ED 338

LESSON SELF-ASSESSMENT
The teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates the
effect of his or her choices and action on pupils, parents, professionals
in the learning community and others, and who actively seeks out
opportunities to grow professionally.
An important component of effective teaching is the ability to accurately selfassess after each lesson. In ED 338 you will be self-assessing using the
framework of the five Alverno Education Abilities and the Wisconsin Standards for
Teacher Development and Licensure. After teaching each lesson, review the
questions in each category before writing a summary response for the category.
Planning and Preparation (AEA Coordination, Conceptualization/WI Teacher Standards 1, 7,
8/Disposition: Respect)

How did advance preparation (or lack of it) contribute to the success of the
lesson?
How comfortable were you with the work you put in ahead of time, including the
extent of your own knowledge base and understanding the prior knowledge that
the students possessed?
How well did you have materials ready and accessible for your use and for the
childrens use?
How did your classroom profile knowledge contribute to your lesson design?

I think that overall, being prepared and ready for this lesson was what really
helped it run smoothly and efficiently. The day before my lesson, I had gathered
all of my supplies and kept them on the back shelf so that they were ready to go.
The night before my lesson, I also went over the entire lesson with myself,
picturing the students answers and transitioning. I think that both the mental
preparation and physical preparation really helps set you up for success when
getting to the actual lesson because I knew what kinds of things I was going to
talk about, the types of questions I was going to ask, and prepared myself for the
types of responses or questions I may or may not get. The day of my lesson, I had
the time to set up all of my tables while the students were resting which gave me
the opportunity to again, prepare and be organized. The materials were ready and
they were accessible for my students when we were finished with our story and
discussion, which made the transition smoother. I also was blessed to have my CT
and her aide place the ice in the buckets during my lesson so that the ice was

ready and not melted. I think that the planning, organization and advanced
preparation really shows in a solid lesson and I am happy with how prepared I felt.

Classroom Environment (AEA Communication, Integrative Interaction/WI Teacher Standards 5,

6/Dispositions: Respect, Responsibility, Collaboration)

How could you tell the students respected you and were happy to work with you
and each other?
How did you show your enthusiasm and try to build rapport with the students?

This is definitely one thing I was worried about going into my lesson; I know that
the students enjoy when I am in their classroom and respect me however, I was
concerned about behavior in a couple of the students and their ability to stay
focused and engaged. I was thoroughly pleased with all of the behavior and
attentiveness throughout the lesson. I believe that holding a conversation with
them where they got to share what they know and their thoughts was really
beneficial and was able to grab their attention. I also think that referring to their
past experiences and work they have done was highly effective in regards to their
engagement. I also believe that when you act excited about a topic or make
meaningful connections, the students begin to show that same excitement and
interest. Because of the way I was able to catch their attention and make
meaningful connections, they wanted to pay attention and really respected me
when I was talking. While we were exploring the ice and I was walking around, I
believe that getting down at their level and asking them questions and even more
importantly, letting them tell you what they are experiencing, is very important.
They were able to become the experts or the scientists which makes them feel
important and most definitely builds rapport between teacher and student.

Instruction (AEA Conceptualization, Coordination, Diagnosis, Communication, Integrative

Interaction/ WI Teacher Standards 2,3,4,8/ Dispositions: Respect, Communication)

How well did you help the students get ready to learn?
How clear were you in setting expectations for learning?
How accurate were the assumptions you had before the lesson?
How well did the materials you used meet the needs of the children?
How well did you apply specific instructional strategies to meet the needs of
diverse learners?
How well did your questions encourage higher level thinking by the students?

Was the lesson carried out as planned? What changes were made and why?

Overall, I believe that my expectations were very clear throughout my lesson. I

wanted to make sure that I repeated more than once, what I was expecting of
them and what their responsibilities were. I believe that the most effective way for
me to make the expectations clear was to model what they were expected to be
doing. Getting up and showing them that I want them exploring the ice using their
sight, smell, touch, sound helped them see what I wanted out of them. I think that
by giving them examples of things they might experience helped set the stage for
their learning as well. I also tried to make my expectations for behavior very clear.
I was very surprised and pleased that I didnt notice one student put the ice in
their mouths after I explained why we wouldnt do that. As far as my diverse
learners, I think that this lesson really made it easy for any child to join the
learning at their own level. The lesson was so hands on and engaging that they
were able to explore and share their findings at their own level. I also believe that
walking around and asking the questions I did, helped me better to Asses their
thinking and push them to a higher level of thinking. An example of this would be
a student sharing that their ice was melting and I would ask them, well what is
happening to the ice. Yes, its melting but it is changing states. It started as a solid
and now what is happening to the ice?. These types of questions gets the
students to think at a higher level and use scientific terminology.

Assessment (AEA Diagnosis/Integrative Interaction/WI Teacher Standards 1,2,3,7,8,9/Disposition:

Collaboration)

What questions did you ask that facilitated the development of content
understanding and critical thinking?
What indicated that the lesson was developmentally appropriate for children in
the group?
Which children achieved which objectives? How do you know?
What might be included to strengthen the childrens learning?
Throughout their exploring, I walked around to each group and asked students
what they were finding. I would ask what their ice smelt like, felt like, looked
like, heard like, etc. I would also ask them if they were able to melt their ice and
if it melted faster in their hands or in the water. I would then ask more in depth
questions to students who displayed a higher level of thinking. Overall, I

thought that almost every student achieved my objectives and were able to use
their 5 senses to explore and find new information. I did have a couple students
that I noted that were having a hard time understanding that they were
supposed to be using their five senses to explore versus playing in the water.
However, after redirection and some guided questions, they were able to get
back on track. I think that to strengthen the childrens learning even more, I
could have asked some even higher level thinking questions. I also think that I
could have modeled more of my thinking, using terms that they could use. For
example, I could model my thinking a loud by grabbing an ice cube and
describing it as slippery and that it looks like glass when it is in the water but
frosty when it is out of the water. This type of modeling could maybe have
helped them think more in depth about their exploration.
Professional Responsibilities (AEA Diagnosis, Integrative Interaction/ WI Teacher Standards 9,10/
Disposition: Responsibility, Reflection, Collaboration)

How would you describe your relationship with your cooperating teacher, other
adults in the building and parents or caregivers?
What have you learned about collaborating with others and considering their
perspectives?
How well have you projected yourself as a professional, in dress, demeanor, and
actions?
Which Alverno Education Abilities will you focus on in the future to further your
growth in the Wisconsin Standards for Teacher Development and Licensure, and
why?

This semester, I have had an amazing relationship with my cooperating teacher

and other adults throughout the building. I have had an opportunity to talk with
the principle, the librarian, the kindergarten teacher, several aids, the office ladies
and also the lunch ladies. These relationships and conversations have been so
valuable to me throughout the past couple of weeks and have allowed me to
collaborate and learn from others. I have had so many meaningful conversations
with my cooperating teacher as well where we have discussed our viewpoints on
different teaching styles and have shared thoughts about how to approach
different ideas or children. I also had an opportunity to look over the students
PALs tests with her where I was able to ask many questions and discuss with her
the growth in the students since the beginning of the year. I think that one thing I
would like to work on in the future is diagnosis. I think that throughout my lessons,
I have been able to asses where students are and what students are meeting
objectives versus not however, I would love to have the opportunity to take the

next step and pull that students out and give them the extra instruction they need
to perform at the same level as other students. Seeing this process through
instead of just writing out what I would do in a certain situation would be so
beneficial for me as a teacher as well as the student. This idea of diagnosis and
making accommodations really fits in with the Wisconsin Teacher Standard 3
(Teachers understand that children learn differently). Being able to have that
experience to teach a lesson, asses the students throughout the lesson, diagnose
any problems or areas of concern, and then go back and work with students who
need extra instruction or modeling is something that I would really love to have
the opportunity to practice and experience.