February 3

1. What strategy did you use to promote student engagement in the classroom?
2. Do you think that this strategy worked well for your lesson?  Do you think students were more engaged with the use of this strategy than they would have been without it?  Explain.
3. What other strategy/strategies could have worked well in the same setting?
4. If/When you teach this lesson again, what will you do differently to increase student engagement?
5. What more can I do to support you with lesson preparation? 

 In consideration of preparation was my own mistake.  I  thought DATA review was today even though my calendar said it differently.  I wanted them to make flashcards, but I was going to have a template made up a head of time.  I think the flashcards and the reminders on the board help them to refresh their memory.  Good thing I was prepared a head of time on what my week would look like.

Today,  for strategy, I used walking around the classroom and moving around through out the day.  This kept the noise level down and kids were on task more.  I removed bean bag time and extra computer time and monitored which kids were on Google docs doing vocab and who was not).  I felt they were more on task and engaged in the conversation.  I knew this is what I would have to do in math since it was review.  Part of today's conversations were my pre assessment for the chapter.  During writing, we independently worked on our introduction for part of the time, and then we had to report to a buddy about our introduction giving feedback and tips to help engage the audience/ readers.   I felt this small group discussion and announcing a head of time kept them focused on their writing and engage in what they wanted to say and how they wanted to say it. They were held accountable for the work to be quality.  I used Popsicle sticks. but not in the way they are fully used. I never want to pressure someone who isn't comfortable reading to read aloud, but the Popsicle sticks still kept them focused on the reading and what was paragraph was next.  During this time, I also moved around the classroom to make sure they were reading with the class instead of fiddling around with their snacks.

Today, I feel the lessons went smoother and was respected with the directions.  I feel I wouldn't change anything today because I am still getting comfortable with the techniques.  I really want to master the repeat after me.