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Elementary Content and Methods School: Woodridge Elementary Cooperating Teacher: Ms. Ty-Ann Gray Lesson Reflections |
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The following artifact not only demonstrates my ability to reflect and critique my performance after the lesson, but it also shows my ability to reflect in action. This artifact contains 4 reflections that follow instruction and provide evidence to indicate change. There is also a video that demonstrates “reflection in action” during a Team Handball lesson. I had noticed the students were struggling with passing and moving in a 2v2 situation. After providing the students with cues and assessing the situation, I moved the students to a 3v1 situation, which was developmentally appropriate for their skill levels.
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Thursday October 2, 2008
Lesson Focus: Throwing and Catching with Scoops
Teaching Objective: I will demonstrate effective management (start/stop signals, entry/exit, equipment, and group organization) to keep my transition and management time below 15% using BALT-PE.
Describe your teaching performance relative to the selected teaching behavior or incident (what happened?).
After reviewing my teaching video, utilizing BALT-PE, and looking over the feedback I received from the supervising teacher and my peers, I found that my teaching had improved over the course of three lessons, but there are a lot of aspects I need to improve upon. By the third re-teaching lesson, I had done a better job of providing the students with more specific feedback and using their names to encourage appropriate behavior and participation. I scanned the entire area during activity and was able to pick out a student to demonstrate for the class in order to reinforce the quality I expected. In the first lesson, I tended to stand in one specific spot, and I looked as if I was very tense and tight. However, by the third lesson, I had loosened up and was able to move around the students a lot more. There were also a few instances where a student was able to distract me from the rest of the group. In my first lesson, it took the students some time to set up the third task of catching with their partners because I had not clearly stated the instructions of how to find a partner and begin the activity. By the second and third lesson, however, I had the children line up along the foul lines and then point to the student across from them to find their partner. Then, I demonstrated with a higher-skilled student the task I wanted completed and pointed out the cues to focus on.
Justify your performance (explain why your performance was such.) Use data from the observational tools and video.
After each of my lessons, my immediate thought was that it did not go well and that the students were off-task. However, after reviewing my videos, I saw that the majority of the students listened well and remained on task. There was about one student in each lesson that tended to stray off-task, and because I allowed that student to distract me at times, I lost some time to scan and assess the other students. According to my BALT-PE of my second lesson, I had 49% activity time, 23% management time, 22% knowledge time, 3% transition time, and 3% off task time.
Critique your performance (provide some critical evaluative comments related to your performance).
During this lesson, a few students tended to stray off task easily because of my lack of clear instructions. I instructed the students to try and make three consecutive catches, but I forgot to inform them of what to do after they reached three. In this case, I needed to have a better extension because the students were able to reach this goal easily. Therefore, once the students made three catches, they were confused as of what to do next. I used “GO” and “FREEZE” as my start and stop signals, and they worked well. I also did a good job of making sure the children were positioned so that they could see me without being distracted by the other teacher and their group of students. My management could be better if I continue to move about the students more and decrease my vulnerability to be distracted by one or two students. Also, I need to keep better track of time because my second task in my second lesson lasted longer than I had planned, and some students may have become bored and caused them to go off-task.
Set realistic, yet challenging goals (related to the teaching behavior) and identify a strategy to help you reach the goal on your next teaching day.
A goal I would like to set for future teaching would be to move around all of the students better. I can reach this goal for my next teaching day by relaxing myself and by moving in a circle around the students. This way, I am able to address all of the students while also keeping my “back to the wall”. Another goal I would like to set is to decrease my ability to allow one or two students to stray my attention from the rest of the group. I will reach this goal by positioning myself in such a way that I am able to address the particular students having trouble, while also being able to scan and assess the rest of the students.
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Thursday October 9, 2008
Lesson Focus: Throwing and Catching Stations
Teacher Objective: I will demonstrate effective management (start/stop signals, entry/exit, equipment distribution, and group disbursement) to keep my transition and management time below 15 percent using BALT-PE.
Describe your teaching performance relative to the selected teaching behavior or incident (what happened?). My management plan was to begin with passing out name tags to each student. Once they received their name tag, they were to sit quietly “criss-cross applesauce” until I gave them further instructions. Each name tag had a colored star sticker (red, gold, green, or blue) to indicate which group the student would participate in during the stations. Each station had a different theme (spring, summer, fall, and winter) that helped the students rotate in a clock-wise fashion by following the next proceeding season. During the instruction of each station, the students sat criss-cross on a black line that put everyone in a position to see the demonstration. I also used “Go” and “Freeze” as my start and stop signals. Some management strategies have already been established by the supervising teacher in regards to discipline and bathroom breaks. As far as discipline goes, the student is first given a warning, then “your time-out”, “my time-out”, and a call home. In regards to equipment distribution, each station had a hula hoop with the equipment inside, and before each transition, the students were instructed to place their equipment back into the hula hoop gently before proceeding to the following station. A sign was placed inside each hula hoop to indicate the corresponding station and to reinforce the instructions.
Justify your performance (explain why your performance was such.) Use data from the observational tools and video.
I assessed my performance by observing my video and utilizing BALT-PE. I had the opportunity to observe and collect data for each student in my group. According to the results, my management was 140 seconds out of 1800 and was at 7.7%. Transition was 90 seconds and 5%. Waiting was 20 seconds and 1.1%. Knowledge was 480 seconds and 26.6%. Activity was 1,010 seconds and 56.1 percent. Lastly, off-task was 20 seconds and 1.1%. As far as my demonstrations were concerned, I had first instructed what to do for the task, and then allowed “a good-listener” to demonstrate. As the student demonstrated, I would point out the cues for the movement form. Then, I would review the cues and instructions with my check for understanding questions. My demonstrations were coherent with the task, and I positioned the students so that the demonstrations were visible to all. The task instructions and demonstration coincided with each other, and each demonstration was repeated twice. As far as the length of the demonstrations, each was an average length as 15-35% is the target range, and my knowledge time was 26.6% according to BALT-PE.
Critique your performance (provide some critical evaluative comments related to your performance).
My management time was 7.7% mostly due to the fact that I had to hand out name tags at the beginning of class. Most of the transition time came in the beginning of class as well because my instructions of where to sit was not clear. I had told the students to sit on the black line. Each of the students sat on a black line, but they all were not sitting on the exact black line that I had intended them to, nor were all of the students facing me. Therefore, I had to take extra time to specify which black line and which direction to face. One student had gotten sidetracked by the camera and stared directly into it until about 15 seconds into my instruction. This was my first lesson of the day, so I was able to tweak my transition statements for the second and third lesson in order to get the outcome I had planned for. My instructions must not have been clear for the third station as well because there were times in the video that I noticed students throwing overhand at the buckets instead of underhand. At the time, I know I had gone up to those individual students and instructed them to throw underhanded, but it was a reoccurring event as I could see from the video, so I should have taken notice and redirected the entire group.
Set realistic, yet challenging goals (related to the teaching behavior) and identify a strategy to help you reach the goal on your next teaching day. On my next teaching day, I would like to increase my activity time to 60%. I will be able to do this by providing the students with clear instructions and clear transition statements. By taking care of the managerial aspects and providing good demonstrations, the students will engage in activity rather than off-task behavior. This will give me the opportunity to scan and assess the students for success to indicate they are learning.
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Thursday October 16, 2008
Lesson Focus: Jumping Rope
Teacher Objective: I will demonstrate effective management (start/stop signals, entry/exit, equipment distribution, and group disbursement) to keep my transition and management time below 15 percent using BALT-PE.
Describe your teaching performance relative to the selected teaching behavior or incident (what happened?).
My management plan was to begin with passing out name tags to each student. Once they received their name tag, they were to sit quietly “criss-cross applesauce” on the black foul line until I gave them further instructions. During the first lesson, I had the jump ropes set up along the outside boundaries (the black out-of- bounds lines), and I had placed poly spots along the 3-point line. During the second and third lessons, I still had placed the jump ropes outside the boundaries, but I did not set up the poly spots. During warm-up and activity, the students were in their own self space. During instructions and demonstrations, the children sat criss-cross along the foul line so that everyone would be able to see. I used “Go” and “Freeze” as my start and stop signals. At the beginning of each lesson, I instructed the students that when I said “Freeze”, they were to place their jump ropes down on the ground in front of them, stand like a statue, and have their eyes on me. Some management strategies have already been established by Ms. Gray in regards to discipline. As far as discipline goes, the student is first given a warning, then “your time-out”, “my time-out”, and then a call home. In regards to equipment distribution, I had the jump ropes placed outside of the boundary. After giving instructions, the students found a jump rope that was a suitable size (pink- smaller, green- larger) and then began jumping in self space right away so that I could pre-assess their jump roping skills.
Justify your performance (explain why your performance was such.) Use data from the observational tools and video.
During my second lesson, one of the members of my group had assessed my performance by utilizing BALT-PE. According to the results, my management was 30 seconds and 1.1 percent. My instruction time was 383 seconds and 14.6 percent. Transition time was 211 seconds and 8.06 percent. Activity time was 1964 seconds and 75.1 percent. Lastly, off-task time was zero percent. My management time was 1.1 percent mostly due to the fact that I had to give the students name tags at the beginning of class. The transition time was 8.06 percent because the expectations of my start/stop signals were clear to the students, and my transition statements were clear and effective. The transition time during my lesson could have been low due to the fact that I did not always have to stop and redirect the entire group to a new activity. Instead, I would walk around the group and give differentiated individual instructions in order to challenge or simplify the task according to their skill level. My combined management and transition time was 9.16 percent, and according to BALT-PE, that is the target time range.
Critique your performance (provide some critical evaluative comments related to your performance).
During my first lesson, there was a lot of time taken out of the lesson for transition because the children were having a hard time deciding which jump rope they wanted (pink or green). Then, once they got their jump rope, there was a lot of standing and waiting because I tried to adjust their jump ropes to fit their size. The second and third lessons went better because I had only set out the pink (smaller) ropes and did not adjust the ropes for the students. I allowed the students to just start jumping, and if I saw them struggling, I would adjust their rope accordingly. This saved a lot of transition time, and I will use this in my jump rope lesson next week. Also, I will not be using name tags for the next lesson because I have learned the children’s names. This will allow the children to get started in activity right away.
Set realistic, yet challenging goals (related to the teaching behavior) and identify a strategy to help you reach the goal on your next teaching day.
The goal I set last week for this lesson was to reach 60 percent activity time. I had actually reached 75 percent, but for jump roping, it seemed to be way too much for the students. By the end of the lesson, the children were exhausted. My goal for the next jump roping lesson is to reach 60 percent activity time, and I will achieve this by using more check for understanding time and take more time out of the activity to allow a student to demonstrate. This will help refocus the students and help them catch their breath. Another goal I want to reach for next week is to make sure I am walking to and giving feedback to each individual student.
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Thursday October 23, 2008
Lesson Focus: Jumping Rope
Teacher Objective: I will demonstrate effective management (start/stop signals, entry/exit, equipment distribution, and group disbursement) to keep my transition and management time below 15 percent using BALT-PE.
Describe your teaching performance relative to the selected teaching behavior or incident (what happened?).
My management plan was to begin with passing out name tags to each student. Once they received their name tag, they were to sit quietly “criss-cross applesauce” on the black line of the center circle until I gave them further instructions. I had the pink jump ropes set up outside of the black out-of-bounds lines. I had only set up the pink jump ropes to help reduce the chance of students fighting over jump rope colors. I had the green (longer) ropes set upon the stage in the event a student needed a longer rope. During activity, the students were in their own self space. During instructions and demonstrations, the children sat criss-cross in their own self space and two scoots away from their jump rope. I used “Go” and “Freeze” as my start and stop signals. At the beginning of each lesson, I instructed the students that when I said “Freeze”, they were to place their jump ropes down on the ground in front of them and take two scoots away. Some management strategies have already been established by Ms. Gray in regards to discipline. As far as discipline goes, the student is first given a warning, then “your time-out”, “my time-out”, and then a call home. In regards to equipment distribution, I had the jump ropes placed outside of the boundary. After giving instructions, the students found a jump rope that was a suitable size (pink- smaller, green- larger) and then began jumping in self space right away so that I could pre-assess their jump roping skills.
Justify your performance (explain why your performance was such.) Use data from the observational tools and video.
During my second lesson, one of the members of my group had assessed my performance by utilizing BALT-PE. According to the results, my management was 103 seconds and 6.2 percent. My instruction time was 535 seconds and 32.2 percent. Transition time was 48 seconds and 2.8 percent. Activity time was 974 seconds and 58.6 percent. Lastly, off-task time was zero percent. My management time was 6.2 percent mostly due to the fact that I had to give the students name tags at the beginning of class. The transition time was 2.8 percent because the expectations of my start/stop signals were clear to the students, and my transition statements were clear and effective. There were several instances in my video where I would pin point the students who were getting started in activity right away, and that would cause all the students to transition into activity quickly. The transition time during my lesson could also have been low due to the fact that I did not always have to stop and redirect the entire group to a new activity. Instead, I would walk around the group and give differentiated individual instructions in order to challenge or simplify the task according to their skill level. My combined management and transition time was 9 percent, and according to BALT-PE, that is the target time range.
Critique your performance (provide some critical evaluative comments related to your performance).
Last week, there was a lot of wasted transition time because the students could not decide if they wanted a pink or green jump rope. Then, once they chose a jump rope, they stood and waited because I was walking around and adjusting their jump ropes. This week’s lessons went better because they had already learned which rope was best for their size. I also got the students started in activity right away for a pre-assessment, and that allowed me to determine if any issues were due to a critical element not being applied or using a jump rope that was the wrong size. I passed out name tags to the students in the first lesson, and it caused a lot of management time. There was less management time in my second lesson because I did not provide the students with name tags. I had the students sit in the center circle for a review at the beginning of class, and then they got started in their two-footed jumps right away.
Set realistic, yet challenging goals (related to the teaching behavior) and identify a strategy to help you reach the goal on your next teaching day.
My goal for future teaching experiences is to not allow myself to be “pulled- in” by one or two students. I want to be more consistent in this area. I have gotten better at telling students to stay in their own self space and raise their hand so that I can get to them. However, there are still times when a student will keep coming up to me, and I end up being drawn-in. Ms. Gray told me that I need to get more stern in this aspect, and I think if I do that, I will able to move about all of the students and give each individual feedback at a more consistent level.
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Elementary Content and Methods School: Henry Defer Intermediate Cooperating Teacher: Mr. Skeels Evidence of Reflection in Action
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