Caroline Boston Portfolio by Caroline Boston

Primary and Secondary Source Lesson

carolineboston2 — 2024-05-13 12:11:25 UTC

I used the jigsaw method to create this source assignment on Native American Boarding Schools as part of a larger unit on Westward Expansion and Native American relations. I used this lesson for my demo and it went really well. It is a good example of having students guide their own learning and is good practice for students to analyze primary sources.

Student Email

carolineboston2 — 2024-05-13 12:11:52 UTC

This was an email from one of my students who often needs a lot of one on one support during study hall to concentrate. With this student I found he is most successful when we can work parallel to one another; when he can sit next to me as we both work on things on our laptops.

Class Recording

carolineboston2 — 2024-05-13 12:12:12 UTC

This semester I have been really working on how I position myself in the classroom as a way to manage the class and to give direct attention to students who need it. By adjusting the way I move during class I can better manage the classroom.

Identity Posters

carolineboston2 — 2024-05-13 12:12:54 UTC

My students created "identity posters" at the beginning of the semester as part of our Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian unit. Students created full-body self portraits where they highlighted the aspects of their identity that they see as most important. Having the portraits up on the walls for the rest of the year is a good reminder for the students of the different backgrounds and identities of their peers and how everyone has their own stories to tell.

Poetry Rumble Lesson

carolineboston2 — 2024-05-13 12:13:11 UTC

I challenged the students to come up with examples of complicated terms like synecdoche and consonance in a short amount of time. They had access to their notes but the end results were all from them.

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States

carolineboston2 — 2024-05-13 12:13:21 UTC

When teaching a unit on Native Americans I read this book for background information and it was really helpful in building my understanding of the federal government's relationship with Native Americans.

Student Feedback

carolineboston2 — 2024-05-14 12:09:45 UTC

"Ms. Boston, you are exceptionally good at connecting with students. You are always someone easy to talk to about something that happened during the week, and you are very kind, making it so that whenever you teach a class, people respect you because you are respectful of everybody else. To be 100% honest, you are my favorite apprentice that I have ever had because of your kind demeanor, and your ability to teach me, and the class well."

This was a quote from one of my students on the feedback survey that I sent out where I asked what they think I do particularly well.

Lunchtime Karaoke

carolineboston2 — 2024-05-14 18:57:49 UTC

During my solo week I noticed my students were constantly breaking out in song during transitions, so I started lunchtime karaoke where students get to pick songs that we can all sing a long to. This is a good example to having developed a safe learning environment because students feel like they can be silly and dance and sing in front of one another without fear.

Poetry Lesson: Connotation and Denotation

carolineboston2 — 2024-05-14 19:03:58 UTC

In this lesson I had students look at three different Robert Frost poems and analyze how the word choices create different meanings in the poems. I was able to show a more modern poem as well and to tie it back to their previous book: The House on Mango Street.

May Day Dance

carolineboston2 — 2024-05-16 18:32:42 UTC

The 8th Grade had to learn a May pole dance for May Day and I had multiple students out and some students who were nervous about learning all the steps, so I started hopping into the dance and learning with them. Then when students needed help, I had the tools to assist. I also think it helped them with their nerves to have a teacher putting themselves out there and learning along with them.

Visual Identity Project Guidelines

carolineboston2 — 2024-05-16 18:40:35 UTC

This is a creative project that I asked students to do as part of their work on the Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I knew that some students might find it difficult to draw themselves so I made sure to put in the guidelines that students could do collage, abstract, use a photo of themselves, or anything else. I had a particular student that was stressed about the project and we came up with a solution of them making their own "Funko Pop" doll. The student was visibly relieved when we came up with a solution and created a portrait they ended up being proud of.

Student Poem and Feedback

carolineboston2 — 2024-05-16 19:01:58 UTC

This is a poem by one of my students that I had them write at the beginning of our poetry unit and then revise at the end. This particular student wrote a beautiful poem but was able to write an even better poem after conferencing.

Notes

carolineboston2 — 2024-05-16 19:03:01 UTC

I have saved all my notes from history classes from college and routinely break them out when I am teaching a history lesson on a subject that I took in college. Most notably, I used my background knowledge on the Civil War and Reconstruction during my solo week.