Observed Lesson 1/13

For this lesson I taught 6th grade math, this group of students is usually pretty compliant, but

does struggle to remember correct computation skills. Today I only had two of the four students,

one of which was my first time meeting. Our lesson focused on the use of parentheses and how

moving them around in equations impacts the solutions. One of the students had already started

the lesson a prior day so she started on a different section of the worksheet while I introduced the

topic to the other student. Going back and forth was a little difficult at times, wanting to give

both students my full attention, but was not able to. I think if I could have gone back and done it

again, I would have started both students at the beginning of the worksheet/lesson. It would have

been a good review for one student while an intro for the other. Going forward, I want to keep

the students in my group at the same pace. Although I cannot control absences, Making sure

students have the opportunity to ask questions and reflect is vital. I was able to talk to my mentor

teacher about how I should move forward when one or more students are absent in my groups.

She recommended doing a quick review at the beginning of the group, to benefit all students who

were in attendance or not (for previous days), and then have them all move forward. And if

students seem confused or not grasping the concept well, later on in the week when students are

doing independent work, I can pull those who need more clarification and time on a specific

subject. I have really been noticing the impact of attendance on students' education and progress.

Some of our students who have made the least amount of progress are the ones who are never at

school. This is obviously a multi-layered problem, and I would really like to learn more about

how the school, administration and teachers work with parents and students to improve

attendance.
Observed Lesson 1/31
Today I taught a Read Works lesson, which is an online program for reading comprehension.

Students are placed in small groups where they take turns reading a text aloud and proceed to

answer comprehension questions. One of the students, so I only had two fifth grade students.

Both of these students have behavior goals on their IEP’s as well as on check in check out. They

can both be definite and put up a fight when it comes to being pushed academically. This lesson

went pretty well, the story was a fantasy, so it did make it hard to relate to their lives. Throughout

the story I would stop them and ask them to make predictions or ask questions about what they

last read. One thing I could have done better was, varying the feedback and praise I gave. I find it

hard to vary these responses when they are older doing simple tasks. I have been working quite a

lot with younger students with pretty severe behaviors, I find myself giving them more and

varying praise, for small tasks. I am now realizing that upping the frequencing of my praise will

benefit all students, not just those who are younger or have more problem behavior. I would also

like to be more specific with the praise I am giving, not the generic “good job”, but “I noticed

that you used this to answer the question, great thinking?”. When I start praising students for

using higher order thinking, especially my older students, I think they will become more

comfortable taking risks with their education. Start raising their hands and attempting tasks that

they once steered clear of.

Observed Lesson 2/10

This lesson was using the Early Steps reading program with two students. One of the students

has autism and is nor verbal and the other falls under the Other Health Impairment category as

well has a lot of past trauma. Both students can have severe behaviors at times that do include

becoming physically aggressive towards teachers as well as other students. I do this reading

program with these students everyday, and they have become accustomed to the routine. I like

this program especially for our student who is non verbal, since he can echo, reading the same

books each day has really benefited him. He is able to independently read the books once he

becomes familiar with them. One thing I am really working on specially during this time of the

day is managing these severe behaviors while also being able to continue teaching the other

students. This can be difficult at times, especially when one of the students becomes physical

towards myself or other students. Luckily, there are other teachers or para professionals who are

able to take the students out to the hall and/or block when the student starts to hit or throw.

Based on this lesson, we are able to move onto the next set of sentences and books. Both

students can now read “Look! Now Look!” independently, so the books will be moved up in

order and we will add “A Party” as the new book. We will also move on to sentences starting

with “I see…”. Both students have independently written “I can run.” more than three times as

well as read the sentence out loud. Each of these lessons are taught about three or four times,

before assessing the students' understanding of the books, letters, words and sentences. I have

been able to see the students become more confident in their reading and even identify words we

are practicing in other subjects and contexts.

Observed Lesson 2/22

The third grade math group I have been teaching over the last few weeks, has challenged me as

well as letting my strengths shine. At the beginning of the semester we had three students in the

classroom that were defiant and distracting to other students, since then we have switched up the

schedule to have them separated. I teach three students, this day only two, since one worked with

the other teacher. Both of these students I worked with are extremely compliant and focused,

which I know will not always be the case. While these students are almost always on task, they

easily get confused and lose track of steps to solve math problems. So I really focused on

breaking down the subtraction problems and having them explain their thinking.

One thing I really wanted to focus on in this lesson was specific and frequent praise and

feedback. One student had mentioned to me a few days earlier how much she struggles in math

class and was extremely upset about it, so I really wanted to reassure her of her own strengths in

math. After finishing a lesson there is a specific sequence of what lesson will be taught next (this

was given to me by my mentor teacher). Each day after math class I review how the students

did/how much of each worksheet was completed. If the students seemed to struggle and I had to

explain every problem and they were unable to do any of it independently, I will either reteach or

review the next. Since most of the students are one to two grade levels behind, I want to make

sure those foundational math skills learned and practiced in lower grades are practiced and

mastered before moving on. Each lesson builds on the next so it is important to check with the

students for understanding. They are also tested every other week, given a math test at the grade

level they are working on to see if they are ready to move up a level or still need time to master

the skills taught at their current instruction level.

Observation Lesson 3/9

This was my last observed lesson as well as my last week at this placement. Since we finished

quarter testing the prior week and are still forming new groups based on students' scores we

decided to do more fun lessons this week. Students find clues by solving a series of math

problems to solve the case of the missing pot of gold. The students are familiar with these kinds

of activities since they have completed similar ones in the past. I had my lesson planned for

working through the second clue with the students, this worksheet was focused on writing

numbers from written out form into numeral form. My plan quickly changed when we ran out of

worksheets, and I had to switch to teaching the next clue instead. I was a little thrown off, but

was still able to complete the worksheet with the students.

Since I quickly had to change my plans for this group, when I was reflecting I realized

how important it is to be prepared for both the expected and unexpected. Having materials and

groups ready to go at the beginning of the day, way before students come in helps relieve so

much stress right before and during the lessons. It also shows students that the teacher cares

about their learning and are putting time and effort into their education. Going forward and in my

own classroom, prepping materials and plans at the beginning of the week for the whole week I

think will really help me. I have also noticed when my mentor teacher does this the week goes

more smoothly, it also helps the paraprofessionals know what they are supposed to be working

on each day with the students. Setting up these plans may be hard at the beginning but in the long

run I think it will help my future students as well as me not getting too overwhelmed each day.