Phase 2: Reflections on Lessons Implementation

1. Instructional Decisions/Teaching (InTask standard #9):

After teaching my first lesson, I believe everything went pretty well and as planned. The beginning of the lesson went smoothly and my anticipatory set successfully grabbed all of my student’s attention. The students cooperated very well while reading the story and answering questions throughout. The students also enjoyed participating in the online quiz, drawing on the monster cut outs, and completing the writing prompt. The lesson was closely aligned to the standards and objectives. Every activity I planned for the students had them practicing the skills I wanted them to master by the end of the lesson. One modification I had to make during the lesson was having the students work together on the online quiz. This was poor planning on my part. I forgot to send the link to all of the students, which slowed down the lesson a bit. However, the students were still able to practice answering the questions on the quiz while I observed and assessed their progress.

2. Mechanics

I chose to integrate technology in my lesson by having the students work on an online quiz towards the end of the lesson.  This online resource was used to help quiz the students on different details and events that occurred in Where the Wild Things Are. I used this quiz as a quick formative assessment for myself. This quiz showed how the students were progressing on the first two chosen objectives. I was able to see if the students could recall key details and events in the story, and also checked on how well the students were able to identify the main characters and setting of the story. My lesson ended up being a few minutes shorter than I planned. I believe this was due to all of the students having to share a computer while taking the online quiz. I also thought the story was going to take a lot longer to read aloud. Next time, it may be a better idea to have the students each have a copy of the book and take turns reading aloud. Also, I will definitely be better prepared and have the links emailed and ready for the students to access.

3. Assessment of Learning (InTask Standard #6)

Sample of monster cut out!! :)

Sample of writing prompt!! :)

After reviewing my artifacts, I believe all of my students were successful in achieving the standards and objectives I chose for my lesson. For example, while reading the story, the students were able to successfully answer the questions about the main characters, setting, and central message of the story. The students also did an excellent job while filling out the monster cut outs and connecting the story to their very own lives. The students were also able to correctly recall key details and main events of the story while taking the online quiz. Lastly, each of the students were able to master all of the objectives when completing the writing prompt at the end of the lesson. After looking over my peers feedback, I am confident that I successfully taught the lesson I planned for them. I am now aware of the importance of planning ahead of time and being completely prepared. Again, I will definitely be sure to have any resources ready for the students to access ahead of time. I’ve also gained the experience of a lesson being shorter than planned. I believe this will help me better gauge the time and activities needed for my next lesson!

4. What did you learn from designing and teaching this lesson and how will you use this in the creation in future lessons/learning activities?

After designing and teaching this lesson, I’ve learned the importance of planning and being prepared for anything while teaching. I’ve learned how important it is to come prepared when planning to use any resources; this will ensure that I will not be wasting any critical time in the classroom. However, I’ve also learned that lessons will not always go as planned for various reasons, and I must always be prepared to adjust to any changes. I plan to take all I’ve learned and apply them to future lessons.