Lesson #3 Self- Assessment

Name: Jessica Boyle

Lesson topic: Solving multiplication problems by applying area models.
Date: 10/19/15
School/grade level/ number of students: Whittier Elementary, 4th grade, 27 total students,
Name of Cooperating Teacher: Lora Mitchell
Planning and preparation:
My plan provided opportunities for engagement because a majority of my lesson was dedicated
to giving the students practice. I had modeled two of the first problems for the students, while
the rest of the questions we looked at were focused on the students participating and practicing
solving the multiplication problems. Going into the lesson, I was under the impression that the
gifted and talented students would not be a part of my lesson, which was not the case. As my CT
was transitioning the students from their morning work into my lesson, she explained that the
aide that typically worked with the Aleks kids was not there today. This meant that the gifted
and talented students would be sitting in and participating in my lesson, which is not what I
originally planned. Knowing that these students were going to be in the room for this lesson, I
made an adjustment. The adjustment I made was that I skipped over two of my extra practice
problems. I did this because this way I was keeping the pace of the lesson going, while still
providing some practice problems.
Classroom environment:
I encouraged student participation by having the students work on their whiteboards. By doing
this, I was getting the students involved in the lesson in a way different than being called on to
answer a question. I was allowing them to practice in their seat, which I think of as being their
comfort zone. Even though my main form of engagement was using their whiteboards, I still
used questioning to get the students participating. When I would ask a question, I would make a
statement along the lines of, Im going to wait till I get more hands raised, or I want to hear
from someone I havent heard from yet. By making these statements, I was talking to the
students who usually dont participate, or who were not 100% confident in sharing. I got the
students responding to one another by having a partner activity planned for the very end of my
lesson. During this activity, the students were to work with one another to solve the equation
3X29. As I was explaining the instructions for this activity, I also told the students that I wanted
them to be helping each other out if their partner gets stumped. I even modeled what this would
look like. By modeling the types of communication the students should be having, I was helping
encourage the students to have positive and effective conversations. I think that the organization
techniques I used during this lesson were very effective. I was able to keep the students on track
with me as well as provide them with multiple chances to practice these new strategies.
Instruction: Were the needs of all learners met?
The instructional strategies I planned on using went as planned. The one thing I would have
changed is to first model for the students how to take the same strategies they used above to then
apply it to a multiplication sentence. I originally planned on doing this, but when it came time to
teach the lesson, I thought the students were going to be ready to take on the full responsibility. I

also made this decision because I could tell that the students were losing focus since they had
been sitting and focusing for a longer period of time. Another change I would have made would
be to make the directions a little bit more clearly on what the students were to do when working
with their partner. When I released the students to begin working on problem nine with their
partner, some of them seemed confused about what they were exactly supposed to do. The last
change I would like to make if I were to repeat this lesson again would be to give the students
more time to work with their partner. Since we ended up being short on time, I was only able to
give the students roughly five minutes. Reflecting now, I do not think this was enough time to
complete all of criteria points. Looking at the needs of the learners in this classroom, I do believe
that they were all accommodated. I would say this because I was able to get all of the students
involved, including the gifted and talented students who I did not originally plan on teaching. I
met the needs of the struggling learners by giving them multiple models and multiple
explanations demonstrating the main concepts of this lesson.
Assessment:
The main form of assessment I used during this lesson was informal observations. As I was
teaching this lesson, I was watching the body language of the students. I was watching for
expressions that they were understanding what I was telling and asking them, as well as watching
their body language to assess engagement. At two different points specifically, I began
observing the students having confused expressions on their faces. When I noticed this, I
assessed further by having the students give me a thumbs up, or thumbs down to express their
level of understanding. This was a very effective strategy because by using observations, which
then led to the thumbs up, thumbs down method, I was than able to identify the students who
were struggling. This then resulted in me keying in my focus on these students to watch for a
positive change in understanding. Another way I informally assessed was by quickly scanning
the whiteboards of the students as they were holding them up for me to see. When I instructed
the students to hold the boards up, I noticed that there were some students who were not holding
up their boards. From what I was observing as I was walking around watching the students as
they were working, the students who were apprehensive to hold their boards up were the ones I
noticed as struggling. To address this issue, I specifically stated, I want everyone to hold up
their boards even if they are not finished, or do not have anything written because I want to see
where your thinking is at. By saying this, I was letting the students that it is okay if their work
is not 100% accurate, I still value their work and thinking.
The last form of assessment I used during this lesson is the partner activity at the end of
the lesson. Originally, I planned on giving the students a longer portion of time to work as well
as have them work on more problems, than just the one they ended up working on. Looking at
the work I collected from the students, it appears that many of them only got through the part of
constructing the area model rectangle and completing the computation of 8X29. This confirms
my thinking that the students needed time. Looking at the constructions of the area models, I am
very pleased because I see a lot of progression between my now and the previous lesson I taught.
Overall, I do believe that the students were able to attain the lesson objective because they were
able to apply their area models to a multiplication problem.
Professional responsibilities:

After my lesson, my CT highlighted a couple of things that she mentioned in her written
feedback. The things she quick mentioned were that she could tell I am becoming a lot more
comfortable teaching the students. She specifically stated, You seemed a lot more relaxed up
there. Using this feedback to reflect, I would agree, I did feel a lot more comfortable this week,
which I think had a direct impact on the success of my lesson. By being more relaxed, I could
have more fun and really get into the lesson. This is important because the students feed off of
their teachers energy. By being relaxed and clam in front of the students, I believe the students
were in turn more relaxed with a go with a flow attitude. A suggestion my CT gave me was to
using clapping as a way to gain the students attention back onto me. There were two particular
times during my lesson where I struggled slightly to get the students with their eyes on my and
ears listening. I had to instruct the students multiple times on where to direct their attention. In
the future, I will be sure to incorporate the clapping method as a way to gain back the students
attention, especially seeing as I plan on having more partner and group work in the future.
Reflection: What did you learn about student learning and assessing from this lesson? How
will it affect your planning for future teaching?
This lesson has helped me realize that one form of assessment can be used as a stepping-stone
for another assessment. I learned this during the portion of my lesson when I began observing
confusion on the students faces. When I noticed this, I used the thumbs up, thumbs down
method to get a better sense of who was struggling. This will affect my lessons in the future
because while planning, I will be sure to include different ways to link assessments together
when I begin to notice different student behaviors.