CT Observation 3 Reflection

Video of lesson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wuo8pjfmBs

Discuss student learning. What did students learn? Provide evidence for this learning (discuss student work, observation data, video, etc.). How do you know that students learned?

• In this lesson, students learned how to use manipulatives (dominos) to compose two different parts to find the whole. They took a domino and placed it on this worksheet in the middle. Then, they wrote the two parts of the domino and added them together to find the whole. I know students learned this concept because I was not only able to see their worksheets after the lesson, but I also was able to see their responses to the exit ticket that showed two other ways to use part-part-whole, which were number bonds and number sentences. We used this exit ticket because students learned this in previous lessons and we wanted to see how prepared they were for the assessment in the upcoming week. Students showed us that they knew how to compose numbers in three different strategies, so it was clear that they were successfully learning part-part-whole.

Select several questions from the USF lesson plan reflection sheet based on content.

If you were going to teach this lesson to the same group of students, what would you do differently? Why? What would you do the same? Why?

• If I taught this lesson again to the same group of students, I would improve my procedures. When calling out student pairs (at 16:55 in video), I would also share who the teacher will be for the first round so I wouldn’t need to go through the list of pairs again to explain teacher and student. Before dismissing students to go work, I would also have the teacher raise their hand so I can hand them the basket of dominos before they all separate around the room. I would keep the lesson the same, allowing for partner work because that worked very well. Overall, tweaking the procedures would make the lesson run very smoothly next time.

What surprised you in your lesson?

• I was surprised that after I modeled the first box and let students try the next one, they were confused as to where they should write on their worksheets. Since I completed the first box during the demonstration and projected the domino in the second box for them to work on, some students were thrown off and were asking where to write their answer- in the first or second box (11:27-11:55). This is something my CT and I talked about how to clarify this during the next math lesson.

Consider how the mathematics was represented in the class. Were connections made between representations (verbal, numerical, pictorial, physical, etc.)?

• Mathematics was represented by dominos and part-part-whole boxes during this lesson. Students were able to make this connection between representations as they counted the pips on the dominos and then connected that to the part-part-whole boxes. At 8:42, one of my students was able to explain how to take the two parts of the domino and put them into the part-part-whole boxes, and then add them both together to find the whole.

What did you learn from engaging in this lesson?

• I learned that not only do my students love using manipulatives during math, but also they truly benefit from using these objects to make an abstract concept more concrete for them. I also learned that pairing below-level students with on or above-level students in math is very beneficial for both students; the below-level students learn from their partner and the on or above-level student is able to teach the concept to their partner, which helps them better understand it as well.

What are some of your goals based on what you learned from this lesson?

• After watching my lesson, I have a couple goals. I want to work on improving my procedures during math. I want to explain the procedures better and more efficiently distribute materials to make the lesson flow better. Both of those goals fall under the procedures category, so I hope to improve that during my next math lesson.