Student Teacher:

Chloe Rakos

Supervisor:

Lauren Delisio

Date:

October 29, 2015

Visit #

Summary of Pre-visit Conference/Goals for this lesson:

Promote original thinking and creativity from students
Transition importance of previous days teaching points to todays lesson
Provide explicit directions for what students should be doing at all times
Student Teacher Reflection:
Planning this lesson and the ones leading up to it was quite enjoyable. I decided to do
some more fun and creative lessons after we finished unit 1 ahead of schedule and had
some time before we had to begin unit 2. The students had really been enjoying reading
Mo Willems stories, learning about his writing style, and getting to be more creative with
their writing.
I felt very confident while teaching this lesson. I was very pleased with how well many of
my students seemed to understand the concept of an opinion and with their creative
reasoning behind why the pigeon should or shouldnt be able to drive the bus. As I looked
around at the students work it was interesting to see who really got the point of writing
more than just the writing starter sentences I had on the board and incorporated multiple
kinds of sentences and who was able to write a different idea than the ones that we wrote
on the board.
After teaching this lesson I felt that there were a few things I would do differently next
time, but overall I was very happy with it. Next time I would probably give my own
example for why I would or wouldnt let the pigeon drive the bus before asking them to
give examples. I would also scaffold the students a little more when trying to come up
with different ideas. I feel that I have made a lot of growth over the past couple weeks in
my teaching strategies and classroom management and am feeling very confident overall
in my abilities.
Supervisors Feedback:
Today you taught a writing lesson in the general education first grade class. You called
students by tables to come join you on the rug. This was very orderly; the students
followed your directions well. You started the lesson by asking students to tell you about
the books you have been reading in class (The Pigeon book series). You reviewed the
different types of sentences, using examplars from the book series (statement,
exclamation, command, question, and the types of punctuation that correspond with it).
Then you asked, What is that back and forth type of speech that we talked about? One
student responded with, conversation. You said, Yes conversation - thats a fancy
word - say it with me. You said the word aloud and the students said it with you.

Next, you moved on to a new book. OK, lets look at the original pigeon story, called
Dont let the Pigeon drive the bus! What kind of sentence is that? (A student responded
with a command. You prompted them further by asking, What kind of punctuation
goes with a command?
You introduced the teaching point of todays lesson: Today we are going to be writing an
opinion piece thats a fancy word does anyone have an idea of what that means? One
student responded with: An idea. You provided specific feedback by saying, Yes its
an idea about something.
Next you read the story aloud, with great expression and intonation. The students were
very engaged. At the end you asked, So what is he (the pigeon) thinking about driving
now?
You explained that today the students would be writing about whether or not they think
the pigeon should drive the bus. As you moved over to the board, you said, So, start
thinking if you think the pigeon SHOULD drive the bus. This was a good way to keep
them focused and on task while you transitioned yourself to a different area of the room,
and provided them with some time to come up with an idea. You asked students to come
up with some reasons why he should drive the bus, and wrote them under the heading on
the board that said, Yes I will let him write the bus because.. (He could steer, he would
be careful, he could push the pedals, he has a long neck to steer, etc.)
Mrs. Hoh jumped in and said I think he should drive the bus because he should get to try
something new. The students were struggling a bit with these ideas, so it may have been
better if you had started them off with your own idea to get them going; one example may
have helped jump start their thinking.
You moved to the other side of the board, where you had written, No I will never let him
drive he bus because.. They had a much easier time with this; maybe you could have
even started here. (He might crash, he might get lost, he might get distracted, he might
break the bus, he might run a red light, etc.) You provided positive feedback (I love
these ideas!) and you asked probing questions to further their thinking, like Are there
any different ideas?
Next, you explicitly modeled the work they would be doing independently after the
lesson. You explained that the students would have to choose which paper they would use
(Yes or no), and then you modeled with the No, I will never let him drive the bus
becauseI am going to say because you need a license to drive. You also pointed out
your own error: What did I forget to do when I first got my paper? Whats that very first
thing? One student responded with Name and you said, Yeah, I didnt write my
name! (This is good because it shows that even teachers make mistakes, and that is OK!)
You modeled putting your finger in between each word as you wrote, for spacing
purposes, as well as how to use a few different kinds of sentences. For example, you said,
I am going to say Does the pigeon have a drivers license? What kind of punctuation
should I end that with? (You reread.. a student responded with A question mark.) And

then Im going to put I dont think so.. What kind of sentence is this? What kind of
punctuation am I going to put here?
When students were chatting, you calmly and firmly said, Friends I am hearing a little
chatting on the rug, you should be paying attention to what I am doing up here. This was
an explicit directive and the students responded. They clearly view you as another teacher
in the room.
Finally, you sent the students off to work independently: When I call you up, come get
your yes or no paper, and then go back to your seat and begin writing. While students
were working, you were circulating throughout the room, providing corrective feedback
and answering questions. This could be a good time to pull a small group or conduct
some formative assessment of the students writing skills.
Cooperating Teachers Feedback:
Chloe has shown a lot of growth over the past few weeks. This lesson was a good
example of the pre-planning skills she has developed. Chloe takes the initiative to plan
detailed and curriculum orientation. She does a nice job getting the students to connect
with prior knowledge, telling the students the objective of the lesson, her expectations,
and guiding/modeling for the students. It is also evident through this lesson that Chloe
has developed a very good sense of classroom management. She is firm with the students
as well as respectful.
Review and Revision of Personal Goals:
Promote original thinking and creativity from students I feel that this lesson
really did this and I am happy with the different kinds of ideas the students came
up with.
Transition importance of previous days teaching points to todays lesson I feel
that this could have been a bit more clear for the students and would have shown
more if I made a specific requirement for how many different kinds of sentences
or punctuation students had to use in their writing pieces.
Provide explicit directions for what students should be doing at all times I feel
that I did a good job on this but it could have been better. There were a few times
that students had questions that I could have prevented by giving more explicit
directions or did something different than I wanted because my directions were
too open-ended.