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I will learn strategies to create lessons that are relevant to students' cultures and interests. As a result, students will be able to make analytical connections between the content and the world around them.

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Our Initial Self-Rating: 1.5

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So far, I have:
-  developed standalone lessons and sequences of lessons that relate to the curriculum content (Romeo and Juliet) and build upon their skills of analyzing a text for themes, and writing paragraphs that explain those analyses.

Students have:
- shown interest in the overall set up of the unit, but dissecting the play can be dry and repetitive and result in disengagement.

In focusing on thematic analysis through a culturally modern lens, I think students will be more engaged and relate to the material better.

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Step 1: reflect on my own practices and research common pitfalls in lesson planning that I may be committing without realizing it.

Six common pitfalls identified by Jones, Jones, and Vermette (2011):

1. The learning objective is unclear

2. Students do not create an assessment of their understanding or their assessment is done outside of class

3. Students do not create evidence of their developing ideas

4. The assessment does not match the learning objective

5. The teacher does not know how to start the lesson

6. Students are passive recipients of knowledge

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Strategy 1: When planning my lessons, it would be very helpful to ask myself the following questions

Which of the possible ways of teaching this topic are most promising and feasible?

What kinds of teaching aids would be helpful and are attainable?

What sorts of study or learning experiences would be beneficial to students ?

What special assistance are students apt to need and how can it be provided? (Justman & Mais, 1956)

Instead of just lesson planning from a blank slate, I decided to start off by considering the personalities of my various classes. Rather than just come up with lessons and supplementing materials that I think kids would find interesting, I tried to tailor these ideas to my students specifically instead of classes in general. For example, in one of my Political Systems class many of the students are lower level and difficult to engage. I thought about their personalities and about how many of them like rap music, and as an introduction to our new unit (legislative branch) played them a rap I found online about it. The entire class loved it and they were much more engaged and cooperative throughout the entire rest of the class

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Primary Strategy:  Placing myself in the shoes of the students in order  to create relevant material and present it in such a way that relates to the students.

This is most effectively done through technology-based professional development in which lessons have advanced, technological components immersed within them.

Continuously being a reflective practitioner who can relate to my students and who understands most of the cultural references made by students inside and outside of the classroom.  This social knowledge will create more of a common ground between my students and I, and it will allow me to  find and create material that will facilitate new learning.

Adding on to Mat's point where he delineates the significance of "considering the personalities of my various classes," this is important when creating and presenting lessons because we are teaching the kids, not just teaching to a curriculum.

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I have developed lessons and activities related to specific skills in the curriculum; The class has been learning about the Legislative Branch and I have been teaching them how to accurately research political topics and determine which information is true, which is false, and which is relevant.

I have been creating lessons that build on the students' prior knowledge; they started off learning about the structure of congress, how they work, how congressman get elected, etc. After that we moved to more intricate topics like how bills are passed, congressional committees, house procedures, etc.

Students have shown some interest in topics such as lobbying, congressional influences, and political action committees, but overall they are not excited by the content

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Thus far, I have created lessons and activities that relate to my students on a personal level, no matter how abstract the piece(s) studied may appear to be.

For my Greek Mythology unit, students were to write their own Greek myth narratives, in which they incorporated what they have learned and who they are into the piece.  Another task was for students to work collaboratively in order to "teach" the major story elements to the class; providing them with the opportunity to apply their understanding and to hone their presentation skills.

With my plans created for The Odyssey, students are focusing on the idea of the guest-host relationship in regards to hospitality, and the rite of passage of Telemachus as an emerging adult. My goal is to engage them with connections to their personal lives in order to facilitate their understanding of the material and to make some aspects of it pleasant.

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Farr, F. (2015). THE LESSON PLAN. In Practice in TESOL (pp. 72-88). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.sacredheart.idm.oclc.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt1g09z7r.10

Hynd, C. (1999). Teaching Students to Think Critically Using Multiple Texts in History. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 42(6), 428-436. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.sacredheart.idm.oclc.org/stable/40014056

Jones, K. A., Jones, J., & Vermette, P. J. (2011). Six common lesson planning pitfalls: Recommendations for novice educators. Education, 131(4), 845-864.

Justman, J., & Mais, W. (1956). Planning Instruction. Improving College and University Teaching, 4(3), 51-52. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27561767

Price, Kay M. and Karna L. Nelson. PLANNING EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION:

DIVERSITY RESPONSIVE METHODS AND MANAGEMENT,Thomas/Wadsworth, 2007.

Stiggins, R. J. (2008). An introduction to student involved assessment for learning. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall

Wiggins, G. R, & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Alexandria, Va: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

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Step 2: Address the pitfalls I've stumbled into  through research-based instruction tips and incorporate the module goal into my restructured lesson plans.

To address unclear learning objectives:

Frame the objectives as "I can..." statements that's predominantly displayed and acknowledged at the beginning of class. (Stiggins, 2008)

Learning objectives that will incorporate students' cultures and interests when examining gender expectations --> "I can examine the theme of gender expectations in the text and explain how much those gender expectations have evolved in the modern world."

To address a lack of assessment:

Introduce quick write exit tickets as closure activities.

When we did an analysis of Romeo's character, I told the class that Romeo starts off as a Petrarchan lover, a Renaissance cliche. Then, I had the class create a padlet that examined modern cliches in TV and literature. They picked their own cliche and wrote a post about a TV show they liked in which that cliche appeared.

To address student created evidence of their developing ideas:

Create formative assessments that synthesize the information they have learned so far employing at least one of Wiggins and McTighe's (2005) 6 Facets of Understanding

Upon finishing Act I, we created a mind map to identify quotations that exemplify a theme, make inferences regarding what the text might tell us about Elizabethan culture, and see if there are any similarities or differences in the modern world. Students worked in groups to discuss these connections and finally come up with a conclusion about what the synthesis of this information might mean about humanity.

In addition, I reached out to my school's instructional coach and my cooperating teacher to talk through my lesson plans and overall unit plan. They're working extremely closely with me regarding the creation of a summative group project I'll be giving the kids when we finish reading the play, which will incorporate the kids' interests and creative choice.

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Strategy 2: Deviate from the textbook and introduce as many primary, secondary, and outside sources as possible.

Encouraging and teaching students to think like a historian is an excellent way to get them to think critically. "students who learn to think of what they read as acts of communication by an author..who has an agenda, and is operating in a system of power can evaluate the message rather than merely understand it at a perfunctory level" (Hynd 1999).

Good lesson and unit plans should span more than just the class textbook; it is important to provide students with multiple perspectives and ideas, as well as teaching them to analyze these sources and their purpose for writing them. While understanding the material is a good first step, it is imperative that students dig further and ask themselves questions like why is the author writing this? What is their purpose behind it? Who is their audience?

I decided to do a mini  unit on strategies for researching topics. Using primary sources and other articles, I had the students get into groups and dissect these articles in order to answer many of the same questions listed above. A majority of the students found these articles to be much more understandable once they knew the biases the author might have, what their purpose was for writing it, as well as other questions. I had them read the article and take the same assessment both before and after the group work. They showed a much more in depth understanding after the activity  and it was apparent this was an effective method for them.

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Strategy 3: Anticipate problems I may encounter based on prior learning & content of the lesson.

When planning a lesson, consider any gaps there may be between students background information and new material being introduced

Try to imagine various scenarios where you could run into a problem and think about potential solutions

I utilized this strategy while planning a lesson about Super PAC's. I thought the students might get tripped up on what exactly the differences are between PAC's and Super PAC'S, so I found a short video to help me explain the subtle differences in case I was unable to convey it. The anticipated problem occurred during the lesson and instead of fumbling on the spot and trying to think of different ways to explain it, i was quickly able to show the video and then move on. (Farr 2015)

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Impact on practice:

While I've always aimed to think about the students and where I want them to be at the end of the lesson in terms of understanding the content that was taught, I never fully fleshed out the learning objective as much as I should have prior to this lesson. Pinpointing my weaknesses (with an unclear learning objective being one of them) helped me shape the lesson activities much more. In the past, I would have the kids do activities that may be engaging but may not totally speak to the learning objective. Now, with a clear learning objective, I'm able to shape my lessons/activities around what will help them achieve that goal as well as keep them engaged.

I'll also be adding more concrete ways of measuring students' understanding. Instead of allowing a class discussion to be a free flowing thing, I'll start having guided reading questions we can answer that will be collected at the end of class so I know what they've gleaned from the day's lesson. These guided reading questions will be thematic in nature and will allow them to relate the material to the modern world.

Additionally, I'm incorporating the modern world in almost every lesson I plan, whether it be in my exit ticket (to serve as a regular closure activity) or as a bigger component like in a formative assessment. I'm also putting more responsibility in the hands of the students by giving them assignments that ask for modern connections (such as the padlet exercises) but allowing them to tailor the assignment to their interests by  picking pop culture or modern references with which they're familiar.

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Impact on students :

In continually framing the lessons around the thematic connections between the text and the modern world, students will get used to reading the text through a modern lens and finding relevance in the material. Students have also performed better on formative and summative assessments, as they're being trained to make these connections while they read. Students will also be able to check their own understanding and will  be more inclined to ask for help if they realize they don't meet the "I can" learning objectives.

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Expanding the Professional Growth:

This indicator--planning lessons around the student's interests-- has opened up a whole new avenue for creative lesson planning. I'll probably work closely with my cooperating teacher and other teachers in the school to build on these lesson plans and make sure they're meeting the standard of rigor while also engaging the students and their interests.

I also intend to observe other teachers in different disciplines who are working towards a similar goal. I have an observation set up in a social studies class because the teacher is attempting to bring history in the modern world and I would like to see how that might work on a cross-disciplinary basis.

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Impact on practice:

After completing this module , I've realized the importance of first considering the personalities of your classes prior to lesson planning. I now try to think about what activities or strategies each specific class would enjoy. After developing each lesson, I've begun to reflect on them and try to anticipate any problems that could possibly come up. I feel like this has made the class run much smoother and whenever I run into issues I am much better equipped to handle them. Lastly, I have started to make it a priority to deviate from the textbook as much as possible. Outside sources are essential for helping students broaden their horizons and improve their ability to think critically. It also helps them learn to make connections inside the classroom to the outside world.

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Impact on students:

The students seem to be enjoying class much more that I have integrated these strategies into my lesson planning. Since the lesson design has changed, the students have told me that class has run smoother and become more meaningful. The use of outside sources, particularly current events, helps to keep things from getting too dull. It presents a nice break from the material and helps connect our class to the outside world.

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Expanding the Professional Growth:

I will continue to work on growing and perfecting my teaching strategies by consulting with my cooperating teacher and doing further research. Lesson planning is really an art that teachers must work to continuously perfect as their careers progress. I will also try to utilize all  available resources to me such as collaborating with other teachers, attending professional development, and observing classes whenever possible.

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Impact on Practice

In Planning Effective Instruction: Diversity Responsive Management and Methods, the idea of Diversity Responsive Teaching is explored and explained as “a set of practices to increase the probability that all students will learn… [this teaching which is delivered] by responding to issues of diversity with understanding, opportunity, and equity for all.”  I love the idea that I have found a tangible definition of what it means to teach in the way that supports my own ideas and philosophies as an emerging teacher.  With my specific class mentioned earlier, I have been able to effectively alter my perspective and increase the number of opportunities for all of my students within the classroom.  This allows for a more constructive learning environment and for me to be more intentional in all that I do from what I prepare, to how I respond to my students.  I will continue to work on raising my expectations for all of my students and utilizing the variances amongst my students as a platform on which to learn, as opposed to it being a matter of division between them.

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Impact on Students

The expected results within the classroom after focusing more on selecting a variety of inclusive content is more engagement and more understanding from my students.  I am now able to measure the level of engagement by keeping track of how many students participate in each class in comparison to previous classes.  Not only would I look at how many students are participating, but the quality of their contributions in terms of how deeply they are thinking about the main topic.  In terms of assignments and assessments, these provide me with the ability to see more clearly how making this change in terms of focusing on diversity within my content and lessons plays out with the students being able to analyze and to apply concepts to their work.