Post-Observation #1 Reflection

1. Did the lesson unfold as you (or your CT) had planned? If not, what changed and why? If
yes, what was the #1 aspect of the lesson that went well? Cite specifics from your
TeachScape video to affirm your response.
This lesson did and did not unfold the way I had planned. There were a few parts of the
lesson that did not unfold the way I had planned. My lesson on Monday was not very
good at all. I did not have the full attention of many of my students and the activity that
they completed was very chaotic. I decided to change the way I laid the fish and tiles out
for students to hopefully make them more attentive during the activity part of the lesson
on Tuesday. The changes that I made helped the lesson a little bit on Tuesday. Even
though the lesson still seemed rough it was much better than the lesson on Monday. I
could see the lesson start to go downhill when they took out their worksheets and started
measuring the fish. This occurred around 13:50 in my TeachScape video. I need to
figure out a way to keep students on task while they are pulling out their worksheets.
The best aspect of the lesson for me was seeing that most of my students do understand
correct measuring techniques. I could see this at 7:17 in my video when they corrected
me when I purposefully did not line the tiles up the right way. We have really been
working on this skill and I am really excited that they are beginning to understand.

2. Did the students learn what you had established as the essential understanding(s) of the
lesson? How do you know? Refer to any data or students' work on the video that helped you
to determine the students' progress.
My essential understanding for this lesson was Today I am comparing the lengths of fish
so I can answer story problems about their length. I know I understand it when I can
answer the story problems about the fish and get the right answers. I believe that a good
amount of my students learned what I had planned for them to learn but not the entire
class. I took up students worksheets at the end of the lesson and I checked them after
school. Nine out of my nineteen students correctly answered at least three of the four
problems. I believe I need to continue to teach students how to find the value of an
unknown number to help them with problems like these.

3. Briefly describe (include evidence from your TeachScape video) the extent of your
students engagement during the lesson. If you were not satisfied with the level of student
engagement, what could you have done differently to improve the engagement of the
students? Refer to any classroom management changes/strategies that could have improved
the engagement of the students.
I do not believe that many of my students were completely engaged during this lesson. I
believe that many of them were very distracted, especially when I was giving directions.
I can see this at many points during my TeachScape video. A few of these include 9:46,
19:05, and 27:41. I could have used Class Dojo more to make my students focus more. I
have noticed that when my CT gives out dojo points, my students immediately begin to
try to pay attention. My CT usually brings up Class Dojo on the board so students can
see who is receiving the points. I may try to secretly give out dojo points to students
that I catch showing good behavior. This may encourage all of my students to listen
because they will all want to receive dojo points.

4. At what point during your lesson did you realize the students were/were not understanding
your instruction? What did you do to compensate? Cite specifics from your TeachScape
lesson.
I began to realize that not all of my students understood the concept of finding the value
of an unknown in a word problem when I began walking around to observe their work
while they were completing their worksheets. This can be found at 19:05 in my
TeachScape video. After I realized this I began to stop and model for students that I saw
did not understand what they were doing. I believe that this helped the students I worked
with a lot.

5. If you could teach this lesson again to the same group of students, what changes would you
make and why? Include specifics from your TeachScape video with your answer.
If I could teach this lesson again to the same class I would change the behavior
management strategies that I used. I would not continuously repeat directions like I did
around 19:05 in my TeachScape video. I would also make sure that I had the full
attention of the class when giving directions. Around 27:00 in my video I was reading
the problem aloud for students. I can see in the video that many of my students were not
paying attention during the directions. Next time I will make sure that I have the
attention of every student before I begin.

6. Based upon your reflections and your post-conference with your university
supervisor/cooperating teacher, what have you learned about your teaching strengths and
weaknesses? What are some steps that you could take before your next observation that could
strengthen your teaching skills? List specific North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards
in your answer.
I have found that my teaching strength is treating all students equally and recognizing
each of their unique characteristics. This goes with NCPTS 2C. I believe that each child
has something that they can bring to the table and I want each of my students to know
that.
I have found that my teaching weakness is behavior management. This goes with
NCPTS 1A. Before my next observation I am going to research some new management
strategies to try out with my class. I am not going to give up on this problem. I want to
find a way to get my students to listen to me so they can learn to the best of their ability.