6. Reflection, Self-Evaluation, & Professional Development (LO 4.2 & 4.

3)(APS 2, 3, 10)
TWS Standard
The teacher analyzes the relationship between his or her instruction and student learning in order to
improve teaching practice. The teacher uses on-going analysis of student learning to make
instructional decisions. The teacher identifies area of need for personal professional growth.
Whole Group Reflection on Lesson #5 (Showcase Lesson)
Topic: Math
Overall the lesson went okay but there was room for improvement with more instructional
planning. After reviewing the students math sheets, they seemed to understand the content partially.
This was the fourth lesson taught to the students, which they always seem excited to see what I will
teach when I do. At the beginning of the lesson I gave an overview of what they would be doing during
the lesson. The students claimed that the assignment was too easy and it was something that they
already knew. After they started working on the math problems they didnt really understand it as
much as they said.
When I went through the fraction problem for the class since they all had the same question, the
information seemed to actually click and they understood what to do. I taught this lesson originally as a
review because I noticed that the students need multiple reviews in order to understand the content
matter. In high school they wont always be able to stay on one assignment for a long time which they
are used to. The teachers teach it and move on. Mr. Platt does a good job of allowing the students to
have some independence and help them realize that they have to do some things on their own.
Most of the students received an 80 of higher on their worksheet, but one student received a 60
because he turned in his assignment incomplete. For the future I would have gone over more review
problems letting them do the assignment by themselves. When most of the students said that it was
easy, I assumed that all the students knew how to make the charts and solve for the output of each
problem. The students had a lot of questions and were making simple mistakes on how to place the x for
the y value. I understand now that sometimes you have to review content several times and dont
assume that the students remember something that they did earlier in the week.
Individual Student reflections:
I chose the high performer student because this student always does very well with my lessons
that I teach. He never needs assistance with the work and gets all of the work correct most of the time.
This student is really quiet and he stays to herself during class. He can get off task and play with his
friend but he will stop and continue work when told to. This student is given services in English and
Math. He does fairly well in both classes. He is very intelligent and is an ESOL student. I made sure to
give him a compliment on completing the extension of the lesson which was to graph the charts that he
completed. In the future I would give the students all the chance to graph the charts. The student scored
a 100 on the assignment.
I chose the average performer because this student always seems to just do enough to get by
when indeed I believe she can do great work. This is the same student that I did the FBA and BIP on. She
talks all the time during class but when she is focused and not talking she can do great work.
Academically her grades are mediocre because she talks excessively and misses out on a lot of the
content sometimes. She often struggles with learning new content like vocabulary or math problems.
She seemed to understand the content after I explained the problems to her one on one. This student
was one of the main ones that said the paper was too easy. She had difficulty with the fraction problem.
This student scored a 95 on the assignment.

I chose the low performing student because this student seemed to struggle the most with the
content and staying on task. He struggles with reading and math significantly. This student is on
medication that helps him focus during the day. It seemed like it was very hard for him to focus during
this lesson. He was easily distracted and seemed lost during the lesson. During one of my other lessons
on descriptive writing, he wrote more than half a page. I assume that it depends on what is being taught
whether he is focused or not. The student scored a 60 on the assignment because it was turned in
incomplete. He seemed to not even want to complete the assignment. In the future I would give the
students the option to work with a partner or take the assignment home to finish working on it.
Reflection on Lesson #1
Topic: Descriptive Writing/ ELA
Overall the lesson went fairly well with room for improvement. After reading the students
descriptive writing, I understand that I could have descriptive words better. This was the fourth lesson
taught and the student rarely likes to write anything. At the beginning of the lesson I gave an overview
of what they were going to do that day. The students didnt seem excited to write but some were
interested in writing. I read a descriptive example to them from Holes and then asked them to write
their own.
When I was done talking about how descriptive words make the writing more visual then the
students started writing their own. The students also had the opportunity to use thesauruses to help
them find more descriptive words. The lesson was taught because all students need to know how to
write more descriptive pieces instead of writing simple sentences. They asked questions about some
things they should write and if their writing was long enough for what I was asking for. I made sure to
walk around and make sure that all students were on task and assisted when needed.
All of the students received an 80 or above on their descriptive writings that they turned in. They
were graded on how many sentences were written and how descriptive the writing was. For the future I
would have went into more detail about what descriptive writing is and examples of words that could be
used when writing. I felt the students were a little lost when I asked them to use descriptive words. I
also felt pressed for time because I wanted to make sure I taught a good bit of the lesson before they
asked to use the bathroom which they have to go every period. I felt very good about the lesson when
one of the real low students wrote more than half a page on his own country. I was so excited that he
found something that interested them and he actually took time to write about it.
Reflection on Lesson #2
Topic: Friendly letter /ELA
Overall the lesson went very well. I was amazed at what the students already knew about writing
friendly letters. This was the very first lesson, so the students were interested in what I was saying, since
Mr. Platt usually teaches. At the beginning of the lesson I made sure to tell them my expectation about
talking when Im talking which worked. The students worked well together and got the general idea
when they corrected the not so good letters. More than half of the students received 90% on it. The
students usually take forever to get assignments done because of all the side conversations but during
this lesson they finished rather quickly. I interact very well with the students and they know that Ms. M
doesnt like when other students are talking while she is. The students were able to write to who they
wanted to so it related to their lives. The only criterion was that it had to be friendly.
For the future I would have the excerpt of the letter on the board instead of just reading it aloud.
They needed to be able to have it visually also. They performed well based on the letters I collected at
the end of the lesson which had minimal to no errors. I would have established something else to do for
the early finisher that was relevant to the lesson rather than letting them have that free time

afterwards. Stating my expectations at the beginning helped the students understand that while Im
talking they shouldnt be. In the future the students will not be able to write to others in the class. One
student tried to be funny by writing to a student that they had been having problems between earlier.
Reflection on Lesson #3
Topic: Self- Control
Overall the lesson was a success. After reading the students summarizes that the students had to
write afterwards the students did very well with understanding how self-control can impact their future.
This was the second lesson that I have taught to the students and overall they seemed engaged with the
activity. This lesson I also recorded the students which they had been looking forward to all week. At the
beginning of the lesson I had to give an overview of what they were going to do that day. They tend to
ask a lot of questions because of their curiosity so I made sure to share the plan for the day and what
they would be doing with the chart paper.
When I shared the quotes, the students really caught on to what I was trying to get them to see
which was that self- control is important. I taught this lesson originally because these students tend to
say whatever comes to mind without any filter. I want them to understand that when they go to high
school and in the future with their careers that there is some level of self-control needed in ordered to
continue on. Once the students got into their groups, they started sharing ideas and talking with each
other. Mr. Platt and I made sure to go around and check on the students to make sure they understood
the question.
All the students received a 95 for participation and writing 2 ideas that they learned from the
writing. Two of the more disruptive students were absent which also allowed the more reserved
students to share openly. For the future I would have reviewed what we talked about at the end of the
lesson. By the time it was almost time for the students to switch classes and they wanted to go to the
bathroom before they went to the next class. These students seemed a little uneasy when it came down
to sharing their opinions why they feel a certain way about the questions. I wanted the students to get a
glimpse that sometimes they have to share the reason why they think certain things and be able to voice
those opinions.
Reflection on Lesson #4
Topic: Social Studies
Overall the lesson went very well besides the technical difficulties at the beginning. After reading
the students web quest questionnaires, the students did well with finding the answers by using the links
given. This was the third lesson that I have taught to the students and overall they seemed engaged with
the activity. The students got the chance to use IPad with this assignment. At the beginning of the lesson
I had to give an overview of what they were going to do that day. At first we had some technical issues
with the iPad but we were able to figure it out the students begin to work on the assignment.
When I was able to get the links working on all the iPad, then they started to really start digging for
information on the site. The lesson was taught because all students need to know how to use
technology to do research. The activity gave the students the opportunity to practice finding
information. I want them to understand that in high school they get such assignments where the
teacher wont give them the link and they have to find the information for themselves. They asked
questions when they couldnt find the answer or if they didnt understand a question. I made sure to
walk around and make sure that all students were on task and assisted when needed.
All the students received an 80 or above on this assignment. They were graded on correctness and
on how much they completed of the assignment. For the future I would have reviewed what we talked
about at the end of the lesson. By the time it was time for them to switch class; they were wrapping up
the last questions on the questionnaire. If there was more time at the end of class I would have gone

over the answers for the web quest questionnaire. I noticed that these students are very used to just
being given the answers instead of actually searching for them.
Reflection on possibilities for Professional Development:
During my time at my school and working on my TWS, I have experienced many workshops for
professional development. I was able to experience a manifestation of determination and an IEP
meeting. On the Wednesdays that the students had half days, the teachers had to attend seminars for
training which we were able to go to also. I was able to get trained on the way that Greenwood District
50 does their FBAs and BIPs, which was interesting to listen to. A goal for student teaching is to attend
more of the student events like their plays or parent night. It was a great way to get to know that
students and meet parents. Another goal is to be more involved in the classroom with assisting the
teacher when student teaching starts. I am looking forward to working with my cooperating teaching
and learning how to do the day to day activities. One last thing to add that I will work towards using a
variety of ways to introduce instruction like videos or use of technology.