Reflection #6 3/3/17

1. What went well?

This week went really well. I reviewed with my students the shapes that Sophi

and I taught a few weeks earlier. Mrs. Kunde wanted to it be quick but wanted me

to make sure I really focused on teaching the students on the names of the shapes

and being able to point to a shape after I say the name of the shape. Starting out I

went through the shapes that Sophi taught and drew them on the board. I was

impressed with some students and their memory of what the shapes look like, the

names of them, and the number of sides. Then I went through the shapes I taught

with them and I was impressed with that too! At the centers, we played bingo. On

the bingo sheet there were the different shapes and then pictures of objects of the

different shapes. Every time I called the name of the shape I asked them to

describe the shape to me. When I called a name of an object/picture I asked them

to tell me which shape the picture was. They did really well and smarties were

great incentives as the bingo markers.

2. What did I learn about planning?

I made some changes to my lesson plan. There are things I touched base on that I

didnt before. I thought of ways during the lesson to help students understand

when they werent understanding as well as I thought I would. Its important to

plan but I learned its also important to change your lesson plan based on how the

lesson is going and how children are responding and how the children understand.

The ability to adapt to changes that happen in your situation is important.

3. What did I learn about teaching?

I learned to be a good teacher you have to act excited and not waste any time

when you are up there teaching. Like we read last week, every minute matters.

4. What did my students learn? How do I know?

My students learned more about the name that relates to the corresponding shape

more than just the shape because they knew what shape to put the smartie on

when I said the name of a shape. Hexagon and octagon were shapes they

struggled with because they looked so alike. First I emphasized that hexagons

have 6 sides and octagons have 8 sides. I told them how octo means 8. An

octopus has 8 legs and an octagon has 8 sides. I was surprised how well they

remembered that, just because it was something that is pretty difficult to

understand.

5. How did I teach by the Spirit and/or model the Savior as a Master Teacher?

A few weeks ago when I taught about measurement, Jasmine had an idea to draw

a line from the end of the object being measured to the number of inches it is. I

really made a big deal out of it to make Jasmine feel better and to show the other

students that they have the same ability to make connections like she did. I

referenced Jasmines brilliant observation multiple times during class. The

students this week were doing a math sheet and Landon goes, Here I go, I am

about to use Jasmines trick! and Jasmines face lit up! I loved it.

6. What improvements will I make next week to be more effective with this specific

group or class of students?

 I would like to have better management at the centers and get less frustrated when

students do not understand.

Reflection #8 3/17/17

1. What went well?

I did not teach a lesson this week. It was my last week and Mrs. Kunde wanted

me to just enjoy my last day and focus on my post-test for my unit plan. However,

it was a crazy day and we barely had any time for the post-test! But we still got it

done. The students have been working on the computers 3 times a week on a

program called Lexia. Mrs. Kunde realized by looking at their results that many

of the students were far behind, not using it correctly, and simply just not trying

or putting effort into it. So she planned to have them go to the computer lab that

day where they could all work on it at the same time and we could walk around

and help. There was also one 6th grader with every child to make sure they were

on the right path. This made it so we didnt have as much time at centers that day

because we had that and PE and snack and library too! It was such a crazy day

that I had forgotten it was my last day! I remembered with the afternoon class and

they all said bye to me and sang some of my favorite sight word songs to me. The

post test went really well for both morning and afternoon. It was fun to see how

my teaching paid off in the end and really affected them and their learning.

2. What did I learn about planning?

N/A

3. What did I learn about teaching?

N/A
4. What did my students learn? How do I know?

I felt really good about my post-assessment. I felt like the children really did learn

a lot when I taught them and most of my students used the song I taught when I

taught them reading and it helped them remember and choose the correct answer.

5. How did I teach by the Spirit and/or model the Savior as a Master Teacher?

I feel like I was able to differentiate based on what I had learned about each child

this semester. When I was giving the posttest, I worded things differently when I

was reading certain students the directions because I knew the way they

understood things and which level they were at. With some of the higher-level

students, I didnt even have to read any directions to them. They knew exactly

what to do; some knew because they recognized it from the pretest and some just

remembered my lessons about money so it was easy for them.

6. What improvements will I make next week to be more effective with this specific

group or class of students?

I wont be back for next week L but if I was the teacher I would have had one

less center so that it wasnt so crazy going to the computer lab and the library. I

have loved my time with this kindergarten class and feel like I have learned SO

much. I would love to be a kindergarten teacher some day J