Week 1 Reflection

This first week has been a little overwhelming! I am trying not to feel
overwhelmed with everything because I know I will get a good grasp of things soon!
For the first week, I feel like my planning and preparation has been very good! On
Thursday, I got my unit plan topic and first lesson idea. That night, I planned out
my whole unit plan and what I wanted to do each day. I also planned out what I
wanted to do for my first lesson. I was then prepared to bring my ideas to my
mentor on Friday, which I was super happy about! I felt like I was getting a head
start on things. So far for the first week, I am super pleased with the rapport I
am building with my students. I have done some one on one help with students and
some small group help. Both are very satisfying to do since I am helping the
students learn and grow. I was really taken back on Friday when I was helping a
student with the short u vowel packet and he said he likes when I help him because
he understands me better than the teacher. The one small group I did in math was
with students who got both of the math questions in the beginning of the period
wrong. It was super satisfying to help those students understand the math
concept. I saw so many lightbulbs go off while I was helping them. I haven’t done
much instruction yet, but my one on one and small group instruction has been
pretty good since the students have been understanding what I am going over with
them. The only whole group instruction I have done is a morning question during
breakfast time on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, it took a little longer to
gather all the students, but Friday was better. I was louder with my voice on
Friday when I did the transition. I used the teacher’s “3…2…1…” transition. My
professionalism for this week was very good in my opinion! I always take a lot of
pride in presenting myself in a very professional way. My teacher is giving me small
responsibilities to do and I appreciate it very much. I am very nervous about
taking things over, but I know I can do it.
Week 2 Reflection

As I am writing this reflection, I have taught two lessons. My first lesson

went well! Most of the students understood linking verbs. Some missed the
concept that the linking verbs are used in a sentence and not as a question. Even
with that misunderstanding, they were still using the linking verbs. My second
lesson did not go as well as my first. I had the students do a cut and paste
activity. I did not expect the activity to take as long as it did, so that was poor
planning on my part. The activity might have gone a little better for some if I
differentiated it a little bit. My ESL students struggled with the activity. It
would have been better if I made adjustments to the activity for them. That is
something I will take fault for and definitely learn from. As far as the planning
and preparation of my actual lessons, that has been great! I am continuing to show
my mentor my lessons two school days before. It is working well for us!

Classroom management has gotten better for me this week. I have bused
some different techniques to get their attention. My mentor has even given me
other techniques that I can start trying to use. There is one student that I
struggle to either get her attention or get her to stop talking. I am not sure what
to do to get her attention, but I will try new ideas to see what works.

When I am teaching, I am constantly worried about the time! The first

lesson I taught, I finished just on time. My second lesson needed an extra thirty
minutes because of the cut and paste activity. The students took an extremely
long time to cut out the pieces. Time is just a constant worry of mine.

I am very pleased with the professional relationship my mentor and I have.

She gives me so many helpful pointers of how certain things could go better. I
appreciate all of her feedback! I have been taking her advice and using it in my
future lesson and future things I do in the classroom.
Week 3 Reflection

 Planning and Preparation

o Setting instructional outcomes
 This is an area I need to work. I need to set direct instructional
outcomes for my students during my lessons. To work on this I am
going to orally say my direct instructional outcomes. Students will
then know what I expect of them. I am also going to try putting some
outcomes either on the smart board or on the whiteboard. I want to
figure out if one way works better over the other or if it is more
beneficial to do both.
 The Classroom Environment
o Managing student behavior
 Classroom management is always something I can improve on. There
are times when I have a hard time getting every student’s attention
or I have trouble getting some students to stop talking. I have been
saying “shhhh…”, but that is not the best way to get their attention.
I am going to start trying to do positive reinforcements. Along with
positive reinforcements, I will give out tickets to the students who
are behaving and doing what they are supposed to.
 Instruction
o Engaging students in learning
 I am struggling with my introductions of my lessons. I am having a
hard time hooking my students into the lesson in a fun and engaging
way. I am going to try engaging my students with videos or pictures.
I also want to try figuring out how I can engage students in my
lessons by having them connect a picture or video to their own life.
 Professionalism
o Reflecting on teaching and student learning
 I need to work on my personal reflection questions. I am going to
make my questions more specific and direct to the lessons rather
than generally asking if I taught the content effectively. I am going
to start asking questions like, “Did I engage/hook my students into
the lesson?” or “Did I manage classroom behavior?”
Week 4 Reflection

 Planning and Preparation

o Demonstrating knowledge of students
 Sometimes when I am planning my lessons, I think the students
will know something or be able to understand it clearly. Then
when I am up there teaching, I realize the students have no
idea what I am talking about. I need to work on simplifying
some parts of my lessons. I also need to work on explaining
more in my lessons. I have tried giving directions and then
asking students what they are going to be doing. That has
worked! I want to try other strategies as well like, being overly
clear with things because it is better to be too clear than not
clear enough. I also want to try breaking things down more. I
think if I were to break things down more in my lessons, then
students would be more successful.
 The Classroom Environment
o Managing student behavior
 I am still having difficulty with classroom management. There
are times when I am able to manage student behavior very well,
but there are also other times when I cannot manage their
behavior. I usually have more trouble managing student
behavior towards the end of the day. I want to try brain
breaks before my lessons to see if that will help some of their
behaviors. I also want to try more positive reinforcements so
the students can see how I expect them to be behaving.
 Instruction
o Using questioning and discussion techniques
 This is still an area I need to work on because I want to start
asking students some higher level thinking questions. In my
first reading lesson (2/13/2020), there was so much
opportunity for discussion and asking questions and I fully took
that opportunity. I asked the students many questions and had
them do turn and talk group discussions since their seats are
now arranged in groups of four or five. I even connected some
of the questions to them! I could have done a better job with
 this because there were some other connections I could have
made to the students’ lives. I need to start thinking of
questions that connect the students’ lives to the subject. I also
want to ask questions that connect and integrate other
subjects. One of my questions during my reading lesson
connected to my science unit. The students get excited by
questions like that, so I want to try and ask more questions
that integrate and connect other subjects.
 Professionalism
o Communication with families
 I need to start trying to bring the students’ families into my
lessons. I think surveys or questionnaires relating to the topics
being taught would be something good for the students to bring
home to be completed with their families. I did a lesson on
conservation for my science unit and I want to send home a
survey/questionnaire to see how the students and their families
conserve. I also want to try to figure out ways parents can
either come in for something or have parents donate materials
to go with lessons. I also want to try a weekly way to
communicate with parents. Maybe I could try doing weekly
messages on class dojo. I need to think of other ways to
communicate with parents.
Week 5 Reflection

 Planning and Preparation

o Designed student assessment
 I need to work on designing more engaging assessments for
students. I do not like giving students graphic organizers and
worksheets all the time. I want to create fun, engaging
activities for students to do. I think it will make learning more
fun for my students.
 The Classroom Environment
o Managing student behavior
 I am doing better with managing student behavior, but I still
need to work on it more. I have a pretty good management
style with whole group. I struggle with managing student
behavior in my small acceleration group. I think I struggle with
wanting to have fun and laugh with them and getting them to
listen to me. It is only a few students I have a struggle
managing. I want to try some different management
techniques.
 Instruction
o Demonstrating flexibility and responsiveness
 During my time so far at Northwest, I feel like I have done a
good job of being flexible in my lessons. If I see students
struggling then I will stop everyone and do the assignment
whole group. If we are running out of time and the students
still are not done, then I will stop them and get them ready for
the next thing.
 Professionalism
o Participating in a professional community
 I have great relationships with the staff and I participate in
events that happen during the school day. I do not participate
in any after school events. Some of it is because I do not drive
so I have to leave at a certain time to get home. I think it
would be a good opportunity to go to an after school event one
time before I leave. I would like to try doing that.
Week 6 Reflection

 Planning and Preparation

o Demonstrating knowledge of content and pedagogy
 For one of my science lessons this week, I went over different
types of renewable energies. It would have been a good lesson,
but the content was not something I fully understood. I made
the awful mistake of not taking the time to completely
understand the content. I was just going off of things that
were in the teacher edition. I now know that in order to fully
effectively teach them something, I need to fully understand it
first. I need to do more research and ask my mentor questions
if I am confused about something. I need to work on making
sure I fully understand the content especially for subjects I
struggle with.
 The Classroom Environment
o Establishing a culture for learning
 I need to work on setting expectations for students. The
students get a little chaotic when I do not tell them exactly
how they need to act. The lesson will usually go better if I
specifically lay out how I expect them to act. I do still need to
continue working on setting expectations for learning so that
there is always a good culture for learning.
 Instruction
o Communication
 I need to work on giving students a purpose as to why we are
doing something. I talked to a former professor of mine and
she suggested doing that, so the students understand why I am
having them do the certain activity they are doing. She said
this should alleviate some of the talking going on during the
lessons. For example, for grammar, I can tell the students I am
having you do this activity because we use grammar when we
speak and write, so this will benefit you. For my last weeks
here, I will be giving students a purpose for the activity I am
having them do.
 Professionalism
o Showing professionalism
 I think I have shown a tremendous amount of professionalism
while at Northwest. I have a big willingness to take on
responsibilities in the classroom. With everything my teacher
has given me in the classroom, I have taken on the
responsibility to do it to the best of my ability. With each new
responsibility, I have grown. I will be continuing all my
responsibilities until I leave since I will stop teaching full days
on March 12th.