Final Reflection

Assessing prior knowledge before a lesson is very important part of planning a lesson; it helps save time because teachers know what to focus on or where to begin with a lesson. As I have planned assessing prior knowledge, I think assessing prior knowledge is a difficult thing to do without having students on a regular basis. The easiest way to assess prior knowledge is to base it off of students’ previous work and lessons but teachers get new students from different schools and different states and we need to be able to assess what they know about each skill; also, not all students enter a grade with the skills that were taught the previous year. Even with adults, it was apparent when one of us tried a lesson before we covered the content well. For my second lesson, I taught how to use the technology for my lesson but had forgotten to discuss the skill of equivalent fractions which resulted in my doing instruction during guided practice.
Once an objective is written, the lesson planning process seems to follow pretty easily. To plan instruction, a teacher needs to choose a goal or standard to be met and decide how the students will demonstrate that they have acquired the skill and/or knowledge anticipated. I know what my strengths and weakness are and realize that I have a tendency to get off task so planning and organizing my instruction is something that will be very important for me to do so that I can be an effective teacher. Planning my instruction will help guide me through the teaching the standards, especially long-term planning.
The part that I really had to work on was figuring out how to implement technology or which technology to use while I designed my lessons. I did not grow up using a lot of technology and I am not familiar with all the technology that is available today. I will have a lot of playing around to do before I decide which technologies to implement into my lessons with students. For my first lesson, I really struggled to find a technological resource to use to assess my lesson and ended up not using any. The students used the internet to research but in my 20 minute lesson, that was all technology was used for. Time was definitely an issue with the planning of that lesson; I tried to get too much done in a short amount of time. For my second lesson, I discovered an interactive website that keeps track of how well a student is doing during an activity; it records how many times a student attempted to create an equivalent fraction and how many times they were correct. That website had a large variety of useful interactive math activities which I hope to use in my future classroom. I found it interesting to see what my peers thought were age appropriate and time appropriate lessons. We were all able to learn what worked well by participating in each others’ lessons and discussing the lessons with each other.
I find informal or authentic assessment to be the most beneficial to the students and the teacher. It encourages students to look at their results and evaluate their work. When I did my equivalent fraction lesson, I had one of my classmates ask me twice if the assignment would be graded in a classroom; each time my answer was no, it would not be recorded as a grade for the grade book. I would want to see how well the students could perform the skill and I would write down what the students scored, but it would not be recorded in the grade book; it was guided practice.
By the end of the semester, it became easier for me to not only integrate technology into the lesson but plan the assessment using technology. I like students to use their higher order thinking skills and they can use those by posting on a class blog or wiki and then responding to their classmates. For my last lesson, students used Pixie to express themselves in a very individualized lesson which I could assess if they understood the concept by their finished products. Students were not assessed on creativity but on the specific tasks that needed to be performed; the finished creation was up to each student.
Before I took this class, I never would have thought of using a program such as Pixie or Inspiration as an assessment tool. By assessing students using technology, it cuts down on papers that pile up and the less clutter I have around me, the less I have to clean up. Some technology such as Spelling City will keep track of students’ scores for you and then you just need to import the grades into your grade book.
Assessing what students learned from a lesson that was taught lets the teacher know if the material or skill was understood and learned; if the skill was not learned, the teacher needs to review the information again or try teaching it using a different approach. I do not see much point in moving on to a more difficult task or one that builds on what was supposed to be learned if a teacher does not assess if students gained the previous knowledge. Assessment is also a way to evaluate if the teacher needs to modify his/her instruction.
I needed to make instructional decisions during my first two lessons to modify the lesson as it occurred. As a group, we discussed what needed to be changed to make a lesson work in a classroom of 20-30 students with the majority of our lessons. I plan on learning throughout my entire teaching career. I have some practice in the classroom but I think that my first year or two in my own classroom will be filled with learning what works and how it could work better. Teachers make decisions all day long every day; I am hoping if I plan well enough then I will have fewer instructional decisions to make during a lesson. I try to write lesson plans that implement differentiated instruction. If most students can be included without instruction needing to be modified, the greater chance each child has to learn what is being taught; I also hope that this will eliminate the feelings of who is “smart” and who is “not smart”.
When I assessed learning from each lesson, it really reflected on how well I had presented the material for the lesson. The feedback from my classmates also helped me understand on how I could improve when I did not teach the skills well for a lesson. There was one person in my group that I never understood how he/she was assessing our knowledge. I don’t understand what that individual will do to assess students in a classroom and I also do not understand the point in teaching a lesson if you don’t assess learning afterwards, unless it is just for fun. I am not opposed to doing fun things at school or in the classroom; I think it is highly effective to make learning as fun and engaging as possible but I also think that teachers should constantly be assessing their students.
I learned about a variety of technology that will be useful to my future teaching career. I was only able to use a limited amount during class but I have the knowledge that the technology is out there for me and my future students. With each week that we had class, I became more familiar with different technologies, how to use them, and when they could be used. I think that collaborating with other teachers, just as we did in our groups, helps keep ideas moving.

Digital Age Best Practices

I did a lesson on natural resources. In the lesson, the students were to research a natural resource and look at what happens to the earth when the resource is removed or used. I would like to improve the lesson by promoting shared expertise with networked collaboration (digital age best practice 1). I think it would benefit the students to work in groups for the lesson and discuss the effects using natural resources has on the earth; I also would like for students to collaborate alternatives to the natural resource they are researching. When students collaborate, it helps them build on their own knowledge and/or ideas by applying it in discussion and by gathering information. If a student has to explain their information to other students it will stengthen an understanding of what they are learning.
This same lesson could be improved by personalizing and globalizing content by making authentic connections (digital age best practice 3). While students are researching how the use of natural resources affects the earth, they could also investigate how it affects people; what happens to where people live, jobs, water sources, etc., . Students could also look globally at where, throughout the world, the natural resources we use come from; imports and exports of resources.
To assess the students using technology, which I did not do in the lesson I have discussed, I could have the students clarify understanding with formative assessments (digital age best practice 6). For the natural resource lesson, students should write a reflection discussing what they learned from the lesson and post it in a class blog or wiki. This would allow me to read what was learned in the students' words and provide other students with the opportunity of gaining knowledge from their peers.

Equitable Access

• Technologies for learning typically set learning goals for the learner. Technology for learning is created so that it can be utilized any student; it is meant to provide and measure dependable results. This type of technology guides the learner through the skill being acquired. The learners are in charge of the learning process when using technology made for learners; learners can set their own goals with this type of technology. Technologies for learners focuses on things like search engines, wikis and blogs. These technologies do not provide reliable outcomes; students may start with one goal and end with another.


• The current use of technology in schools creates equitable access for students because it is available for anyone to use. It does not matter if a child is a student at a public school, charter school, online school, or home schooled; it can be accessed through any computer. The current use of technology can create inequitable access for students because not all schools have the same resources. Technology requires money and adults who are knowledgeable and willing to implement technology into the curriculum.


• I would like to change the current system by ensuring proper training for teachers so that they are more capable of implementing technology. Teachers need to be willing and excited to use technology with their students and they need to understand how to use the technology available to them and how it can benefit their students.

Assessment of Learning Lesson 3

The lesson was successful;it was my favorite of my three lessons. As a group, we were able to complete the lesson and everyone appeared to like their finished product. I felt that I taught the lesson well overall but I did not like that I felt rushed and had to leave the students as they began the lesson to go across the room to take the silhouette pictures; this is not the way it would be done in the classroom with younger students but I felt it worked best for this lesson. I also had a checklist that I wanted to show the students so they could check to make sure their project contained specific elements but I forgot about it until the end of the lesson.
My peers seemed to think the lesson went well also. They all mentioned how technology was definitely integrated, or the main part of the lesson and one of my peers stated that I reverted back to prior knowledge and gave plenty of examples (of acrostic poems).

Instructional Decisions

I learned that I could have used a little bit more than 40 minutes, but not much more, to teach the lesson I was doing. In a classroom of 30 students, I would have needed to split this lesson into 2 separate lessons or have taken the silhouette pictures and have them downloaded before the lesson began. By looking at the outcome of the 3 different projects, my directions were either not specific enough or they were interpreted differently by at least one student. One student had several words to describe herself per letter so they only made it through their first name in the acrostic poem lesson.
The objective of making an acrostic poem with students’ names was met. I encouraged one student to move onto their middle name because he finished his first and last name but he continued working with the Pixie program and helped another student; this was appropriate behavior and he was being helpful so his lesson did not get modified. It was acceptable for the student who only made it through her first name because that was as much as she was capable of doing and she was content with her product. I thought the lesson went well.

Assessment Plan 3

I will be able to understand if students can identify and create an acrostic based on their final product. Students will be able to brainstorm describing words together; even though it is an individualized finished product, students can help each other find kind descriptive words and help each other with the Pixie program. I think it is always best to be able to walk around to assess how students are doing so that instruction can be modified during the lesson and to help students, or ask another student to help, as needed.

Instruction Design 3

My lesson is designed to begin with the description of what an acrostic poem is. We would then move on to examples of acrostic poems and I would demonstrate my own personal acrostic poem to the students. I varied instruction so that students who have difficulty brainstorming, writing, or using dictionary skills would only be required to make an acrostic using their first name; students who move through assignments quickly could also make an acrostic using their middle name in addition to first and last name. Students need to use their higher order thinking skills during this lesson because they need to think of kind descriptive words that fit who they are. This assignment also allows for as much creativity as the students would like to put into their project.
Students are using technology to complete the final product, they can use an online dictionary, or search for character traits that begin with the letters in their names.

Instruction Plan 3

My goals and outcomes are stated in a way that teachers and students can understand. My objective is, "Students will be able to identify and write an acrostic poem by creating on using the letters of their own first and last name." This aligns with Arizona reading and writing standards at the fourth grade level.

Prior Knowldege 3

To assess prior knowledge, I would have them write some words to describe themselves. I would also ask the students if they have heard of an acrostic poem and what type of poetry they have heard of. This is a lesson that would be done towards the end of the school year so I should have a good understanding of students' abilities.
From assessing students prior knowledge, I would have an understanding of students vocabulary and I would have an idea on how in depth I would need to go in my lesson. If I needed to go more in depth with a few skills, I would need to make this a two day lesson or rearrange the day's schedule.

Assessment of Learning Lesson 2

Each student could perform the task by the end of the lesson. One student was having difficulty so we talked our way through an example; then to make the experience a more successful one, I differentiated her lesson to incorporate on equivalent fraction instead of two. Another student caught on very quickly so we changed the lesson to make fractions using circles. This may not have been more difficult for him but it changed the lesson slightly. One of my peers stated that through my instruction, students were able to have fun with the website; I think it is always beneficial to make learning fun. A comment was made about how this activity would be appropriate for students who had some experience with equivalent fractions, not as a lesson that helps teach a new concept. I wonder if I had spent more time on instruction about the fractions, if her opinion would still be the same. I unintentionally rushed through academic instruction; I’m not sure I would have done the same with actual fourth grade students.

Teaching Lesson 2

I did not spend as much time as I should have on instruction at the beginning of the lesson. Through the teaching process, I realized what worked well with the website and what might have caused problems with a large class of fourth grade students. Each student had his/her lesson modified during the lesson; one student had her lesson modified to make it a less frustrating and a less difficult experience. I encouraged the other two students to decide if they liked making equivalent fractions with squares or circles better and evaluate which they thought was more difficult. The students were reassured that the lesson would not count as a grade in the grade book even though I wanted to see the score that the students received at the end of the lesson.

Plan for Assessment Lesson 2

The technology keeps a running record of how well the student is doing on the task. The students are to show the teacher the score so that it can be written down but not used as a grade. This will allow the teacher to look at the scores after the lesson and see which students had difficulties and it will show students if they need to practice the skill. For guided instruction and assessment purposes, I will go to each student to check on his/her progress. Making my way around the room also gives me the opportunity to help differentiate instruction during the lesson.

Teaching Design for Lesson 2

My lesson is organized to begin with reviewing the vocabulary needed to build on students prior knowledge and ending with an informal assessment for the students and I to see what knowledge was gained during the lesson. The technology used in the lesson allows for differentiated instruction. Students will apply multiplication skills to think about what numbers can be used to create a fraction that equals the given fraction. The technology allows students to visually see how a shape can be divided or manipulated to create the amount needed for the denominator and shade the correct amount for the numerator.

Plans for Lesson 2

I stated what the students would be able to do and how they would demonstrate this knowledge in terms that other teachers and my principal can understand. I did not put the objective in student friendly terms. "Students will be able to convey an understanding of fractions by creating visual representations of two unique fractions that are equivalent to a given fraction." The objectives align with the Arizona Department of Education fourth grade math standards.

Prior Knowledge Lesson 2

For this lesson, I would have assessed students prior experience with equivalent fractions with lessons of fractions without modifications. Previous lessons on simple fractions and multiplication should give me a good idea about which students will be able to create equivalent fractions with or without difficulty. The technology allows students to create equivalent fractions using squares or circles and students can either create one equivalent fraction or two. My knowledge about my students abilities would help me determine who I would encourage to use which shape and how many fractions I would have them do.

Assessment of Learning

One of my peers had commented about confusion of fossil fuels during instruction but had stated they had an understanding of the topic after the lesson; I feel that this shows the lesson was successful in teaching students new information. My classmates seem stated that I was prepared for the lesson, the lesson was age appropriate, got students involved in the learning process, and all three mentioned the fact that I went around to each student to help and guide the students learning. I also did this as a way to encourage critical thinking skills and to assess the students' understanding of the content.

Teaching Decisions

From my lesson, I learned that I tried to do too much during my lesson period. I was not able to teach my objectives as well as I had liked even though students still gained and applied knowledge from the process. Instead of being able to deeply teach my objectives, it seemed to me as if we just touched on them. My reviews from my peers were not negative but I would have liked to have accomplished more in my lesson. I modified a student's lesson by asking one student to research a resource I chose for her instead of her choosing a resource for herself. I feel that asking a student to "help" me by researching a topic is better than telling him/her that the resource he/she chose is too difficult or easier than his/her skill level. Also, by using formative assessment, I was able to guide students through the learning process.

Plan for Assessment

I will use a formative assessment. As the students are conducting research, I will walk around with a list of the students’ names. I will talk to each student about the research/project he/she is doing to evaluate if the student has an understanding of the topic and the skill(s) being acquired. I will ask each student questions such as "Why", which will cause them to use critical thinking skills. By using formative assessment, I can ensure that individual needs are being met.

Design of Instruction

My lesson is designed so that someone such as a principal or teacher can see what to do to start the lesson, how the lesson should proceed, and how to assess or conclude the lesson. I differentiated instruction to meet the needs of a variety of students. For at-risk students, they can work with a partner or teachers can provide specific websites for research instead of the student finding his/her own. Gifted and talented students could try to figure out if there is an alternative for the resource they are investigating. Students are researching information while using technology; I feel this aligns with research based understanding of technology integration.

Lesson Plan

My lesson plan describes what students will be able to do by the end of the lesson in terms that are easy to understand. I forgot to include how students would demonstrate their new knowledge. My lesson is age appropriate because it does not challenge them beyond what they can handle. The lesson incorporates the skills students already have with critical thinking skills that will be guided throughout the lesson. My lesson applies standards which were pulled directly from the Arizona Department of Education website for fourth grade students.

Assessment Before Lesson

To teach this lesson with 4th grade class, we would have not done this lesson in 20 minutes. In class, I would have assigned a quick write about natural resources a week or two prior to the lesson. This information would let me know how much time I need to plan for the inquiry and instruction process.

Assessment Planning

I am performing a formative assessment which allows me to assess the students’ understanding during and after the lesson. The students will discuss why they chose to sort the given resources with each other (there is no right or wrong way), the teacher provides basic information, the students need to think about how to acquire more on the topic, and then discuss what they learned with their classmates. To meet the needs of all students, the teacher provides guidance to all students and allows students who are English language learners or students who have learning or physical disabilities to work with partners.

Instruction Plans

My goals, objectives and outcomes are stated in a way that is understandable to others. If someone needed to unexpectedly take over my lesson, they would know what the students need to do and how the students need to accomplish it. “The student will be able to differentiate renewable and nonrenewable resources by sorting images of natural resources. The student will be able to analyze the effect limited resources have on the environment.” This is the state standard but in terms that are easier to understand and I explained how students would accomplish the standard.

Instruction Design

The students get to explore materials without instruction to allow them to process some information on their own. The teacher can listen for vocabulary being used to assess what students may know about the topic. My lesson is set up to allow students to explore the topic, the teacher will explain the subject matter, and then the students will further explore the topic before classroom discourse. Students are using higher order thinking skills throughout most of the lesson; this is primarily a student driven lesson. The students engage in discourse as they sort resources with each other (there is no right or wrong way to sort materials), the teacher provides basic information, the students need to think about how to acquire more on the topic, and then discuss what they learned with their classmates. The teacher provides guidance to all students and students who are English language learners or students who have learning or physical disabilities can work with partners. Half of the lesson allows students to research information so I feel it aligns nicely with research based understanding of technology integration.

Assessing Prior Knowledge

My lesson contains questions in the beginning of the lesson that allows the teacher to discover if there is any prior knowledge. After assessing my students’ prior knowledge, I would know how in depth the instruction needed to go before we went on with the rest of the lesson. Knowing about students’ prior knowledge would provide a better idea of how time consuming this lesson could end up being. Time management is very important when creating lesson plans.

Copyright and Fair Use Checklist

Things to Check for When Using Someone Else’s Work

If the work is protected
• The owner of protected work may:
o Reproduce his/her work
o Build off of the original work
o Distribute and/or publish work
o Publicly perform and/or display work

There is a law that applies strictly to educators; The TEACH Act
• This distinct set of rights applies only to work used in the classroom
• It applies to all mediums
• Teachers still need to follow copyright and fair use laws

When using material/work for classrooms:
• Materials/Work should be limited to:
o Single chapters
o Single articles
o Several charts, graphs, and/or illustrations
o Other small parts of work
• Copyright notice and/or proper citation(s) should be included

Other’s work should be:
• Used Sparingly! Your own work should be used when at all possible.
• Cited properly at all times.

Other’s work should not be:
• Used for commercial purposes without approval

The punishment for deliberate infringement can be up to $150,000.

Copyright crash course: the teach act finally becomes law. (2002, November 13). Retrieved from http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/teachact.htm

Harper, Georgia K. (2001). Crash course in copyright. Retrieved from http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/cprtindx.htm#top

Preventing Plagiarism

Schools and teachers should try to instill pride and honesty in their students from a young age. Children also need to be taught what cheating and plagiarism is from an equally young age. If students do not know or understand what plagiarism is, they will not know how to prevent doing it. Teaching students to cite sources as they begin to learn and use research skills is the best time to teach citation. Teaching students that using another person’s work without giving them credit for the work they did is cheating and stealing; most students would not like for this to be done to them. By providing students with concept maps or graphic organizers as they research, this can help prevent students from using full sentences or paragraphs of other’s work. It may be beneficial to encourage younger elementary students to concentrate on the basics of citation and work towards a specific style as they get older. By teaching students these skills slowly and at an age appropriate level, it should become habit by the time they are out of elementary school.

Works Cited:

Mitchell, S. (2007, April/May). Penguins and Plagiarism: Stemming the Tide of Plagiarism in Elementary School. Library Media Connection , 47.
http://libproxy.nau.edu:8724/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=102&sid=9a486bbf-f968-4c7d-983c-1e90fc8a8895%40sessionmgr110&vid=7

Royce, J. (2010). Detecting Plagiarism. Retrieved February 28, 2011, from Robert College of Istanbul: http://portal.robcol.k12.tr/Default.aspx?pgID=130

Assessing my Teacher Skills

Quality teaching is when all students are learning with their whole brain. Teachers need to actively engage children so that the information remains in their brain. If I wanted to know how well I was doing as a teacher, I would ask:

• I would ask the students "What have you learned?" to check for comprehension
• Are my students actively engaged?
• Do the students feel comfortable in my classroom environment?
• Am I reaching each student?
• What different assessments am I giving to truly see where my students are at academically?

Technology and Natural Resource Lesson

On a lesson I did for Science in the classroom, I created an assignment about natural and renewable resources in a 4th grade classroom. I would like for students to do research via the Internet to see images of where our resources come from and what happens to the earth when they are removed and/or used. With the research that the students do, they could present it to the class. Presentations could be done using the computer if they choose.

Integrating Technology

Technology should be used to enhance students learning and to build on what teachers are discussing. It also helps differentiate instruction for students. I really liked the idea of bringing in videos and current news to the students to show them what is really going on instead of a silent 2-dimensional picture. I also really like the idea of the students using blogs and discussion boards to encourage writing and class discourse.