Emma Veteto

Gjoni
SCED 499
October 16, 2018
Teaching Segment 1: Reflection

My first lesson was a 15-minute warm-up drill wherein I broke down the overall

objective and led students through a writing task based on their knowledge of delivering an

effective presentation. I feel that the first portion of my segment was successful, as evidenced by

the amount of student participation. When I asked students what they were going to know by the

end of class, according to their understanding of the objective, several students raised their

hands. Students showed an explicit understanding of their expectations for the class. However,

when I gave students their warm-up question, What does an effective presentation look like?

What does it sound like?, students responded with a series of confused facial expressions.

Though I initially thought I lost the group, I quickly made my learning target explicit by

clarifying that I was looking for a written example of their own perception of effective

presentation and not necessarily a literal account of a presentation’s look and sound. Students

clearly had an understanding of this topic, as this portion of the lesson went on for longer than

initially intended. Every student was excited to contribute their ideas about presenting, and I was

eager to compassionately respond to each individual thought.

However, in my efforts to respond to every student compassionately, I experienced an

unforeseen issue with my pacing. Because I was so thrilled to see the class participating in my

lesson, I allowed the discussion to l exceed the designated 5 minutes. This challenge was

evidenced by my mentor, who wrote, “too much time for discussion” on my evaluation form.

Though students were responding well, they were beginning to repeat themselves and perhaps
wonder what more I could possibly be looking for by extending the amount of time spent on the

activity.

Overall, my mentor rated the lesson as being effective, highlighting my strengths as

developing student rapport and respect. This was a fear of mine, as I had not yet worked with

high school students, and I worried that the proximity in age would be a disadvantage to me.

Additionally, my mentor noted that my lesson plan itself was diligent and clear while remaining

flexible to his last-minute suggestions. If I was to repeat this lesson, I would be more considerate

of my pacing when engaging in a discussion. To keep myself on track, I may, in the future, set a

timer on my phone to remind myself when to close an activity. Though there are moments when

an activity can stand to be lengthened, it is still important to keep tabs on how time is being spent

in the classroom. From this change, I anticipate that students would feel more engaged and

energetic, as the lesson would move much quicker.

InTASC standard 7 was perhaps the most prevalent standard demonstrated in this

teaching segment. Although the planning itself was not apparent during my actual segment, it

was clear in my teaching that I planned “according to curriculum goals and content standards”.

When writing my lesson plan, I developed my own objective for what I wanted to achieve in the

warm-up itself and how it would effectively tie into my mentor’s overall lesson for the day.

I feel that this lesson was an excellent start to my teaching segments, as these students

were participatory and respectful. Though I experienced some difficulty in pacing myself, I was

not discouraged, as my mentor assured me that this skill is difficult to master during the first year

of teaching. Once I have my own classroom wherein I can gauge the understanding of my

students on a personal level, I will not feel the need to reinforce the concepts of the lesson at

such length.