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TWS 8 Reflections, Self-Evaluation, and Professional Development
Lesson One
Science (Magnets)

Section 1: Whole Class

A. The students participated in a whole class discussion, table discussions, and individual
work time during this lesson to learn and test their knowledge on Magnets and the
characteristics that go hand in hand with magnets. This gave the students the opportunity
to be challenged as a class as a whole and challenged individually when they were put to
the test for their post-assessment. After reviewing the content for a second time, the
students were able to come up with accurate answers for whether or not items that were
given to them to test out were magnetic or not. They did the testing of the objects as a
group discussion but were responsible for identifying on their own individual worksheets.
The students were on topic and focused when a roamed the room to help students if they
needed help. Students were letting the table helper do the testing as they sat back and
observed without any problems. They conversed as a group and were able to come up
with answers together accurately. During the independent work time, students were
responsible for circling the correct items based on their results that they gained from the
testing of the objects as a whole group. Multiple students raised their hands throughout
the lesson with questions and some just wanted to show me what they had discovered,
which I was very pleased to see. The open class discussion helped the class tremendously
because they were able to refresh their memories to be successful with the lesson for the
pre, during, and post assessments (individual work).
B. I chose to have the class participate and converse with only the 5-6 students at their
individual tables to test the objects that were given to them for whether or not they are
magnetic because I wanted all the students to participate and be on task while being able
to express their own knowledge instead of only hearing a select few speak throughout the
lesson. As a formative assessment, I made a huge point to circle the room occasionally to
listen to the individual side conversations that were taking place to determine whether or
not the student had a complete grasp on the concept of magnets and the specific
characteristics that go along with the subject matter. I was very impressed with the
conversations that the groups were having, they were so excited when their estimations
were correct and I honestly felt like I was working with a higher grade level based on
their interest in the topic. Since the majority of their conversations were accurate and
advanced, I challenged the students by asking a select few to think of some other items
that may be magnetic that they dont see right in front of them. This was a big challenge
for them because two of the students mentioned the same type of items in the cup on their

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table, but just bigger in size. This challenged the tables and allowed them to react to the
other students different answers that were given.
C. The post-assessment activity that I had the students complete, was on grade-level but
there were still a select few that were unable to keep up with the other students at their
table and were unable to finish circling the correct answers in the given amount of time.
The class was introduced as a whole class, on the carpet, to the objects on the worksheet
that they would be testing individually as a small group at their individual tables when
directed to do so. Once student returned back to their tables, they were then given the
worksheet to complete. The students did not understand at first but later did after a more
in depth instruction. Instead of just showing the class the worksheet, I wish I would have
showed them each physical individual object so they could understand fully before
returning back to their tables. This would have been the more appropriate assessment to
explain instead of just showing the class the worksheet.

Section 2: Three Individual Students

A. The student that succeeded the most during this lesson has the highest skill level out of
the group as a whole and is always continuing on working on her improvement inside and
outside of the classroom work ethic. The student in particularly is reading above grade
level by a landslide and has succeeded tremendously compared to other students in this
particular class. This student never fails at participating in whole class discussions and
works well with other classmates for partner discussions. She always seems to be very
knowledgeable on other subject matters and receives a lot of help from her mother, who
is a school teacher in the district. She has developed a strong education foundation before
she entered five year old Kindergarten at the beginning of this school year. I have never
had any behavior issues with this particular student nor has she had any problems with
other students within the classroom. She serves as a role model for other students in the
class whose poor behavior outweighs their good behavior. She excelled tremendously
with the lesson objective for this particular lesson plan without any trouble. She was very
eager to succeed and refresh her memory during the pre-assessment and was a wonderful
facilitator for testing the objects at her individual table. She learns very well in any form
that is handed her way and supports her other classmates who do not learn the same way
as she does. However, she does not realize she does this but this is a close observation
that I have encounter about this student while serving time in this classroom.
a. Although this student had no problems completing the worksheet, I still agree
with my previous statement on explaining the directions in a different manner by
not only presenting the worksheet, but also the objects individually to the whole
class as a whole. I think in future lessons; this will accommodate to the students
as a whole and will leave a lot of confusion out of the way.

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B. This lower leveled student is placed in the lowest group level in the class and he is still on
Pre-A reading level. This student is already guaranteed to be retained in the same
classroom with hopefully the same teacher for his benefit. This student requires a lot of
one on one attention and constantly needing an assistant to come by to explain
instructions in more depth and to help him stay on task in order to at least get started don
the lesson or activity at hand. This student entered Kindergarten with no education
foundation and has truthfully come a long way since the beginning of the year in
Kindergarten. I have witnessed parental support for this student and it was very sad to
observe. The father, who is not in the childs life completely, came to observe him for a
short period of time and the child was on his best behavior. However, when his father left
the child broke out in hysterics and cried the rest of the afternoon. I have witnessed many
behavioral issues with this child, but it has been made very clear that it is a reflection of
his life outside of the classroom walls. I strongly feel that the whole group discussions
helped this student have a small foundation of the subject before being guided into the
post-assessment. This student works better during one on one attention but he seemed
engaged when there was a different authority figure teaching the lesson. He was able to
hear other students answers and comprehend what was being said aloud and was able to
use this knowledge for the independent work to the best of his ability.
a. This student did not complete any part of the worksheet correctly independently
but did however copy a few of the answers from another student at his table. This
student roamed the room multiple times on his own which caused him to remain
off task. I wish I would have been able to accommodate this students learning
style more efficiently, but due to it being my first lesson was the class, I would not
have had any idea of this problem. I could have used individual objects with him
and had one of the teaching assistants work with him one on one to benefit his
learning efficiently.
C. The average learning student is placed in the average middle to low group in the class.
This student exceeds more than she doesnt, but still is considered average. This student
has no problem when it comes to individual work and is very independent when
completing her school work, she prefers it to be this way and I learned that from my third
lesson plan with this student. This student learns much differently than other students in
the class and relies solemnly on her visual strategies on any activity that comes her way. I
strongly feel that this particular lesson plan was good for this student because it relied
gravely on visually identifying objects and a handout that runs hand in hand with the
objects given because this student prefers to be organized and that is fully expressed in
her personality.
a. Just like the lower and higher performing students, I should have introduced the
directions to the post-assessment differently so that this students and the others
would have had a more visual start to the lesson by introducing each object

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individually, not just the worksheet. This student does better on her own while
relying completely on the instructions provided from the teacher herself.

Section 3: Reflection

This lesson taught the students to differentiate the two terms: attract and repel while
allowing them to observe the characteristics that run hand in hand with the term, magnet.
They will be able to take this knowledge that they learned during this lesson and apply it
numerous times with the upcoming years ahead of them. This will allow them to have a
base knowledge on the subject matter that will give them the opportunity to learn more
in-depth without any hesitation.

I chose to have the students work together as a group at their tables with only the table
helper being responsible for holding the magnet to allow every student to be able to see
clearly and efficiently to proceed with the post-assessment. The students really enjoyed
sitting back and watching someone demonstrate for me and they were eager to circle each
magnet object as soon as they could. They took lots of pride throughout this lesson
because they were very interested in the subject, especially the males. I gave the student
the opportunity to work at their own paces and gave them the opportunity to talk amongst
themselves at their tables so that they could let out their conversations and excitements in
an appropriate way.

I gave a clear definition of the terms magnets, attract, and repel after listening to the
students as a whole giving me their own definition based on what they had learned
throughout a previous lesson plan. Students were able to take this previous knowledge
and run with it to succeed during the post-assessment.

During the post-assessment activity, I realized that the students did not understand how
they were testing out each individual object. I decided to walk by each table to make sure
that they all understood completely and that nothing was holding them back from
succeeding during this lesson plan. While the students were continuing the assessment
asked of them, I made it a big point to check in on those students periodically who
appeared to be having a harder time getting started.

The lesson objective was met because each student could tell me something that they had
learned about magnets and what magnets do when they turned in their worksheets or
spoke to me individually.

Instructional time was met 100% because the students spent the whole time discussion
why and how the things that were happening during their observations were happening.
The only time during the lesson that we were not discussion the lesson topic or materials

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being used was when the students were moving from the carpet to their tables and when
the students were circling their objects on their individual worksheets independently.

During this particular lesson, I recognized that the students exceeded very well when they
were working hand in hand with their peers at their tables as a group. This allowed
students to work efficiently without their closest friends by their sides to cause behavioral
issues or insufficient work. I learned from the initial post-assessment activity that I
overestimated the skill level of the student in this class and that they need fluent
directions to be successful on the assessment given.

Section 4: Reflection for Professional Development

1. My first professional development goal, especially for my first lesson plan on a class that
I am not 100% familiar with, is to communicate with my cooperating teacher on each
students individual learning style and their level of understanding simple directions
before future instruction and lesson plans. I will plan to be willing to take any additional
steps that are necessary to make sure that I am meeting the accommodations for each
student individually and that the assessments are appropriate by being on grade level. I
want my future lessons to be successful for each student to improve and grow from where
they were standing beforehand.
2. My second professional development goals is to find better accommodations for those
particular students who have a hard time sitting down during a whole class discussion
that takes place as the pre-assessment. I underestimate the accomplishments of a
Kindergartener and I have learned that they learn more successfully during movement
activities and hands on work. I plan to, as mentioned before, ask my cooperating teacher
during student teaching or other teachers in the near future for advice on accommodating
particular students in hopes that they have had the student in their classroom before or a
student who learns and acquires particular actions that are similar.

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TWS 8 Reflections, Self-Evaluation, and Professional Development
Lesson Two
ELA

Section 1: Whole Class

A. This lesson gave the students as a whole the opportunity to be active in the discussions
and engaged in the lesson the whole time. I chose to have the students interact with the
reading throughout the read aloud by using critical thinking questions to ensure that the
students were able to follow the sequencing and actions that occurred during the read
aloud. I chose to have the class as a whole to color their bear individually because that
allows each student to incorporate their own interests and prove their skill level to a
teacher. The class was asked to think of ways throughout the read aloud to describe
Corduroy for his personality and actions that were portrayed throughout the read aloud.
The class really enjoyed working and listening to the personality of Corduroy, which
allowed them to remain, engaged throughout the lesson.
B. When I finished reading the read aloud, students were asked to tell me what different
locations the story took place in. A couple of students answered and were able to tell me a
few of the locations that the story took place in. After two or three answers, the students
started repeating the same locations that other students have already answered. Because
of this, we decided as a group to flip back through the story and slowly identify the
different locations. After we discovered the locations, students were responsible for
telling me the sequence of events that took place in the correct order. Flipping back
through the story to determine the different settings that occurred, allowed the class to
refresh their minds on the different sequencing of events that took place. The class
responded in a positive and engaging manner to this story and really enjoyed it. When we
had a whole class discussion on the on the sequences of events and the different settings,
the students were really engaged and were able to answer these questions after refreshing
their memory.
C. When teaching this lesson again, I would probably have the class do more effective preassessment regarding identifying sequencing events that occur in order to give the class
an engaging activity to allow them to have pre-knowledge so that they are able to be
more successful during a lesson of this type. This strategy would also allow students to
retain information much better and prepare them for teaching another lesson that is
similar to this particular one.
Section 2: Three Individual Students

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A. The most successful student for this lesson is in the high performing group. This student
is always engaged and participates to the best of her ability in every lesson and never has
any behavioral issues, at least I never experienced one incident during my clinical hours.
This student is always focused on the activity, read aloud, or assessment at hand so it is
very easy for her to be successful on any assessment or work activity that is brought her
way. It was very clear that she had been given an educational foundation on this
particular objective so she was comfortable when answering the questions being asked
and was able to set herself up for success.
a. I believe this student was challenged to the best of her ability, even though she
was one of few that understood the objective fully, because there were some
fundamentals that were challenging for her, especially during the post assessment
when determining the most appropriate descriptive word to use to describe the
character, Corduroy. This student always helps those students who are more
challenged than her on the subject matter so therefore; she is always remaining
engaged throughout the lesson and comprehends very well.
B. The low performing student during this lesson struggles very much so on remaining on
task and staying focused during any lesson that is brought his way. He is a very emotional
student and expresses that frequently throughout each school day. He is in the process of
being tested for an IEP and hoping that the process will hurry. This student is in the
average group of students when it comes to reading but he still struggles periodically with
a lot of different things. He has hard time comprehending information but has no problem
identifying words.
a. In the future, I would plan to work with this student, or a student similar to him,
prior to the lesson to be sure that he is eager to learn and ready to be successful on
this objective and activity. This would allow him to be familiar with the given
information so that he will be able to keep up with the classroom as a whole.
C. The average performing student is also in the average group of students. He has made
tons of progress over this semester from when I first met him. He is already definitely
being retained with my cooperating teacher, but I agree that this will be very good for
him. However, he is very confident in the things that he does academically throughout the
classroom so I feel strongly that when he grasps the objective of a story like this, that he
will be very successful during the pre and post-assessments. This student doesnt really
have behavioral issues, but is very emotional and has a hard time with letting things roll
off of his shoulders.
a. In future lessons, like the low performing student, I would want to call on this
student more to keep him focused and engaged on the particular lesson at hand. I
know that this student can be very successful because of how often he pushed
himself to be successful and confident in everything that he does. I think calling

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on this student often and giving him a reason through positive reinforcement to
remain on topic would help him excel tremendously.

Section 3: Reflection

This lesson will help students better understand and comprehend stories that they read
inside and outside of the classroom. Breaking down the story by different settings,
sequence of events and characters will allow students to comprehend the lesson or
objective at state. If students have a full understanding of these particular things (settings
and sequence of events) then they will be able to create their own individual outlook on
any story they read or read aloud they hear. Students will be given the opportunity to
organize the information that retain and what to look for when reading.
These assessments and discussions allowed the class to remain focused while being
engaged in the lesson to better understand the objective. The students were very active
throughout this lesson plan and were eager to hear what happens next throughout the
story. Due to the class being active and engaged in the objective, they were able to
understand the information much better.
I am very comfortable when performing a read aloud that follows with critical thinking
questions, so I was able to keep the students attention and minds on me while reading
allowing them to comprehend and learn something from this lesson. I repeated
somethings in order for this class to all be on the same page and level if I noticed that
some fell behind.
After reading the book to the class, we did flip back a few times to recall particular
settings and events that took place to review to better our whole class discussion. I
adjusted the questions that took place, such as What are the settings that took place in
Corduroy? To What are the places that the story took place in Corduroy?
Twenty three out of the twenty seven students present during this lesson met the objective
(87%). I was able to know this information because while they were coloring their bears,
I roamed around the room and asked each table to tell me some settings and events that
took place.
This was a very smooth lesson and I truly felt like I did a good job portraying the
objective to the class. To save time, I could have already had the worksheets passed out
on the tables and had the students retrieve their pencil boxes before beginning on the
carpet. The students responded to the worksheet accordingly and positively.
As a whole, the class worked much harder and more efficiently during the first lesson I
did for them, but it was brought to my attention that they class really enjoyed listening to
books and breaking them down individually.

Section 4: Reflection for Professional Development

1. One professional development goal that I have made for myself during lessons similar to
this one is to interact with each student individually rather than as a whole class or as a
small group. I do think that students can learn a lot from each other, but I feel very

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strongly that if given the chance, it is important for students to have that one on one
conversation with their students if the opportunity approaches at a reasonable time. I can
do this in future lessons by making the post-assessment more challenging and a little
longer in length.
2. Another professional developmental goal is to be more relaxed when passing out or
gathering my materials together. I feel that sometimes it takes me a long time when in
reality it doesnt, I think relaxation and calmness is key in being comfortable in front of a
class full of 28 students. Although this was only my second lesson, I could definitely tell
that improved as my lesson plans continued throughout the semester.

TWS 8 Reflections, Self-Evaluation, and Professional Development

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Lesson Three
Math

Section 1: Whole Class

A. This small group size lesson plan benefited the students, especially the ones chosen to
participate in this small group lesson, because they were able to have that one on one
connection needed to meet the objective that they were faced. It was obvious that these
students needed that one on one attention, and each asked me individual questions as
needed. These 12 students did not jump into just completing the assignment; they actually
took their time and took each part step by step. There was clear progress from the high
performing students all the way to the low performing students
B. As the different skill leveled groups (low and average) rotated to my small group lesson
plan, I noticed that I didnt have to explain the directions or terminology as in depth to
the average students as I did the low students. I used simpler terms to my low students
and really took my time explaining the task that they were asked to do. Before beginning
each group, I was sure to have every student identify the shapes and colors that were
clear to be seen on their post-assessment worksheet. Although each student appeared to
be on task and understanding what was going on, it was still a challenge for them because
it was fresh material that they had only seen a couple of times.
C. I wish that I would have used different shape manipulative that ran hand in hand with this
lesson plan in order for the different groups to have that hand on experience. However,
each student was able to identify the shapes on their worksheet without using the
manipulative; I still think it would have benefited the students by keeping them engaged
on the information given to them. Throughout this lesson, I do think I should have been
more organized and prepared. I wish that each group of students could have been in a
quiet environment where they wouldnt be distracted. I think a quieter environment
would have preserved instructional time and allowed me to do an additional group of 6
students to have a total of 18 students work.
Section 2: Three Individual Students
A. The most successful in a high performing group in the class for all subjects and
participates fully in every lesson or activity. She is always respectful and helpful to those
other students in her surrounding area or table, and is never distracting. She has prior
knowledge on every subject compared to those other students within the classroom
setting and serves as a positive student for them. Like during previous lessons, she never
showed any signs of behavior issues toward her academic work or other classmates.
a. I do think that this student could have been challenged a little bit more, but she
never once showed that she was bored or unwilling to do the lesson. She didnt

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really seem uninterested in the lesson, but she finished much faster than the other
students during her small group lesson. I could have challenged this student more
by giving her an additional worksheet to do at a higher level, while she was
waiting for the other students to be finished.

B. The low performing student is a resource student and does serve a lot of morning work
time outside of the classroom in Special Education. He is in the average group of students
with every lesson or activity that is taken place. This student has an IEP in two subjects,
math and reading, and struggles equally in both of them. This student spends the majority
of his time outside of the classroom in Special Education so it is very hard for him to
keep up with his class mates surrounding him. This student has seen a worksheet similar
to this one during center time during guided reading.
a. Looking back, it would have benefited him more to complete this lesson
worksheet with his resource teacher since so much of his instructional time is
spend within her classroom. He learns much better and easier from her due to him
being in a small classroom setting that remains quiet at all times.
C. The average student for this lesson plan serves in the high performing group when it
comes to many lessons, but for this particular one behavioral issues played a large role.
This student remained off task and goofed around with another student across the room.
She normally works well in small groups or when called upon to answer a question, but
this day was late afternoon and she had had an off day. She is an average learner when it
comes to a lot being asked of her to complete.
a. I could have focused on her individually to make sure that she was remaining on
task, but it was very difficult with the group of students I was working with to
accommodate her needs. Next time, I would probably ask her to work with me at
a different time in a quiet location. I believe that this mistake falls under being
more organized to give my full attention to my students who need it most.

Section 3: Reflection

I was very familiar with using this type of post-assessment with this class because they
all have prior knowledge of completing one during centers when the cooperating teacher
completes guided reading groups. Each student I had worked with had completed one of
these worksheets, therefore, there should have only been difficulty identifying shapes and
following directions.
This lesson helped the students tremendously with scheme because they all could identify
their shapes and colors with 100% accuracy. This lesson was designed for extra practice
and to help those students who struggled with counting and applying those numbers to
charts.

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I choose to do this particular lesson plan to give the students extra practice with charts
that truly needed the extra help.
With the lower leveled group out of the 12 students, I modified the directions slightly to
make them more understanding for them. I took the time to have each student identify the
shapes on the given worksheet fully. They were expected to know them, due to working
with them since the beginning of Kindergarten. With the higher group of students out of
the 12, they were asked to draw their shapes on a separate sheet of paper and identify
them correctly.
The objective was met for this lesson fully, and the students really enjoyed it. By the end
of this third lesson plan, 95% of the students could complete identify each shape, the
amount of shapes, and colors that they were supposed to be colored without any
problems. Each student was assessed individually through their shapes, numbers, and
colors.
This lesson plan went a lot faster than expected for each group. The two groups of
students were very eager to finish up quickly in order to return back to their center. I
think completing this lesson plan in a quieter environment would help the students
remain on task and lose track of time.
These particular students benefited learning in small group form because they were given
the opportunity to have one on one attention to help guide them in the right direction
when left behind.

Section 4: Reflection for Professional Development

1. Even though the lesson was successful, I would really like to organize the pre and during
assessment a little bit better for a small group lesson plan. My students were very
distracted by the chaos taking place around them, and I wish my cooperating teacher
would have guided me a bit more in using manipulative with this class. They were very
well with hand on experiences and I strongly feel that they would have benefited very
well from using them for this Math lesson.
2. My second goal would be to have a back of plan for those students who succeed
tremendously with this kind of activity. I wish I would have had something more
prepared for those students who were very successful and who completed the assessment
very fast. To prepare next time, I think it would benefit me to look at the next grade level
worksheet that compares appropriately to the one that I used that meets their
accommodations.

TWS 8 Reflections, Self-Evaluation, and Professional Development

Lesson Four
Science

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Section 1: Whole Class

A. Throughout this lesson, the students benefitted tremendously from the lesson plan from
start to finish and the activities that went along with it. It was obvious throughout the post
assessment that students were knowledgeable on what they were being asked to do. Two
days prior, the class did a similar lesson plan regarding what plants need to survive so
they were knowledgeable on the information that was being taught. This lesson was very
successful for the majority of the class, but there were a select few students whom did not
benefit from the lesson because they did not meet the objective.
B. During the read aloud, I noticed that the class was getting a little restless and was not
paying complete attention. I can relate to them because the story my cooperating teacher
gave me was not the best choice. I would have much rather of shown the class another
YouTube video because they seem to really enjoy them. I decided to not go into too much
detail after reading the book because of how restless they appeared to be. This benefitted
the student because they got the opportunity to take their time on the post assessment and
engage in conversation with myself.
C. For this lesson, I could have given the class an opportunity to converse amongst each
other that were in their 4 square to relate to the information that they were learning. I
think the class would have benefitted from this very much because they are a very close
group of students and enjoy helping one another to succeed greatly. Students could have
discussed amongst each other on what other needs animals need in order to survive and
continue to grow. This would have promoted higher level discussion to ensure giving the
students an extra chance to grasp the objective.
Section 2: Three Individual Students
A. The most successful student throughout this lesson on animal needs is always successful
throughout her assessments and lessons and it is a very rare occasion that she makes a
careless error. If a careless error is made, she catches it herself and corrects it before the
teacher has the chance to catch it. The student is usually successful because she is always
focused on the lesson from start to finish, with little to no behavioral issues. She was very
successful and the high performing student in the lesson that went with the needs of
plants, so her prior knowledge was very strong.
a. I think this student was still able to learn from this lesson plan because one of the
characteristics the animals need, plants dont necessarily need. So this student was
still able to be challenged throughout this lesson and be educated fully on the
standard itself. I could have given this student along with any other advanced
student in the classroom a longer post-assessment activity that would have
challenged their brains more, but the time frame that was given held me back. I
didnt want the students to be late for their special area of the day.
B. The least successful student during this lesson is a typical average student in the
classroom. She sometimes excels tremendously and other times she is caught slacking out

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of just not applying herself. She usually participates half the time throughout each lesson,
but usually gets bored or doesnt want to apply herself to the concept and object being
taught that particular day.
a. During the lesson plan, I could have moved this student to the front of the class to
wear I was speaking and teaching to ensure that she was paying attention and not
slacking off throughout this lesson. This would have given this student the
opportunity to remain engaged in the lesson from start to finish without any
difficulty.
C. The average performing students is also a much averaged student within the classroom
and has many characteristics that the low performing student in this lesson plan have. He
also sits at the same table as she does and beside her on the learning carpet. I think both
of their attitudes and perseverance rubs off on one another and struggles depending on
whether or not the other is doing the same. He has a very hard time staying focused on
the lesson at hand and would much rather look throughout the classroom then sit still and
listen to a story. This student is also very shy, so watching him participate in a YouTube
sing along makes him visibly uncomfortable.
a. During this particular lesson, he was very engaged when answering preassessment questions but slowed down when he was asked to complete the postassessment throughout is Science Work Journal.
Section 3: Reflection
o This lesson begins and ends with a whole group discussion, so this helped students be on
task and knowledgeable throughout the whole lesson plan. Students were able to develop
their own ideas based on individual creativity and excelled from start to finish.
o My knowledge on what animals need to survive is very strong because this was one of
my favorite things to learn when I was in elementary school. I presented wild animals and
domestic animals to the students so that they could compare greatly to the topic.
o This lesson affects each student whether they realize it or not because they have animals
at home and animals within their backyards. Students could have the opportunity to
observe these characteristics on their own time and allow them to think critically and
compare the animals and plants within their own community.
o After I presented the topic, YouTube video, and read aloud, I stopped the lesson and
didnt go in any more depth on what we discussed in the read aloud because I could tell
that the students were becoming very restless and bored. I decided to go ahead and jump
into the post-assessment activity because they were familiar with this concept due to
completing it regarding plants on the previous Monday.
o Almost every student met the objective by answering questions correctly throughout the
pre-assessment, participating during the during-assessment, and excelling greatly

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throughout the post-assessment. Students followed directions correctly and worked

diligently to complete the assessment in a timely manner.
o I felt that transitioning through the different activities that I had planned was very
successful and done in a timely manner. Students were never given the chance to slack
off or lose their focus because of how quickly this took place.
o I learned which students were able to keep their attention span strong and which students
were not able to keep their attention span so strong. I was very impressed with the classs
eagerness to learn and succeed throughout this lesson plan.
Section 4: Reflection for Professional Development
1. For future lesson plans, I would like to do more hand on experiences by allowing the
class to observe an animal in the classroom in his environment. So students are able to
fully understand visually that they need food, water, shelter, and protection to survive. I
think this would have prevented students from becoming bored and restless and made for
a better lesson plan throughout each assessment.
2. For my second goal, I would look up different acting out activities that this group of
students could have done to keep their minds moving. This would be something to keep
the class moving and allow them to put themselves in the positions of animals in need of
survival.

TWS 8 Reflections, Self-Evaluation, and Professional Development

Lesson Five
ELA
Section 1: Whole Class
1) This lesson impacted the students in many ways. Such as, following along from a story
from start to finish and listening to determine a lesson that is being portrayed throughout
the story. This story was a simpler lesson plan when it came to the post-assessment and
little more difficult during the pre-assessment. The students really enjoyed reading this

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lesson plan together and laughed periodically throughout the read aloud at the same
things. The class was very attentive because they wanted to follow along, and they were
respectful when 2 higher authority faculty members entered the room.
2) One decision I made during this lesson plan was to relate this story back to one of our
classmates bringing in cupcakes for his birthday. At the beginning of the day, his mom
entered the room with cupcakes for his birthday and the class went wild with excitement.
Once students recognized and understood the lesson of patience being presented, I
referred the topic back to the cupcakes. I reminded the class that we must be patient and
well behaved during the rest of the school day to enjoy the cupcakes. They all were eager
to be patient the rest of the school day without any behavioral issues. I was very excited
to see their excitement on their faces and eagerness to be patient throughout the rest of
their endeavors of that particular school day.
3) If I would have taught this lesson again, I would have created a different post-assessment
that wasnt just coloring a worksheet. I did this post-assessment because I knew the class
would be out of whack due to having a substitute that particular day and I wanted to give
them something to work on that would keep them focused and calm throughout their
lessons.

Section 2: Three Individual Students

A. The most successful student during this lesson plan was a student whom at read this story
with her family the night before she came to school. It was very rewarding for me to see
this student jump out of her shyness shell and participate fully throughout the lesson. She
was able to answer any pre-assessment question that was asked and was correct right
down to the point. She usually doesnt participate throughout read alouds but inside sits
back quietly and takes it all in. I was very proud of this student and I reminded her of that
after the lesson was over. Her smile was very contagious.
a. This student was challenged appropriately because she was responsible for seeing
the storyline and purpose of the story at a different point of view besides a bed
time story with her family at home.
B. The least successful student during this lesson plan was a student whom always struggles
with remaining still and focused on the carpet for long periods of time. He is apart of the
low performing group of kids in this classroom setting and has not improved much since
the beginning of the school year. I was hoping that a lesson plan so short and sweet would
allow this student to jump on the bandwagon and be successful from start to finish. His
behavior issues are hard times at home get the best of him in his schooling environment.

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This student colored his spring-time bunny all one color to prevent himself from applying
to this lesson plan.
a. I could have worked with this student one on one, but he isnt very welcoming to
just any authority figure in the classroom helping him. He has a very strong
relationship with the teaching assistant in the classroom and I think it is important
to keep him in his comfort zone to prevent him from behaving inappropriately and
completing his work successfully.
C. The average performing student during this lesson plan was one of our low performing
students. I was very proud of this student because all day long he was on task and
engaged in every activity that was brought his way. He was eager to listen to the read
aloud from start to finish and remained positive when we transitioned throughout the pre,
during, and post-assessments.
a. I chose to have this student be my class helper when passing out the postassessment because he had been selected to be the weekly helper in the classroom
for that particular week. I wanted him to remain motivated throughout the postassessment so I strongly believe that this was a good choice.

Section 3: Reflection
-

This ELA lesson plan helped develop each student reading skills because they were asked
to follow along closely to determine the lesson that was being taught throughout this
spring-time story. This was done to not only help students learn how to read and
recognize sight words but also to understand what kind of story they are reading.

The book I chose to read for this lesson was a little above grade level, but I felt like with
strong discussions and critical thinking, they would be able to catch on to each page that
was read with out any problems. This class needed to hear a story that taught patience
because they are a very impatient group of students and the book just so happened to be
related to the time of year.

Throughout this lesson, I was able to give the students a comparison to their home lives
by asking questions such as, would you get away with this at home? What would you
have done if you were Betty Bunny?

Some of the words throughout the read aloud were long and more complex compared to
what they are used to. So when this occurred, I presented the word to this class and asked
them explain to me what they thought it meant. 4 out of the 7 times they were asked, they
were correct so I was very pleased.

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My lesson objectives were met because all of my students were able to take away
knowledge from this read aloud and explain to me what lesson they were being taught by
reading this story on that particular day.

For the most part I managed my time very well, there were a few incidents that I had to
stop reading to bring the class back to focus as well as two higher authority faculty
members entered the room to observe a poor behavioral student, but I severed as the sub
this day so our daily schedule was a little off due to class pictures.

Throughout this lesson plan, I learned to not doubt this class on the amount of
information that they are able of comprehending. I, the teaching assistant, and the adult
shadow were very impressed with how well this class followed along with the content of
this story.

Section 4: Reflection for Professional Development

For my future lesson plans that include a read aloud, I want to be able to plan out my
questions fully to prevent from getting distracted when someone interrupts by entering
the room. I caught myself having to look back at the previous page to see where we were
located. I feel that using stick notes to park pages for quick referral to where we were
would be very beneficial.

I would also like to have a strong handle on behavior for when the guidance counselor or
principle enters the room. I believe that this can only be done if you have a strong
relationship with that particular student, but it is very hard to read this student due to him
putting up walls to prevent relationships. I plan to discuss behavioral plans with future
teachers I work with, especially those who have taught a few of the students that I may
have in the future.