Reflection  

Now that I look back on it, the fear felt when assuming teaching duties was just nervous excitement.  The most meaningful insights gained were reflecting back to instances where actual sharing of information was what I knew well enough to deliver with maturity.  Initially, the Host Teacher made me feel very welcome and was a great support when I was lacking in content areas or when the class was out of control.  This was a time, a test where I had to assume a leadership role through teaching children.  

A personal and meaningful event came later in the placement when the class was more familiar with me and I had grown in trust with authority.  The meaningful experience was the gaining of class control through a reciprocal chant which conveyed the meaning that the Teacher had something to say, and teach.  At first I felt strange when I said, 1- 2- 3, Eyes on me, then the class was taught to stop all activity and respond; Hands in lap, now I see.  It worked every time and better as the placement progressed.  This was a definite plus to orient the class in a direction I thought we should be moving in.  

My most memorable lessons were at the end of the placement when I was able to teach Science.  This was not a regular curricular subject but the Host Teacher asked me if knew anything about the subject and if I wanted to teach a module or two.  The exploration of the subject was right after lunch and every student was excited to start every lesson lined up outside the class waiting.  There were eager and open minds to use manipulatives I made to teach Science lessons, some of which the students took home as a reminder of the lesson. 

The closure at the end of eight weeks was very calm as the students knew that I was finishing my placement.  It ended just past Valentines Day which made another special event to share with the children.  I did my best to let each student know that I was impressed with the work ethics I saw develop and that I would miss seeing them learn the subjects that I taught.            

Evaluation

The analysis of student learning was shown every day throughout the two week module.  As daily instructions were presented, I would stop at certain points; having students talk about what was just taught by alternating: pair shares, face partners, shoulder partners and table groups.  This made the learning more even because the children discussed what they heard, understood and learned.  While this interaction was taking place, I could roam around the classroom to answer any questions and make sure they were staying on task.  This was a chance to see, compare and analyze how the teaching of telling time was being learned.  . 

The module lessons were set up to naturally assess the children as they listened, built and manipulated their time pieces then lesson plans with the time available in this study.  The data was taken from project worksheets and summative quizzes: pre-assessments, formative assessments, post-assessments that resulted in graphic representations for this analysis. 

The goal of this assignment and unit was to collect and use the child/student data to profile student learning. The data translated to EXCEL graphs which became visual information about the student progress in learning about the concept of time.  It is the challenge for all teachers to see students as individual learners.  Their many experiences shape each child's perceptions and understanding, hence the way they learn. 

A lesson should try and incorporate some listening, watching, discussion and a practical activity to awaken the multiple intelligence's.  This serves to educate both genders and all learning styles.  (Williams, 2013)