I really enjoyed giving the lesson on Skip Counting by Eight to Mr. Tanner's 3rd grade class at Glen Alpine Elementary in Burke County, N.C.  It was a terrific experience for me.  I worked with half of the class for this assignment, while Lila Downs, my practicum partner, worked with the other half.  The students that I worked with were high, medium, and low learners.  I liked the arrangement because this gave me some insight as to how well all learners would comprehend the lesson that I was giving.  Mr. Tanner had discussed with me earlier that the student's curriculum in Math was really focused on multiplication at this time of the year.  This helped me to plan my lesson around multiplication and skip counting. 

     I wanted to devise a lesson that would reach all types of learners.  I thought that the book I chose for this lesson would be great for visual learners.  I knew the students would love the bright colors.  The book also had a question on each page asking how many?  I knew that would be a great way of getting children involved in the lesson.  I used the rhyme to focus more on the children in the group that learned by kinesthetic.  The children could say the rhyme, while taking turns, walking through the imaginary door.  My group had a variety of learners, so I definitely wanted to reach them all.  

     As I said before, the students had already been introduced to skip counting.  This assisted me in explaining the topic of skip counting by 8.  The children already understood the principle; just not the correct form of skip counting by 8.  Once I introduced the topic, they were ready to go!  I launched the lesson by asking for examples of things that come in 8.  Everyone raised their hand immediately.  One child said, "Yogurt comes in an 8-pack!"  Another child said, "My socks came in an 8-pack!"  Many other children gave examples.  This showed me that they understood the concept very well. 

     I think that the lesson went well.  The students loved giving their input about what things come in sets of 8.  They were all willing to give examples!  I finally had to stop them by saying, "Okay, only two more examples."  The children then began to recite the rhyme which they turned into a little tune.  I let two of the children volunteer to be the imaginary doorway, while the others took turns walking through it.  This worked out great!  Each child had an important part in the activity.  I think it's very important to make each child feel like their a part of the activity and not left out. 

     There were a few things that I would have done differently.  During the rhyming activity, I wrote each child's name down in the blank space of the rhyme, as they walked through the door.  That was a little time-consuming and confusing for some of the students.  Another thing that surprised me was that I told the children at the end of the lesson to put 11 blank spaces on a piece of paper.  They were confused by this.  One child said, "The notebook paper already has blank spaces."  I should have said number your paper 1-11.  You never know what things will confuse children. 

      The students enjoyed using songs or rhymes to remember what number would come next.  I had observed Mr. Tanner working with students on skip counting by 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.  I thought it would be a great idea to incorporate a rhyme on skip counting by 8 with a book.  The book showed how skip counting relates to multiplication.  The students were encouraged to figure out how many things were on each page by skip counting.  This was a terrific way of introducing skip counting by eight to them.

     I was a little nervous when Lila Downs, my practicum partner, and I switched lessons the next day.  Her lesson was on line graphs.  The children had been introduced to line graphs earlier in the year. The lesson went much better than I expected.  I had to change around a few things for the group that I had.  Some of the students had trouble understanding how to give the Cardinal directions.  The concept was a little harder for some more than others.  Lila had explained me that she gave one example.  I had to give at least 3 examples before my students fully understood the concept.  Two of the children having trouble with this lesson were L.D.  I felt this was the reason for some of the modifications that I had to make. 

     Lila also had to make changes to my lesson plan that she gave to her group.  She told me that some of the students had trouble understanding the concept of skip counting by 8. She had trouble getting some of the students on task because of behavior problems.  I felt this may have been the reason for some children not understanding.  Some students were misbehaving and this probably interfered with the children understanding the full concept. 

     I think that my lesson did go well.  There were a few things I would have done differently but I feel that it did go better than I expected.  The children were enthusiastic, they all felt included, and all understood and participated.  The assessment went well also.  Most children were able to write their 8's to 104 without a problem.  Some needed a little extra attention but seemed to catch on quickly.  I think this was a wonderful experience for me.  It has taught me a great deal.  Some children may not comprehend what I'm saying as easily as others do.  I know now never to look over the little things.  I'm grateful for the experiences the children gave me in Mr. Tanner's class.  I will miss them all!