CT #1 LESSON REFLECTION

*Discuss student learning. What did students learn? Provide evidence for this learning (discuss student work, observation data, video, etc.). How do you know that students learned?

For my CT observation, I taught a math lesson to my students. This was the beginning of the unit in which I introduced them to the idea of fact families and related numbers. For the first part of my lesson, I introduced the students to my act family chart in which I explained to them that three numbers can create four different equations, 2 addition and 2 subtraction. I had the students come up can create their own equations on the chart by placing the 3 numbers correctly on the chart that would make the equation true. The other students watched and I asked them if they agreed or disagreed with how the student formatted the equation. I explained to them that a way they can tell that the equations in a fact family are true is that the greatest number will come at the end in addition and in the beginning for subtraction.

Later on the students solved a grapple problem independently at their desks. They were able to use whatever strategies or manipulatives they needed in order to fill in the equations. Many students were able to understand the concept than I expected. The really grasped the concept of where the greatest number should go in an addition or subtraction problem. Some who usually do have trouble in math understood that the greatest number needed to go either in the beginning or the end but couldn’t remember what operation that method applied to. Even when given the three numbers, some students still used manipulatives to solve the equations. I did not have a problem with this because that was their way of making sense of how the three numbers were related. Later after a while of practicing later on that week, most showed improvement in understanding that they did not necessarily have to solve each addition and subtraction problem in order to make the equation true.

Questions to consider in your reflection:

1. What aspects of your lesson were implemented differently than you planned? Why did that happen?

Some things in the lesson did not go as planned. One thing was that I did not get as much time as I would have wanted for the lesson due to a change in the scheduling that day which cut my lesson short. The students were unable to further practice this new concept in their math notebooks but were able to work independently on the grapple question. In my CT’s reflection of the lesson she explained that it is better for the students to spend more time on the grapple question than work in their workbooks.

Another thing that I implemented different than planned was how I conducted the grapple question. I helped the students through the grapple question and gave them ideas of what strategies and methods they could use to solve the equations rather than just giving them the question and allowing them to pull from their own strategies and methods. I think that I was more concerned with the students getting the concept that I did not allow them time to make sense of it on their own. I think that I helping them was beneficial to most but I could see that some students still did not understand the concept and needed that time to think on their own and use trial and error in order to make sense of fact families.

2. If you were going to teach this lesson to the same group of students, what would you do differently? Why? What would you do the same? Why?

One thing I would’ve done differently for this lesson was use different wording when explaining the concept that the GREATEST number comes either first or last in addition or subtraction equations. During my lesson I saw in my video that on many occasions I kept referring to the greatest number as the LARGEST number. This is technically incorrect because some students may have misconceptions with the words “largest” and “smallest” because they may relate it to size and not quantity. My CT explained to me this misconception and I tried to alter my vocabulary towards the end of my lesson. I found it difficult for me to change my vocabulary in the middle of the lesson and saw that even the students were saying “largest” and “smallest”. From what I observed, students seemed to understand that what I meant by largest number was, for example, a 2-digit number in comparison to a one digit number but I understood why it was imperative for me to discern between the two synonyms during this math lesson, especially when dealing with impressionable 1st graders.

What I would keep the same would be my anchor chart. I think that they students loved interacting with the chart and enjoyed placing and removing the numbers so that they could make sense in their fact families. I could see in the video that the majority of the students were engaged because they wanted to come up and place the numbers on the chart as well.

3. What surprised you in your lesson?

What surprised me in the lesson is how many students grasped the concept of placing the greatest number either in the front or ending of the equation and how that would help them easily fill in the other numbers. I had thought of this when coming up with my ideas for the lesson so it was enjoyable to see that some many students latched on to my strategy more than others. When walking around during the grapple question, I saw that some students were placing with the greatest number goes first in order to fill in the rest of the equation.

5. What connections can you make to your lesson today from your coursework, the literature, and any previous lessons or experiences?

A connection that I can make to this lesson and some of the coursework that I have doen would be connecting this lesson to my elementary math class. In this class it taught us strategies to use with students in order to help them solve equations. The professor explained the importance of allowing the student to choose their own way of getting the answer but also asking them how that helped them solve the equation. Also, when I was in this course, it was hard for me to understand the thinking of primary math students and how some things that come so easily to older students was a struggle for them; they are the ones that need that addition support in understanding the fundamental of mathematics and seeing the relation between numbers. In this lesson, and with now interning in a primary classroom, I see how the skills I was being taught in that class are very applicable to many of my students who struggle with understanding basic math concepts.

Questions to consider specific to a mathematics lesson:

1. Analyze your use of mathematics vocabulary. Were you precise in your use of vocabulary? Did you encourage precision in students' use of vocabulary?

This relates to my reflection on what I would have changed about this lesson. See Above.

2. Consider your mathematical explanations. Were you accurate in your discussion of mathematics content? Did you support student accuracy (in other words, did you correctly identify student work as accurate or inaccurate)? This does not mean that you necessarily told a student they were wrong, but that you recognized their lack of accuracy and took steps to support their further learning.

I make it a mission to never tell a students that they are flat out wrong. Doing so can deflate their confidence in the ability to excel in school. Students should make mistakes; that is how they learn and grow in their understanding. Instead what I like to do in my classroom is have the student’s peers decide whether or not they agree or disagree with a student’s answer. Many times in the beginning of my video I used this strategy and you can see that many were eager to say when they disagreed with their peers. My students are good at saying that they kindly disagree and with explaining why and how they either used a different strategy or got a different answer. The students are more receptive to the corrections from their peers than they are to adults so I try to instill as many turn and talks and peer reviews and tutoring in the classroom as possible.

*What did you learn from engaging in this lesson?

I learned the importance of using proper mathematical terminology when teaching students a new concept. Using improper terminology can cause unnecessary misconceptions in student’s thinking and may be difficult for them to unlearn later on when learning more complex things.

*What are some of your goals based on what you learned from this lesson?

Some goals that I have based on this lesson is better time management. Although my time was cut short due to a difference in scheduling, I could have made adjustments to my lesson and how much time I took with each step of the lesson in order for the students to get some time to work in the workbooks on additional problems. I think that I need to not call on as many students to give their explanations of how they solved the fact family equations. In the video, I saw that I would call on at 3 three students for each question which took up a lot of my teaching time.