*Week 4-Final Week*

Lesson Reflection

How did we make it to the final week this fast?! I cannot believe I only have a couple days left with my students.  It has been SUCH a joy to see them each day and to grow as an educator through my experiences with them.

Lesson Topic: Reading

Taught:  How to find the main idea of a reading passage.

What went well:  I know that our students have grown to enjoy collaborative work, so there were a couple different events within the lesson that allowed them to really work with their peers. For one activity the students got with a partner/small group and told each other all about their evenings yesterday from the time they left Summer Learning Place to the time they went to bed.  Then, their partner would decide what the main idea of their story/recap of their night was.  I liked that this helped their understanding with main idea and also was a way for them to get to know each other more and to share personal parts of their lives.  These kinds of interactions help our class climate and strengthen our sense of community.  Also, during their individual assessment assignment, Miss Clark and I were able to sit with specific students and assist.  During this time I was able to listen to the students reading their passage aloud.  It was very exciting to hear the increase in fluency with some of our kids that struggle with it.  I was very impressed with their vocabulary and decoding strategies that they used. 

What did not go as planned:  For my introduction/hook activity I had a video for my students to watch.  This was a flocabulary song on main idea.  Even though I triple checked that the video worked, as soon as I clicked it to start for the kids it stopped working.  I tried to only spend a minute or two correcting it until I realized I just needed to move on.  Even though the video started to work later on, and the students were still able to see its content, it still threw me off for a minute.  I had to just skip that part and go on to the mini lesson portion.  I know as educators we have to be very flexible and always have a back up plan.  This is especially important when incorporating technology.  Things break, stop working, internet goes down, etc. so that means there should always be multiple ways of delivering the content. 

How to change for subsequent lessons:  Since I know my students really enjoy videos and songs, I think next time I will have several videos readily available.  This way if one does not work I will have some others to pick from so the students are still getting the visual and auditory stimulation that they love so much.  I also know that I have the option of downloading a video on to the computer.  This way, if the internet goes down, I will still have access to the material.

All of my goals with the students have been met!  I think this is partly to do with the work that Miss Clark and I put into the lessons and activities for our students, and I think the other part is due to creating goals that were achievable and realistic for each kid.  They put in the hard work and were able to conquer all the challenges they faced.   I believe that each experience we encounter can change us, and I definitely think that I have changed since day one.  I have gained more patience, compassion, and overall understanding for individuals and all their differences. The 4 weeks have gone very smoothly and I think a lot of that is contributed to a positive classroom environment and making sure all the people involved (teachers, students, and parents) worked together for the benefit of the students.  This whole experience has definitely surpassed any expectation I originally had.  It was harder and more fun than I had imagined.  With every challenge came several rewards.  Overall it was just wonderful and left a life long impact on my whole view on teaching students with learning disabilities.

It has been such an exciting four weeks with these kiddos.  I have learned so much through them and with them.  Each student makes such a special piece in our class puzzle and I am so grateful for the time I was able to spend with them.  This time has just flown by, but I look forwarded to putting this new knowledge towards all my future experiences with children.

One final CHEERS!!

Mallary