Amanda Cash

TWS 8: Reflection, Self-Evaluation, & Professional Development

1. Whole Class
A. As a whole, the intervention used in this mini lesson shows that each students grade
increased. According to the pre assessment data, the majority of the class failed the
assessment with a grade of D or lower. After the mini unit, the post assessment results
showed that all students made growth from the pre assessment to the post assessment.
The intervention strategy of grouping students based on their level of learning with the
standard proved to be a success. I also feel that the intervention of using technology in
each lesson during this mini unit contributed to the success of student learning. As a
whole, students were engaged in learning and seemed to benefit from the variety of
resources used in the unit.

B. I made several different instructional decisions that I thought would benefit the class
during the course of this mini unit. Through observation in the first lesson, I noticed
that students were having difficulty completing all of the steps that I asked them to
with the flipbooks. After observing, I decided to write all of the steps on the board so
that it was accessible to all students. This had a positive impact on students learning
because I noticed that students used the steps on the board as a reference and were able
to complete the steps. Also, as I was walking around observing students work I
noticed that many students were having difficulty following along with the directions.
For the next lesson, I gave clear expectations with an example of what students were
supposed to be doing. Throughout the lessons, I used a check list to help keep track of
which students were and were not making progress. This helped the most in several of

Amanda Cash

my lessons because as I reached each student on my check list I asked them individual
questions for understanding. I also used a whole group assessment that I call thumbs
up, thumbs down. This is a very quick and easy way for me to assess where students
are at in the lesson. This had a positive impact on the lesson because it helped me gage
whether I should move forward in the lesson or go back to something.

C. There are several small changes that I would make to this lesson to promote greater
student learning. One change I would make to promote greater student learning is
providing more labeled instructions. I gave verbal instructions and modeled what I
expected students to do, but I felt the class benefited more when they had written steps
to follow. I modified this by writing the steps on the board and next time I would do
this for each lesson. Another adjustment I would make to this lesson is the amount of
time allotted to each lesson. There are several lessons that should have been split into
two days. Even though the information was covered, some of the content is
overwhelming to students. In the future, I would split a few of the lessons into two
days to provide more time for students to process and work with the material. The last
change I would make to this unit is the integration of the flipbook. The flip book was
a bit time consuming because some students took a while to cut and glue. In the future,
this could be improved by having the materials cut out prior to the lesson and having
folders for students to store all of their materials in.

2. Three Individual Students

Amanda Cash

A. I followed three students that represent different learning levels throughout the course
of the unit. I classified the students as exceeding standard, at standard, and below
standard. According to the pre and post assessment data, all three students made
growth. The intervention strategy of using sub groups had the largest impact on
student learning. I feel this contributed the most to student learning because the
groups allowed for students to receive the most individualized instruction based on
their needs. I also incorporated hands on learning through the use of the flip books and
engaged students using interactive videos and power points.

B. There is a variety of factors that contribute to the success of each individual student.
The student that is exceeding standard is a female that is usually considered to be
exceeding standard in all lessons. She is a very motivated student that I provided more
challenging questions for. The student that is at standard is also a female student. This
student is very motivated but lacks organizational skills and struggles to keep up with
information. I kept this student and many others in mind while planning which is why
I created cause and effect charts, and other note taking strategies. Lastly, the student
that is below standard has the ability but lacks the motivation. This student often has
behavioral issues which interfere with student learning. Throughout the course of this
unit, I found that things worked best when I closely monitored this student and guided
him with extra help and instructions.

3. Reflection for Professional Development

Amanda Cash

One professional development goal that I have created for myself is to become more
knowledgeable about technology in the classroom. Coming into this classroom, I had no
idea of the amount of technology that can be implemented into an elementary aged
classroom. One step I will take to reach this goal is to receive both training on a class Ipad set and also the smart board. I would like to be more familiar with the I-pads and the
smart board to incorporate these into all content areas of the classroom. Another step I
plan to use to reach this goal is to research more applications that can be used in the
elementary classroom. I would like to be familiar with apps that can be used throughout
all content areas in the classroom.
A second professional development goal I have created for myself is to become more
familiar with a wider variety of instructional strategies. I feel that I am somewhat
informed about different instructional strategies, but I would like to become more
knowledgeable in the different types of strategies to meet the needs of all learners. One
step I plan to take is to research more diverse instructional strategies to use in the
classroom. I also plan to attend professional development opportunities to become more
familiar with different strategies. With this research and what I already know, I plan to
create a reference for myself that contains a variety of strategies that I can easily
reference in a time of need.