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Critical Reflection:
The following critical reflection will analyse and evaluate my proposed lesson plan. My
peers have provided me with many strengths and weaknesses to reflect upon. The lesson plan
presented was a science lesson based on forces, in particular; gravity. It was planned for Year
Four, incorporated the use of information and communication technologies and had a context
of very diverse learners in the classroom.
The main strength with my lesson was the game at the beginning used as motivation.
All peers mutually agreed that this is a fun and entertaining start to the lesson as it provides
students with the ability to experiment with gravity themselves (Wolfolk & Margetts, 2010). It
creates interest within the students which promotes curiosity for the rest of the lesson (Marsh,
2010).
Another strength that was highly mentioned of was the use of ICT. This was the
teaching approach/focus used for this lesson and was used to develop further understanding
of the knowledge gained in the balloon game with the use of a video (Hyde, Carpenter, &
Conway, 2011). The other ICT aspect which is called a Think Link is a great way for students to
brainstorm their ideas in relation to a particular topic or answering a question. This also
contributed to the formative assessment during the lesson which was a positive way to
informally assess students as said by my peers. This assessment also leads nicely onto the
summative piece at the end of the unit which also incorporates ICT.
The weaknesses that stood out in the lesson was time management and activities
completed during the procedure. It was evident as I was presenting the lesson that there were
a lot of activities and aspects to the lesson. I began to think that there was not enough time for
all of these learning experiences to happen in the allocated time of 60 minutes. My peers
reiterated this during the feedback time and I came to realise that time management would be
a problem with this lesson as there was too much to complete in not enough time. When
completing future lesson plans, I will consider time management, amount of work and what
stage in the unit we are at before setting time constraints (Wolfolk & Margetts, 2010).
Through the peer feedback, I learnt that I did not have enough strategies for
differentiation in the classroom considering the main context of the lesson. This main context
was one student with a learning difficulty, one student with a behavioural difficulty and
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another whom is gifted and talented. I needed to cater to these individual differences within
my classroom (Marsh, 2010).There were some considerations made however; there were not
enough. There are so many circumstances to consider with this context and I do not believe
that I came up with enough alternatives.
It was suggested that there was a sufficient activity provided for a gifted and talented
student but this is more appropriate for an individual and does not suit a group setting.
Extension activities are essential for students who are gifted or talented as a way to extend and
challenge themselves to prevent them from becoming frustrated and bored very easily (Marsh,
2010).
There was also differentiation for learning difficulties through the strategic placement
of students in their groups (Wolfolk & Margetts, 2010). Another point of differentiation for this
difficulty could be by having parent helpers or a teacher aide for the lesson to assist the
teacher and any students that may be struggling (Hyde, Carpenter, & Conway, 2011).
There was no major point made for differentiation in the classroom for the student
with behaviour difficulties. This could be done through factors mentioned already such as the
inclusion of ICT, strategic placement in groups and support of a teacher aide (Marsh, 2010). An
extension to this could be a step by step behaviour management plan that is in place for the
individual or for the whole class (Wolfolk & Margetts, 2010). In the classroom there could also
be an area where the child can go to settle down if he/she feels that they are losing control or
feeling frustrated. It is important that during this, the student will not be affecting the learning
of others through this behaviour (Hyde, Carpenter, & Conway, 2011).
Overall, there are many strengths and weaknesses throughout my lesson plan. It was
great to reflect on this based on peer feedback as you gain a new perspective on your own
work and critically analyse yourself in a professional setting. The peer feedback allowed me to
be open to constructive criticism and recognise flaws in my work that I was not aware of
beforehand. I feel that this reflection has allowed me to evaluate my previous lesson planning
techniques and implement my newfound knowledge on how to improve them.



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Reference List:
Hyde, M., Carpenter, L., & Conway, R. (2011). Diversity and Inclusion in
Australian Schools. Sydney, NSW: Oxford University Press.
Marsh, C. (2010). Becoming a teacher: Knowledge, Skills and Issues.
Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Australia.
Wolfolk, A., & Margetts, K. (2010). Educational Psychology. Frenchs
Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.