Domain Three Reflection

Robert Lovering

EDUC-410-900

Professor Fritz

2/25/2020
Domain Three Reflection 1

When creating a lesson plan, an educator must take many steps to ensure the finished

product reflects a knowledgeable representation of the standards and content being used. When

planning, one must think about many aspects of their classroom environment. From the content

itself, to the available resources, and of course the individual students who are learning the

lesson. However, a strongly designed lesson, can fall apart if the actual instruction does not meet

the goals of the planning. Recently, I taught a math lesson to fourth graders, which involved

multi step multiplication. In this reflection, I will look at the 5 components of domain three and

discuss where I felt I did well and where I know improvement could be made.

When communicating with my students, I work very hard at “opening the door”. By this I

mean, I do not leave students with the unknown. I tell them where this lesson fits in among the

lessons they have already learned and where we are headed as well. For instance in this lesson, I

made it a point to explain to the students who are previously learned skills of converting mixed

numbers and improper fraction, as well as how to multiply these entities is going to be very

important in this lesson. I feel strongly about this component and feel I do a decent job with this.

However, I can always see room for improvement. I feel that if I explained a little further and

gave some direct examples immediately, then students could see the connection more clearly.

Also, I introduce and repeat vocabulary terms whenever possible. Along with giving definitions

when needed.

Domain 3b, has been an area where I have made slow but steady progress but still see

opportunities to gain. I have gotten very good at allowing students the chance to discover the

lesson through turn and talk sessions. This happens sometimes to a point where it feels repetitive,

however it is a constant point of feedback and so I feel I just need to continue growing more

comfortable with it. The gains students make from turn and talk opportunities is very evident
Domain Three Reflection 2

which also prompts me to continue using them. I have also been including the essential questions

more directly into my lesson planning. The thought behind this is to help the students see how a

main idea is present in every lesson.

Engaging my students in the learning is an area where I feel I perform strongly in the

beginning of lessons, however the engagement does at times wain as the lesson moves along. I

know this because students become harder to reign in for a quick reconnect when needed.

Typically, the mini lesson is very on task, but indepent practice does not always feel so

independent. The students may begin talking or getting off topic and are a little tougher to

engage in reminders being sent their way. Within the lesson, I noticed this when it was time for

students to put their popsicle stick in the “How I Feel” chart. As many needed to be asked to do

so repetitively.

The use of the “How I Feel” chart as well as the exit ticket prompt given was in my

opinion a good example of using assessment in instruction. Students were given opportunities to

self reflect and think how they felt the lesson went as well as how they could make it better.

Also, in the do now before the mini lesson, students used small dry erase boards to answer

questions I had. They then held them up where I could see them and I used that as a quick

assessment source.

During each lesson, I take anecdotal notes to help me determine who among the students

is struggling with the material the most. These students are pulled for small group time in which

I walk them through an example and then carefully guide them along a few on their own.

Something I also made sure to do in this lesson was to monitor the student progress of those who

were not in the small group. Being with a cooperating teacher has made this part feel less

relevant, however I will be on my own some day and will need to know how to do both. This
Domain Three Reflection 3

requires flexibility from both the teacher and the students. Also, as the educator I am starting to

learn how I can be most responsive to what I am seeing in a lesson in order to make instruction

stronger.

As mentioned above, a strong lesson plan can go downhill if the instruction is not at a par

level. I strongly feel that domain three is still my weakest domain and as such I want to set a few

goals that can be built upon in my career. First, I want to learn better techniques for small group

instruction. This means how can I ensure that those being brought into the group because they

are struggling, feel very confident leaving the group? Students who are struggling with a concept

can at times feel the need to give up. Understanding this, I want to set a goal of helping every

student who is struggling. I also want to set a goal of improving my communication skills with

the students. I can at times assume students know more than they do, and this is not helpful in

their learning process. I think this gets better each day as I learn more and more about my

students and their age level. However, I would still like to present this as a long term goal in this

domain.