Reflection and Self Evaluation

Learning Goals
The learning goals in this unit were very challenging for both the students
and me. They were difficult to teach and even more difficult to learn. If students did
not master the content in learning goal 1, they were not able to fully understand
learning goals 2-4. The material was always building upon itself, providing a
constant review for the students. By looking at all of the post-assessment scores, all
of the learning goals averages where found in the 80%-90% range. The students
were most successful at LG4 with 88%, while LG1 showed the least amount of
success at 81%.
LG4 states that students will use the properties of addition to show the steps
of solving and solve a problem containing fractions and mixed numbers with unlike
denominators, explaining their thinking (DOK 1, 2, 3). There was actually only one
question on the post-assessment that related to this goal, however Quiz 2 had
several. Most of the students who did not complete this goal made careless
mistakes, such as not paying attention to the signs or not changing the numerators.
Out of 26 students, there were only 3 who did not meet this goal.
The lesson for LG4 was quick and fairly easy. It only took one class period for
the students to comprehend it. Even though this lesson was set up exactly like all
the other ones, I remember the students being very attentive, which is definitely
unusual for some. I think that one possible reason for student success with this goal
is the fact that it was just connecting information together. This goal involved using
the properties of addition (Commutative and Associative) which they learned in
previous years, to solve the problem. All we were doing was throwing in fractions.
Because this was the last lesson of the unit, all students should have been able to

add and subtract fractions. Once we reviewed the properties a couple times, most
of the class quickly took off and correctly solved every problem on their own. I did
more guided practice with those students who did not understand it immediately,
which helped a lot. There are also 3 students who go to resource during math class,
and they came back understanding exactly what to do.
Another reason that students succeeded in LG4 is because it was very
straightforward. There were not any crazy, confusing activities that went along with
this lesson. The problems were written very clearly, in a number sentence format,
instead of being any words. Most students dislike word problems and get confused
when trying to solve them. Below the problems there was space to solve.
The only necessary item was that students show all steps they used to solve the
problem. They did not have to read anything, pick out the correct information, and
hope they got the answer correct. As long as they were able to determine which
property to use and add or subtract the fractions, they were good. I know that this
was helpful for many because some students are still struggling with reading or get
confused when working with word problems, which is how most of the other goals
were assessed. If the problem is directly in front of them, it takes minimal effort and
time to solve. It was not necessarily my teaching that allowed the students to
understand this goal, even though that did help, but just the fact that the format
was less confusing.
The students were least successful at LG1. While this goal did tie with LG3
score-wise (both were at 81%), the number of questions was greater, giving
students more of an opportunity to achieve LG1. LG1 had 18 questions on the postassessment. LG3 only had 4. Since it was a larger number of questions and the

point value was smaller, it is surprising that students were not more successful.
There are a couple factors that I determined could relate to this lack of success.
My biggest challenge throughout this whole unit was classroom management.
At the beginning, when students were learning the foundation for adding and
subtracting fractions, there was a huge lack of focus. The desks were positioned in
rows, making it hard to monitor all students at all times. This was necessary though
because the students could not stop the side conversations in groups.I often found
some of them reading instead of filling in notes, while others were skipping ahead
and trying to do homework. Then there are always those few students who never
stop talking. About half of the class really needs peace and quiet during the whole
lesson and that did not happen often. Because of this, I had to repeat myself
constantly when I should have been moving on. The chatty students tended to be
my brighter kids, so they did not care if they could not hear me. They would listen
once and then tune me out, completing the rest of the work ahead of time. There
were also a few instances where it would take forever for a few to finish their work
before we could check over it, causing the rest of the class to go crazy.
My cooperating teacher had a system in place, but it was never really
reinforced by her. I believe that is why the students thought they could not pay any
attention to me. Once my authority was established and I started taking many
names throughout the math period, the class finally remained focused the entire
time. I believe that once this happened, my students learning increased. Because it
was so late, they missed out on huge chunks of the LG1 lessons, causing the
information to not be completely set in stone.
Another factor that could have affected student success in LG1 was a lack of
well-developed formative assessments. The only thing I ever saw my cooperative

teacher do for these assessments was review classwork, homework, and give
quizzes. Due to this, I only put those few things in my plans. They do work very well,
but there were obviously some students who slipped under the radar until the
results of Quiz 1 came back. I remember checking over the classwork and
homework for those lessons related to LG1, and each student seemed to
understand. They even completed the review with minimal questions. Whenever
there was a question or misunderstanding, we went through the problem slowly on
the board so that mistakes could be cleared up. I guess this was the reason that
they seemed to be ready. I determined that with guidance, most were able to
answer the questions correctly. When they were given the quiz without any support,
problems arose.
Many of the students who did not meet the requirements set for LG1 were
those not in Challenge. Although they had much more time to practice, it did not
seem to help. I should have added in additional practice on Wednesdays during our
long class period, or even randomly assessed using sticky notes. I now know that I
need to double check with those students who I know have more problems, instead
of letting them slip by me. Some students are afraid to ask questions in class,
thinking that they will get made fun of, but I want a classroom environment where
they feel comfortable asking. I also want to somehow establish ways that students
can monitor their own comprehension, possibly in a math journal. I will not know
what works best with a group of students until I meet and get to know them, so in
the future I will try out a variety of options to see what really works and improves
learning.
Reflection on Possibilities for Professional Development

There are several different professional learning goals that emerged from this
math unit and all the information I discovered completing the Teacher Work Sample.
The first is to constantly work on my classroom management skills, which I
discussed in the previous section. I know that it takes time to learn different ways of
managing the classroom. It is also important to find a method that works best with
each group of students. I have seen a variety of techniques used, some more
effective than others, but then again the students were all completely different. My
overall goal with classroom management will be finding what works best with each
class that I get the pleasure of working with.
The second goal that I am setting for myself is making sure to keep track and
follow all accommodations. For the math unit, I did have my cooperating teacher to
guide me and double check that I was following the list of accommodations. There
were a few cases though where I thought that the quiz did not need to be chunked
because it was only one page. Once the students were re-quizzed with more space
and a different format, they seemed to do much better. That was my CTs idea
though, and I am glad she pointed out my mistake. When I have my own classroom,
I will not have as much guidance. I like how my CT developed a chart with each
accommodation and the students who received that accommodation listed beneath.
That is something I will remember for my own class.
Finally, I want to provide more diverse activities, including formative
assessments, to learn from engagement, not just the textbook. The only reason I
actually stuck with the textbook was because it was part of the grade-level plans.
The book and workbook also follow the strict Common Core standards, so I wanted
to be sure that I taught all the information. It was not until after I taught some
lessons though, that I realized there were much simpler ways of solving the

problems. In the future, I would really like to make math more hands on and
entertaining. I know that if I had the ability to be more creative with this unit, the
students would have been way more focused and engaged.
The steps I will take to improve my performance in the areas I mentioned are
fairly simple. First, I plan on attending professional development courses. There are
many offered that include new concepts and ideas for all three areas I mentioned. I
am actually signed up to attend one at the end of the month, which has short
classes in a variety of categories from management to the first day of school to
technology. I would love to have more activities with technology in every subject. I
have also heard of courses being offered at Roper Mountain Science Center, which
would provide a hand- on approach to learning how to teach hands-on science. My
goal is to stray away from textbooks as much as I can.
Another step I can take is to work with all the grade-level teachers once I get
a job and figure out what has worked best for them in the past. I will also take ideas
from all of the classes I have observed and taught in to develop my classroom
management, lessons and activities, and even decoration ideas. I am hoping to
have a great mentor for my first year who can guide me in the right direction and
help me solve any problems that may arise. I know that if I try hard and actually
work toward my goals, I will be able to achieve them, no matter how much help was
needed.