This lesson was taught during my literacy block placement in an underprivileged school district where the students come from tough family lives and backgrounds. A lot of the students do not get the attention that they deserve from their parents so a lot of this responsibility falls on their teachers. In my mentor teacher’s classroom, building a community that is positive and fun and safe is of the utmost importance. My teacher spends a lot of time with the students, inside and outside of school, mentoring and tutoring them.

            This classroom was a third grade classroom, where test scores were low, and enthusiasm was sometimes even lower. The students used the Houghton-Mifflin Basal readers and the school is part of a Reading First program. There are coordinators who work with the teachers to make sure that they are teaching it properly, answering questions when needed, and instructing classes. The students use Everyday Math, where the curriculum is prescribed for teachers. This is used because the test scores are low, and to ensure that students are being exposed to the same lessons each day every year, this program is used.

            Attached you will find my ‘Classroom Management Paper’ which outlines what the classroom looks like and how it is organized.

            There are twenty-five students in the classroom, whose abilities range very widely. During reading time, the students go into other third grade classrooms because the abilities are so wide-ranged, that it is necessary for all the teachers to divide the students up into abilities for the whole third grade. In math, a lot of the students are closer in abilities. There are a few students who are pulled out to go to Math Lab for extra help in math. There are students on IEP’s for learning disabilities and behavioral issues, while other far exceed the expectations of third grade. One student, who arrived half way through my internship, spoke no English and either sat at her desk alone, or was in ELL classes.

            The lesson that I taught did not fit into the curriculum at all. It was a standalone lesson about fractions. This lesson was taught before the students were introduced to fractions at all, which made it difficult for the students to follow and understand.

            For the summary of the lesson, see the attached PowerPoint and lesson plan. In the PowerPoint and lesson plan, you will find video clips of the students rationales, the discussion piece, what I learned and how it connected to our course readings.

            The lesson began with the students solving a problem, the brownie problem, on their own. There were to then vocalize their work to me. From here, I was supposed to instantly analyze their results and teach and lesson based upon what was unclear to them. I taught this lesson with two small groups; one group of ‘high-flyers’ and the other was the ‘middle of the road kids.’ To the ‘high-flyers,’ I ended up teaching a lesson on how to add fractions. In my PowerPoint, you will find more details about the lesson, what each student said and what I learned. For the ‘middle of the road kids’ I taught a lesson about what a fraction is, because as you will see in the video clips, the students were unclear as to what I fraction was.

Analyze –

            Overall, this lesson was a flop. The topic chosen for us, fractions, was at a level that the students couldn’t understand. The problems that were given to us for third grade weren’t appropriate for the students that we were teaching. Therefore, the students were lost, and couldn’t quite grasp the fractions part of the lesson. It was unfortunate that the students had not yet been introduced to fractions when we taught these TGMI lessons. We could have chosen to teach easier fractions problems and concepts, but at the urging of our teacher, we chose harder ones because it was thought that our students could handle it. Upon teaching, it was apparent that they were not ready. Although the problems were suited for third grade, the students had not been introduced to these concepts and floundered when given the problem to solve on their own.

            My goals for the lesson were conceived before assessing where the students were in terms of ability. Therefore the lesson that I was going to teach them was nowhere near where they were. The assessment I gave them, which was given to us by our UVM teacher, proved to be too difficult for my students, therefore the lesson that I taught, was much different than expected. This lesson was designed to be a “think on your feet” kind of activity for me as a teacher. The goal of the lesson was to assess where the students were, and then based upon that assessment, bring them to the next level. I had a variety of different materials and prompts to use depending on where the students fell in terms of ability.

            The standards aligned well with what the students were supposed to be able to do. It required the students to understand the concept of a fractional number, and what it means in relation to a whole number. At the conclusion of the lesson, group one was able to add fractions, understanding that each fraction was less than one, and when added together, the fractional numbers would make one or more. At the end of the second group’s lesson, they were able to show me a simple fraction, in the understanding that it was a part of one, but not the whole thing.

            At first, when the students didn’t understand what they were doing, I panicked and was unsure where I was going to take them because they were so much further behind than I expected. Then I calmed down and though rationally of where I would be bringing them in order to bring them to the next level. I started with the basics, what is a fraction? For one group of students, I taught them what a fraction was, and what they looked like in written form and using the manipulatives. I then had them use paper to make their own simple fractions. The second group had a bit more knowledge and I was able to teach them about adding fractions because they were a bit unclear as to how to do that.

            Because the large assessment was at the beginning of the lesson, I provided the students with an informal assessment at the conclusion of the lesson. For the first group, I had asked them to represent a simple fraction in written form and using the manipulatives, if they were able to do this, they scored well. For the second group, I had them solve a few adding fractions equations as means of assessing what they had learned. 

            See my attached PowerPoint for the ways in which my teaching and management strategies were effective or not in helping the students meet the expectations of the lesson.

            See the lesson plan ‘Management Considerations’ to answer the question: How did you create a positive learning environment? In addition to what you will find there, I also went over what our classroom philosophy was with the students. Because we were in the library, I wanted the students to know that they were still safe to share their opinions with each other and me. A large part of the learning environment was the assurance that the students were not going to play with the manipulatives or be distracted by the video camera. I also used the management system in place in the classroom, where the students got warnings and then their name was flipped on the smile chart upon returning to the classroom.

            There was a lot of planning that went into this lesson. Because the assessment was first, and then the instruction was based upon the assessment, a lot of different possibilities had to be thought about and planned beforehand. The students were to be given a problem to solve on their own and based upon where they got stuck, we were supposed to have a lesson planned to take them over that hurdle and bring them to the next level. Because I had thought so much about the students and their abilities, I had many different possibilities lined up to teach. Much to my surprise, the students were not where I thought they would be, so a lot of the lessons that I had planned, were useless. Thanks to my ability to think on my feet, and a thorough thought of the manipulatives I was going to use, I was able to pull together a lesson on the fly that brought my students to the next level. The students were all hands-on learners so to ensure their participation, the use of manipulatives can in handy. They were all able to visually see the concepts and then use the hands-on approach to apply the concepts.

            This lesson demonstrates my ability to think on my feet. I believe that all teachers need to be able to adapt to a situation at a moments notice because there is no telling when your students will struggle or when they will fully understand. The ability to think of your feet is critical when you are an elementary school teacher because a variety of concepts needing to be taught, and it is inevitable that a few students will not understand it the first time. Therefore, you need to always have a backup plan, another way to explain something, or think quickly to come up with another way to teach the concepts.

            In this lesson, I was able to think on my feet so well, and use my creativity on the spot to come up with a lesson, using the manipulatives, to bring the students to a new level of understanding.

Reflect –

            If I were to teach this lesson again, I would change the way in which I planned for it. I would also do more pre-teaching activities to gain a bit of insight as to where my students were, so that in planning this lesson I would have a better idea of where the students were going to fall. In gaining a bit of insight as to where the students were before assessing them or teaching them, I would be able to plan more thorough lessons that involved more creativity than those I used in this lesson. If I had seen what the students were capable of, even just a bit, before teaching this lesson, I would have been better prepared to explain the concept of fractions, offer examples, and be more effective in bringing them to the next level.

            Thankfully, math is one of my stronger subjects, so was able to explain the concept of fractions to the students without a problem. Also, in being so creative and an ‘out of the box thinker’ I was able to think quickly to put together a decent lesson on the fly about fractions, what they were, and how to add them. As I stated above, using the knowledge that I have acquired about fractions and hands-on lessons, I was able to achieve the standard and bring the students to a new level of understanding.

            Because I have worked with so many different types of learners and abilities, I have a good grasp on what it means to differentiate for each student. I believe that this strength will go a long way in meeting the needs of all students and helping them to meet or exceed the standards that the state has set-forth for them.

            One challenge that I will face will be always being able to reach the students on the first few tries. I want to make sure that if I have to try again and again to reach a way that works for all of my students, I don’t get discouraged along the way. I know that I have persevered through some tough teaching situations in the past, but after failing a few times, I think it will be challenging to find a way to reach the student without getting discouraged myself.

            I know that being a teacher means to find ways around difficulties that students have and teaching each student to their needs. Therefore, I believe that this challenge I will face, will become a puzzle and I will work hard each day to ensure that all of my students are reaching their potential. Since I am going into my teaching career knowing that I will face these obstacles, I come armed with many tools, resources, and mentors to overcome them, and knowing this is empowering. Knowing that I can walk into the classroom with a set of principles and strategies, helps me to believe that no matter what kind of challenge I face, I will be able to overcome it.