Week 3 Reflection

#3- Demonstrating a Professional Body of Knowledge

March 18-22, 2024
Grade 5, Mike Mountain Horse Elementary School
Megan Anderson

The most interesting (and possibly most difficult) aspect of teaching that I have observed
so far is the layers of planning needed to cover the curriculum in a school year. In PS1 we
focused on lesson planning and assuring that our objectives were aligned with the outcomes in
the curriculum. In PS2, we are creating unit plans with the end in mind, and connecting lesson
plans with the activities we feel will help students understand the concepts. In my placement thus
far, I have been able to meet with three teachers and they have shared their unit plan templates
with me. Each teacher has created a template that works for them and have encouraged me to do
the same as I create unit plans throughout my practicum.
While I have been creating my unit plans, my TA encouraged me to focus on experiential
learning and technology. In a grade 5 classroom, students are beginning to have a solid grasp of
technology and enjoy learning opportunities that incorporate gamification. As a more “mature
student”, I have a disadvantage with technology. I am not a gamer, I have never played
Minecraft, and I do not have prior knowledge of technology-based games to incorporate. My TA
is helping me to use technology in classroom management, lesson activities, and projects. I am
beginning to see the benefits of gamification for formative assessment. At the end of each week,
my TA gives the students a class period to work on an online game called “Prodigy”—for both
math and language arts. The teacher can set the assignments with pre-programmed questions
which are tailored to each students’ abilities. Additionally, the teacher can access feedback from
the game as a student completes questions. This allows the teacher to follow students’ progress
and assess whether the assignments are challenging them. This is an incredibly useful tool for the
teacher when deciding which students are understanding concepts!
The diverse needs of our class often dictate the activities we complete. We have a variety
of students whose abilities range from quite gifted in reading to comprehension, to struggling
with the basics of letter recognition. Because of this, it is important for me to incorporate levels
of learning into my activities. Additionally, we have students whose home life affect their
performance in the classroom, and we need to ensure their basic necessities are being met before
we are able to address their learning. There are days when we focus on mental health and safety
over their need to understand fractions. My TA has helped me to understand that in the long run,
the students will benefit from ALL their needs being met rather than focusing solely on their
academic evaluations.
Finally, I have been focusing on the benefits of project-based learning as a method of
summative assessment within my teaching practice. I have always felt as though tests, quizzes,
and exams are not an effective method of assessing student understanding. Fortunately, my TA
feels the same way and has incorporated many project-based learning activities into his unit
plans. He has shown me how to scaffold learning with the project in mind, and plan lessons
appropriately to prepare students for the final project. He has implemented self and peer
assessment practices into to the process, and students have learned how to edit their work based
on peer feedback. This approach helps students understand how all learning is intertwined, and
what they learn in one class can directly be related to another. I have been able to watch as
students have that “lightbulb moment” when they have been struggling to understand a concept,
but then catch on because of cross-curricular connections they’ve made. As I witness their
progress and monitor it through formative assessments, I am better able to serve them and
address their needs prior to the summative assessments.
I am incredibly appreciative of the guidance from my TA and the other grade five
teachers at this school. I have learned so much about active assessments and creativity in lesson
planning.