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Reflection on the Skills Domain

When I first sat in the Methods I class last year, the professor began the lesson with a
group activity that involved all the students in class. We were instructed to choose a number from
1 to 100 and write it on a piece of piece of paper that was provided. We were told to stand up and
asked to find a way of computing the median of our numbers with the stipulation that we were
not allowed to write anything and we were not allowed to speak to one another. After a few
moments of looking around quietly and wondering what to do, we then formed a line in the front
of the classroom. We began to spontaneously order ourselves by our selected number and were
soon able to figure a way of determining the median. We did this by successively peeling away
two people at a time from the line (the leftmost and rightmost person.) Each pair would then
leave the line and take their seats. The last person standing was the middle person whose number,
therefore, was the median. This activity was very engaging and different from what we were
expecting.
The professor later explained that this median lesson made use of a concept known as
episodic memory where students remember events in their lives much more than lectures by an
instructor. While this makes perfect sense to me now, I had not looked at learning in this manner
before. The teachers that I had as an adolescent used a Direct Teaching model that is to say,
lectures almost exclusively. According to the David A. Sousa textbook that we used in class,
Lectures usually result in the lowest degree of retention.1
The point of all this was that I could see the importance of lesson planning and how it
requires a great deal of skill and preparation. If done well, the teacher may actually not have

much work to do during the class session. For example, in the activity described above, the
students were the ones constructing the knowledge. After providing the paper and instructions,
the professor simply stood by.
I was educated in a traditional, Catholic school system in Yonkers, New York. The
teachers made use of a chalkboard, textbook, paper, and, at times, a ruler, compass, and
protractor. In those days, there were no calculators in school let alone Smartboards, PowerPoint
slides, or videos, etc. I dont recall being educated through the use of manipulatives either. For
all these reasons, the math classes at Hunter were eye-opening for me. At first, I felt intimidated
to write a sequence of lesson plans that included group activities, individual activities,
appropriate use of manipulatives, exit slips, as well as considering diversity and differentiation.
My confidence grew when I was paired with my classmate in a Special Education class
for a group project where we needed to create a lesson plan. She explained to me that she liked
writing lesson plans. I was so impressed with her enthusiasm. It made me question why I had
been worried about them simply because they were new to me. Soon, I was much more
receptive to the idea that I too can actually enjoy writing my own lesson plans.
In the Methods II class, we were expected to write several consecutive lesson plans. After
I understood the format and the content standards that were expected and how to find sources of
information that I could use as my references, I was good to go. Then when I had an idea for a
rough draft, I enjoyed continually tweaking and improving my lesson plans.
I feel that a good part of teaching makes use of skills that theatre directors and
choreographers share: the ability to time and sequence what action will happen and when; who
does what; who will speak when; who is located where, etc. I had to think it all through in

advance: how much information should I teach; how much time should I leave for pauses so that
students can think and process the material for themselves; what items may be confusing to
them; and, how much I should reveal in response to their questions.
The Assessment class, SEDF706, was quite useful in how best to use formative and
summative assessments in our classes. In my case, I feel I had already learned much of the
material taught in this class the hard way. Through years of trial and error in preparing tests,
quizzes, activities, projects, and rubrics, each with a variety of styles and weightings, I
understood exactly what the professor was talking about. As an adjunct who has taught for ten
years, I feel that I know, for example, the types of questions and multiple choice answers to
avoid (e.g., implausible distractors, K-Type questions, and those having multiple interpretations.)
At this point, after my adjunct experiences and having taught math lessons in high school, I am
quite comfortable with the practice of designing assessments.
When I first watched myself on film teaching a lesson at Manhattan Hunter Science High
School, I was self-conscious. I later warmed up to the idea that being filmed is an extremely
valuable way of seeing and polishing my presentation skills. I noticed little things that I
immediately wanted to improve upon -- in particular: having a less casual demeanor, a more
emphatic and authoritative tone, and a faster pace. I concluded that each of these items would be
easily improved and I was glad that there were no major defects. On the positive side, I was
clear, patient, interested in the material, comfortable writing on the chalkboard; and, although I
was a little stiff, I did not appear nervous. More importantly, the class environment was
comfortable for the students. They asked several questions and seemed eager to respond to the
questions that I posed.
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Sousa, D. A. (2011). How the brain learns. Corwin Press.