Math Unit Reflection

This spring semester 2019 I taught a unit in third grade math on area and the distributive

property based on standards 3.ATO.5 and 3.MDA.5. The first week was focused on the

distributive property related to multiplication. This concept later helped the students relate the

distributive property to solving for the area of plane figures, which is what the students learned

about during the second week of the unit. Before the unit started, I assessed what the students

already knew about the teaching concepts through the use of a pretest; the pretest was used after

teaching the unit as a post-test as well. Overall, the unit was a success because every student

grew in the content knowledge of the standards covered.

From analyzing my students’ pretests and post-tests I could see that every one of my

students grew in their understanding of the standards’ content. Before teaching the unit, the

students had little to no knowledge regarding the distributive property relating to area or how to

solve area word problems. As a result, the pretest scores were very low. The highest score on the

pretest was a 31 and the lowest score was a zero. After the unit, however, the highest score was a

100 and the lowest score was a 31. While a 31 is still low, this student missed half the instruction

because of a pull-out program and had scored a 31 on the pretest, so there was still growth. Four

of my 17 students failed, while four students made an A, four made a B, 4 made a C, and one

student made a D. Therefore, three-fourths of my class passed and demonstrated major growth.

The student who grew the most grew 94 points going from a 6 to a 100. The student who grew

the least only grew by 23 points. Although this was still improvement, I think the student knew

more than he displayed on the final test. I always tell my students they must look over their

answers a second time before submitting their answers, however, for this student in the future I
would require them to show their work for every problem before receiving permission to submit

their test.

While teaching the unit, their were a number of ongoing or minor assessments used to

check for student understanding or mastery over content areas. I included four quick-checks in

the unit, two minor grades (acted as tests), and multiple activities for the students to complete.

When teaching, I would often monitor and adjust according to what the students needed the most

help on. I ended up often reviewing the quick-checks from the day before before I would start

teaching the new material for the day in order to ensure the students had a better understanding

of what they had learned. I also ended up adding more example problems than I originally had,

because I noticed my students needed more exposure with the work before they started working

independently.

Throughout the unit, I used demographics to help plan my lessons. I used my

demographics most when giving my informal and formal assessments. For my students who are

RTI or have an IEP, I would read the assignments aloud to check for true understanding. I

included Flocabularys because my students are mostly all interested in music and love videos. In

order to accommodate for my student with vision problems, I would move him close to the board

when I taught. To assist my students with exceptionalities, I left time in my planning for

remediation and allowed for group work.

If I could go back and reteach the unit content, I would have done a few things differently

throughout the instructional time. First off, I would use less worksheets during the second week

of teaching. In order to help the students on the final minor grade, I gave them a practice

worksheet on the second Monday of the unit was resembled the worksheet they would see on
Friday. However, I realized later that during the second week, I did not have the students

complete any “fun” activities. I would also work on my pacing, as it can always improve. If I had

paced myself better throughout the unit, I would have had more time to review the unit content at

the end before the final assessment. My students need as much experience and exposure to

content as they can get in order for maximum application on their assessments. I want the

students to retain what they have learned, therefore, review is very important. I did not have as

much time to review at the end of the unit because I had two or three days I had to push finishing

assignments to the next day. While I value flexibility, it would have been nice to have spare time

instead of being crunched for time at the end. The last thing I would have changed about my unit

would be that I would included a time to work on vocabulary in the unit. With word problems

related to area, it can sometimes be confusing for my students to know what to do when. In the

future, I would have pre-taught key area vocabulary words before having the students work on

word problems.

Overall the unit was a success. Every student grew in their understanding of the unit content.

Throughout the unit, my students consistently improved their behavior and were trying their very

best to understand what was expected for them to know. This process was very useful and gives

me excitement for my future in education.