Reflection on a Lesson Plan Taught
Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow
Intern Name: Sara Mitchell
Lesson Title (Subject/Topic): Identifying Cause and Effect
Date of Lesson Taught: 3/15/2022
Cooperating Teacher & School: Tiffany Johnson @ John B. Dey
Grade: 4th
Time of Day: 10-11:40
1. What steps did you go through to create this lesson? With whom did you talk, discuss, or edit your lesson?
To do this lesson, I discussed with my cooperating teacher, Mrs. Johnson, what she was teaching the week I
was planning to do the lesson. Knowing this information I was able to know what I was going to be teaching
and the goal that should be accomplished at the end of the lesson.
2. How did the SOLs and Objectives help focus your instruction?
By knowing the SOLs and Objectives, I was able to refocus the lesson if it got off-topic or the discussion
when in a different direction. I was also able to check at the end of the lesson and see if the students
learned what the SOLs and Objectives said they were supposed to learn.
3. What parts of the instructional plan worked as you anticipated?
When the students went into their groups and worked on making cause and effects together, that worked
the way I expected. The students worked very well together and they all participated.
4. What, if any, adjustments need to be made once you began?
Once I began, I had to remember to elaborate on different things that they didn’t know such as vocab
words in the reading.
5. How well did you anticipate the materials needed?
We had enough materials for the class.
6. How effective was the assessment you chose to use? (If no assessment was used, what will the future
assessment be and how will you gauge its effectiveness?)
I would say that the assessment was effective because the students were able to work together on it, which
allowed students to hear ideas from their peers and understand the material more.
7. To what degree do you feel that this lesson was a success? What evidence do you have for the success of
the lesson? (Hint: Student learning is the key to a lesson’s success!)
I believe this lesson was successful because at the end of the lesson I asked the students to give me a
thumbs up, sideways, or down depending on how well they understood the information we learned. When I
did this pulse check, almost all the students gave a thumbs up or sideways, which means the majority of the
students understood the information.
Adapted from the Teacher Cadet Curriculum, Property of CERRA—South Carolina © 2004, and/or the Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow Curriculum
John M. Merritt, English Teacher at Kellam High School (Virginia Beach City Public Schools)
8. How did the time spent preparing for your lesson contribute to its success?
By spending time with my cooperating teacher discussing and planning this lesson, I was more comfortable
in front of the class and I feel that that allowed students to be more comfortable with me. Also, that time
helped me be able to learn the material myself so I would know how to answer questions that were asked.
9. If you could do this lesson again with the same students, would you do anything differently? If so, what?
If I did this lesson again, I would ask if there were any questions more often and I would give them more
time to work in their groups.
10. Any last comments/reflections about your lesson?
It was so much fun and I am so glad that I got the opportunity to do it!!
Adapted from the Teacher Cadet Curriculum, Property of CERRA—South Carolina © 2004, and/or the Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow Curriculum
John M. Merritt, English Teacher at Kellam High School (Virginia Beach City Public Schools)
