Jamie Ropars ELD 375 4-26-13 Lesson Reflection #2 For this lesson I decided to do an entire group activity to teach

the lesson. My last lesson unexpectedly changed from being a big group to an individual lesson, so this time I really wanted to keep the group all together. I wanted to try handling the entire class on my own so, Mr. Pinner and I decided that he would only step in if things got out of hand. The lesson I taught was the third lesson of the day and the approximate time was from 10:40-11:25. The part of the day was mid-morning. My objective for the lesson was to get the students to understand how to build to 1,000 by first using the tool of digi-blocks. By the end of the lesson each student did in fact meet the goal that I was trying to teach. For example, I would ask trick questions like, If we have 7 hundreds how many more hundreds blocks would we need to get to 1,000? At first they had some trouble but the students caught onto the concept very quickly. However, I did have some trouble with one boy student, Charles, because he just did not want to learn that day. His mind was in every direction except where it was supposed to be. This was the first day the students were learning to build to 1,000 but not the first time they were using the digi-blocks. I was required to toss aside my original lesson plan and create a new one on the spot. After the adjustment Charles began to actually learn what I was teaching. It was only a struggle for the first 2-3 minutes. I also completed the lesson ahead of schedule without rushing, and was even able to have a little review to make sure the concept was understood before closing out my lesson.

As previously stated, the students caught onto the concept of building to 1,000 quickly. The worksheet I used was very successful in reinforcing the concept in my lesson plan concerning being able to build to 1,000. The question that tested their knowledge was showing 3 hundreds blocks and making them draw and write how many more hundred blocks were needed in order to be at the number 1,000, which is 7 more hundred blocks. There were really no areas that were not successful, the students were able to break down the digi-blocks from hundreds, tens, and ones, then build it all back up to 1,000. They were able to see that 10 ones build up to ten, 10 tens build up to one hundred, and that 10 hundreds build up to 1,000. This was not my original plan for the lesson but as I was analyzing the situation I needed to turn things around to accommodate Charles as well as still teach my objective to the class. I wanted to begin small and build to 1,000 but Charles ripped apart the digi-blocks so quickly that I decided we could turn the lesson into a team building activity that way we all could cooperate as a class. Once I got everyone participating, Charles calmed down and I was able to teach the objective. The lesson started off a little rough because of the actions of one student but after a quick evaluation of my lesson, I turned it around and the students were very engaged even having fun using math tools. First, I could see the engagement when we were sitting in a circle on the rug and we were physically putting the digi-blocks back together. Instead of me just putting the blocks back together I used it as a test to see if the students could build to a 1,000 starting with ones and ending with hundreds. They were so excited and every hand was up because they wanted a chance to build the blocks. Another instance where I saw engagement was with the worksheet they completed after I taught the objective. They were so focused and every one of the students completed it correctly, even Charles. If this were my classroom, the lesson that would come next is to attempt to go past 1,000 and have the students see higher numbers such as

5,000 because we could show that 5 sets of one thousandths would build up to 5,000. This concept expands my original teaching objective utilizing a higher order of thinking because it is using higher numbers. If I were to teach this lesson again, I would actually plan it the way I adjusted it during my lesson. My adjusted plan got the students more engaged and they seemed to really enjoy the lesson. It could have been a hard concept for them to learn but the digi-blocks were a very helpful tool to use. This lesson taught me that as a teacher you must be flexible and that every lesson has the possibility of not going as you planned. As a result you need to be able to think on your feet and adjust your plans on the fly. I liked this lesson as it taught the students and taught me how to handle stressful situations on my own.