Victoria McDonald TWS-8 Reflection on Instructional Unit Whole Class Full time teaching in a third grade classroom for

the first time was not an easy task. I learned so much a out eing a etter teacher and an all around etter !erson. I honestly feel that o"erall my instruction during student teaching had a !ositi"e im!act on student learning. #lthough e"ery student did not always meet the o $ecti"e% e"ery student was engaged and was gras!ing something new. If I could go ack and change some things throughout my e&!erience% I would most likely change the class schedule. I !ersonally feel that the class daily schedule !layed a ma$or role in some unmet o $ecti"es. Students started the day with related arts and an hour following related arts was recess. 'ne hour after recess was lunch% howe"er after lunch there was no reak and the students were in class for the remainder of the day. While at (inecrest% I tried to make the afternoons etter y randomly ha"ing dance reaks and wiggle times for the students to loosen u!% stretch% and !ut a smile u!on their faces. )ucy *alkins+ techni,ue for enhancing student+s literacy skills is the new techni,ue for (inecrest -lementary also. This was a "ery new a!!roach to reading and teaching for me. I was unfamiliar with how it would work and ,uickly found out that it was the first year they had een using it and many of the teachers were feeling the way I was. They were unsure and ner"ous. *onsidering that this was first time they had used

Victoria McDonald TWS-8 this study there were lots of o ser"ations com!leted y the !rinci!al. She was e&tremely o!timistic a out the techni,ue and really wanted e"eryone to gi"e it the est they had.

During my unit of study% I encountered some mistakes and misha!s along with lots of !ositi"e results and incidental teaching moments. Those are the moments I li"e for. I felt e&tremely confident in my students to meet the o $ecti"es that I !laced efore them. '"erall% I saw more growth and !rogression throughout the unit of study. My instructional decision to include lots of grou! work and !artnershi! learning really engaged students throughout the semester. (rior to eginning lessons% I would assess the students familiarity to the u!coming su $ect manner. .y doing this I was a le to !ut into !ers!ecti"e which students would e re,uiring additional hel! during the lesson. I could modify my lessons ased on student+s !reassessments. During the lessons I o ser"ed all student work and recorded their !rogress. (ost-assessments were always summati"e and I used these to calculate student grades and their !rogressions. The !ost-assessments were always done inde!endently. In the future as a teacher I will try to use a wider "ariety of !ost- assessments.

I elie"e that on some students can e&!ress what they learned etter through other ways than $ust the test that we make and gi"e them to

Victoria McDonald TWS-8 take. For instance% during my semester I had one /is!anic student that could "er ally tell me e"ery state sym ol for South *arolina ut when he had to match them he did not e"en recei"e 012. This showed me that when I ecome a teacher it is e&tremely im!ortant that I understand and !ay attention to each of my students.

Professional Development My !erformance this semester is a result of my students+ achie"ement. I feel that this semester student teaching has really hel!ed me to grow and learn a lot a out my teaching style. I really want to e the est teacher that I am ca!a le of eing. I understand that the needs of my students is the most im!ortant and that I may ha"e to ad$ust and modify lessons on numerous occasions to successfully meet their needs. Working closely with my coo!erating teacher mad me want to one day further my education. She has a master+s degree and is now working on a doctorate. She was a true ins!iration. I com!letely understand that the more time that I s!end in a classroom the more e,ui!!ed I will e for any $o or task thrown at me during my years teaching. I look forward to the years ahead knowing that the more I de"elo! the etter my !erformance as a teacher will ecome.