Sarah Fadness

12.2.15

ED 321 Self-Assessment (2nd Observed Lesson)

Planning and Preparation (AEA: Conceptualization, DiagnosisWTS: 1,7DISP:
Respect Responsibility)

Explain and defend the decisions you made in choosing your objectives
and the assessment tools/strategies for this lesson. Even if the lesson
was given to you to teach, you must consider the effectiveness of the
objectives and assessments.
My objective for the lesson was that students will begin to
explain how consumption in the United States affects our way of life. A
form of assessment that I used was my exit slip where students had
three questions to answer and I could take what they wrote and read it
to check for their understanding.

I knew from the beginning that I

wanted to have an exit slip because I am only there once a week and I
do not get to see the continuous outcome of my lesson and this helps
me to see how effective my teaching was. When planning, I knew that
the group I was teaching to is very advanced which is why I wanted to
incorporate higher level thinking questions. I wanted the students to
dig deeper and think more critically, so that helped to guide my
preparation for the types of questions I asked. When composing my
lesson, I was in constant communication with my cooperating teacher.
We emailed back in forth on what she wanted me to cover and I sent
her some of my ideas.

Every piece of feedback she gave was

embraced and included in my lesson plan. She knows her kids very
well and helped me to plan ahead on how to instruct them.
Classroom Environment (AEA: Coordination, Integrative InteractionWTS: 2,3,5
DISP: Respect, Responsibility)

What were the discipline issues that presented themselves during the
teaching of this lesson? How did you anticipate these and handle
them?

Sarah Fadness
12.2.15
I knew from previous lessons that the students can get talkative
and many times it is about the material. Also, I knew this class asked a
lot of questions which at times can get out of hand. I wanted everyone
to be heard, but that did not always work for times sake. I believe I
had a positive classroom environment because students were so eager
to share. The fact that they are willing to open up and share with me
shows me that they are comfortable with me.

At times the group

needed redirection and I regained focus by saying eyes on me or are

we ready to move on. I believe I had a positive classroom
environment where students were engaged, but some could have been
more actively engaged. One student, Jake, needs constant reminders
and redirection.

That is one of the reasons I called on him as

frequently as I did because it got him to pay attention. He needs the

extra push and reminders, something I learned about him from
previous lessons. At times it seemed that I was calling on him a lot,
but I was using that as a tool to keep him engaged because when he is
not, he distracts those all around him. Calling on Jake was a form of
classroom management because it brought him into the lesson and he
did not have the chance to distract his neighbors.

Another form of

classroom management that I used was proximity. As I was talking, I

kept an eye on where the chatter was, and I stood near them. That
form of classroom management was effective because the students
quieted down when I was near.

Instruction (AEA: Communication, Coordination, Diagnosis, Integrative InteractionWTS:

2,3,4,5,6,7DISP: Respect Responsibility) , Assessment (AEA: Diagnosis, Integrative
InteractionWTS: 8,9DISP: Respect, Reflection), Professional Responsibilities
(AEA: Communication, Integrative InteractionWTS: 10DISP: Collaboration,
Communication)

Sarah Fadness
12.2.15
After teaching the lesson and analyzing student work, describe how
your decisions impacted student learning. How do you know? How well
did your assessment connect to the lesson objectives? Are there
changes you would make or things you could have done differently?
Consider student learning as you reflect on your teaching of this lesson.
Explain how the evidence you obtained in your lesson (assessment)
demonstrated the degree to which all students achieved your objectives.
My assessment was a formative assessment to see where
students were at by the end of the lesson.

My questions related

directly to the learning objective and the standard with consumption

and how it varies between countries. Handing out an exit slip allowed
me to see what they got out of my lesson. I chose to do an exit slip
because I have previously used it and it is quick and effective.

By

asking three questions related to the objective, I could see student

understanding. By reviewing the exit slips, I could see that students
were beginning to have a clear understanding of consumption and how
it affects our way of life. After analyzing the students work, I would not
change my form of assessment. I believe it was effective and from it I
knew they were understanding our objective.
Although the exit slip showed students were understanding the
material, I would give students more liberty to read and learn on their
own or with a partner. When you are teaching, it does not seem like
you are talking as much as you are and for future lessons, I want to
become more aware of that. I believe that by doing so students can
approximate and have a go at it where they can discover learning for
themselves. Even though I would change up my form of instruction, I
am pleased with the outcome of student understanding.

When

evaluating the twenty exit slips, they all successfully answered the
questions and were able to explain consumption. Also, if I were to do
this lesson over again, I would come up with an activity or have the

Sarah Fadness
12.2.15
students take notes to ensure even if they were not sharing with the
class, that they were actively engaged.
Professional Responsibilities (AEA: Communication, Integrative InteractionWTS:
10DISP: Collaboration, Communication)

Explain how you incorporated feedback from your cooperating teacher

and supervisor, if applicable, to the planning/teaching of this lesson.
What decisions did you make based on feedback received?

I am a huge proponent of feedback and I always embrace it. The

weekend leading up to my lesson, I was in constant communication
with my cooperating teacher through email. I emailed her ideas and
my lesson plan with my PowerPoint to give her plenty of time to look it
over.

I am very appreciative for the amount of feedback my

cooperating teachers gives me and every piece of it gets incorporated

back into my lesson.

I continuously seek the feedback from her

because not only has she been teaching for twenty years, but she
knows her kids so well. She knows what does and does not work for
them, which is such valuable information.

She knows if a certain

activity will work for a class or not, and sometimes she wants me to try
it and after we talk about after if it worked or not. I am very fortunate
that many times when I teach, my CT has a prep period in between, so
I teach the lesson once then we talk about it before I teach it again.
That hour prep is so valuable because we debrief about what
happened and how can I change it up for the next class. Before my
observed lesson we talked about how the lesson went with the first
class and tweaked it a little bit. The changes that were made involved
students to turn and talk with their peer on characteristics. I loved that
idea because they were able to talk and share with a peer. It was a
great idea because kids like to talk. Every piece of feedback was in
some form, in my lesson.

I believe the feedback made the lesson

Sarah Fadness
12.2.15
stronger because through the feedback, I learned things that I did not
see on my own.