Reflection on a Lesson Plan Taught

Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow

Intern Name: Abigail Thomas

Subject of Lesson: Math SOL Review
Topic of Lesson: Math Review Lesson
Age/Grade of Students: 3rd Grade
Date of Lesson: 5/18/22
Time/Length of Lesson: 1 hour

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 this & the bulleted list of questions.)

Before Teaching:
● How did you determine the subject/topic of this lesson?
● 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?

My cooperating teacher and I both talked together about what I should do as my ‘Big Lesson'.
Since SOLs are right around the corner and she mentioned an SOL review. I thought it would be
an awesome idea to get the students ready with a little review. I began by using Mrs. B’s SOL
Pass account to search for math related content that they have been practicing and learning
all year. I wanted to start this lesson with a, ‘Test-taking strategies’, BrainPOP. We kept in contact
throughout the lesson and she helped me by answering little questions. She mentioned how I
should read each question and the answer choices for every question. Some of the students
have IEPs and reading disabilities so I accommodated that when doing the slideshow as well as
the Brainpop.

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 went pretty well Wednesday. We went through the BrainPop video and answered the
10 question quiz at the end. I would call on a student and see what they say, then see who
agrees with them. If not we would discuss it together and see which one more people agree with
or which one makes more sense. The slideshow was going well, although I was kind of nervous.
Some questions I went over I was not sure how to connect about what they have learned
throughout the year. They have learned many concepts and I was not sure how Mrs. B taught
them. Therefore, I didn’t want to teach them something different. That was one thing that I came
across. Also, I came short on time and didn’t really realize how much time I had left. I went too
long and didn’t get to finish everything that I had planned. The last thing I did with them was the
4 question exit ticket. They had like 4 minutes to do that and I took them when I left to grade
them. Since it was my first lesson I think I did pretty well for being super nervous and short on
time.
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?
In this lesson I learned a lot about things I will need to do next time I teach. One thing I did not do
was state the learning target over the whole lesson. I just mentioned that we are going to be
doing a SOL review because of the upcoming test and how they should be ready. Also, I have to
be more aware of time and how much each part of my lesson should last. That way I will have
enough time to get through it and finish so they can ask questions if they need it. Mrs. B also
mentioned how I should establish my expectations for them before the lesson and not during so
they know my rules and what I expect. I think they enjoyed it for the most part. They were really
excited in the beginning that I was going to teach them anyway.

To plan this lesson I had to think of ways to make it fun while still educational. I had all these
ideas like doing Kahoot, SlideShow, Games, and BrainPOP. I wanted to incorporate all these
things but was not sure how to. In my lesson I ended up doing BrainPOP, which I thought was a
good idea for them to be thinking about what they should look for when testing. Then the
customized SlideShow that I used a SolPass to screenshot different questions to go over. That
took up the majority of my lesson and I was not planning on going over the whole thing with
them. Moreover, if I were to do this lesson again I would try to make a jeopardy game out of it. So
they can have teams and whoever gets the most points wins candy. I just thought of that as of
right now and feel like that would have been a fun lesson to do with them. Next time I will know
what to expect and be more prepared!!