Supervisor Observation 2 Level 2 Reflection 2

Reflection on Use of Technology

My comfort level with this technology was in between. I felt confident using the Kahoot because I have used this type of technology in my level one internship. But I felt not as confident using a PowerPoint with the students to make it like an interactive smart board. I have never tried this before so it was new to me. Another factor that made me not as confident was the reliability of the laptops available for my classroom. My CT and I tested a bunch of laptops and only three ended up working when I planned on using six for my Kahoot game.

I encounter success with the Kahoot because all the students were able to get along with their group members and work together as a team. This promoted collaboration and increased student engagement. At 29:26 in my video, some of the students had a minor conflict about the technology student picking the answer to the question without consulting other group members. This was a time where I addressed whole-group to all student that our expectation is for everyone to participate, so they are not allowed to click an answer without discussion from their group. Other than that minor conflict, the students worked together, and were very engaged in the content. I also encountered success with the use of the PowerPoint to make the white board interactive like a smart board. The students easily learned what to do, and were able to come up to the board and test their knowledge.

I encountered a problem when I planned for the lesson the week before. I wanted to get all my CT’s laptops back so we could use the Kahoot as an individual formative assessment and see what the students know. But, other classrooms needed the laptops so I could not borrow them. Then, I planned on using six laptops and use the Kahoot as a group activity. But I encountered difficulties loading up the laptops and only three laptops ended up working for me on the day of the lesson. At 14:25 in my video, I had to change groups and separate the students into only three groups. Instead of having 3 students per group in six groups, it went to becoming six students per group in three groups. I still managed the resources I had available to engage all students.

One example of student work was in the beginning of my lesson. At 3:35, I had students think/pair/share about the video they had want for the intro of my lesson. I asked students to “explain the difference between short and long vowel sounds”. For data, I wrote down quick notes of students who were contributing a lot with partners, or any others that I could hear that had great ideas I wanted to note when we came back together whole group. Then we when came back together whole group, I pointed out students who contributed a lot in discussion with their partners, and I probed them further to explain their thinking.

Reflection on Student Learning

The technology further enhanced this lesson because the students were able to engage in a song in the beginning to refresh their memories on the content. Then, they were able to use the PowerPoint to relearn the difference between long and short vowels. After that, students tested their knowledge by interacting with the PowerPoint and sorting words correctly by the vowel sounds. Next, students engaged in a group activity with a kahoot to further work with words and sorting. The claim I can make about student learning based on my lesson with technology integration is that my students are more engaged when technology is involved. The use of technology engages my students especially because it is something new. I also tied the technology to their interests because I know how much my students like songs and the use of kahoots. My CT plays a lot of interactive videos with the students and they love to sing along and learn the words to help support their learning of the content.

The students were very actively engaged and motivated. The students favorite part of the lesson was the Kahoot game. The students enjoyed it so much because they could work together, and they also enjoyed the aspect of it being a game against other students. It made them have more motivation to work hard and get the answers right because they knew they were up against their peers.

An example of student work that I collected as data during the lesson was my notes I took on students who answered the sorting activity during the PowerPoint at 10:00-16:00. I called up students one by one and had them come up and sort the chosen word. Before sorting, I read aloud the word to the student and then asked them where they think it should be sorted. After they sorted, I asked whole-class if they agree or disagree. I kept notes on both of these for my data collection. When a student got the question wrong, we explained as a class why it was not the answer. To push it a step further for next time, I could have asked students why they chose to sort the word as they did to explain their thinking, and deepen their understanding.

My end formative assessment was an exit ticket for students to show what they know based on all the content they learned and practiced with throughout the lesson. It was a quick half sheet of paper witch only four questions on the paper. I differentiated the questions to be easier for lower students compared to others. This better supported student learning so the lower students show me what they accomplished now, and do not get discouraged with harder questions.

Reflection on Teacher Learning

The students enjoyed the lesson. They showed their engagement by singing along with the video in the beginning, by staying on task, and following rules and procedures. The game also kept them engaged throughout. Students were excited to test their knowledge and show their understanding with the Kahoot. The loved the use of the technology integration, and it kept me wondering how more I can integrate technology in all my lessons.

If I presented the lesson again, I would do more with the PowerPoint to have students interact even more with the technology. I could have had more slides, or other more interactive pieces to my PowerPoint to keep student engagement high. I would also deepen my own understanding of technology resources available to me. That way the next time I present another lesson similar to this one, I could use more technology to differentiate throughout all the content.

I want to grow more in my comfortability and confidence in using technology as a result of teaching this lesson. I typically go to the same type of technology when teaching, and I would like to grow more as a teacher and widen my ideas for the benefit of my students. I want to set a goal to deepen my own understanding of the resources available to me at my internship school, and apply more technology throughout all lessons. Other support from the school would have helped me a lot during my lesson.

FEAPS Connections

For FEAP 1a, I aligned the instruction for my students with state adopted standards at the appropriate level of rigor. My standard for the lesson was LAFS.1.RF.2.2 with an objective focused on differentiating between short and long vowel sounds. I met FEAP 3a by delivering an engaging and challenging lesson for my students. The use of technology made my lesson more engaging for my learners, and they were able to put their best work in the lesson because of their engagement. Lastly, I met FEAP 5a by setting a purposeful professional goal for me to deepen my understanding of the availability of technology resources for me to use in my future lessons in my classroom based on students’ needs.

Lesson Plan: