Kristin Sarboukh March 15, 2013 Lesson Reflection 1

The most exciting part of becoming a teacher is beginning to teach your own lessons. I got the opportunity to teach my first full math lesson on Thursday, March 14th, during fourth period, 11:25am-12:05pm. My objective for this lesson was that students would be able to compare fractions with different denominators through the use of pictures as a visual aid. I was very happy to see that the students did meet the goal of the lesson and really began to understand the idea that just because one fraction may have a greater denominator and a greater numerator, does not mean the fraction is greater. For example, I used the fractions 5/10 and 3/6. I asked the students which fraction was greater and why. One student was able to tell me that were equal because if you divide the numerator and denominator of 5/10 by 5, you will get 1/2 and if you divide the numerator and denominator of 3/6 by 3 you get 1/2. In conclusion, the student was able to tell me that 1/2 and 1/2 are equal making 5/10 and 3/6 equal. I was also able to see that they met the objective by walking around the classroom and working with students individually when they were working on problems on their own at their seat. I went up to many different students, checking their work, and asking why they got the answers that they did. Most were correct in their answer and if they were not, they realized what they did wrong when they explained the problem to me. Every lesson works well in some areas and misses in others. In my lesson, I think it succeeded in the fact that the students were able to complete their objective. After the lesson was over, I felt they really did understand how to compare fraction. The lesson also succeeded in the

way that the students were engage and that I used their prior knowledge to help them understand this new concept. For example, I went over what the symbols were for less than, greater than, and equal to which they have previously learned. I also went over how to represent a fraction as a drawing and how to figure out what fraction was represented by the drawing given. I think going over these previously learned things helped the students pull from what they already knew to learn this new concept. Where the lesson did not succeed as well was when I was trying to help them understand how to compare fractions that could be reduced. I thought they had a better understanding of reducing than they actually did. While some students were able to, a handful of students were not able to as easily. I should have broken down, step by step, how to reduce a fraction and then try to compare them. Also, the lesson was not as long as it was when I practiced it. After I taught the mini lesson and students went off to practice on their own, they finished most of the problems with about 5 or 10 minutes left in the period. Throughout the lesson, I do believe the students were very engaged. I used myself, and their teacher Miss Schroeck as examples when explaining how to compare fractions and they loved talking about people they knew. Also, every time I asked for a volunteer or asked a question, almost every students hand was up. They were very excited about coming up to the board and trying it for themselves. When they went back to their seats to do some practice problems, I knew the students were still very engaged because they were all diligently working. No one was off task and they were excited about checking their answer with their partner. I saw this as I walked around the classroom. Also, if one classmate was struggling, there was always another eager to help. For example, one student could not understand how 2/4 was greater than 2/5. His classmate next to him asked me if he could explain it and I let him. He used drawings and talked through the entire process and the student who was struggling really understood it.

This type of enthusiasm to help was so great to see because it meant not only were they engaged, but they enjoyed what they were doing. If this were my classroom, the next lesson I would teach would be beginning to add and subtract fractions. While this seems like a big jump from one thing to another, I believe it chronologically makes sense. Because students already know what fractions are, how to create a fraction from a visual, how to reduce fraction, and how to compare fraction, I think they are ready to use all these tool to help them begin to add and subtract fraction. Looking back, if I were to do this lesson again, there would be a few things I would do differently. First, I would have broken down how to reduce a fraction to remind them of what they previously learned. While the students do know how to do this, they still needed to take it step by step as a reminder. I should have broken it down and asked if there was a number that could be divided by both the numerator and the denominator with both of the fractions being compared. Then, with the reduced numbers, see which was greater. This would have made the lesson a bit longer which would have helped with the time management struggle I had since the students were done a little earlier than I had originally expected. Overall, I think I really learned a lot from this lesson as an aspiring teacher. I learned that you really need to know where your students ability is before being able to teach a lesson. You cannot just assume they understand a topic. For example, I should have gone over how to reduce a fraction at the beginning of my lesson when I was reviewing the other information students already knew. This would have allowed everyone to be on the same page and for me to know where each students understanding was. I also learned that sometimes, you have to adapt your lesson on the fly. Things are not always going to go as planned and sometimes you need to think on your feet and be willing to adjust, whether this be because students are not understanding

your lesson or because of their behavior in the classroom. For the most part, the students were well behaved but some were a little antsy. For this reason, I allowed the students to come up to the board more than I had anticipated doing so that they could get up and move around. I really learned that you have to understand your students to know where to go with your lesson. While I think it was successful overall, I hope I can take all of what I have learned and use it in all of my future lessons to come.