What do you do when lessons don't go as planned?
What have you done when a carefully thought-out lesson
didn’t go as planned? When you felt certain your students understood a concept,
but a formative assessment showed they didn’t? How did you address this “bump
in the road”? What did you do to ensure your students learned what they needed
to learn? What do you plan to do differently the next time?
I thought on the spot of how to explain the content better or also had other teachers I work with jump in to help the explanation because they have had that prior experience that I could listen in and make a mental note of that explanation. I also went back and did a review of the content and tried to explain it another way or informally assess the students with that discussion. I think the next time, I would look for common misconceptions first of what students may be thinking and also look into other ideas of how to teach that specific content.
ReplyDeleteI had to do a similiar thing in my first 8 weeks. I was teaching writing and I had to re-explain what I was teaching because the students were just not getting it. I also like your idea of looking for misconceptions for the next time, I think that will really help!
DeleteI too think it is important to have other people explain the learning material. I have the students explain the learning material in their own words as much as possible. This helps them to take ownership in the learning and to actively participate. Additionally, reviewing material and revisiting material always helps. I am currently in a learning support class and helping students retain and remember the information is something I try to do every day. I like to begin each class revisiting what was covered in the last class. It is a great way to see how much the students remembered and retained.
DeleteThere are continuously days when my students come in and immediatly get in the mind set of not wanting to do work. After taking the time to plan and create my materials for the lesson I relaize that I am going to need to change some things around and modify what I had planned. So, on the spot I then often think of how I can engage the students and get them out of their mood. Often I end up making the lesson more interactive and allow students to come to the board or partner up and work together. This was something not previously done with them due to the fact that they often could not handle the reponsibilies and expectations or staying on task and working with others. However, they have been working really hard to improve and know that as long as they behave than I will continue to format my lessons this way. This gives them an opportunity to be more social and often gives them the stimulation and change that they need to be prepared to learn. Of course, this method took time to learn. I had to get to know my students and spend a trial and error period figuring out what I could do to get them motivated and engaged. Seeing that they liked to move about the room and interact with peers is something that I now attempt to have as a part of each lesson.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoy thinking on my toes. Often I throw in a review game at the end to get the students out of their seats and engaged at the end of the class. It lets me know that they have learned, and keeps them focused especially on days when they are not in the mood to focus.
DeleteRelating back to my general education placement, there were a few times after doing a formative assessment that I realized the students did not understand the concept being taught. I decided to repeat the material but do more direct instruction that involved repeated practice using different materials such as whiteboards and the iPad. I also did quick checks throughout the unit to make sure the students understood the concepts that were taught before moving on to the next materials. The quick checks allowed me to see where the students were at and if any changes needed to be made to my instruction. I also made adaptations throughout my instruction if I noticed the students were getting lost or not understanding. For next time, I think I will continue to include more quick checks because the students did a lot better the second time around since I was able to see exactly what needed to be worked on.
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DeleteI caught myself doing quick checks to make sure students were on the right track. Also used Marker Boards for student to complete math problems during Math Meetings in order to show me that they know how to solve a problem. If there was time I would have them go up to the SmartBoard to show how they solved a problem. If there was a mistake we would discuss it as a class in how to fix it, in a positive way in order for the student not to feel like a failure.
DeleteI agree! Repeated practice is always good and I also enjoy finding fun games that hit the concept they did not understand and incorporating it into free time that allows even more practice without them even knowing they are reteaching themselves!
DeleteIn our math class of fourth graders, the other teachers and myself create worksheets called spiral reviews. They are sort of like quick checks, only we are checking up on things from all over the curriculum.One page could have estimation, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and comparing decimals on it, while another could have word problems, elapsed time, and probability on it. We have the students do the best they can and then we will go over it with them. This is their opportunity to re-visit things from earlier in the year. It also gives them a chance to tell us that they don't understand a concept or they don't remember something. Based off of these spiral reviews at the beginning of class we may end up changing our lesson to review something. I think they are a great tool to help check in with students to make sure they understand the concepts, and they are also a great tool for teachers to use to see what concepts they might want to re-visit.
DeleteI do alot of quick checks too, often at the end of every class period. They are typically in the form of a ticket out the door. This lets me know where the students are at and lets me know if I need to review any content the next day before moving on.
ReplyDeleteOf course I know that I am not perfect and being so my students are not going to be masters of the content that I am teaching as soon as I teach it. One lesson that didn't go as well as I planned was my long division. Some students understood it after a few practice problems but several struggled still at the end of the lesson and continued to struggle as I noticed through homework. Students would either not do the problem or you could tell that they were lost. In each lesson I planned a review to continue going over it with more practice. With that I still saw struggling so I created the Division Man in order to have a different way to represent the content. A final few were still struggling which I conversed with my co-op who assigned extra practice for those struggling. When the test came, I realized that some have slipped again making mistakes. I conversed with my co op and we discussed in creating extra practice for students who were struggling and also take a period of a day and reviewed how to do long division (created stations). What the main issue was throughout all this students were not practicing their multiplication facts or overall didn't understand the process so we had to reteach.
ReplyDeleteIn lessons I make sure that I make a review both at the beginning of the lesson and at the end of the lesson. On homework if any student left any problem blank I would pull them aside for that one on one attention (some students even wrote questions on their homework for me to write back). I also will write on my lesson plans what went well and what didn't go well in order to know for next time what to do. I also would converse with colleagues such as my supervisor, cooperative teacher, and other student teachers (both ours and Millersville) to hear opinions if they were in my shoes what would they do or would have done? Then combine them with my thoughts in creating new lesson plans.
Wow it seems like you learned a lot from this experience! I think it is important to review before and after the lesson if the students are struggling in a particular area. I think it is also important to discuss with others for ideas and opinions to help you.
DeleteI was teaching a Writing lesson once and that I thought was well-planned, easy to understand (direction wise) and it also explained the content well. It was not because majority of my students were confused or not getting something. I scratched the lesson completely and taught off the cuff because I thought it would be best to back up a couple of steps and meet the kids where they were. I think it is important to keep in mind that not all kids have the same prior knowledge or experience so you need to meet all the kids where they are. When this happens again, I plan on either reteaching or re-explaining the content. I also think it is good to reflect on that lesson and figure out how to better fix it for next time.
ReplyDeleteIt's always important to find out where the kids are and where they may be getting stuck. If they are getting the concept, there is no shame in going back and reteaching what you thought was the greatest lesson. It's all part of teaching and just realizing that they weren't getting it and being able to get through it and reteach is a sign for a great teacher!
DeleteWhat have you done when a carefully thought-out lesson didn’t go as planned? When you felt certain your students understood a concept, but a formative assessment showed they didn’t? How did you address this “bump in the road”? What did you do to ensure your students learned what they needed to learn? What do you plan to do differently the next time?
ReplyDeleteNo matter how planned and thought out a lesson is, some are bound to not go right. In that case, you just think on the spot and adjust as needed to meet the needs of the students. Last half, I had a quiz in math that the students did not do very well on. After receiving those results, I planned a review game for them to go over the concepts again and then retested. The scores went up. Every so often you might think the concept clicks, but all kids blank at times and a review is always good no matter if they are doing poorly or not. I still plan the same way, I just add in more review problems and found that it's okay if I don't make it through the entire lesson that I had planned in one day. Let the kids set the pace because they are the ones who are trying to learn and keep to get the information.
I have definitely had those times when I have thought lessons clicked with my students but then realized during assessments that the skills just weren't strong enough. I think that going back and reviewing skills the next day, or next several days, is always a great idea!
DeleteI taught a math unit on fractions and did not even realize my students did not understand the one part because I had gone over it so many times before the actual test. Once I received the tests back, I had to reteach the one question. I did this by going back before a different math lesson and reviewing that question and then coming up with practice problems that we did together on the Smart Board.
ReplyDeleteHaving students not understand only means that you need to find another way to help them to understand; it does not mean you are a bad teacher. That is what someone told me once and I always keep that in the back of my mind. It is important to always reflect and try your best to find alternative ways to reach your students. Using multiple means of representation is always a good idea to keep in the back of your mind when planning lessons to try and hit all types of learners!
With the new group of students I have, you never know if they are going to have a focused day, or if they are going to be a little wild. Today I picked a harder level book that had activities to go with it. Instead of getting to most of the activities I had to stop part way through and go to the assessment, because it took longer for me to help the students sound out words and work on comprehension throughout the story. While it took longer to scaffold and support their learning, it showed that the students understood the key concepts when it came time to taking the end of the story quiz. While I didn't get to everything that I planned, it was more important for me to make sure that my students were learning throughout the lesson.
ReplyDeleteI made another lesson plan on the same topic and taught it the next day. The lesson was on reading maps to find the shortest route from point A to point B. My first graders needed another day to truly master the material. The classroom was turned into a map. I put up signs (e.g. library, park, and home) and attached string from sign to sign with the distant from each point (e.g. 9 blocks). The class had to tell a student how to get from one spot to another taking the shortest route.
ReplyDeleteAfter the first day of teaching this lesson, it was clear that the class needed more practice. I wrote a similar lesson to teach the next day. The students enjoyed the lesson because it was relatable and active. They needed more practice because they struggled when they had to complete a paper assessment. After the second day of instruction, the students were able to independently complete the paper assessment. I learned the importance to include multiple forms of practice and to daily assess before moving onto the next topic. Sometimes students need extra practice on a topic before moving on.
Alyson, I had the same experience in a Math lesson. My teacher and I determined it would be best to skip the next day's lesson and do more practice/ re-teach that concept instead.
DeleteDuring a lesson that wasn't going as planned, I stopped trying to follow the lesson plan and just went by what the student seemed to need help with. It was clear that the students weren't quite understanding the content, and when I tried to continue along with the lesson, hoping seeing the concept in an activity would help, it was clear that my idea would not work -- the kids were so confused! For the end of the lesson, I wound up taking a lot of time to answer their questions and clarify the topic, and then continued with the activity the next day. It put us behind a little bit, and I had to tweak some other lesson plans to make up for that extra day, but it was worth it in the end because the students actually understood what was going on.
ReplyDeleteFrom my experience with "expect-the-unexpected" lesson plans so far, I've learned how important it is to be flexible and really be attentive to how the students are doing. If they're not understanding it, they're not understanding it and that means how it's being taught needs to change to help them out! Whether it's extra practice or a different way of explaining a topic, making adjustments has been crucial in helping students understand the content.
I agree, it is very important to be flexible! You have to be able to think on your toes if you see that your students are not understanding. I also learned that every lesson is not going to go as you planned it would because there will be students who do not understand, which I why I started including quick checks to make sure all of the students were on the right track as we moved along in the unit.
DeleteI recently taught a nouns lesson to 80 of the 6th grade students and there was a student of ours who did not do so well, so I went back and had him do a review worksheet using our rules to complete it. I also plan on going back and re-teaching the students who got less than a 70% on the nouns quiz they took the other day to hopefully have them grasp the concept and perhaps provide another opportunity for them to make up those points after doing this.
ReplyDeleteWe have to realize that we have to teach 100% of these students and I really like how you went back and retaught those who didn't grasp it. You didn't let those students, even in a large class size, fly under the radar, just because most understood it.
DeleteI did a reading lesson once in my previous placement that did not work out at all. I wanted my students to write a summary about the story we were reading but they have never written a summary before. Usually we would talk about the story but I wanted to try something different. After I explained that we are going to write a summary, I could see that students did not understand and were very confused. I had to think on my feet and help them. I quickly thought to show them an example of a summary on the overhead. I went through it step by step so they could see how to write one and this worked very well. It is important to think quickly and come up with a plan to help your students learn the material.
ReplyDeleteI have also found that modeling how to do an activity or an assignment to be very effective. It shows your expectations and helps to clear up any confusions. It also provide students with a visual to help guide them through the assignment/activity, rather than constantly asking the teacher questions.
DeleteI had this experience when teaching Math in my 2nd grade classroom. The book showed the students a "new" way to break apart hundreds to create an easier problem. The students completed problems as a whole group and individually and my cooperating teacher and I checked their responses. That evening, we assigned the concept for homework. The next day, we received many notes from parents saying the student (and parent) were confused and did not understand how to complete the homework. We realized that the concept we previously thought was understood, we actually not. Instead of going on to the next day's lessons, we decided to re-teach this material for the day because students would need this information for the next lesson!
ReplyDeleteTo ensure they understood this concept, everyday we would review problems from the previous lessons to show how each concept built on one another. This strategy worked well because the students were not "scared" of the strategies when they saw them on the assessment at the end of the unit.
This has happened to me as well! I feel like my students know what went on all through the lesson and then they just don't get it when they try something on their own at home. A lot of times I have them bring the homework in and we will do the homework together as a warm up for the day. They usually gets them thinking and refreshes their memory from the lesson the previous day. A lot of times it sparks something in their brain that it finally clicks. I am currently teaching area and perimeter to a 2nd grade class. Talk about a hard time and kiddos not understanding!
DeleteI actually had this happen to me today. Because it was a Monday and our kids also had a changed schedule due to PSSA testing, the students' behaviors were somewhat out of the ordinary. I was teaching a science lesson right before lunch (which happened to be an hour later). The lesson consisted of the students blowing bubbles in a cup of water. Half of the students ended up drinking the water while the other half spilled it. Needless to say, they did not get the concept that was supposed to be taught. I knew that the hands on portion of the lesson wasn't going to be enough to engage them and they had spent way to long cooped up in the classroom. I quickly took all of my materials and did a mini science lesson while walking though the halls of the school. It was definitely a little far out, but I could tell what the students needed, and I'm hopeful that they got something out of the lesson. :)
ReplyDeleteMy co-op and I try and get our kids out of their normal classrooms as much as possible. I think it helps when the students get a change of scenery. They often tend to pay attention better (at least mine do) when you get them out of their normal routine especially when the normal schedule is changed. I also try and check on my students at least once a day when I am moving from class to class. This gives them something to look forward to as well as it helps them to know that someone is watching them. Students need little breaks one in a while even if it is just walking through the hallways while doing a lesson.
DeleteA few times at my placement I have felt really confident in a lesson I have taught but my students just didn't "get it". It's kind of a frustrating feeling because I felt as if it were going so well until I review at the end and not one student can answer the closure questions correctly. Fortunately, this has not happened often, only a couple times. Usually math lessons are the hardest to get across to my students. When this happens, I make sure to make note of it in the reflection section of my lesson plan. A lot of times I will think about my actions later that night or during the end of the school day. I think about things I could have said differently or developed more in order to have it make sense to a 2nd grader. This is also a challenging concept because things that make complete sense to me may be new concepts to these 7 and 8 years olds and need to take baby steps to get that full understanding. Sometimes I will start the math lesson the following day with a review from the day before. If students seem really confused, I will plan a new lesson later that evening and teach a new lesson the next day. Reteaching could never hurt! This has only happened once where I've had to do a completely new lesson. That particular time, it has shown great improvement on the closure/review of my lesson. Sometimes students just need to hear things a few different ways in order to hear a way that makes sense to them. They are all their own learners and learn different ways!
ReplyDeleteIn my plans following these situations, I thought through each step more carefully. I tried to put myself in their shoes even more than I do when usually planning lessons. I would make sure to have at least 2 different ways to explain/demonstrate the concept to my students.
This is one of my strong points. When I plan, I like to plan with 8 back up plans, especially in emotional support. We have kids being taken out of the classroom or being addressed at least on an hourly basis so being flexible and understanding that what you planned will 99.9% not happen is a must. I have been teaching science last week and the midst of the lesson, we had to evacuate the room into the cafeteria. I used their math knowledge to keep the learning going. Down time is not ok in this classroom. Being able to take your lesson minute by minute is a must in these classrooms.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on always thinking quickly. When teaching in my emotional support classroom, lessons often move quickly to keep students interest and prevent any down time. When students are given free time conflict arise.
DeleteI had planned a lesson for students to individually use clues to draw shapes, and then identify the shapes. Within five minutes of beginning the lesson it became evident that it was not going to be successful for the students. They were very confused and frustrated. I decided to bring the class together, and complete the activity as a whole group with me leading. This allowed students to review the characteristics of and identify different shapes. I revised the clues and activity for a later lesson, and used it as a review. This went much better, and demonstrated that students were able to identify the different shapes. I was a good experience to have to rework a failing lesson in the moment. If I hadn't I doubt any student learning would have taken place.
ReplyDeleteWhenever a lesson does not go as planned, I usually stop what I am doing and figure out where the students are struggling. Currently, I am teaching Diagnostic Kindergarten so my students are at various ability levels. I am constantly adapting my lessons, as I teach to meet their needs. I have found that by asking questions, assessing, and through formative observations, I am better able to determine if the students are grasping the material. Initially going into this placement I would plan to teach a lesson once and move forward with the next lesson. However, I quickly found that the students were not ready nor understood the content right away the first time. Therefore, I started to adapt my lessons and stretch out the material into 2-3 days. I found that this was much more effective and enable me to see what concepts were mastered and which concepts were still a struggle. Any good teacher reflects on each lesson taught and determines what went well and what didn't. From the teacher will then how to approach the next lesson to ensure that all students’ needs are met. Most importantly I learned what it means to be flexible, in order to meet all students’ needs.
ReplyDeleteI feel like adapting lessons and kind of thinking on my toes is a strong point of mine. I have definitely had times when my lessons have flopped, one of them being when I taught the kids the completely wrong lesson (oops), but I am able to think fast and we used that day as a review day to go over concepts they learned already. It actually turned out to be beneficial because a lot of the students were lacking the skills from the review lesson that were needed to learn the new concepts I was supposed to be teaching. I think that when assessments do not go as planned, it should not be a disappointment, but rather a sign that the concepts need to be reviewed again. I have also learned that just because a student does well on homework, it does not mean they understand. I learned from student teaching that some parents are very willing to complete their students' homework for them when their students might not know the concepts, putting them more behind. This has taught me to stray away from using homework as an assessment. I think that the most important thing is to not be hard on yourself if students do not understand concepts right away, but rather provide them with extra practice and teach them in a new way so that lessons and assessments can run more smoothly next time. I also think it is important to self reflect on lessons to make improvements for the future as well.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you about not being so hard on yourself when students don't understand the concept right away. When I first started student teaching, I used to really beat myself up if a few kiddos didn't do well on an assessment, but then I realized that everyone learns at a different pace and in different ways. I also learned that I can't go home and study with them. I can only do what I can during the school day to ensure that they are learning.
DeleteIf a carefully thought-out lesson didn't go as planned, I use it as a moment to think on my feet and create a lesson that is more beneficial to my students. When something doesn't go as planned, it’s a chance for me to think more about the content and my students to teach the material differently to reach their learning styles and needs more clearly. It also allows me to self reflect and improve my instruction. It involves moments of flexibility and spontaneity, which is what the profession is all about. That is what leads us to teachable moments. I feel that these lessons are sometimes the best because they require us to think out of the box and more deeply about our students than we already were. If formative assessment shows that my students didn't understand a concept, I look for ways to reteach the material and think of different ways to present the information that is more effective for my students. The bump in the road is what leads all of us to improve because it shows us what we specifically need to work on and tells us that we can only get better. Assessment is important to ensure my students learn what they needed to. If formative assessment doesn't show understanding, as I change my instruction, I can change my assessment.
ReplyDeleteIf a lesson I taught did not go well, I would pull a small group of students aside during free time and reteach the lesson and make sure they are understanding the concepts of the lesson. Also, when I was teaching a lesson and I felt students were not understanding, I would provide them with examples. Before providing students with a formal assessment, I would do an informal assessment to check for students understanding and correcting any misunderstandings right away. For future lesson I made sure to provide examples ahead of time or give a demonstration of the concept being taught.
ReplyDeleteWe actually ran into this problem today while teaching long division. We had a whole review game planned before they took their assessment, but while we were working on a review problem to get their brains thinking about long division we realized they are not ready to take an assessment on long division. We saw the blank stares that students get when they don't understand something, and we had to think of something completely new to do for the day. Luckily there are three of us teaching this math class together so it was very easy to get something new together. We scratched the review game and assessment and went back to the steps of a long division problem. We encouraged the students to tell us which steps they were having problems with or if they just didn't understand the whole thing. I think this is part of our jobs as teachers is to encourage kids to question and ask for help when they need it. I feel like most students around this age become self conscious about asking a "dumb question." We frequently remind our students that it is okay if they don't understand something, and that we aren't going to yell at them.
ReplyDeleteOnce we told them this they began to ask more questions and began telling us the step they were getting lost at. We answered all their questions and then did some practice problems, some with support from the teachers, and some on their own. While they were doing the problems on their own they were to draw a question mark next to the steps they were confused about. This revised lesson worked out very well and we had a lot of students reach their "ah ha" moment today. We will see if this success continues tomorrow. I think something we could do in future lesson plans is look at common misconceptions, just like Mindy said earlier. It would help us shape the lesson to fit the needs of our students.
Many of my lessons that I thought were well planned out didn't turn out for one reason or another. Some days my students have no clue and I need to try something completely different to help them get it on others we have been called out of the classroom when another student was disrupting the class so I wouldn't even get to teach my lesson that day. On other days we have had to do room clears in the middle of my lesson. That's all part of teaching. Being flexible. I think one thing I am good at is being flexible and being able to adjust my lesson to better fit the needs of my students. My students have a wide range of abilities so I am often changing my lessons to fit those needs. If I have to restate something in three different ways then that is what I have to do. Also I try and hit many learning styles. I try and do a hands on activity that also has aspects of visual and auditory learning.
ReplyDeleteNothing is worse than standing in front of the class and giving it your all, and looking at them with those blank faces. It has happened to all of us, and it's the worst! I have done a few different things. 1. No matter how many times you read the Basal or your lesson plan, sometimes it's best to co-teach with your co-op. Honestly, who knows the kids better. My co-op has had some of our students for three years, so I often turn to her for advice when I need it. 2. Think on your feet! My first placement I wasn't the best at this. However, some of my best activities, in my special ed placement, have come thirty seconds before a lesson. 3. If after all resources have been exhausted, start over. Re-teach the students using a new method. However, the most important thing to do in this situation is to ask for advice. I think as pre-service teachers we are almost scared to ask for help, but sometimes we need help! We aren't perfect and we're still learning.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of co-teaching with your co-op. It is a bit late in the semester to try this tactic, but I feel as though, early on, it would have been a successful way to identify strengths and weaknesses in teaching techniques. Your co-op is one of your best resources and he/she would be sure to provide you with helpful, real feedback!
DeleteIf a lesson did not go as planned, it is important to be able to show your flexibility and ability to think on your feet to adapt and change the lesson to reinforce the subject. When there isn’t enough time to adapt the lesson, I will reflect on the lesson that evening and create a new lesson to reteach the subject matter. Assessing students to see what students’ strengths and weaknesses are is a wonderful way to understand what worked in your lesson and what did not work. Also, recognizing when a lesson did not work allows for opportunities brainstorm new ways to differentiate instruction. I often use this tool of differentiating instruction to make sure that all learners will be able to understand concepts taught.
ReplyDeleteNow that I am placed in an ES classroom, lessons often do not go as planned. Just the other day my supervisor came in to observe a math lesson. Throughout the “lesson” we had one student running around, kicking and throwing things, yelling and screaming, another student who shut down and refused to work, another student yelling and swearing at a staff member and one other student sleeping all throughout the course of a 30 minute Math lesson. This is just one example of a time where things did not go as planned. If there is anything that I have learned from this last placement it is how to think on my feet. When these types of things happen in our classroom, which they often do, we have to get the behaviors under control before we can continue the instruction. This takes place in all types of forms. Sometimes we have to separate students or ask one to leave the room, other times we have a student go on a walk with staff member or let them put their head down and do some deep breathing, among other things. Once the behaviors are under control, I act as if nothing happened, focus on the students who are ready to learn in front of me, and then I teach.
ReplyDeleteIn the cases where it seemed as if my students understood the material and then formative assessments proved otherwise, I have tried to find time to reteach the material and reassess. I have found that this is often hard to do. I find this to be a major issue with education today. All throughout elementary school all the way through college we as students “learn” the material and then we are assessed on the information. Pass or fail, often the teacher just moves onto the next subject. I think that this teaches students that knowing the material itself is not important. It makes it seem like the only important thing is the % or the letter grade that we are given. If it were important to know the material, when students failed or got bad grades, teachers/professors would spend time making sure that their students know the material. I don’t believe this is the teachers fault entirely. They are pushed to get through so much material in a given time and teachers are assessed based upon test as well such as the PSSA or Keystone exams. The whole system seems to be messed up and something should really be done about it!
When lessons haven't gone as planned, I've just improvised and done my best to think on my feet. I try to figure out where the confusion stems from, then address that before moving on. If formative assessment shows that students don't understand a concept, I'll analyze the information I have from their work, then think of a different way to relay to material. There is no sense in moving on if students don't understand, as most lessons are building blocks for future lessons.
ReplyDeleteTo ensure that students learned the material, I retaught lessons, either to the whole group, or in small groups. I assessed the students again, then determined if even more practice was necessary. I view instruction and assessment as a cycle...you just keep going until the students can show you that they know the material.
After all of my lessons, I always reflect on what went well and what didn't go so well. I then brainstorm ideas for next time to make the lesson go more smoothly. I often think about the influence location (carpet v. desks), group size, visuals, etc play into how well students learned the lesson.