Post #7

 Hi!

Not every lesson is going to go as well as we want it to go.  I experienced this last Friday. 

I taught a lesson on multiplying decimals by tens.

Here’s my reflection:

 - Not all lessons are going to go the way we plan or think they are going to go.

 - I tried using the projector over a piece of paper that was projected onto the smart board.  I learned that I don’t enjoy doing a full lesson this way.  I like standing up in the classroom.  I also felt that by sitting I couldn’t see all the children in the class.  

 - I got distracted by one child who had a strategy different than the one in the teacher manual and spent too much time on that.  His method did not come up with the correct answer.   During the time I was trying to figure out his strategy, the rest of the class started to get disruptive.

Things I need to do differently next time:

 - I won’t be sitting for long and using the sheet and projector.  I don’t have a great handwriting so I may try using slides next time and doing examples directly on the smart board.

 - If someone has a different strategy I will ask what answer they came up with first that way I don’t waste time on understanding their strategy.

Things that went well:

 - Even though it didn’t go as well as I wanted I think the kids understood the lesson.

 - I checked in multiple times with the kids by asking for thumbs up.

 - Before going to independent work, I did some practice equations as a group.

 - I did differentiate the work for different learners.  I asked for practice work to be done for 5 equations (only) independently.   This put less pressure on students that may be slower than others.  By requiring 5 to be done there was no stress and those that were done quickly were allowed to continue with other equations on the page.