Jessica Rivera

April 3, 2017
Observational Data from Recording

On the day of the recording, I taught Eureka Math, module 4, lesson 6. The objective of
the lesson was to use dimes and pennies as representations of tens and ones. The lesson starts
with a fluency, Count Coins. This activity prepares students by using coins to represent the
abstract concept of tens and ones. Then, we move on to the application problem that had my
students interpret 3 groups of tens and 9 extra ones. The students then had to remove one group
of 10 and compare how many they have now. Once the students worked out the problem and we
talked about it, we focused on developing the concept. The students use place value charts,
pennies and dimes, and linking cubes to explain their thinking. Finally, students are assessed
with an exit ticket.
After the recording, my CT and I chose to re-watch the fluency aspect of the lesson. That
part of the video caught our attention because students struggled to understand the concept, thus I
had to dive deeper to help them understand; this section was 8 minutes long. The question I
posed to my students was, Can we break apart a dime to make it smaller? At this point the
majority of the class said no. We both saw how I asked students to think-pair-share, explain their
reasoning, and defend their answer. We also saw how some students answered no, how they
defended their answers with an explanation, and due to their sharing out we were able to see the
different levels of thinking. We had students answer things like, you cant break apart the dime
because if you do its going to break or, you cant break it because its made out of metal. In
the video, we observed how I had to re-teach the definition of break apart in math and how the
literal definition differs. Soon after re-teaching the definition and posing a similar question
students answered correctly.
Most of the things we wrote down in our T-chart that were different were the inferences
not the observations. Through the inferences, my cooperation teacher gives me feedback on how
to address the subject differently and she also makes inferences as to why students possibly
didnt understand certain concepts. We started to deviate from observations when we assumed
we knew why students behaved the way they did or answered the way they did. As we continued
to talk about the section I realized how difficult it was to only observe and not make an
inference.

What is gained/ lost by focusing on the details of what happened and not making inferences
about what happened?

This form of observation was very insightful to me because I am so used to the question
being, How do you think it went? What do you think went good or bad? What could have gone
better? I have never analyzed or observed my teaching through the WHAT HAPPENED lens.
What I liked about this was that I had more time to observe my students behaviors, how they are
acting, who is participating or not. I was also able to simply observe my body language, what I
say and the way I say it, how often I call on certain students and the dynamics of the classroom
without trying to assume why things are happening.
 It wasnt so easy to block out instant feedback and reflecting on my own teaching but it
did help to focus on what was going on in my classroom. Although I found this method of
observation extremely useful, I think making inferences is also a need when observing and
reflecting. By focusing only on what is happening we lose the opportunity to enhance and refine
certain areas. For example, my cooperating teacher and I saw how the way my students answered
lead me to reteach an area, we infer that we need to reinforce math language to our ELL students
so they become more successful in math. My CT suggested that if I wrote on the smartboard
while students were trying to answer the question I posed, it might have helped them to have a
visual. Perhaps students need that extra scaffolding in order to start developing a sense of
understanding for that concept. Ultimately, I think that there are both gains and losses by
focusing on the details of what happened and not making inferences about what happened.

Reflection

a. Overall, the lesson was okay. I was not comfortable with the level of engagement my
students had with the lesson. Throughout the video, I didnt see a time where all my
students were participating and completely engaged. There were instances where I would
ask whole class questions and very few students would answer. I presented certain
concepts one way and some students lacked understanding, I did not like that I didnt
pause all the time to address those students. I could have improved on the fact that if a
student did not understand something, I should have gone back to reteach the things
mentioned at the beginning of the lesson to help activate or deepen their understanding.
Some of the things I saw and liked were that when asked to think-pair-share, students
were genuinely discussing with their classmates. I appreciated that when students
answered incorrectly, I didnt correct them or ignore their response, instead I questioned
and probed to have them explain their understanding. As students worked on their white
boards, I would ask them to explain their thinking as it related to their drawing and
number sentences.
Towards the middle of the lesson we deviated from the lesson plan because students
needed me to address aspects that they hadnt mastered to move on. Because of that, the
end of the lesson was rushed to get students through the problem set and exit ticket. I
wish I would have focused more on the mastering of the skill rather than having to get
through the whole lesson. The improvements I would like to ensure I change in my
practice is remembering that the end goal is to help students understand the concepts and
not rush through lessons due to time constraints. I need to focus on the objective, and as
soon as my students are disengaged, I should step back to see where it was that I lost their
attention. A main reason they could have been disengaged is that they stopped
understanding and felt lost.
b. After viewing the video, I realized that I need to focus more on personalizing for my
students. I saw how my struggling student could have benefited by instruction that is
more direct. It was disappointing to see that I didnt give them any more attention than
the rest of my average students. I always thought that allowing them to use a personal
 number chart, and working with a buddy was enough. However, after paying close
attention to their body language I see how important it is for me to become more attentive
to them. I saw how I delivered cultural responsiveness by redefining some key terms for
my ELLs, learner responsiveness where students worked together to solve problems, but
definitely didnt personalize for all my students.

c. Piggy backing off the personalized note, cooperating teacher recommended I use the
interactive whiteboard to help scaffold and point out important information to my
students. We talk about the different learning styles and highlighting, underlining, or
circling key words in number problems could help students better understand what is
expected of them. My cooperating teacher also encouraged me to add onto what the
lesson itself asks of us teachers. For example, when speaking about money I could have
introduced different forms of expressing monetary value so that students start to become
exposed. Through the part where my students struggled with dime and pennies, I could
have explained it differently using the place value chart that they have already been
exposed to instead of using verbal explanations.

It was very helpful to have her bring these and many more habits to light because as she
focused on the way I taught and delivered the lesson, I focused more on how I interacted
and how the students responded. When observing ones self, there are many aspects to
analyze and having another set of eyes, and an experienced teacher, it helps reflect on
ideas I hadnt thought of on my own. I completely agree with all her feedback and the
discussions weve had. She helps me think outside of the box and become aware of things
a novice teacher might miss.

Protocol
Wheres the Math?

First Viewing
First, the lesson started with a fluency that helped students start thinking of tens and ones using
coins. This fluency is a warm up for where the application problem and the concept development
are headed. Once we read the application problem, the students worked independently and with
the people at their table to show 3 bags with 10 pretzels in each bag and 9 extra pretzels, students
then show the removal of 1 bag. As students are working on their dry-erase boards to solve the
problem I walk around to assist students who need the extra support or show a gap in solving the
problem. When students were done solving the problem; we all solved it together as a class and
proceeded to work on the concept development. The concept development had students answer
the question, Can I break apart a dime? The intention was to get students to think about the
idea that 1 ten is made up of 10 ones. After that concept, students are asked to work with place
value charts, again reinforcing the tens and ones concept only this time thinking about dimes and
pennies. After several ways of reinforcing the concept students move on to the problem set and
exit ticket as form of assessment.

Second Viewing
At 27 minutes into the lesson, students have already been working on tens and ones. The
question given to them requires they justify whether or not a dime can be broken apart or not.
This was the most interesting in my opinion because students were easily able to say that a ten
stick can be broken down into smaller ones, but when referring to coins, students took a different
turn. Many students answered incorrectly because they didnt completely understand that dimes
and pennies are the same or equal to a ten stick and one linking cube. This was a moment in the
lesson where, as the instructor I was able to see the divide between my students. I had them share
their reasoning with the people at their table, but because the tables are arranged
heterogeneously, students answered similarly per table. Because of the arrangement, I had
students stand on opposite sides of the classroom according to how they answered and had them
share aloud. Due to that activity, I was able to target the misunderstanding that could help
students solve the problem correctly.

Change of Direction
As Im viewing the video and focusing on the complexity and change of direction my students
took, I was impressed by the way my students and I had worked together. Some students took the
phrase break apart too literal, others couldnt see that 10 pennies are the same or equal to 1 dime.
I had to take a moment to step back and talk about how number bonds are a form of breaking
apart numbers for background knowledge. I also went back to our fluency from the beginning of
the lesson to remind students that 10 pennies are equal to 1 dime. This section was the last bit of
the concept development; therefore, students were expected to have answered sooner and
correctly. However that was not the case, somewhere along the lesson, students were lost, and
when it came down to this section I saw the knowledge gap in my students.

Third Viewing: Students Understandings & Misunderstanding

Tens can be broken down to

1 ten = 1 dime
Some students didnt
understand that 1 dime is
equal to 1 ten stick

1 dime = 10 pennies
is the same as:
1 ten = 10 ones
It was very difficult for some students to
transition from ones and tens to dimes and
There was strongpennies.
evidence that many students didnt not realize that dimes and pennies are equal
to tens and ones. The diagram above depicts the main ideas of the lesson, the areas in black
represents the main ideas, the areas in green represents all students understood, and the areas in
red represents the ideas many students struggled to understand and very few mastered. This
protocol was awesome as it allowed me to narrow down the main ideas, and areas of struggle for
my students. Before working with this protocol, I thought I knew the reason my students
struggled, however, now that I have done this, I have come to a different conclusion. I do plan to
reteach and I am confident I will target the missing component.

CT notes
ST observations