Final Reflection

On Review Games:
Overall, I am pleased that I made more of an effort to use review games in my classroom. I'll know how beneficial they really were when students take the cumulative midterm exam. However, it allowed me to see what content and skills stuck with students and what content I might need to review in the coming weeks. Normally I would have only used review games to prepare for an upcoming test, however, I really liked the idea of using them to review content from earlier in the year as well. This made the game more engaging for students because they were able to determine what they had really learned and kept the game competitive as they tried to remember answers. In the future, I plan to use them more, but also work with colleagues or look online for pre-done questions as it is very time consuming to create all of the questions needed to keep students engaged in even a 25 minute game. I also hope to work with colleagues to learn about more games that I can use. In the past, I've gone on instructional rounds and learned new review games, and my students and colleagues have encouraged me to check out quizlet, so I plan on trying that format out as well.

On Student Engagement and PearDeck:
I believe that any good instructional strategy can be ruined with overuse. However, I really love PearDeck as an analysis tool and my students have positively responded each time when I've asked them if the format of the lesson is working for them. In addition to changing the platform of the lesson to something more interactive, I also changed the layout of the room. I made this decision based off of discussions with my instructional coach. Now students are set up in two semi circles that face toward the front of the room. This allowed me the opportunity to change the seating arrangement while also making it easier for me to use proximity to reengage students who may no longer be tuning in. This structure has improve student learning outcomes when I've used it in class and I look forward to getting more creative with how I use this tool. Ultimately, by continuing to reflect in PLC, with my instructional coach, and with my students, I believe I will be able to continue this upward trajectory of keeping students engaged while they are learning in my classroom.