Reflection on a Lesson Plan Taught

Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow I

Intern Name: Kendall Hayes

Subject of Lesson: Barriers to Learning

Topic of Lesson: Death, dying, and grief

Date of Lesson: January 18, 2022

Directions: Write 1-2 paragraphs in each box below. Answer as many of the questions as
possible that apply to your lesson! (When done, you can delete the bulleted list of questions.)

Before Teaching:
● When you received your lesson plan topic, how did you begin?
● What steps did you go through to create this lesson?
● With whom did you talk, discuss, or edit your lesson?
● What feedback was given to you as you planned the lesson, and how did you apply this feedback to make the
lesson plan better, more organized, more clear?

When I received the topic I first tried to think about how I can make a topic as heavy and
difficult to discuss like this one into one that people can actually learn from. As well as
take something away from the lesson and remember, because being aware of this topic
can be really important in life. I went back and forth with a few different ideas specifically
for the activity after my lecture because I knew that I didn’t want to do something
online. So I remembered that my class enjoyed the word splashes that we had done in
the growth and development unit a while back so I decided that was how I wanted to do
my activity. When I had a brief outline of the rest of my plan I printed out the word
splash and I really wanted it to be something that not only makes sense to me in my
head, but to other people who might not think the same way that I do. So I made my
brother and sister try it out after I went over my presentation with them.

During Teaching:
● What parts of the lesson plan worked as you anticipated?
● What, if any, adjustments needed to be made once you began?
● How well did you estimate the amount of time the lesson would take? Did you have to make any adjustments
due to the timing?
● How well did you anticipate the materials needed? Are there any materials you could have prepared differently
or more thoroughly?
● How did your students respond to the activities you chose to use?
If an assessment was used, how did students perform?

My lesson plan went pretty smoothly minus the rush for time at the end for my closing. I
think that I did well with the preparations of my materials and I didn’t forget anything
important that I needed. My classmates seemed genuinely interested in my lecture as
well and even asked lingering questions that they had at the end of my lesson. I think
the only thing I would do differently is to ask them more questions, especially after they
just talked with a partner.
After Teaching:
● What did you learn from teaching this lesson that you will use in future lessons?
● To what degree do you feel that this lesson was a success? What evidence do you have for the
success of the lesson? (Hint: Student learning is the key to a lesson’s success!)
● How did the time spent preparing for your lesson contribute to its success?
● If you could do this lesson again with the same students, would you do anything differently? what?
● Any last comments/reflections about your lesson?
One thing I learned was that students like when a lecture is short and the majority of
the lesson is activity based where you can manipulate something, like a website or
sorting activity of some sort. One thing showed me that I was successful was that, like I
said before, my classmates asked me questions that I didn’t cover and asked me
questions about my experience or relation with the topic that I was teaching. I spent
quite a bit of time over the weekend doing research on the stages of grief and I even
compared them amongst the different genders, but I did not have enough time to
include it in. But I think that helped me a lot because I felt really prepared and ready
when it was time. Most of the time when I am presenting information I get scared that
someone is going to ask me something that I know nothing about. But I didn’t feel like
that this time, so it made me realize how much spending extra time researching helps
me with feeling prepared.