Describing My Best Teaching
The lesson that I chose to reflect on was one that I wrote and implemented during my second semester of student teaching. This lesson is targeted at Kindergarten, and I chose it because not only was it an extremely successful lesson that was effective with my students at the time, but I also wanted to reflect upon the pieces of this lesson in order to implement them into my current teaching placement of Transitional Kindergarten.
My Transitional Kindergarten class is actually a long-term substitute position at Citrus Elementary School in Chico. I interviewed and received the job with the understanding that the duration would be half of the school year-from the start of school in late August until winter break in December. My students are mostly 4 years old, and there is approximately a 50:50 student ratio of students who have had prior placements in Preschool before this class and students who have had zero experience within a classroom setting. The professional setting that I was in at the time of the creation and implementation of this lesson plan was in the second semester of my teaching program in a Kindergarten class at Little Chico Creek in Chico. This was a full class of 24 students who were all 5 years old. These students were also in the second semester of their school year, and they therefore understood the rules and routines of the classroom setting.
The lesson I selected is a whole-class lesson for the Morning Program of a Kindergarten class. The morning program, or opening lesson, is when all of the students are on the carpet, and it includes calendar work and vocabulary practice. Having an opening routine that is generally consistent is important for a Kindergarten classroom setting because it sets the tone for learning for the day. Not only does it introduce important Language Arts and Math skills through counting the days in school and working on the monthly calendar, but it reinforces a classroom dynamic of students working together towards a common goal. Students can be engaged with the teacher, with the content, and with one another as the choral read and sing. The lesson that I chose to reflect on integrates at least ten Common Core standards and at least six ELD standards. I love the richness of this morning program lesson, as it entails having students practice the routines of the class through rich calendar work, understanding of the days of the week and months of the year, skip counting and patterns, money analysis, flag salute, weather analysis and discussion of the seasons, and robust vocabulary cards for whole-class and partner discussion. I like this particular lesson because the students were receptive to the various integrations of movement throughout the lesson, and it engaged both low-level, ELL, and students with IEPs as well as high-level learners. Student success is integrated throughout this lesson by allowing students to respond in the way that best fits their learning preference, and Depth of Knowledge questions are asked at levels 1 and 2.
Students loved this lesson when I taught it, and I find that students are often at their most successful point in the beginning of the day. I find that students come to the carpet ready to learn and eager to please. They challenge themselves and they learn how to socially interact with their peers through partner discussions. Students like it because the transitions are quick, there is a use of manipulatives and visuals, and the routine feels comfortable. The main challenge that presents itself through this lesson and lessons like it are losing student interest, distracting and challenging behaviors on the carpet during transitions and partner-talk, and keeping student attention spans and the “wigglies” away for an extended period of time.
The goals of this lesson was to increase student engagement in a whole-class setting and to transition smoothly from one topic to the next with the focus of integrating as much content as possible. The personal teaching focus of this lesson was also to focus on student engagement throughout the entirety of the lesson through the use of DOK questions, manipulatives, call-and-response teaching techniques, and engaging songs. Student learning is assessed throughout this lesson through various methods that include formative assessments such as checking for understanding by asking comprehension call-and-response and “thumbs up, thumbs down” questions, listening to partner discussions, checking for active engagement in singing the content songs, and orally reciting the number of the day in school.