Comparing and Analyzing Data

An important aspect of my reflective practice was looking at each of my classes grades and understanding the differences and how it should impact my teaching.

In general the two class that I taught in the morning had much lower overall grades averages than my afternoon class periods. When discussing this with my mentor teacher, it was brought up that she had noticed this trend from the start of the year before I had joined the class. It was important of me to be aware of the trend during my teaching as the morning classes occasionally need more support with the content or redirection for their attention.

Through the use of pear deck I was able to notice trends in students and their participation levels. By following these patterns I was able to look out for specific names and make make reminders or discretely remind certain students to remain on task. I was also able to see how correct answers were, allowing me to reflect during the lesson and redirect if needed. When there were multiple students who were not understanding or writing the correct answer I would be able to quickly assess and reteach in a new way.

Personal Growth

One of my main areas of focus that I would consider my biggest area of growth was the way that I interacted with each class and learned how to bring each student into the lesson. When I first began this process I was unsure of how to increase participation without making students feel singled out. For the first week I would spend too much time standing waiting for a student to volunteer to answer, or would pick only a few of the students who would consistently raise their hand which was not fair to any of the students. I found the idea to use a playing deck of cards that each had a student's name to create a more random participation method that would keep students engaged because of the unknown order. This worked really well for me, and I found way that I could incorporate this method that made both me and the students comfortable with its implementation. I also tried many other methods such asking for one side of the room to answer, dividing students into groups or pairs to answer, having them select different speakers, and snaking around the room. I became better each day with using students names and getting to know who they were, which made all of these interacting more comfortable and I found ways to use it through out each lesson.