Section 4: Reflecting (25%) A.

Lesson reflections:
Reflections on Lesson 1
Asking students to write explanations of the different sentence types on the whiteboard was a good way to get students engaged at the start of the lesson.
Asking for students to write an example of each on the board was a good way to have some reference points visible for all students throughout the lesson. I
would do this again in a range of different lesson types.
The students seemed to enjoy the creative writing, with the number of students wanting to share, being more than there was time for. However, this level of
excitement was a great beginning to a unit and means that engagement will seemingly be high.
Student A
Student A was confident answering grammatical questions, confidently offering correct answers. Student A was helpful in his group work trying to offer peer
support and was able to stay on topic.
Student B
Student B wrote on the whiteboard and was eager to help, showing enthusiasm for the lesson. She became a little distracted during group work, this seems to
be mostly due to the company around her, since I observed the other students loudly talking to her while she was working, I will consider alternative seating
arrangements.
Student C
Student C was reluctant to write on the board, but when speaking to him, he demonstrated satisfactory understanding of the lesson’s material. He was on task
and was eager to share his narrative with the class.
Mentor Teacher feedback
Sarah’s feedback was positive, stating that I gave students choice, immediate feedback and created a calm working environment. She thinks the low-stakes
writing at the start of each lesson will be something new and exciting for the class.

Reflections on Lesson 2
The creative writing at the start of the lesson was received well, students settled quickly to begin working on it and many students asked if they could share
theirs with the class. Some students put the name of classmates in their story to get a laugh. I did not discourage writing silly or funny stories, but I stated that
putting a fellow student’s name in the story as the butt of the joke was ‘cheap and not very clever.’ I appealed to the ego of a few of the boys who were doing
this and said “if you want to be funny, then go for it, back it does not take much creativity to just include a classmates name, to be in and of itself a joke.” This
was actually received well, and students corrected each other and reiterated that it was ‘cheap’ if someone tried to use a classmate’s name. About five
students, all who were girls, stated that they really struggled with the creative writing task. I took them aside and asked them to help me understand which
element they were struggling with and how I could adjust it to help them. Most stated that they struggled to include the prompt i.e. “icy fingers gripped my arm
in the darkness.” I said that I could offer them several to choose from or they could just not use one, this sense of freedom seemed to relax them a little.
The narrative writing was very popular, and most students wanted to share their work with the class, so I found a fair way to choose who had a turn. I decided
to use a random number generator, using the number of students in the class, if a student’s number was selected, they had the option to share their narrative.
However, the students randomly picked could also ask me to read their narrative, get a classmate to read it for them, or select a classmate to read theirs. I
also stated that if everyone behaved themselves, that at the end of the lesson I could pick another to share if there was time, this was also successful in
helping with classroom management.
When the students wrote a narrative of one of the videos which the class watched, most completed the task adequately, but they lacked the enthusiasm
which they had for their own narratives. However, it was still a successful task and the chance of having another student narrative read at the end of the class
was a good incentive to keep students on task.
Student A
Student A completed his narrative well and successfully included some ‘hard mode’ components which I suggested (included an extra literary device from a
list of 45 which I had on the projector) which was in addition to the standard task. I prompted him to support some of the student who were struggling when he
had finished his work early.
Student B
Completed her narrative well and was less distracted by classmates this lesson, her working is showing a lot of creativity and her writing was interesting to
read.
Student C
Did not write much in his narrative but was eager to share it, because he included some parts which he thought were funny. I encouraged this.
Mentor Teacher feedback
Sarah said that she was happy with how well the students were taking to me, especially the boys. She also stated that the narrative free writing was very
effective at making the students excited about English. Because of this success she told the other three English teachers what I was doing and how much
the students were enjoying it. Who then wanted me to explain to them how it was going.

Reflections on Lesson 3
The students continued to enjoy the narrative writing although some groaned at the start of the lesson, but I think that it is perhaps that it takes some students
out of their comfort zones. I have chosen to add some nouns, verbs and adjectives that can be included if students want an added challenge. The students
which used these did not necessarily include them in an organic way, they often seemed forced, but students enjoyed the challenge.
The group work was productive for most groups, but there were a few groups who seem to be off task each time there is a group task. I find that I spend too
much time talking to the same students for the same issues. I will discuss this with Sarah.
Student A
Student A responded well to both narrative tasks and was eager to share his answers, he included all ‘hard mode’ challenges in his work. In the group task he
helped out well and offered peer support .He told me that he is enjoying the unit and is being stretched, he likes the extra challenges.
Student B
Student B did very well in the narrative task and had possibly one of the most interesting stories in the class, she is doing well at creating tension for the
reader when she writes. She was less distracted by peers this lesson since I moved some students around.
Student C
Was absent this lesson
Mentor Teacher feedback
Sarah’s feedback was that she was really impressed with the level of student engagement and she encouraged me to keep making the unit fun.

Reflections on Lesson 4
During this lesson many students were excited to share their narratives and stated that they enjoy having the freedom to be creative. The class seemed to
enjoy having a more detailed series of prompts to use to set their scene. A few students gave feedback that they found this structure very helpful. This shows
me that students like freedom, but they feel more productive with a set structure to work within.
As I gave the students prompts during this lesson I observed that there seems to be a fine line between giving students long enough between prompts to write
an answer and giving them too long which results in them talking to each other.
Student A
Was excited to share his narrative as usual and had attempted a few hard elements. His setting task was done well. No peer support was needed during this
lesson.
Student B
Student B created an interesting narrative, and her setting task was completed well. She seems to be making steady progress and is making better choices
with regards to who she sits next to. This means she is consistently on task more often.
Student C
Student C created and interesting and quirky narrative, however his setting task seemed a little disjointed, I offered some constructive feedback which he took
well. He is making steady progress and I think his narrative assessment will turn out well since he will have enough time to form his ideas well, compared to
tasks in lesson which have limited time.
Mentor Teacher feedback
Sarah’s feedback was positive, we discussed the pace at which I gave prompts and she agreed that I could perhaps have given the prompts faster to keep
some students from talking.

Reflections on Lesson 5
This lesson was well received, I had spoken to the class about ‘show don’t tell’ prior to this lesson, so most students had experimented with it before,
however, when asked to use this skill many found it a challenge, including many of the students who usually get higher grades. Many students still seemed to
want to simply ‘tell’ the reader what was happening rather than imply it with other descriptions and metaphors. The worksheet was very helpful for seeing who
was still struggling with this concept.
Student A
Student A completed the task very well and demonstrated a satisfactory understanding of ‘show don’t tell.’
Student B
Student B completed the task very well and demonstrated a satisfactory understanding of ‘show don’t tell.’
Student C
Student C completed the task and demonstrated a moderate understanding of ‘show don’t tell.’ I will take some time next lesson to explain and clarify the
concept further with him.
Mentor Teacher feedback
Sarah’s was happy with the level of student engagement and the way which they were encouraged to be creative and have agency. She also liked how I
brought concepts back to how the upcoming summative assessment, giving students opportunities to demonstrate these skills. She likes that I am giving the
students lots of opportunities to practice a wide range of narrative writing elements before they begin their assessment.
B. Report on case study students:
Student A

Student A
Specific Learning Goals
 To write a creative displacement narrative which uses a wide array of literary devices.
 To offer peer support.
 To be extended or challenged in tasks.
Report on student achievement
 Student received an A for displacement narrative summative assessment. Was technically proficient, but overused metaphor.
 Student was helpful towards other students offering peer support to students who struggled with various tasks.
 He showed the more aptitude for technical aspects than creative aspects of this unit.
 Student enjoyed being challenged in tasks and often asked for extra ‘hard mode’ components for individual tasks.
 Overall, the student did well and was challenged. Although he received an A, he could still do better with more practice. I am confident that if he were to redo
the assessment with feedback that he would make all of the appropriate adjustments easily.
Considerations to support future learning
 Setting additional ‘hard mode’ challenges and asking him to peer teach are effective ways to extend him, I would also try this in other subjects.
 This students strengths are especially suited to STEM subjects and although he does well in the humanities, I would be careful to offer him specific changes and
feedback for his work, because although he is proficient in the tasks that he is performing in the classroom, he could be challenged to go beyond what is being
expected of his classmates. I think to do this he needs continued constructive criticism on his work using concrete examples. By doing this I believe he will excel
even further.

Student B

Student B
Specific Learning Goals
 To write a creative displacement narrative which uses a wide array of literary devices.
 To stay on task during times of individual work.
 To achieve an A grade in some of the criteria for the summative assessment.

Report on student achievement

 Student received an B for displacement narrative summative assessment. Creativity was her strong point, with grammar being her weakest.
  Student at certain times moved herself away from distracting students which was applauded as a wise choice for productivity.
 Student enjoyed the unit and was often one of the most creative students.
Considerations to support future learning
 If I were to continue to teach Student B in English, I would focus on technical writing skills and editing.
 I would certainly encourage her creativity, if developed she may find a career in writing fiction.
 I would also encourage her to make some long-term seating choices which would help her to not be distracted in class.

Student C

Student C
Specific Learning Goals
 To write a creative displacement narrative which uses a wide array of literary devices.
 To make choices which allow him to excel in his assessments.
 To achieve an B grade or better in some of the criteria for the summative assessment.
Report on student achievement
 Student received an A-grade in the summative assessment task. He really took instruction well and listened to feedback.
 Student was able to choose tasks which appealed to his interests.
Considerations to support future learning
 Plan to find areas of interest in new topics to allow student to follow his interests and work at his best.
 Give timely feedback with concrete examples.
 Find ways to give him longer on tasks.