Second Semester: Reflection 2
Reflection 2 – Impact On Student Learning Reflection
Your work must score Proficient in all 16 categories noted on the rubric to pass this assignment. Submissions earning less than proficient in any category will be returned with supervisor feedback to implement in the subsequent submission(s). We look forward to reviewing your best work.
The reflection will include three sections:
- Knowledge of Students
- Lesson Plan
- Analysis of Teaching Effectiveness
Section 1: Knowledge of Students
An in-depth knowledge of your students is critical to effective teaching. Reflect on your students by identifying students’ pre-existing knowledge and other factors (e.g. special needs, giftedness, other modifications, student diversity) that will impact how your students learn. This section should include:
- detailed demographics of your class (if you teach more than one class period choose only one class period for this Reflection)
- subgroups (e.g. English language learners, gifted students, students with a common learning disability like dyslexia) of your students and their related learning needs,
- personal, cultural and community strengths of your students and how you will utilize the strengths to meet the diverse needs of your students.
Use specific, factual evidence about students to support your written reflections and eliminate any assumptions or stereotyping.
Section 2: Lesson Plan
Select a lesson plan you have used for the group of students described in part one. The lesson should involve a formative and summative assessment that may be quantitatively measured.
Provide the lesson plan in full.
Whether you use the lesson plan template included a district lesson plan template, the plan must include:
- State-adopted standards
- Lesson objectives associated with the standard
- Learning theory or theories that you will incorporate into the lesson and why
- Instructional strategies and learning tasks
- Instructional resources and materials, including technology
- Assessment plan for the lesson (formative and summative)
You should also include a description of the academic language your students will need in order to succeed in this lesson. Academic language will include:
- key vocabulary in your subject field that your students need to understand for the lesson
- words that describe what you are asking them to do (e.g. What does it mean to “compare” and “contrast” two ideas? What does it mean to “solve for x”?)
- words that describe an important structure or idea in your discipline (e.g. What is an “if-then” statement?)
Identify at least two examples of academic language that you will use in your lesson, and how you will assess student comprehension of this language, as part of the overall lesson.
In the event your district requires a prescribed lesson plan, it will be your responsibility to identify how you modified the lesson to address the needs of your students, including special populations accommodations and supplementary activities. You will also need to add any of the additional elements NOT included in the district template, e.g. add a section about supporting learning theories or add a section about academic language as needed.
Section 3: Analyzing Teaching Effectiveness
Based on the knowledge of students described in section 1 and the implementation of the lesson plan in provided in section 2, provide a written reflection of what was successful in your instruction and how students responded to your instructions. Provide specific examples of students’ reactions and input. Did you respond immediately to this feedback by modifying your plan in class? If so, what did you modify and why? If not, what could you change (based on students’ responses) when you deliver this lesson in the future?
Questions to be addressed in this reflection are as follows:
- What varieties of assessment strategies or methods did you use?
- How and why were these strategies selected?
- How did your assessment(s) align with your learning objectives and instructional goals?
- Did the summative assessment measure a variety of objectives?
- Were the assessment tasks appropriate for students’ abilities and developmental levels?
- What criteria were applied to judge or evaluate student progress?
Now, review your students’ performance on the summative assessment. Create a spreadsheet that shows (in a FERPA-compliant way) how your students performed. Now, select at least two student sub-groups. This could be male v. female performance, gifted students v. the general class, or performance of ESL students and performance of students with learning disabilities. In your spreadsheet, show how the performance of each subgroup compares to the whole—e.g. Whole group average grade: 87.5 percent, ELL group average grade, 83.4 percent.
Now, add to your written reflection to answer these final two questions:
- What might account for the differences in performance between student groups?
- What could you do differently to ensure all students have equal opportunity to master the material?
Include your spreadsheet analyzing student performance with the reflection.
Considerations for Small Sample Sizes or Unique Teaching Placements
The candidates should provide a discussion of the students’ mastery of assessed material and name what additional supports or modifications were used or could be used to ensure that the student(s) master learning objectives for the lesson.
If you have any further questions about this reflection assignment, please contact your field supervisor.
