Lesson Self- Assessment for ED 315

Name: Andrea Bowhall-Diaz

Lesson topic: Everyday Mathematics: Unit 1 Review
Date: 10/22/14
School/grade level/ number of students: Burbank Elementary/ 4th/ 27
Name of Cooperating Teacher: Abigail Plummer
Planning and preparation: Describe how your plan provided opportunities for active
engagement. How did you provide for the needs of diverse learners? Did you adjust
your plan in any way? Describe how and why if you did.
I set up a review game in the same fashion as Jeopardy. I put the students into
teams of about 4-6 students and had them work together to answer questions that
were related to the content they had learned over the course of Unit 1. In order
to ensure that every student had a chance to truly engage was I had them rotate
who writes the answer on the slate. Then by having the students work in teams, I
was able to meet the diverse needs of the students because the higher level
students were able to help the lower level students with answering the questions
that appeared in the game. Originally, I was not going to have the students switch
writers, but a few questions in I noticed 2 students were disengaging because they
had no true responsibility within their team. My original plan was to assign one
writer for the whole game. Once I made them switch to a new writer, they were
back to being involved, realizing they do or will have some responsibilities for
their team.
Classroom environment: Evaluate the ways in which your encouraged student
participation. How did you elicit student responses? How did you engage them in
responding to you and each other? Evaluate your plan for individual, small group
and/or whole class work. How effective were these different organizational
techniques for keeping students involved in your lesson?
Before I started the lesson, I explained that this is supposed to be a fun way to
review for a test. I also explained sportsmanship and how we are happy for
whoever wins and happy to have the opportunity to play a game, rather than work
on worksheets. This excited students because this was the first time they played a
game in math class. I elicited student responses by giving points for the first
correct answer, and in the end, candy for the winning team. Then I had the
students engaging with each other by working together to find the answer to the
question. My plan for individuals was really only for them to work on a study guide
at home for more practice before their assessment. I was unable to see if this was
effective because I did not get to see the study guide after they completed it or
the assessment. My plan for small group was having them complete the questions
in teams. I found this to be effective because I observed teamwork in figuring out
the answer, and defending of their answer. Lastly, my plan for whole group was to
further explain why the correct answer was correct. This would review the ideas

behind the unit and remind students of the academic language they will see on the
assessment. This was effective because many students did forget the meaning of
some key words in the unit and the review will help them on the assessment.
Instruction: Evaluate your choices of instructional strategies. Did they have the effect
you intended? Were the needs of all learners met? What changes would you make if
you repeated this lesson?
Because it was a review game, there was not much intense instruction. The only
instruction was when I would go over what the answer was and why. At the end of
the each question, I had the students repeat the key words of the specific words
related to the answer and the unit. For example, I said, Everyone say it with me,
A right angle is a 90 degree angle!. Again, I did not see how the students did on
their assessments and study guides to know if this strategy worked. According to
my CT, I will be able to see the assessments some time soon. If I was to do the
lesson again, I think I would have liked to have the students explain why they
chose the answer they did more often then I actually did instead of me just saying
the right answer and explaining. By letting the students explain why, it allows me
to see what they already know, and what they are still confused about.
Assessment: What assessment processes did you plan and how did they work? What
did you learn from listening to student responses, examining their work or listening to
their interactions? How well did your assessment procedures inform you about student
attainment of your lessons objectives?
I planned to simply observe to see if the students were consistently answering the
questions correctly to see if they knew the material that would be on their
assessment. By looking at their responses and hearing some responses in to why
they said that answer, I was felt confident they knew much of the content in Unit
1. If I was able to look at their study guide, I feel I would have had a more
concrete idea of who was truly prepared for the assessment and who may have
needed further review.
Professional responsibilities: What did you learn from your cooperating teachers
feedback on this lesson? How will you apply it to future lessons?
My CTs feedback said my activity was engaging and that I gave the directions
well. I will use this feedback to make sure that I continue to make explicit
directions for the students to follow in order to reduce confusion.
Reflection: What did you learn about student learning and assessing from this lesson?
How will it affect your planning for future teaching?
I learned that even though it is a review for the students, and students should
know the answers, a teacher still has teaching to do. A teacher still has material

that the students will need to be re-taught. A teacher still has to assess who is
prepared to take an assessment. A teacher still has to manage the classroom.