Reflective Teaching Journal

Riley Lathrop

Date of Lesson: June 5th, 2019 Unit: Unit 1 “My Body”

Lesson Taught: Unit 1, Lesson 2
Overview of the class (content and pedagogy)
● We entered the class to find double the students there were yesterday, all sitting at
their desks. Class begins at 9am, however when we arrived at 8:45am everyone was
at their desks, without anyone else in the room so we began class as soon as we
could.
● I began class with saying “good morning everyone,” which did not get a response
because I do not think they know this phrase, however the coordinator prompted
them to repeat what I said so I said “good morning” and they replied with repeating
“good morning.” I asked “how are you?” and they replied with “I’m fine” after
prompted by myself and the coordinator. I am still finding a way to have a clear
beginning to class. I think finding a clear way to begin class that is consistent will
help students know when class is beginning and help them feel confident in
knowing this beginning.
● Since there were many new students, we had the new students make name tags.
● We then tried to make a circle in the classroom but there was not enough room, so
we had to go outside to play the name game.
● We then went back inside, and finished drawing the body and labeling body parts. I
drew the body on the board and had students recall the body parts. We also stood
up and moved each body part, and I quizzed them where each body part is. Feet,
arms, legs, and elbows were a challenge.
● We went outside again, and had students one at a time pass around a deck of cards
with body parts on them. Students then showed the rest of the class the card in the
circle and the class read the body part, and moved that body part.
● We ended before break with moving in and out of a circle together, and moving
together to the right walking and to the left walking. I think this would be something
important to incorporate into the day each day for consistency and closure before
break.

Pre-Class Reflection
1. What will I offer to my students today?
Today, I will offer students my calm energy and patience. I will offer them a peaceful
energy, and my willingness to be open to change.
2. What am I most looking forward to for class today?
a. What am I most concerned about? (Do I need a strategy for this concern?)
I am most excited to have students read their vocabulary and move their body parts
individually, so I can assess individual students.
(from post reflection: this did not end up working, and all students would read and move
the body part)
I am also most excited to continue to learn students’ names and see how they respond to

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repeating the name game again.
3. What am I most curious about class today?
I am curious about how students will remember the body parts learned previously, and
how much review will be needed.

4. What is a positive affirmation I can give myself today to guide myself in teaching
with passion and success?
Student success comes from joy in the learning process, even when it does not go exactly as
planned.
5. Additional Thoughts

Post-Class Reflection

1. What went well? Why?

When we went outdoors for the name game, I thought it may be difficult for students
to focus however this was one of the most focused times in class. For half of the class, this
was a repeat of an activity, and many even chose new movements. There was laughter and
joy during this time. Another activity that went well was when students were in a circle,
and each got the chance to choose a body part, students were excited to flip through and
choose their own body part for the class to move.
a. What was my best teaching moment? Why?
One of my best teaching moments was when students were copying down letters “A”
and “B” during Thao’s lesson, and one boy wrote down letters A-F. He was told “no,” from
my other teacher as well as his peers and he was visibly upset. I went to him, and gave him
body language and facial expression that I was excited and impressed that he could write
those letters.
I think another one of my best teaching moments was when it was time for break, but
we were outside and did not have a clear transition planned, so I improvised a repeatable
movement with the group (into the circle, out to the circle, walk to the right, walk to the
left) and students here were focused and engaged. This also helped me create a clear
transition towards break. This brought unity into what was beginning to become chaos
before break was about to happen.
b. When were the students most engaged? Why?
Students were most engaged when they had their own turn to flip through the cards
and choose a body part. They were eager to make their own choice and guide the class is
which body part they wanted the rest of the class to move. I believe they enjoyed this
because they felt they were making a decision and they were a leader in that moment. They
were also most engaged when doing all activities in a circle which was the name game, and
some movement in unison in the circle. They were engaged because they were all doing

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something at once, and all doing the same thing, or at least same activity. When at desks,
students have different paces which may un motivate some students to focus, since they do
not have any sort of group energy surrounding them.

2. What were challenges that arose?

a. What did I do in the moment to adapt (or not) to the challenge?
b. What is a strategy that could help adapt to this challenge in the future?
At one point, the class was getting loud, so we decided the class should raise their
hands to speak and answer the question rather than having the group answer, which can be
effective much of the time. In the moment, I demonstrated raising my hand, I went over to
the student who was raising their hand and pointed at them, to signal that only this student
should be speaking. However, this was not effective and the group still spoke all at once to
answer a question. Noise in general was a challenge. During Thao’s class, she was working
on pointing to a word and students would read the word from sight memory, and they
were shouting the words however then they just began to shout in general in a way that I
could not clap or speak louder than at all. To adapt, I tried clapping patterns, raising my
hand, saying “listen,” lowering my hands down, however the noise still took a long time to
quiet. In the future, I need a call and response that is consistent. Students did improve on
learning the clapping pattern today, which can be used in the future as well.
A large challenge is that with a class of this size, everything is still unified. Having
individual students answer questions has not been easily done yet. However, with
movement, students have been respectful of one another in choosing a movement. When
students can choose a movement, this forces students to make individual choices because
no student can guess their movement. With answering, “what letter is this?” and answering
a closed question, all students can answer without individuality. To build individual voice
in the future, I also would like to have small groups lead the class or come to the front to
assess individuals but also make it more clear who is leading and speaking at that time.
There were a group of boys who created a challenge when outside, because they were
picking up sticks and waving them in the air. Rather than asking them to put them down
and taking it away from them, they need more redirecting towards physical movement in
the future. I am still figuring out how to respond to this and how to adapt to these students.
Another large challenge is that when doing written work, each student finishes at a
different time. For the students who are done, they wonder around class, ask for more
stickers, or go to their friends desks. In the future, I think having a secondary activity or a
way to make it more challenging for those who finish first would be useful. Some students
finish before some have even written the first word.
a. When were students least engaged? Why?
Students are least engaged when copying words from the board. Many students copy
with the intention, from what I observe, of receiving a sticker. When drawing, students are
more engaged in what they are doing, because with an drawing, there is more room for

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individual interpretation.

3. How did students respond to each piece of the lesson? (verbally and nonverbally)
New Nametags Drawings: excited, coloring, focused and on task
Name Game: laughter, movement, loud speaking (however not with own name)
Drawing Body Parts Review: many did not want to stand up to review movement of
body parts, despite the whole class standing up. They looked at the board instead,
rather than being engaged with the activity. (maybe 6 students were sitting and
resistant to stand up)
Passing cards: jumping, not waiting, it was a challenge when some students took a while
to choose the card for the students to embody. Students were excited and smiling when
they were passed the card pile to choose from.

4. What is the relationship between the content and pedagogy of the original lesson
plan and what actually occurred? Why?
Because there were double the students I was anticipating, less of the lesson plan
occurred. In the beginning of class, we had to have everyone new make a name tag, which
took out time from class I was not expecting. We got through the name game, a review of
body parts, and one activity. I also added some spontaneous movement patterns in a circle
for students. We did not have time for students to write their favorite part of the day,
however this is something I want to be sure to have time for tomorrow. I have realized this
may seem like a simple self-reflection but this would be a success for them if they could
think back and identify their favorite part of class. Throughout class, I could have them
work to identify why this was their favorite part.
a. How was modifying the original lesson plan content and/or pedagogy
effective (or ineffective) and why?
It was effective to shorten the amount of activities and not rush through any activities.
This was effective because students were able to explore depth of an activity, and also I
provided them with my patience. Often when I know a teacher is rushing, I feel anxious.
Students were able to review body parts in a way that was reasonable in the given time.

5. How did students progress towards their student learning outcome? What evidence
do I have?
I did have students choose a card of a vocabulary word to show the class, and then I
did not read the card aloud myself because I wanted to see if students had sight knowledge
of each word. A few students could read the word from sight, however most needed
prompting. Since a few students did read the card without me saying, I am working
towards having all students able to read and demonstrate the meaning of their vocab
words.
Students also recalled their vocabulary based in vocalization of the vocabulary words.

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I would say, “can you move your head?” or “where is your head?” and students could point
or move this body part with confidence in their bodies.

6. Were there any moments that were a big surprise? (teaching methods or student
response)
I was surprised that compared to yesterday, many students could not even
successfully copy words from the board. There were multiple times when I was looking
over the body diagrams students were drawing where they would leave letters out, even
when the word was on the board for them to copy. Some students would write “o” instead
of “a” and some would omit letters completely.
I was also surprised in the difference in energy that the number of students makes.
Since we had double the students, it was difficult to give one on one attention but it was
also difficult to control the class at times. I was surprised how students were not very
responsive to any of the attention seekers I was using, which was interesting and I am
looking for more for the future.

7. How did I provide feedback to students?

I provided feedback of written work through giving a sticker to students once
everything was correct, and smiles when they wanted to show me their work. I additionally
gave them gestures such as a thumbs up. I also provided individual corrections on papers
before giving them a sticker. Some students, when I asked them to self-correct they could
recognize a mistake and fix it, however for some they needed me to fix it on their paper for
them.
a. How did I differentiate for students? (special need, level/ability, etc.)
Today, I felt I did not differentiate for students strongly. I did sit with individual
students when they were writing, however when the class became larger than anticipated, I
focused my energy more on the group as a whole and trying to redirect the energy of the
entire group.
b. How effective or ineffective was the feedback?
Asking students to review or double check certain words that were written
incorrectly was effective because many students could review their own work and self-
regulate corrections to edit themselves. Positive affirmations to students has also been
effective because students have been smiling back.

8. How did I create or reinforce a safe learning environment for students?

Having a circle as a class shape that is repeated and a motif throughout class created
unity and safety. Students could see one another, and I was also part of the circle rather
than in the front. I also gave students choices such as choosing movements in the name
game, and choosing a body part for the class to move. I want to work towards building trust
with students as a focus to class. For example, when I am walking around the class, many

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students still cover their paper in embarrassment possibly, or nervousness of being wrong.

9. What was my own inner attitude and energy towards coming into class today?
(nervous, excited, tired, stressed, etc) And, How did/could it affect students and
teaching ?
From myself, I was calm and excited for class. When I saw the number of students, I
switched to being nervous. I felt myself in the moment, however I I felt myself move into
fight or flight, and my mind was not as present with students today. Because of this, I felt it
was harder to improvise in the moment.

10. How did I apply what I learned in my previous class to today?

a. How did it impact my teaching?
b. How did it impact student learning/engagement?
Today, I used simpler sentences when speaking with students. Rather than explaining
things with breadth, I repeated the same sentence and demonstrated. When making a
circle, I said “let’s make a circle” with an emphasis on the word circle. I also applied less
writing during my portion of class, because I noticed students were not focused during long
periods of writing/copying.

11. How will I use the information I learned in class today to guide tomorrow’s class?
Tomorrow, with the class size, we will use the outdoor space for certain activities such
as red light green light locomotor and stillness introduction. I will base class in physical
activity with the exception of sitting while writing their favorite part of the day. I will also
have students possibly work in smaller groups to see how they work collaboratively, since I
have yet to do this.

12. Additional Thoughts