PROFESSIONAL REFLECTION

Professional Reflection
Leland Tulper
OTL502 Learning Theories and Modules of Instruction
Colorado State University Global Campus
Nella B. Anderson, PhD
December 31, 2015

PROFESSIONAL REFLECTION

In this assignment, we are supposed to reflect on a lesson we either taught or observed

using one of the 12 Touchstones to focus on. For the lesson in this unit, I put together something
on immigration, how it is so important when it comes to Latin America, and how it affects
everyday lives of the students. Rather than use the data for which I taught, I gave this same
lesson to another teacher and spent two block days observing the lesson in play. The teacher I
observed has 5 different classes that he teaches; periods 1, 2, and 5 are global studies and periods
3 and 4 are honors global studies. With this lesson, it was difficult to pick out specific
measurable data. So instead, what I focused on was the overall unit assessment that the teacher
gave me the data for the pre, mid, and post unit exam. The section of The Twelve Touchstones of
Good Teaching (Goodwin & Hubble, 2013) that I focused on was section 4; measuring
understanding against high expectations. The data collected is shown below.
50
45
40
35
30
Pretest

25

Mid-unit

20

Post-test

15
10
5
0
GS 1

GS 2

HGS 3

HGS 4

GS 5

As you can see in the graph, every single class improved their data through the unit. The most
significant increase was with the 5th period class; however the top average was through the honors classes

PROFESSIONAL REFLECTION

like I would have expected. What this tells me is that this unit was well planned, executed, with high
student involvement. I am curious how this will hold up against a cumulative exam at the end of the
semester.
In the lesson, what worked really well was the student led push and pull factors. Students were
highly involved and because of this; it went very smoothly. It did take a little longer time than I originally
allocated for this, but it was a great learning moment in all of the teachers classes. Another thing that
worked really well was the interactive discussion. There was almost 100% participation from every single
class. The students were very in-tune to the discussion and seemed to enjoy it.
A couple of things that I think I would change in the future is the amount of time spent in the push
and pull factors. The students were highly involved and it took close to 25 minutes where I only
allocated 10 minutes. Another thing I would change would be the graphic organizer. It was very vague
and several of the high needs students had difficulty putting it together in a way they could utilize it later
in the unit.
I feel that The Twelve Touchstones of Good Teaching (Goodwin & Ross Hubble, 2013) was a

great resource to use in the classroom. It really did give a great perspective on things with
questioning my own teaching. I feel that through using the methods as well as my website in the
future, I will be able to have an impact on more teachers classroom instruction and ideally better
student outcomes.

PROFESSIONAL REFLECTION

4
References

Goodwin, B & Hubbell, E. (2013). The Twelve Touchstones of Good Teaching. Alexandria, VA:
ASCD.