Matthew Frutchey

Professor Reilly
Field II
20 May, 2016
Live Lesson Reflection
Before teaching Jack and Taralynn, I had an expectation that they might know that the
electoral college existed. When I brought the topic to their attention, however, they seemed
surprised by it and I realized I had my work cut out for me. Fortunately, I walked away from this
lesson feeling extremely happy with the outcome. My objectives were: being able to define what
the electoral college is, critique the electoral process, and differentiate the popular and electoral
vote. I believe all three of these objectives were met. For the first, both students were using
vocabulary, contemporary references in relation to the electoral college, and were able to
summarize what it is. Both of them also participated in a small teacher-led discussion about the
fairness of the process, understood why the election of 2000 was so controversial, and formed
their own opinions on the matter. This teacher-led discussion also allowed me to formatively
assess if they understood the difference and the importance of both types of votes found in the
primary election.
I felt the most difficult part of differentiation for planning and delivering the lesson was
considering how to not "dumb" it down for the older student. If I concentrated too much on
making the material easier, I would lose the attention of the higher-ability student, possibly
making her believe this lesson was not intended for her. If I catered it more to the higher-ability

student, the younger one would surely lose interest and become frustrated with the material. The
biggest challenge I had was masking the differentiation. For this purpose, instead of lecturing,
questioning, and reviewing, I used a highly informative video that targets middle school grade
levels. Instead of letting the five-minute video play straight through, I paused at key areas to
reinforce, review, or discuss topics, concepts, or important vocabulary words. This also allowed
both students to ask me questions and to make sure everything was understood before
progressing further in the lecture. I think this strategy for differentiation worked. Both students
did not appear to lose interest, they both asked questions appropriate of their grade level, and
were able to engage in further discussion about the electoral college once the video was over.
Both students were challenged in this lesson. One of the early surprises, however, came
to discovering which one of them was challenged early on. During an introductory game, I had
Jack and Taralynn take turns picking five states at a time. The first one to reach 270 would win,
and I instructed them to see if they can find a relationship between the states they picked and the
amount of points they received. Jack went first, selecting California and Texas, and immediately
verbalized his realization that states with bigger populations yielded the most points. It took
Taralynn another turn to figure it out but by that time, the game had been won. During much of
the lesson, I tried to read their body language and facial expressions to gauge if they were
interested in the material and understanding it. Both of them showed that they were thinking
about the material and both participated in asking questions; some of which were challenging for
me as well! Fortunately, I found that both students participated equally and their respective age
levels were well represented in their questions and answers.
If I had to do this again, I would create a better form of assessment. Due to the amount of
time remaining at the end of the lesson, a formal assessment was not possible. Instead, it became

a discussion/exit-slip hybrid in which I verbally asked them different types of questions to

formatively assess their understanding. With materials abundant for the electoral college, I think
I would find something interactive to check their understanding, such as a game or online quiz.
Overall, I was really pleased with the lesson, the student interaction, and the depth of which they
seemed to understand the content.