Havilah Jones Western Governors University Task 603.2.3-06, 602.1.

3-01, 03

Unit Reflection I feel that my fractions unit for my Teacher Work Sample was a success. Not only did my students learn a great deal about fractions, I was able to learn and grow as a teacher. I started with a subject and was able to locate the appropriate standards, create learning goals and objectives and align these with my lesson plans and assessments. I was able to learn about appropriate ways of measuring learning and differentiating instruction. I learned that it is important to teach using a number of different styles in order to help all of the students succeed. I was able to successfully take the state standards for mathematics and create a two-week fractions unit with four appropriate learning goals. My first learning goal stated that students would be able to read and write fractions that name a part of a whole or set. My second learning goal was that students would be able to plot points that represent fractions on a number line. The third learning goal stated that students would be able to model equivalent fractions. The final learning goal stated that students would be able to compare fractions. The first learning goal was the most successful. The class received an average of 36% on the pre-assessment for this learning goal. On the post-assessment, the students improved their score; they received an average score of 87%. This is a 51% improvement. One reason for this success was because I spent the most amount of time teaching this concept. I felt that this learning goal was the foundation to the rest of the unit. If the students did not fully

comprehend how to read and write fractions, they would not be able to understand how to place them on a number line, find equivalent fractions or compare fractions. I planned three total lessons for this learning goal. We focused on unit fractions, fractions as a part of a whole and fractions as a part of a set. Another reason for this success was because the other three learning goals all built upon the first learning goal. In order to fully understand the second, third and fourth learning goals, the students need to be proficient in the first. Because of this relation, the students spent the entire two weeks practicing the information from the first learning goal. For example, when the students were learning about comparing fractions (learning goal number four), they were still practicing reading and writing fractions that name a part of a whole or set. This extra time spent on this learning goal probably had a major influence on the students ability to perform well on that portion of the assessment. The learning goal that was least successful was the fourth learning goal. The students received the same average score (65%) on the second learning goal and the fourth learning goal. The reason I believe that the fourth learning goal was the least successful was because the students showed the least amount of growth on this learning goal. The pre-assessment score for the fourth learning goal was 42% and the post-assessment learning goal was 65%. This was only a 23% increase. While this amount of increase is not a bad thing by itself, compared to the other learning goals (which showed increases of 51%, 58% and 67%), the 23% increase is significantly lower. One reason for this lack of success for this learning goal is because I spent the least amount of time teaching the concepts. Because this was the fourth and final learning goal, I taught it towards the end of the unit. I only had time for one lesson and it ended up being cut short because of a guest speaker that was coming that day to present a science lesson to the students. Another reason for the lack of success for this learning goal could simply be because it was the most difficult concept to

understand. I do not believe the learning goal was too difficult for these students to achieve, but as far as my planning of instruction goes, I did not plan enough time for the students to receive enough instruction and practice before it was time for the post-assessment. There are some things that I would do differently in order to enhance student performance in the future. One thing I would do is to make sure to think ahead about the difficulty level of each of the learning goals. While it truly was important to spend extra time at the beginning in order to help the students gain a firm foundation for fractions, I should have recognized the fact that it would have been beneficial to plan out two days of learning for the fourth learning goal and possibly even some time for a review lesson before giving the post-assessment. Another thing I could change for the future is how I present the lesson. The students seemed to do very well with the concepts they learned while using manipulatives. I did not use the fraction tiles as often as I could have. I recognize now how much the students benefited from being able to physically manipulate the fraction tiles in order to find equivalent fractions. This would have been so helpful for them to use when comparing fractions. In fact, I did take some time after the post-assessment to reteach comparing fractions using fraction tiles. It was during this lesson that I saw the concept click in the minds of most of the students. I was happy to see they finally understood but I was sad that I hadnt thought to use that method during the unit.

Daily Schedule and Instructional Time Below, you will find a copy of my daily schedule. Harvest Elementary School runs on an extended day schedule. This means that the class is divided into two groups: A-Track and B-Track. ATrack is at school from 8:00 AM until 2:15 PM. B-Track arrives at school at 9:15 AM and stays until 3:30

PM. This allows 75 minutes in the morning for small-group time with the A-Track students and 75 minutes in the afternoon for small-group time with the B-Track students.
7:30 AM 8:00 AM 9:05 AM 9:15 AM Arrive in classroom. Prepare for the day (make copies, finalize lesson plans, etc.). A-Track Students arrive. Language Arts. Reading and/or Writing A-Track students have a 10-minute recess. A-Track students come in from recess. B-Track students arrive. Morning Meeting Pledge of Allegiance Daily Business If time, students have time to share anything they wish to talk about Daily Journal Write ADD Math Practice (Short math reviewreviews concepts from previous lessons) Cursive Handwriting Practice (Mondays: Spelling Pre-Test, Fridays: Spelling Test) Correct Math Homework Math Lesson Math In-Class Assignment Lunch / Recess Step-Up (All of the students in third grade are divided into leveled reading groups. Teachers are each in charge of one of the groups. Students go to their classroom for Reading instruction with students on their same level). I taught a middle level group where we focused on reading strategies to promote fluency. Read aloud Students go to Specialty Class. Music Class for this term. Teacher Prep Time Social Studies or Science Wednesdays: PE at 1:45 A-Track Students go home. B-Track Students go out for recess. B-Track Students Repeat Language Arts Lesson from the morning Students go home at 3:30 PM Stay in classroom until 4:00 PM Prep for following day, grade papers, etc.

9:15 AM 9:30 AM

9:30 AM 10:15 AM

10:15 AM 11:15 AM 11:15 AM 12:00 PM 12:00 PM 12:30 PM 12:30 PM 12:45 PM 12:45 PM 1:15 PM 1:15 PM 2:15 PM 2:15 PM 2:25 PM 3:30 PM 3:30 PM 4:00 PM

I was able to maximize instructional time by using my prep time adequately. Before I went home the day before, I would plan out what I needed to get done during the 30 minutes I had before school started the next day. I would be sure to make any necessary copies and prepare other materials as necessary. I would also use that time to sharpen pencils and set out any other materials that the students would be using that day. I also spent the time during recess and prep time to get any

necessary preparations done. By using this time wisely, I was able to maximize the instructional time in order to increase the learning opportunities of the students. Another way I was able to maximize instructional time was by being prepared with lesson plans. When planning for the day, I made sure to plan extra activities and lessons in case we found extra time. I learned that if I was prepared for the day, we hardly had any empty space; there was always something to be working on.

Instructional Time Adjustments It is important for a teacher to be flexible. Because the students are unpredictable, a lesson almost never goes exactly as planned. The best teachers are the ones who are able to monitor the class as she teaches in order to understand whether or not her plan is working. There were many times that I had to interrupt longer lessons in order to get the students moving and re-engaged. A quick game of Simon Says is always helpful. Finding ways to incorporate movement into the longer lessons is a great way to keep students engaged. Sometimes a teacher will have a lesson all planned out, expecting her students to struggle with the concept, only to find that they all understand and do not require the entire length of the lesson. A teacher must be able to pick up on this and respond appropriately. Other times, a teacher might realize that the students do not comprehend the concepts as well as she had hoped they would by the end of the lesson. This requires the teacher to be willing to plan additional instructional time. This happened to me. I was teaching a lesson about paragraph structure. When I was planning the lesson, I knew that the students had been taught and re-taught the very same concepts multiple times throughout the year. This lesson was meant to be a review and a chance for the students to create a paragraph sandwich as a fun activity.

The plan was to quickly review the parts of a paragraph: topic sentence, three supporting details, and a concluding sentence. The students would then receive a paper that looked like a slice of bread, one that looked like meat, one that looked like lettuce, one that looked like cheese, and another bread slice. The students would write their topic sentence and their closing sentence on the slices of bread. They would write their supporting details on the meat, lettuce and cheese. The original lesson plan had them completing all of this within one lesson timeframe. When I was about 10 minutes into the lesson, I realized that the students did not fully understand how to properly structure a paragraph. I quickly decided that we needed to spend more time talking about these before we could move on to creating the sandwiches. I adjusted the lesson to include many examples of structuring paragraphs and I came up with an activity that helped them review. I would say a topic sentence. For example, I would say, I love coming to school. I would then ask the students to think of some sentences that they could use that would support this topic sentence. I would then point to a student and have them say their sentence. I would help them make any adjustments that might be necessary. I would then point to another student and do the same until we had three supporting details. I would then say my topic sentence again and then point to each of the three students who would then say their supporting detail sentences. I then asked the students to come up with an idea for a concluding sentence. I would call on someone and we would talk about their idea and make any necessary adjustments. I would then say my topic sentence and point to each of the four students in order and they would say their sentence. After the last student spoke the concluding sentence, we would all cheer because we made a paragraph together. We repeated this activity multiple times. At the end, I allowed some students to come up with their own ideas of a topic sentence. It was a lot of fun to see the students working together to create paragraphs.

By the time we were finished, there was no time left to create the paragraph sandwiches. I saved this activity for the next day and I adjusted the activity so that I could spend time with each individual student working on their paragraphs and helping them edit and fix things in order to make a paragraph that they could be proud of. We hung these sandwiches in the classroom for everyone to see and enjoy. I really like how these adjustments to my original plan worked out. I was able to make a meaningful lesson for the students. Instead of just rushing though what I had planned, I was able to create a spontaneous lesson that was beneficial to the students in the class. It was also nice that the students were able to spend more time on their sandwiches later so they could practice writing their paragraphs and receive personal feedback from me. It was through this experience and many others that I learned about how important it is for teachers to be mindful of the students at all times during the lesson. It is important to be constantly assessing the students to see if they are on track with where you want them to be in their learning. Teachers must be willing to change course at any time during the lesson to accommodate the learning of her students. An amazing lesson plan can only be successful if the teacher is willing and able to adjust it to fit her students skill levels and attention spans at any given moment.