Reflections

 The evidence that can be used to support conclusions drawn in by the Analysis of Student Learning section with why some student did not meed the learning goals would be do to students lack of participation in the lesson or activities designed for this lesson. The instructor, however, will be working with the class guided students, and getting student to participate in the lesson, in-order for students to fully comprehend the five senses. 

The reason why students will not participate in the lesson, might be if the lesson was not engaging enough, or was not made interesting/ fun for the student, and was overall unsuccessful in engaging the student in their learning. For students who did like the lesson and found the lesson fun and interesting, will most likely participate in the lesson and activities, and will be able to work with the class. This is why it is important to make lessons engaging and fun for students.  

 The connection between learning goals, instruction, and assessment result with effective instruction, are important to analyze to help the educator understand what he or she change to make the lesson more effective for students. The data that demonstrates how well students comprehended the lesson, and help the instructor in changing the instructional input, and create a more effective lesson for students.

 The plausible ideas for redesigning learning goals, assessment, and instruction may be to create a more effective lesson that will allow students to reach a better understanding. I think during my lesson, I could incorporate another activity that can be done the next day, to help expand the students knowledge of their five senses. These modification can improve students learning, because changes will be done according to students needs, and what may work best for them. If there are different approaches that may promote a better understanding of the five senses, I would like to incorporate it into my lesson. When we as educators create or change our lessons, we need to keep our students in mind, and create a lesson that works best for them, and will help them learn best.

The professional learning goals that teachers need to take are goals towards creating a better well rounded lesson. I think students should be activity engaged in their learning, and there are specific steps that educators can do that will help them meet these goals.  These steps can be to incorporate more hands on actives, visuals, games, pretension, anything that allows students to be part of the lesson and part of their learning. As educators we are still learning how to create better lesson, or create better activities for our students. I think there is always room for improvement and there is always something that can be done to make a lesson more effective for students. Next time, I would allow students the opportunity to work with a partner, and discuss and list different things they see, smelled, touched, heard, and tasted during their day. The use of technology can be modified by having students create a list of things they heard, touched, smelled, saw, and tasted during their day. This can be done by having students create an on-line journal entry that they can write on and print.
I think with the new changes, I will be able to incorporate different activities that can follow this lesson or work with this lesson to help create a better well rounded lesson for my future students.

Analyzing assessment

One manner that allows analysis to align with learning goals is by allowing student the opportunity of working with manipulative (cookie and visuals) to allow students to learn through the discovery method.
 This lesson is design for students to work as a class, and learn as a class. Students will be asked to point to a certain sense, that will allow the instructor to view how students are understanding and progressing during the lesson. Students will also have the opportunity to whisper to the person sitting to left and right of them, during each senses. For example, fir the sense of hearing, students will turn to the person sitting to their left and say, "can you hear me?" This will be done for each senses, however, students will have to whisper a different topic that is appropriate for each sense. The instructor will have these opportunity to analysis how students are comprehending the lesson.

The interpretation of the data collected by the instructor will provide an insight of how well the students comprehended the lesson, and if the instructor may need more instructional time with a student. The data collected will be used to view how well students received the lesson,  and if they met the goal and requirements that were assigned for the lesson. The analysis does includes evidence of impact on students learning in terms of the number of students who achieve and made progress towards each learning goal.  The evidence gathered will inform the educator if students met the goal or if there needs to be more direct instruction. The evidence gathered will not only inform the instructor on how well students comprehended the lesson, but also, if there needs to be a change in the manner the lesson was presented to help improve the quality of instruction. The data collect will be used to analyze how students are performing, and at what level of comprehension students have reached with this lesson.

Planning assessment

The learning goals are assessed through an assessment plan created by the educator. The assessment plant consists of two different types of assessment. The first type of assessment will be done by observing students comprehension during the lesson. The instructor will observe, which students do not understand the five senses by observing how students are performing during each activity. The second form of assessment will be done on the computer, students are to complete a fun-sheet using clip art at the end of the lesson. These two methods of assessment provide content and cognitive complexity by allowing the educator to observe the students who need additional support, and one-on-on instruction. 

The assessment criteria is clear and linked to the learning goals desired for this lesson,  due to student engagement and participation. Students are learning about the five senses through different activities, and strategies all all promote learning of the five senses. This method will support students as they are learning, will allow them to build on the knowledge they already know regarding the five senses. Each activity is linked to a learning goal, a learning outcome, and are designed to foster students in their learning. 

The assessment plan does allow assessment modes to be created in assessing students performance through a instructional sequence. During this lesson there are a series of step that take place, and students are learning about each of the five senses, one at a time; this will be done to help students fully comprehend each of the five senses.  There are two types of assessment that will occur during this lesson (lesson knowledge during lesson, and funsheet). The first type of assessment will take place during the lesson, and will allow the instructor to help students to may need help, before they begin working on the fun-sheet requirement.

When the lesson is introduced the instructor will discuss what the topic for today's lesson will be, and also, provide students with a short explanation of what will be required of them during this lesson (behavior expectations). As the lesson progresses the instructor will inform students what they are to complete, work on, or do as the lesson is being taught. Students are required to listen and follow along to be able to flow the lesson, and demonstrate to the instructor they are activity engaged.  This is done by students listening to directions, and procedures that will be given during the lesson by the instructor. Assessments will be valid, and will be base on students activities and performance during the lesson to assess what the students comprehends with the class, and will also be assess by the completion of the fun-sheet in order to assess what the student know and comprehends independently.

The appropriate adaptations to assessment that have been made to meet the individual need of students have been incorporated into this lesson by allows students to be assessed in two different manners. By assessing students performance with the class the student will have the opportunity to ask for help, and will be guided by the instructor to help the student reach a higher level of understanding before assessment will be done independently.  If students need additional needs, their needs will be accommodated appropriately by the instructor.

Instructional decisions

The instructional decisions that were made regarding this lesson are pedagogically sound.
 I wanted to create a lesson that students would enjoy, as well as, participate in. I was unsure of how I would be able to create a lesson that would fit kindergartners learning styles, and would allow them to be part of the lesson.

 The appropriate modifications of the instructional plan that have been made to address individual students needs, were done by incorporating visuals, discussions, songs,manipulatives, and different activities, to help improve students progress and learning.  The instructional decisions that I believe would work best for this lesson were to incorporate songs, visuals, the cookie, open discussions, and allow student to talk (whisper) during the lesson. The main point of the lesson was to get students involved in their learning.

 The modifications in instruction are meaningful with learning goals, and students needs, because the activities, and lesson were designed to guide students in the learning of the five senses. Every activity was designed with students needs and learning styles in mind. Each activity and task that students will do, discuss the five senses, and are different approaches for students to gain a better understanding about the five senses.

Modifications would be made for students who require a certain type of accommodation during the lesson, and during the use of technology. The technology that will be used to support leaner-centered strategies that address the diverse needs of students, will be the use of Microsoft word/ clip-art. With the use of clip art students can work in a manner that works best for them, it can be dragging the image, or by copy-pasting the image to the correct location. Student's learning activities will be managed by the supervision of the instructor. The educator will walk around as students are completing their "fun-sheet" on clip art.  The educator will walk around assisting students who may need help completing their assignment in a technology-enhanced environment. To make sure that the technologies incorporated into this manner are being used in a ethical manner, the instructor will inform students what they are to do while on the computer. Since, this lesson is for kindergarten students, who are being introduced to technology, they will require some assistance during the completion of their assignment from their educator.

To make sure that all students had equitable access to the use of technology (computers), the instructor will complete the fun-sheet in the computer lab. By completing this sheet in the computer lab, all students will have the access to their own computer. 

 From past experiences, I was able to create instructional decisions that I believe would create a fun learning lesson for young students.  I wanted to make sure that the instructional decisions I created and develop would Benefit and work best for my students, and would promote higher level thinking.

Designing instruction/teaching

When trying to design my lesson I wanted to incorporate songs, visuals, and get students moving/ participating in the lesson. Kindergarten students have a lot of energy, and I wanted to design a lesson that will allow students use that energy. Instead of designing a lesson where students just sit, I wanted to get them moving and discussing the topic as a class, and with the teacher.

I designed my lesson in a manner that the educator can facilitate the students learning by encouraging them to talk (whisper) to their partners as they point to their correlated body part of each five senses. When teaching the goal is to not only engage students, but to also encourage them to discuss what they know about their five senses. When I was teaching this lesson to the class, I tried to demonstrate how the instructor would encourage students to talk (whisper) during the lesson as students pointed to the correlated body function. For example, I asked the students "What part of our body do you guys think lets us see? " Students were encouraged to point to their eyes, once students were all pointing at their eyes, They were encouraged to turn to the person next to them and tell them "I see you," and do that to the people siting to their left and right. By allowing students to talk, it makes them feel part of the lesson, they are learning though active participation, and social participation.

When teaching this lesson, my goal was guide students in there learning. By guiding students in their learning, they are learning though discovery. The whole point of using the cookie, was to let students have a visual, an object they can discuss, and learn by discovering it( how does it taste, how does it look, how does it feel, and how does it smell). I designed my lesson in a manner that students are encouraged to use their energy by getting students actively evolved in the lesson; this was done by dancing to the song, point to their five senses, and by allowing students to whisper to their partners.  It's important for me not to have students sit for hours, while they are being instructed. I believe students need to be part of their learning and need to have fun. Students should have active activities that will help them listen and understand the lesson better. I hope that while teaching my lesson, that I allowed students to be part of the lesson and guided them towards the learning of the five senses by getting them evolved, and by encouraging students to dance, point, and whisper to their classmates.


 The learning goal for this lesson is for students to gain a better understanding of their five senses, and to understand what their fives senses are. The learning goals for this lesson is to engage students in their learning through different activities and discussions that will enhance students knowledge. Each activity that occurs during the lesson helps students gain a better understanding of their fives, because each activity is build on and relies on students senses.During the being of the five senses lesson, I planned to introduce students to the topic of the five senses by allows students to hear a song that encourages students to dance as a they point to each of their five senses. The students cookie activity will allow students to use each of their five senses to gain a better understanding of what each sense allows us to do. For example, during this activity students were encourage to smell their cookies and were ask to describe the smell, as well as, the body function that allows them to smell. As the educator teaches the lesson, students will have a power-point presentation that will provide visuals for them to help guide and aid students to need and learn through visuals. Each activity assigned with this lesson promotes students to gain a better understanding on the subject of the five senses.

 During this lesson students will be participating activity and socially to enhance their learning on the five senses. Students will be asked several questions during the lesson that will allow the educator to observe if students are accurately grasping the lesson. This lesson provides students with the opportunity to talk and whisper to their partners, however, students will not and cannot talk to their partners unless advised to by their instructor. Discipline will be addressed during the lesson, and students will be informed what will be required of them to do for each activity.

The lessons in this unit are both logically organized and are very useful in moving students toward achieving the learning goals. This lesson provides students with different activities that are organized in sequence of the lesson. For example, students will be introduced to the lesson with a song, where students may sing and dance. Secondly, the lesson will help build on the knowledge of the five senses, as students have been introduced to the five senses through a song. At this point the instructor will inform students that they have heard  a song about the five senses and next we will discuss them individually.  During each of the five senses, students will have a power-point visual,and students will be asked to use their cookie (manipulative) to complete each of the five senses. I have organized this lesson to keep students engaged, and to encourage them to have fun as they participate in the learning of their five senses.

The lesson I have design allows students to learn through the discovery method. This lesson provides students with instruction as they are guided through each of the five senses. This lesson consists of activities, discussions, and other resources that all contribute to the learning of students five senses. Kindergarten students need lesson that will help them learn activity, social, and also provide instructional assistance along the way. I designed my lesson to suit the need to kindergarten students to help support students learning, and allow them to have an enjoyable learning experience. 

 This lesson has been designed to assess students by observation (observing student during the lesson), as well as by assessing students independently (fun-sheet- using clip art). By assessing students during the lesson, the instructor can view the students who are not grasping the lesson, and may provide additional support. By assessing students during the lesson, the instructor can correct students misunderstandings, and can help them gain a better understanding of the lesson before students complete their independent assessment (fun-sheet).

When incorporating technology into this lesson, it was important to incorporate technology that would be age appropriate for kindergarten students. In this lesson I incorporated the use of clip art software, to introduce students to computers.  During this lesson students will complete a "Fun-sheet" on clipart, where students are to copy-paste (drag) the appropriate body part to the correlated body function. This task is simple enough for kindergarten students to complete as they are first being introduced to computer software. Students will first be informed how to use clip-art, and the educator will demonstrate what they are to complete on Microsoft word.  The technology that was during this lesson was a power-point, audio (song), and Microsoft word/ clip art.

Planning instruction

LESSON:
My lesson was designed to teach kindergarten students about their five senses, and the correlated body part. It was important when planning my lesson, to think about how kindergarten student learn best. From the experiences I have had working with kindergarten students, I have learned that kindergarten students learn best through active participation in the lesson. In other words, students this young need to be engaged in the lesson, moving, and the lesson needs to be fun , in order to grasp their attention. When planning the instruction for my lesson, I was thinking of ways that I can teach a lesson, that would be fun for kindergarten students.  I incorporated a fun song that discusses the five senses, with this song students can move and dance as they are introduced to the lesson.

From working with students, I have observed how much young students love music, and love listening to creative learning songs. I planned to introduce the five senses song to students in the beginning of the lesson, to get them engaged into the lesson.  Planning instruction for young students (kindergarten) should always take into consideration students unique learning styles. I planned to teach this lesson through not only songs, but visuals. In the power point presentation, students will have visuals that will help guide them during the lesson, and will help them when they being assessed. The technology part of my lesson is very simple, however, I kept in mind that kindergarten students are beginning to learn about the functions of computers. I planned for students to use clip art, it is a program that will be easy enough for young students to learn, and will help them as they increase their knowledge regarding the five senses. It's important when planning instruction to prepare lessons that are age appropriate, engaging, and interesting for kindergarten students. As a future educator, I planned my instruction in a manner the will helps students learn best,and will work with their learning style to help promote a higher level of understanding.

GOALS:

The goals for this lesson reflect several levels of learning, such as visuals, audio, active participation, engagement and different guided practices that will occur as the lesson is being taught. These goals are significant because they allow students to become a part of their learning, and gets them involved in the lesson. The goals that I have prepared for  during the planning of my lesson will enhance students learning, by providing students different approaches to learning the five senses (songs, visuals, power point presentation, active participation). These goals clearly state learning outcomes and meet the needs of students, because it allow students to take control of their learning.

During the lesson students will be given the chance to point to  their five senses, hear a song regarding the five senses,  have visuals to help students who need visual support, and students are given the opportunity to discuss the five senses by whispering to their classmates, and answering questions regarding the five senses. This specific lesson and goals aligns with the national, state and local standards for kindergarten students, and allows students to learn about how the body operates, and how we rely on our five senses day to day; Examples, will be done by asking student to demonstrate how we eat, or how we see, or how we smell our food. The tecnology-enhanced instructional strategies that I applied into the lesson to help support the diverse need of learners was the use of clip art. By using clip art, students are being introduce to a computer software, and is simple enough that will allow all student to participate and become a part of their learning. In this assignment, students will copy paste a picture of each of the five senses into the correct labeled spot on the paper, and print it for assessment.

The technology resources that will be used within the context of this learning activity will be the use of computers, and the clipart software. This software will be first introduced to by the teacher, and will flow by students completing the task. The strategies that I had planned for managing students learning in a technology-enhanced environment is to allow students to to use clip art to copy-paste the a picture of their five senses in the correct labeled spot. As the educator, I will walk around assisting students who need help or have not yet mastered the use of clip art.  The role of the educator at this time will be to scaffold students who need additional instruction in the clip art software.