Rachel Jung

EDUC 302

Final Reflection

Lesson 1

As it was my first lesson that I taught, I went through many struggles. Students seemed to

be engaged but not everyone. I spent too much time on direct teaching, having students sit on the

carpet for half of the class time, though I put some hands-on-activities that students use their own

clocks and make certain time on the clock, guess how long 1 minute would be, and guess what

time it is. The students soon got bored and confused because of the vocabulary worksheet they

had to fill out while I explained the vocabulary. I think there were too many blanks they had to

fill out although I wrote all the answers on the board. Also, it took me time to make a transition

between the activities and it made students wait for me to turn on the overhead projector again

that I accidentally turned off. Few students got confused because they could not understand my

instruction and it made them to lose their attention. I will need to think of the better method to

engage students and make them to actively learn about the lesson. I will need to find the

students favorite activity that will grab their attention and engagement in learning.

Lesson 2

It was very well-organized, well-structured, and a great lesson. The students were

engaged, enjoyed, and understood about what they were learning. I realized that students like to

use their body when they learn something. To teach about telling the time to the five minutes, I

first started with letting students count by 5s as they jump, clap, or make certain movement. But I

wish I could do this activity several times if there were more time left because the students were
very engaged with this activity. After I had a learning time with the students on the carpet, I gave

an instruction the hands-on-activity that they were about to make their own clock. For the

students who cannot understand English, I should have explained more by having materials out

and modeling with these materials to show how to make. They were asking too many questions

as they went back to the desk and started making one. However, it was great to see that they all

enjoyed and had fun making their own clocks.

Lesson 3

For this lesson, I divided the students into four small groups and let them go around the

station. It was very effective because I could make sure that every student understands about the

quarter hour. As I taught each group about the quarter hour, I could notice who caught the

concept and who did not. It was still hard to grab all attention because some students who went

to the game station were being too noisy and distracting other peers. However, it was good that I

could interact and give feedback to those who seemed not getting the concept. If the lesson

contains some concepts that are difficult to understand for the students, I would use this kind of

structure with different stations for the students to learn the concept with various activities.

Lesson 4

I did not get to teach this lesson but my mentor teacher taught this lesson. As I reflect on

my lesson plan, I think representing quarter hour with coin, drawing of pizza, and demonstration

clock would work very well with increasing the students acquisition level of the lesson. Asking

questions and leading it to whole class discussion would allow students to think critically and

relate their ideas into the lesson.

Lesson 5

For this lesson, I taught about A.M. and P.M. using number lines, reading cards, and

game activity. I had more confidence with leading the whole class. Learning time with the

students went very smoothly with some engagement and enthusiasm. As I explained rules about

the game, however, I should have used modeling example to represent the game visually for

those ELLs. Clarifying and talking about expectations of the game to the students was also

necessary because Professor S said there were unfairness and cheating occurred for some

students. It is also important to think about the students cultural background as I plan lessons to

teach because A.M. and P.M. can be a challenge concept for those who are from different

countries with having accustomed to different cultural practices.

Lesson 6

My final lesson went great. Many students engaged with the lesson and easily understood

the concept they were learning. It was just that learning time on the carpet was too long for the

students to grab their full attention. I also reviewed A.M. and P.M. because many students were

not getting the concept when I taught it last time. Very few students still seemed not getting the

concept quite but from the exit ticket, I could see that many students are now all good with

telling the time to the five-minutes. Elementary students, especially younger kids, actively

engage in learning when they get to use their body parts.

Final reflection for the unit

At first, I was very nervous and worried about teaching and leading the whole class for

the first time. As I continued and gained teaching experiences after I taught 5 lessons to my

students, I could truly understand what it means to be a professional teacher. Teaching requires

infinite work from comprehending each students cultural background, school context, learning

styles, and learning disabilities to planning well-structured and well-organized lessons along with

preparing helpful materials and visual representations. To plan a good lesson, it is crucial to

consider whether the lesson contains multiple means of representation, multiple means of action

and expression, multiple means of engagement, assessment as, of, for learning, diagnostic,

formative, and summative assessment. I think my lessons included good mixture of these

element. As I taught the first lesson, however, I had many struggles and weaknesses. I noticed

that I could not engage every student into my lesson and making transition within the lesson was

not smoothly done. As I taught more and more lessons, however, I could easily revise my lesson

before a day or while I taught the lesson depending on the students learning outcome/assessment

and responses. The biggest thing that I found out from my teaching experience is that young kids

need very vivid explanation with many visual aids and many fun activities. If I were to teach this

unit again, I would probably insert more visual aids and engaging activities into my lessons. I

would also be more conscious about the students unique learning characteristics. Teaching ELLs

is very challenging and difficult to make sure that they understand the concept. However, it is

such unutterable delight to observe the students starting to get the concept and learning

something from the lesson.