Hayley Fagan

EDR 318
May 1st, 2019
Final Reflection

Domain 1: Planning and Preparation

After my time spent in my field placement this semester I feel as though my

performance was basic in domain 1. I definitely had knowledge of the content that I was
teaching the students, but I do not feel like my standards properly aligned with the lesson I
taught. As one of my goals, I definitely will need more practice with standards before I go into
my student teaching next semester.
I demonstrated my knowledge of teaching throughout the semester; I felt very
comfortable in front of the classroom and knew how to approach my lessons. I was very
knowledge able about the students in the classroom in my field placement. For example, two of
the students in the classroom have tendency to have a hard time getting started on
assignments in class. I made sure that during my lessons, I would use redirecting language for
those two students to help them get started on an assignment along with their peers.
The student’s development in the classroom is another goal of mine I will need to work
on and focus on more in my lesson planning and classroom procedures. I did not think much
about child development throughout my lesson planning, I probably had some students
develop throughout my lessons, but never thought about it as something I needed to work on
Now, I specifically made sure that my lessons for the students were appropriate and
engaging lessons for the students. I watch the students do so much reading of the textbook and
listening to my mentor read the textbook to the students (which is required), that I wanted to
see the students excited to learn rather than bored during a reading. I created all of my own
materials and assessments for the lessons and made sure I was organized and prepared for the
day.

Domain 2: Classroom Environment

In domain 2 my performance was once again basic because I do not feel I am perfect in
every section. Of course, I maintained a professional relationship with the students, I respected
all of the students no matter how different they are. There is a student in the class that tends to
talk to himself during instruction and rather than asking the student to stop, I let him be and act
like nothing is happening. He is usually talking about what is happening during the instruction
and ends up raising his hand to share his thoughts.
As a goal, I definitely will need to work on communicating appropriate high expectations
for students. I felt like my lessons lacked these expectations and cause them to run longer than
allowed. I do need to work on motivating students more in the classroom, I feel I do a good job
already, but I know I can do more. I held students accountable for their achievements and
behaviors; I gave homework passes out as rewards and had conversations with students when
needed for behavioral issues.
 My first lesson did not go so well when it came to managing classroom procedures and
transitions. It was very chaotic when I sent all of the students over to me to be the card holders,
I was swarmed with students. I felt very pressured but calmed down the students and chose the
next five students. Other than that, one minor problem every other lesson plan after that never
had any difficulties with management. I felt my materials were original and my instructional
groups were well planned.

Domain 3: Instruction

Now for domain 3 I also give myself a rating of basic because I feel there are some
aspects of my instruction that I need to work on. In my opinion I felt that I was communicating
instructions and explanations effectively with the students, but I did not always see the
students fully comprehending me. I would leave the students to be on their own or with groups
and sometimes it would seem that the students did not know what was happening and would
not do anything. This is going to be a goal of mine to find out how to fix these possible future
problems during my student teaching.
I used a lot of group activities for students to discuss and collaborate with their peers. I
would ask students a variety of questions throughout reading and tell the students to talk in
their groups of what they think the answer is or I would ask them to talk about the images
throughout the reading. They really enjoyed this activity, and all went into higher level thinking
throughout the discussion.
Every student was engaged in all aspects of learning throughout my lessons and I
provided differentiation for students needs as needed throughout my lesson planning. It was
hard to apply this in the classroom due to my lack of knowledge about the students IEP’s in the
classroom and if they needed anything throughout my lessons.
I am not very confident that I utilized assessments to guide my instruction throughout
my lessons. I definitely used some assessments to evaluate student learning, but it was never a
thought to use it as a guide for instruction. This is another goal I need to work on, trying to
utilize assessments to guide my instruction. When I would write my lessons, I would base my
assessment off the textbook reading and use them to improve their knowledge and get them to
use higher level thinking.
As for my ability to evaluate and responding to students’ learning needs, there is room
for improvement. I am not perfect, but I did my best to accommodate, modify, and
differentiate my lessons to respond to those students learning needs. One time during a lesson,
I realized that a few of the groups were really struggling with the activity. I told the students
that they could grab an iPad to help them out with the activity. Once they grabbed the iPads, it
was as if there was no struggle at all to complete the activity.

Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities

Within domain 4 I give myself a rating of proficient, because I feel as though I was
almost perfect with every responsibility mentioned. Every day I would make sure that I would
arrive at least 20 minutes before 8 am so I would be on time. There was only one incident
where I did not show up on time for field because there was so much traffic than normal that
day. I had left about 5 minutes later than usual which also added to my lateness, but I swore
from that day it would never happen again.
I was always dressed appropriately, had great attendance, stayed for my expected time,
followed the rules and procedures of the school and classroom, engaged in appropriate speech,
and I took initiative throughout my time in my field. I always submitted my lesson plans 48
hours before teaching except for the one instance when I sent my email 48 hours before, but
my mentor and professor never received it until less than 12 hours before I taught my lesson. I
have no idea what had happened and should have sent an email to my mentor to make sure
she had received it when I had not heard back from her in 24 hours. I have learned from my
mistakes and will definitely make it a goal of mine to never let something like those two
incidents happen to me again.
Every day after I would l teach a lesson to the students; I would reflect on my teachings
that day. I would start two lists of pros and cons; what went well during the lesson and what
could have gone better. I would try to fix the confusing or bad part of my lessons and make
them into stronger and more understanding for the students.
I would always ask for feedback from my mentor and supervisor after my lessons. My
mentor would give me a sheet with her suggestions on how to fix my lesson plans and I would
try to make adjustments for the next lessons I would create. I would take the feedback from my
supervisor and correct the lessons I created before and make sure I would use those
suggestions when creating my next lesson plans. This was extremely helpful for me because my
lessons definitely improved with corrections and changes.
I gave my mentor the most respect I could give because she is taking time out of her
teaching to help me become a great teacher like her one day. I was always professional with my
communications and kept her information confidential no matter the situation. I had a mother
come up to me during a parent’s math night and ask about my mentor and the classroom. I felt
very uncomfortable at the time, but I remained professional and kept my mentor’s
confidentiality. I did share with the parent that if she had any concerns that my mentor would
be glad to talk to her and figure out what was going wrong in the classroom.
I got to know a lot of the other grade teachers throughout my time at my field
placement, but I would not go as far as building a relationship with them. There was never a
point in time where we could talk as professionals and get to build a relationship due to time
restraints, but I definitely have gotten to know them better at collogues
I participated in school events and gave service to the school doing activities like math
club and parents math night. I demonstrated integrity and ethical behaviors/conduct during my
time in the field. I was always honest with my mentor about different situations like me fiasco
with the late lesson plan and being late. I was always knowledgeable of how I acted and
presented myself in the classroom and outside of it. I was always professional whether I was in
the classroom, the hallway, or leaving the school; I kept my composure and really enjoyed my
time in my field placement.