not
teaching lessons on material that the students already knew. I collected this data during three
different lessons. The first time I collected data was when they were reading in their Wonders
Book about the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. I collected data by asking students to share with me
what they knew about the Moon before reading the passage. The second time I gathered
information about their funds of knowledge was when they were reading their scholastic
newsletter that had an article about how it has been over fifty years since Neil Armstrong first set
foot on the Moon and his footprint is still preserved. Most students took a real interest in reading
and discussing that article so I knew that they would be interested in learning the science behind
it. The last time I collected data on their funds of knowledge was when I gave the students a
pretest at the beginning of the unit. This showed me which parts of the unit we would need to
focus on, and which subjects they already knew so I wasn’t reteaching information.
Day Three:

How did you conduct formative assessment and make changes as you taught your lesson?

I conduct formative assessments before and during my lessons. One way I collect this
data is by asking students to put their thumbs up or down to know if they understand a concept or
instruction before we move on or have them answer a question using specific words or terms we
learned in that lesson. I also conduct formative assessments by having students explain a
scientific concept or idea to their partner while I walk around the room to make sure students are
explaining it correctly. For example, I asked students to explain to a partner what the difference
is between an orbit and a rotation while I walked around listening for students who were using
other scientific vocabulary such as “axis” and “revolve”. This helped me know if students were
understanding the vocabulary.

What effective teaching strategies and technology did you use?

Planning of students’ location and material distribution was a strategy that helped me
ensure my lesson went smoothly by ensuring that both the students and I new where all the
materials were located. For each lesson, I have thought about each location of learning (at their
desks, on the floor, standing at the front of the room, etc.) as well as the transitions to get there
(such as “Am I dismissing them from the floor one by one,” “Is everyone coming from their
desks to the floor at the same time,” or “Do I need their desks set up in a certain arrangement
before they come into the room or do I want them to do it?”).
Another effective teaching strategy that I used is giving students 3 specific tasks at a
time, a specific amount of time to complete each task, and what to do when they have completed
the set of tasks. I would tell the students tasks, explain each task/step so they understood exactly
what to do, and then have students repeat the tasks back to me in order (1,2,3, what to do when
finished), and then I would let the students begin working. This helped me address questions that
students have before they begin working, as well as let me check in and make sure that my
expectations were clear before letting students begin independent work.
I also used grouping of students to create effective learning environments for all my
students. For some lessons, the students sat on the floor in front of the smart board. In others,
they worked in table groups to create Phases of the Moon books. Sometimes I had students move
their desks into rows so that everyone was facing the same direction and could see the board
easier.
Day Four:

Behavior: What were your concerns; what worked; what did not; challenges?

Overall, behavior was not a problem for me during this science unit. This class in
particular really loves science and is fascinated by Earth and Space Science so it was easy to
keep their attention during the lessons, which always reduces behavioral problems. Keeping the
students actively engaged in each activity and video I had planned worked especially well for
me. I made sure to include movement for the students to participate with in every activity I
planned and, while we were watching video clips, I would always give the students something to
think about or look/listen for in the video.

At the end of every video, I would ask the students specific questions to assess their
understanding of the information discussed in the video.

During this unit, there were many times I invited the students to sit on the rug with me
during times of instruction and direct teaching. Depending on the time of the day this was
sometimes very difficult for my students to focus when allowed to sit next to their friends and in
very close proximity. One of my students in particular has a behavior contract about personal
space. For all the students, I found it helpful to start our time on the rug by acknowledging how
much they have already done today (because science was often at the very end of the day), and
with a quick reminder of our carpet rules to set behavior expectations. For most students, this
was enough to keep behavior under control. For the students who still struggled, I would give a
quick reminder of our rules and if that was still not enough, I would move the student to a new
location on the rug so that they were around different students who would be less distracting.

What will you do the same and/or differently in the future in terms of assessing student learning
and using assessments to design curriculum?

I really enjoyed reading over the students’ pre assessments and seeing what things they
already knew and what are the things they don’t know. This helped me to plan my instruction so
that I was not re-teaching concepts and material that they already have mastery of, but also so
that I was not skipping over material that they need to know but don’t already. In the future, I
think I will create a section on the test that asks the student to think of 1-2 questions that they
have about Earth and Space science. This could help me incorporate even more material about
specific subjects they are interested in to help keep them engaged in the unit. I would also
include more questions that have no word bank or are true/false. I designed the test like that so
that there would be no pressure for students who get anxiety from test-taking, but I feel that this
design made it too easy for students to guess.
Day Five:

How would you describe student learning during the unit, based on pre-and post- assessment
data?

I gave my students two types of pre-assessments. The first pre-assessment I gave the
students was a combination of fill in the blank sentences (with a word bank) and true or false
questions. The pre-assessment I gave my students showed that the students knew basic facts
about the earth and moon space science. The second assessment I gave my students was a
writing assignment that asked students to compare the difference between the Earth’s atmosphere
and the moon’s atmosphere in order to answer the question of why Neil Armstrong’s footprint is
still on the moon from over 50 years ago and our footprint disappeared here on earth fairly
quickly. Students struggled much more to answer the second pre-assessment. I think this struggle
was because they had to think analytically and apply their prior knowledge to answer this
question. The students struggled even more to answer Neil Armstrong's question after the lesson.
This was most difficult for them because they knew I was looking for a more specific answer
from them and the expectations were harder. Upon further reflection, I realized that I should
have given them a word bank to help guide the students to use the specific vocabulary they
learned in the lesson. This might have helped students to make the connections between the
information they learned and the Armstrong question.

How and why did you use the research in context data you collected as you designed your unit?

While designing my lessons I used the research in context data to help inform my
decisions on grouping of students, instruction type, manipulatives, and expectations. Observing
and collecting data on my students helped me to understand what type of learners they are and
how to create the least restrictive learning environment I could for every student. It also helped
me to know how to introduce assessments in such a way that would calm an anxiety or
competitiveness that these students might normally feel, which helps to get a more accurate
assessment of their knowledge and understanding of what they are being assessed on.
The research on context also helped me be better prepared for what to expect from these
learners. This class in particular asks a lot of questions in whatever subject they are learning
about and knowing this while designing this unit plan helped me to be prepared for what they
asked. I did a lot of research on the topic while trying to anticipate some of the questions
students might ask so that I could be prepared with an answer for them. For the questions I did
not have an answer for I would write down on the board and get back to the students at the
beginning of the next lesson.