My unit was over the Cold War Era. I intended for the plans to be used in a Global Studies Honors course, though they would also be applicable in U.S. and Western Civilization courses. While overall I felt as if the unit was strong, there is always room for improvement.
The aspects of my unit that I really enjoyed were those of experimental learning and cooperative or group work strategies. I think that with the students I am teaching this semester these strategies will work very well. My students are very social beings but they also stay on task, therefore the lesson on McCarthyism I think will be very successful.
In this lesson I will be allowing students to better understand the social mid-set of American people during the Nazi trials and vast fear of communism. This will also show students how fear and hatred can provoke people to do crazy or far-out things. I will then connect this back to the Nazis and look forward to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I think this lesson will be very successful and allow students to have time for reflection.
I began my unit by having students read actual documents from the conferences at Yalta and the like, but I do not think that these will be as effective. I think the use of primary documents and practicing reading skills is very important, however; I think that these lessons can be vastly improved. Instead of having them do individual reading and getting in expert groups to discuss the reading, I think there needs to be a variety of activities. Perhaps incorporate this method with another, allowing students to make a diagram or compare and contrast chart about differing opinions.
Also, I do not have easy computer access at the school at which I am teaching. Therefore, many of the lessons I planned within my unit will have to be changed. Maybe instead of having students create a Google Earth project, I will have them create there own timeline. I think that this would be effective and far easier to organize.
I am sure that as I continue my teaching and utilize other lessons from my unit plan I will find other things that can be enhanced. For now, I foresee these changes being very helpful and making sense for the students I have this semester.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Reality to Match Vision...
My philosophy of teaching derives from my belief that every student is an individual. They learn in different ways, they have different strengths and weaknesses, and they need different things from you as a teacher. It is important for the classroom to be a positive learning environment, but it must also be a place where students can grow emotionally and broaden their perspective.
At the school where I am student teaching I have a very homogenous group of students. They are almost entirely white, lower middle class, southern kids. As a whole, they are polite, but unmotivated. They have trouble with their reading and writing skills, abilities I feel are extremely important for success both in and outside of the classroom. Therefore, I have decided to make this my mission, if nothing else, my students will be able to write coherent well thought-out essays by the end of this semester.
I want students to be able to write, but I do not want to make them feel uncomfortable in their attempts. I will engage in the following action plan to work toward the success of my students as well as myself as a teacher:
1. I will provide students with lots of multiple perspectives on whatever I am
teaching, regardless of my own personal thoughts or feelings.
2. I will create an environment where students feel comfortable to ask questions
and express opinions by never putting a child down or making them feel as if they
cannot come to me with a problem.
3. Students will write! Students will have daily writing assignments and essays on
every test. Though time consuming, I will provide them with thoughtful comments
and responses to their work.
4. I will give students many prospects for success. I will do this by assessing
their knowledge and skills in multiple ways, giving all students an opportunity
for success.
5. Above all, I will let students know that I care and respect them. Lots of my
students suffer from a lack of having a stable adult figure in their lives. I will
try my best to look out for and care for each one of them as individuals. Hopefully
by showing them that I have high expectations for them, their motivation to be
successful will increase.
Through these steps I earnestly trust that I will be able to create the environment I desire for my classroom. Though it is very challenging to step into another teacher’s class and change things, I think by implementing tasks gradually and showing that I am fair and consistent with my feedback, students will respond positively and be open to the change.
Wish me luck.
At the school where I am student teaching I have a very homogenous group of students. They are almost entirely white, lower middle class, southern kids. As a whole, they are polite, but unmotivated. They have trouble with their reading and writing skills, abilities I feel are extremely important for success both in and outside of the classroom. Therefore, I have decided to make this my mission, if nothing else, my students will be able to write coherent well thought-out essays by the end of this semester.
I want students to be able to write, but I do not want to make them feel uncomfortable in their attempts. I will engage in the following action plan to work toward the success of my students as well as myself as a teacher:
1. I will provide students with lots of multiple perspectives on whatever I am
teaching, regardless of my own personal thoughts or feelings.
2. I will create an environment where students feel comfortable to ask questions
and express opinions by never putting a child down or making them feel as if they
cannot come to me with a problem.
3. Students will write! Students will have daily writing assignments and essays on
every test. Though time consuming, I will provide them with thoughtful comments
and responses to their work.
4. I will give students many prospects for success. I will do this by assessing
their knowledge and skills in multiple ways, giving all students an opportunity
for success.
5. Above all, I will let students know that I care and respect them. Lots of my
students suffer from a lack of having a stable adult figure in their lives. I will
try my best to look out for and care for each one of them as individuals. Hopefully
by showing them that I have high expectations for them, their motivation to be
successful will increase.
Through these steps I earnestly trust that I will be able to create the environment I desire for my classroom. Though it is very challenging to step into another teacher’s class and change things, I think by implementing tasks gradually and showing that I am fair and consistent with my feedback, students will respond positively and be open to the change.
Wish me luck.
Monday, January 19, 2009
This I Believe...
I believe in the power and importance of travel and breeding new experiences. Experience, rather it is good, bad, fun, exciting, strange, or scary, is always new and it is always unique to that individual. From experience one learns, grows, and advances their thinking; it can come from anywhere, be derived from anything, and produce results that are life changing.
I grew up in a manner believed by most to be out of the ordinary. Both my parents worked for environmental protection and awareness and traveled often, fortunately for me, I was able to accompany them. By the age of ten I had been to four of the seven continents, even living in Palau, Micronesia for some of my fourth grade year. By age 19 I had been to all but Antarctica. I had done things and seen places that made it very hard to relate to my peers. I grew conflicted over my unusual upbringing, feeling as though I was far more complex internally than I wanted to be. My experiences had set me apart, yet they had shaped me in a way so profound I have yet to fully understand their meaning. These experiences are invaluable to me.
I wish, as a future teacher, that I could compile every student in America and take them on a trip. A trip anywhere, as long as it was outside of their comfort zone. Through these experiences, I would hope that the children would realize how values, morals, and emotions are universal traits shared among all people of all backgrounds; realize how hatred and fear are learned and resultant from the dying of innocence; realize that there is more to the world than where they were born, but also realize that it is ok to love and appreciate home. From this, so much I would hope for, so much experience I would want to give to these children.
I will forever believe that travel and new experiences, conducted with open mindedness by the youth of today, could earnestly lead to the peace of tomorrow. I will never stop having faith in this power, I will never consider myself anything but a wanderer at heart, and I will always believe in the influence of youth. My principle lies in the words of Sir Francis Bacon, “travel, in the younger sort, is part of education; in the elder, a part of experience.” So I encourage all- get out there, try something new, get your feet wet, and appreciate every moment. This I beleive.
I grew up in a manner believed by most to be out of the ordinary. Both my parents worked for environmental protection and awareness and traveled often, fortunately for me, I was able to accompany them. By the age of ten I had been to four of the seven continents, even living in Palau, Micronesia for some of my fourth grade year. By age 19 I had been to all but Antarctica. I had done things and seen places that made it very hard to relate to my peers. I grew conflicted over my unusual upbringing, feeling as though I was far more complex internally than I wanted to be. My experiences had set me apart, yet they had shaped me in a way so profound I have yet to fully understand their meaning. These experiences are invaluable to me.
I wish, as a future teacher, that I could compile every student in America and take them on a trip. A trip anywhere, as long as it was outside of their comfort zone. Through these experiences, I would hope that the children would realize how values, morals, and emotions are universal traits shared among all people of all backgrounds; realize how hatred and fear are learned and resultant from the dying of innocence; realize that there is more to the world than where they were born, but also realize that it is ok to love and appreciate home. From this, so much I would hope for, so much experience I would want to give to these children.
I will forever believe that travel and new experiences, conducted with open mindedness by the youth of today, could earnestly lead to the peace of tomorrow. I will never stop having faith in this power, I will never consider myself anything but a wanderer at heart, and I will always believe in the influence of youth. My principle lies in the words of Sir Francis Bacon, “travel, in the younger sort, is part of education; in the elder, a part of experience.” So I encourage all- get out there, try something new, get your feet wet, and appreciate every moment. This I beleive.
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