Lauren Gonzaba

10/14/2014
UTL 640EHaug
Reflection #1

Reflection #1
For my first lesson at Round Rock High School, I introduced the play, Twelve Angry Men
to my English IV seniors. For my second lesson, we finished reading the play as a class while
preparing the students for their character analysis essay. To introduce Twelve Angry Men, I
planned two anticipation activities for the students to complete. The first activity, Choose Your
Jury, required the students to read a court case and then choose 12 jury members (from a list of
18 profiles) they would want representing them if they were the boy on trial. The second activity
planned was a vocabulary activity that had the students read the opening lines of the play and
then defining the seven underlined words within the text using only their context clues and prior
knowledge. These specific vocabulary words were important for the students to know, as they
would be coming across them frequently throughout the play. The following week, I helped
guide the students through reading the play as they began identifying morally ambiguous
characters they would like to write about in their character analysis essays.
I was a little nervous before my first lesson as I was unsure how much the students would
participate and contribute to our discussion after the Choose Your Jury activity. Once I saw that
the students were excited and immediately engaged in the activity, I began to relax and became
more comfortable for the remainder of my lesson. I did notice that I had to repeat my instructions
a few times throughout the activity, which led to some temporary confusion amongst the groups.
I think the students were so eager to start the activity they we could not pay attention once I
handed the groups their juror profiles. Next time, instead of giving instructions as I passed out
the envelopes with the juror profiles, I will give the directions first, and then give the students

Gonzaba 2

their materials. Mrs. Lawrence also suggested I give the instructions in chunks, which I may try
next time, since this will allow the students to focus on one thing at a time.
Also, though I did walk around the room while the students were working on their
activity, I could have asked better questions when I stopped by each group. I usually just asked
them if they need help or which jurors they had already chosen, but I could have asked them
more critical thinking about why they choose those jurors; next time I may play Devils
Advocate a little. The only other aspect I could improve on is strategically positioning myself
throughout the room during class discussions. I tended to stay towards the front of the room as I
called upon students to answer the discussion questions, which resulted in students only
responding to me instead of including the entire class. Mrs. Lawrence suggested I use her
strategy of moving away from whoever is speaking and standing on the opposite side of the
room, so everyone can hear the answer and the discussion is more open. Because the students
were so engaged with Choose Your Jury, we were unable to get to the vocabulary activity. Mrs.
Lawrence said this was not a problem as she did not want to abruptly stop the students learning
process just to check another activity off a checklist.
The following week, the students finally began reading Twelve Angry Men, so I first
observed how Mrs. Lawrence taught the play, then the next day I guided the students through the
last two acts. The only part of this lesson Mrs. Lawrence brought to my attention was not
addressing a groups small side-chatter while the class read the play aloud. I may have not
noticed the whispers, or maybe it didnt last long enough to warrant my redirection, but next time
I can go over to the group and ask them to quiet down, if that is what Mrs. Lawrence expects.
For these past two lessons I was especially proud of Mrs. Lawrences comments on my
positive energy and attitude while teaching. She also commented on my great rapport with the

Gonzaba 3

students, and on how she loved that I was already learning the students names. I also felt really
good about the discussion part of the Choose Your Jury activity, especially considering I was
nervous about this part in particular before I began the lesson. Mrs. Lawrence liked the types of
questions I asked the students to activate their critical thinking skills, since it is good to know I
recognized which questions were appropriate for this grade level. The students volunteering their
answers definitely helped my confidence as I lead the discussion, and now I feel more secure
with planning other class discussions, since I know they are going to contribute. Similarly with
this first lesson, my second lesson went really well as I felt good about my attitude and getting
the students engaged with the play. I didnt have the students just sitting and reading at the table,
I actually had them get up and act out the play when appropriate. This not only broke up the
monotony of reading, but it allowed the students to move around and laugh with each other.
Reading the play with the students was a very enjoyable experience for me because I could see
how much fun they were having while acting it out.
Overall, I would say both lessons went very well. Leading into my next lessons, I need to
focus on how I am going to deliver instructions to the students to ensure they all hear and
understand what to do without any confusion. I could even write down the steps of the
instructions on the board, so they also have a reference for them throughout the activity. Also, I
am going to start paying closer attention to side-chatter throughout my teachings and redirect
them as soon as they start up, so it doesnt escalate later. As I prepare my next lessons, I will take
these areas of improvement into consideration, while also ensuring I continue to accentuate my
strengths.