Wendy Zhang

Domain D: Reflection on "Impact on Student Learning"

As a teacher, the happiest moment is when I see that my teaching has impact on student
learning. The students work is not only an evidence of my effectiveness in teaching, but also
shows me clearly when students are not on track so that I can make instructional adjustments in
response to the evidence to meet the learning needs.
Before starting observing for fieldwork and doing student teaching, I had limited teaching
experience. I tutored college students and assisted them with algebra and calculus assignments.
However, tutoring is different from teaching. Although I did see students development and
progress through assisting them in learning and I consistently received positive feedbacks from
students on quality and clarity of the tutoring, I wasnt teaching them new concepts or
knowledge. I was merely helping them to review the concepts thats already taught to them.
My first experience of gaining the evidence of impact on student learning was in the class
Assessment of Teaching and Learning in Adolescent Education which I took in the Fall semester
of 2015. In this class, I was required to complete two assessment projects by assessing student
learning through two different types of methods the interactive method and the paper and
pencil method. For the first assessment project, I chose to work with 3 Hunter College students
that I tutored every week during the semester. I applied the paper and pencil method by giving
the 3 students a quiz consists of 3 constructed response items. In other word, they were in supply
format. The constructed responses allowed me to assess students higher-level thinking and skills
in combination. In addition, I designed a checklist in order to evaluate the evidence of the three
students elicit evidence of student learning. This checklist allows me to see if the students have
acquired the learning skills and met the expectation. In the second assessment project, I applied
the interactive method by asking the same students to have think-alouds during problem-solving.
In this assessment, each student was given a problem related to the learning goal and a rubric tied

Wendy Zhang

Domain D: Reflection on "Impact on Student Learning"

to the success criteria. The students then gave step-by-step solution verbally and on the paper.
During the assessment, I noticed that I could identify students strengths and weaknesses
instantly and ask them guiding questions to solve the problem in timely manner. It was easy to
observe students thinking process as well. Similarly, this method allowed me to assess students
higher-thinking and skills in combination, it also allowed me to assess divergent thinking. I was
able to give individual student attention and I had the opportunity to provide instant feedback in
order to promote learning. In both assessment projects, I could see the impact of my tutoring on
student learning. I was able to practice giving feedback and making adjustment on lessons after
eliciting students evidence of learning. The details of the students learning result are shown in
the artifact of dimension 5 skill in assessing.
The practice of teaching and assessing during student teaching gives me the sense of how
I can influence students learning with my way of teaching. Recently I have taught eight grade
students how to describe polynomials by naming polynomials based on their degree and number
of terms. I gave the students a 30-minutes quiz, and I collected the quiz to assess each students
learning progress. I was dissatisfied with the fact that some students were not able to justify the
difference between finding the degree of a monomial and finding the degree of a polynomial
with more than one term and in one variable. I reflected on my lesson and I realized I did not
give students definitions that help them fully understand the concept. Some of the students were
able to find the correct degree, however, they were not able to justify how they reached the
correct answer. On the other hand, half of the students were able to give the correct answer and
justify their answers. I was content with this and felt proud for being able to bring positive
impact on these students learning. This experience allows me to modify my lesson so that I can

Wendy Zhang

Domain D: Reflection on "Impact on Student Learning"

teach more effectively next time. It also teaches me the importance of delivering a rigorous and
organized lesson thats aligned with the state standard and desired learning goal.
In Assessment of Teaching and Learning in Adolescent Education, I learned that if the
gap is perceived as too large by a student, the desired learning goal may be unattainable,
resulting in a sense of failure and discouragement on the part of the student. I should make sure
the distance between what the student can accomplish during independent problem solving and
the level of problem solving that can be accomplished under the guidance of the teacher is
reasonable. This requires adaptation of instruction and scaffolding. Based on my student teaching
experience, there is always a range of learning needs in the classroom, thus the teacher should
allow for different levels and rates of learning. For example, strategic questioning in a wholeclass lesson can provide scaffolding for a range of learning levels. For example, strategic
questioning in a whole-class lesson can provide scaffolding for a range of learning levels. By
asking advanced students more challenging questions, and to explain their thinking, the advanced
students will be able to deepen their thinking. Furthermore, the less advanced students will have
the opportunity to hear the explanation of the ideas they are trying to grasp.
Through the education courses, I learned that it is challenging to teach in public school as
there are many factors that may affect students learning. Such as socioeconomic status, parents
expectation and cooperation, class size, the students lack of required mathematical thinking
skills, and the students lack of formal education. I understand that these factors and obstacles are
not under my control. The best thing I can do to close the achievement gap is to differentiate the
lesson, as well as apply the skills in planning, teaching, and assessing that I have learned in the
Adolescent Math Education program.