Whole Group Lesson Reflection
My mathematics experience at this elementary school was very
informative. I noticed that in addition to the students learning from me, I can
learn from them also. They have such new and creative ways to represent
numbers. When given the chance to speak aloud, they can share their ways with
their peers to help them gain better understanding of the concept, or have
their eyes opened to a total different way of working a specific problem. One
thing I realized is that I need to be prepared for all sorts of answers. For
instance, in my specific class I have students from each spectrum. Some are
high fliers, some are ADHD and there is even one student who is autistic. For
this reason, I had to adapt my lessons to suit all of their needs, and each of
those in between.
A great example of this happened during my fractions lesson. The
lesson was on decomposing fractions. The students understood the lesson well,
but when asked to decompose the fraction; my high fliers were decomposing the
fraction into equivalent fractions, which was perfectly acceptable. A few of my
other students did not grasp this so quickly, so it was a great opportunity for
a teachable moment. This instance did help me realize that I needed think ahead
when planning my lessons. I need to really consider things my high fliers may
think of so that I can promptly answer the questions when they come up, or
explain these new examples to my average or lower level learners. For my
evaluation, I had the students complete a worksheet about decomposing
fractions. They had to list the fraction being represented, then label it, and
decompose it. For those who finished early, I had them flip over their papers
and see who could come up with the most correct equivalent fractions. It turned
into a competition without me intending for that to happen. Even though it did,
it made the students even more excited to finish and keep on working math
problems.
Overall, it was an experience that I needed to have. It was very
confidence building, and it gave me a real life taste of how students will
react to my teaching style and how I need to identify and adapt to all
different learners in my classroom, and continue to use manipulatives. This
way, everyone can have a wonderful experience with learning new mathematical
concepts, and I can make sure they are learning and processing the information
correctly.
informative. I noticed that in addition to the students learning from me, I can
learn from them also. They have such new and creative ways to represent
numbers. When given the chance to speak aloud, they can share their ways with
their peers to help them gain better understanding of the concept, or have
their eyes opened to a total different way of working a specific problem. One
thing I realized is that I need to be prepared for all sorts of answers. For
instance, in my specific class I have students from each spectrum. Some are
high fliers, some are ADHD and there is even one student who is autistic. For
this reason, I had to adapt my lessons to suit all of their needs, and each of
those in between.
A great example of this happened during my fractions lesson. The
lesson was on decomposing fractions. The students understood the lesson well,
but when asked to decompose the fraction; my high fliers were decomposing the
fraction into equivalent fractions, which was perfectly acceptable. A few of my
other students did not grasp this so quickly, so it was a great opportunity for
a teachable moment. This instance did help me realize that I needed think ahead
when planning my lessons. I need to really consider things my high fliers may
think of so that I can promptly answer the questions when they come up, or
explain these new examples to my average or lower level learners. For my
evaluation, I had the students complete a worksheet about decomposing
fractions. They had to list the fraction being represented, then label it, and
decompose it. For those who finished early, I had them flip over their papers
and see who could come up with the most correct equivalent fractions. It turned
into a competition without me intending for that to happen. Even though it did,
it made the students even more excited to finish and keep on working math
problems.
Overall, it was an experience that I needed to have. It was very
confidence building, and it gave me a real life taste of how students will
react to my teaching style and how I need to identify and adapt to all
different learners in my classroom, and continue to use manipulatives. This
way, everyone can have a wonderful experience with learning new mathematical
concepts, and I can make sure they are learning and processing the information
correctly.