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Running head: PLANNING

Planning, Preparation, Instruction, and Assessment of Learners

Jaimee Hadley
Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio, Fall 2015

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Introduction
I knew that teaching would entail a lot of work, but I never truly realized how much
planning time goes into teaching. As I am planning my lessons for the next week, I spend hours
looking for resources of activities and interesting assignments that my students can complete. I
want to make learning fun and effective and planning is a big part of that process. For example,
my student teaching classroom is an inclusion class in which I have a variety of learning needs
from each student. It is my responsibility to plan in a way that allows for all students in my
classroom to have these learning needs met. This may mean adjusting my small groups or my
lesson plans to allow for each and every student to succeed in learning.
Rationale
The first artifact that I chose is a math pre-assessment that I gave to my class on
understanding place values. Out of 42 students (21 students in the morning and different 21 in
the afternoon) there were 12 students who got every question correct. I had 17 students who
received a score of 60% or better and 13 students who received a score of less than 60%. Sadly,
6 of those 13 students did not answer one question correctly and received 0%. As I looked at the
pre-assessment grades, I knew that I had to adjust the way I would conduct my small groups in
math if I wanted to be successful in teaching these students about place value.
The second artficact that I chose is a photograph of a math center activity that I created
using Jenga blocks. I wrote numbers on each block from 0 to 9. For the students who scored
high on the pre-assessment, their math small group did still concentrate on place value but we
went all the way to the millions place. Those students were also able to practice writing numbers

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in written form, standard form, and expanded form. We created the numbers by having each
child pick a Jenga block and we put the numbers together to create a larger number.
For the students that were in the mid-range, the small group for that week consisted of
identifying place value but doing it in a different way. I would assign the number and the
students would make the number using the Jenga blocks. They would then take turns, as I called
on them, identifying the place value of a certain number digit that I called. These students also
practiced writing numbers in expanded, word, and standard form.
For the students that were in the lower end and did not get any answers correct on the
pre-assessment, they also used the Jenga blocks. I would call out a number and they would write
the number on a dry erase board. They would then make the number using the Jenga blocks.
Lastly, on the dry erase board, they would label each digit with O for Ones, T for Tens, H for
Hundreds, etc. They would draw lines down between each digit to separate each place value. We
would then mix up the place value of the digits in order to show these students that the place
value of each number determines the value of that digit. The students really enjoyed using the
Jenga blocks in the math center activity and I feel it was a great way to offer differentiation to
my students.
Reflection
It is so important for students to be assessed of their knowledge before, during, and after
a lesson. This is a lot of planning and preparation for teachers but it is necessary in order to
make sure that the students are learning what they should. Sometimes, it is necessary to reteach
an entire lesson or even change the way a lesson was taught if several of the students did not

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understand the concept. The process of teaching is complex and multidimensional (Hall &
Smith, 2006, p. 424). Good teaching is more than just good teaching, it is about good planning.
Although planning and preparation is an enormous amount of work, it is well worth it if you are
able to reach the students in a way that they can learn. Sometimes we have to adjust our entire
lesson in order to reach some of the students, but thats okay. It is necessary to do this in order to
be a successful teacher that caters to the learning needs of each child.

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Resources
Hall, T., & Smith, M. (2006). Teacher Planning, Instruction and Reflection: What We
Know About Teacher Cognitive Processes. Quest, 58(4), 424-442.