Reflection

= STRONG VERB REFLECTION =

Although this Strong Verbs lesson was my first experience teaching at Millstone River School, it was not my first time writing and teaching a lesson as a student-teacher, and I feel my experience was reflected in a well-planned and well-executed lesson. I put a lot of effort into my script and incorporated last-minute edits from Mrs. Collins effectively. Based on my feedback, I effectively reinforce the purpose of the lesson using "great teacher talk" and my teaching reflects a strong sense of lesson sequence.

 The directions for the students' independent work could have been more specific. Mrs. Collins directed me to have them circle verbs in their personal narratives and replace them with stronger verbs, however, many students spent the majority of the time circling verbs and didn't have time to replace them. A better use of time would have been to direct them to circle three verbs, replace them, and then after assessing that all students were on the right path, asking them to continue circling and replacing verbs.

 My classroom management techniques have improved since last semester, however, I am still fine-tuning them. I used the phrase "eyes on me" many times throughout the lesson with the goal of gaining student attention, however, the phrase was overused and I did not wait for all students to look at me before moving forward. I spent some time reflecting on other ways to gain student attention and started out focusing on other "catch phrases." However, anything I thought of I quickly disregarded because it sounded too artificial. I will work on being more authentic. I believe nerves played a role in my overuse of the phrase, and I will be more aware of my choice of words in future lessons.