Planning Sessions for Students

Samantha Meyer
ISTC 301
Keystone Project Personal Reflection

1.
When I was planning this lesson, I incorporated several UDL solutions to vary the instruction and appeal to the needs of diverse learners. The three main UDL solutions I focused on were multiple means of representation, multiple means of expression, and multiple means of engagement. The UDL solution multiple means of representation in my lesson plan allowed students to hear the measurements read aloud, as well as see them on their computer screen, thus providing input for both audio and visual learners. The UDL solution multiple means of expression in my lesson plan allowed students to get the chance to express their answers in both a written and a verbal way. The UDL solution multiple means of engagement in my lesson plan allowed students to play three different games/activities throughout the lesson; since some students will prefer one game/activity over another, providing a variety of games will allow students the chance to experience different things. The other UDL solution I incorporated while planning my lesson were providing assistance to the students throughout the lesson, motivating students, physical copies if preferred over using technology, providing opportunities for students to ask questions, respond, and demonstrate their knowledge and skills, provide students with the objective, guideline, and directions, connecting students to real life situations, and offering rewards.
When writing my lesson, I considered TPACK by making sure I was knowledgeable on the topic and confident on teaching the topic. I made sure the topic had a purpose for my students and used various methods to teach my students.

2. I believe my lesson was very effective with the “students”. The lesson went well and had a successful outcome. I was extremely prepared for the lesson with a detailed lesson plan, materials, and discussion questions all planned in advance. This was very beneficial when teaching the lesson and resulted in a smooth and effective lesson. The beginning of the lesson did a great job introducing the lesson because I asked the students effective questions to get them thinking about the topic. One way I believe I could have enhanced the introduction of the lesson even more is by getting more students involved in the discussion. After asking each question, I could have asked students to turn and talk to a neighbor and leaned down to talk to individual students, which would encourage every student to participate instead of just a few. After introducing the topic, the students participated in interactive game on the Smart Board involving measurement. This went well because the game not only got students participating but excited, motivated, and grabbed their attention. If I were to teach this lesson again, I would make sure to ask more questions while the students were playing the game in order to check that the students were not only doing the activity but also understanding it. In order to have enough time for the entire lesson, only a few students were able to play the game, which could be a negative but I believe the game was successful even with not every student participating.
The main part of the lesson consisted of ruler bingo and a measurement graphing activity. The two activities were more fun and interactive, which resulted in the students participating more and motivated to learn. I also really liked the two activities working simultaneously with each other because the ruler bingo taught how to read a ruler and the measurement graphing taught how to use a ruler. The students needed to learn how to do both of these skills and I believe the lesson was very successful in doing this. The ruler bingo was successful because even though it was a game, the students still learned from it and were required to think on their own and work hard. The students learned how to read a ruler, how to use a ruler, and understand inches to the exact inch, ¼ inch, ½ inch, and 1/8 inch.
The measurement graphing activity was also successful because the students learned how to use a ruler and related it to graphing. The graphing activity also allowed every student to participate and contribute to the class graph. Overall, the lesson I taught was effective because the students learned something new, understood new ideas, participated throughout the lesson, and seemed to be interested in the lesson and understood the topic. The students reacted very well to the learning activities in my lesson. I provided students with four different activities in one lesson, which I believe kept the students motivated, focused, and interesting. Too many activities in one lesson can lead to confusion, but I believe four different activities worked well in this lesson and benefited the student’s learning.
According to pedagogical and content knowledge, I believe I definitely transformed the topic in interesting ways to motivate the students and help them learn in the most successful and interesting way. I represented the topic in four different ways and used student’s prior knowledge to connect the new topic of measurement to previous topics. I taught my students, they learned the topic, and assessed my students successfully.

3.
I believe the teaching strategies that were most effective for my “students” was inquiry-based learning and cooperative learning. I did not focus my lesson around direct instruction. I believe this is a benefit because direct instruction can be boring, repetitive, and formal. I did not want to be the focus or power of the lesson, but instead I wanted the students equally involved. I decided to focus on an inquiry-based and cooperative learning teaching style in order to emphasize a teacher-student relationship throughout the lesson. I wanted the students to be independent, hands-on, and explore. I believe this style of teaching was most beneficial for my students because the students were able to play the fish and bingo game independently, all four activities were hands-on, and the students explored through learning during the entire lesson. I also believe my teaching strategies were effective because the students participated, interacted with each activity, seemed motivated throughout the whole lesson, and understood the topic based off of observation, discussion, and answering questions.
If I were to teach this lesson again, I would add a little direct instruction. The reason I would add this teaching style into the lesson is because I believe it is important for students to take a few notes and learn the information directly in order to fully understand the topic. If I were to teach this lesson again, I would add a short PowerPoint or flipchart to the beginning of the lesson and provide a worksheet for students to take notes. The PowerPoint would include basic facts about measurement, inches, and rulers. The worksheet would be fill-in the blank in order for students to follow along and take notes easily and quickly. I reached this decision because it is important for students to be fully introduced to the topic before starting a lesson and I believe this change but positively affect the lesson. This change would help students understand the topic more clearly, which would also help them succeed better on the activities throughout the lesson.
According to pedagogical content knowledge, my teaching strategies were successful because I used several different methods and representations throughout my lesson. I made sure to allow students to work hands-on, independently, and interactively.

4.
Reflecting on the planning process of my lesson, I have learned a few things to help write the most successful technology integrated lesson. The first thing I learned that is important about integrating technology with a lesson is using PowerPoint or the Promethean board to teach is not enough to consider it a technology integrated lesson. I discovered ways to use technology in my lesson with the students interacting. I believe it is important to find ways for the student to use or participate with the technology instead of just lecturing off a PowerPoint slide. This will make the lesson successfully technology integrated and will also motivate and interest the students on a higher level. I also discovered that technology could be integrated with any subject in endless ways. When writing a technology-integrated lesson, I believe it is important to research because there are so many amazing resources that give teacher’s ideas of how to integrate technology in the classroom. I also learned that as the teacher, it is crucial to understand the technology before expecting students to use it. If the teacher is not knowledgeable on the technology then the lesson will not be successful because the students will be very confused. While writing a technology integrated lesson, I also learned it is very important to always teach or review how to use the technology with the students. The teacher should not assume the students know how to use the technology because the student can be very confused, forget, or fall behind. Lastly, when writing a technology-integrated lesson it is very important to use the technology in an effective and educational way. The technology should not just be used for fun, but in a way that the students are learning. According to technological pedagogical content knowledge, my lesson effectively used technology that was constructive and effective. The integrated technology in my lesson was educational and built on new and existing topics.

5. While working on this lesson plan with my partner I encountered several problems. I have always been a student that finished work on time, with above average effort, and is always prepared. Working with my partner for this project was the first time I had an issue in my educational career. My partner and I met at the library six days before it was due. I came up with the lesson idea and wrote majority of the lesson plan. We ran out of time at the library so we split up the last five sections of the lesson plan, assigning two small parts to my partner. I knew six days was more than enough to get it done so I was not worried. I tried contacting my partner several times and received no answer. The lesson plan was due 24 hours before and I never heard from my partner. I did not feel prepared to present without the lesson plan completed or talking to my partner. I had student teaching all day on Monday and received and emergency phone call while I was teaching. I had to immediately leave student teaching due to a family emergency, which is why I was unable to attend class that afternoon.
The following week I tried contacting my partner again several times with no answer. Wednesday night, several days after we were suppose to present, I received a text from my partner asking, “what part he needed to do”. This was extremely aggravating because the lesson was due several days ago and he was only responsible for completing such a small part of the lesson plan. I came up with the entire idea, wrote the entire lesson plan, and completed all of the preparation/materials for the lesson. The only sections my partner was responsible for was differentiation and extension of learning. It was 24 hours before again and I still did not hear from him. Finally, Sunday night I received my partner’s work. Unfortunately, I believe my partner did not put any effort in preparing for the lesson and brought very little strengths to the project.
Writing a reflection about my partner like this is very unlike me and hard for me but unfortunately it is the truth. He made it very difficult and stressful. In the end, I believe the lesson was successful and we worked together to teach it to the class. If I had to work with my partner again, I would make sure to have a discussion with him in order to prevent these problems from happening again. I would also try to complete the project more than 2 weeks in advance this time so there would be no problems with submitting it late.