Ashley+Parker


 * Spring Reflection 3: “Personal Odysseys”**
 * 1) **What was the original goal or intent of the lesson?**

Before starting the Odyssey, I wanted students to think about their own “personal odysseys” that they go through on a daily basis and the motivating factors that influence the way they overcome various obstacles. I broke students up into groups and each group had a different scenario. Each scenario included three choices; each of which had both positive and negative consequences. The groups had to first come to an agreement about which decision to make, and then defend those decisions in a well-organized paragraph using experience and evidence to support it. Finally, the groups shared their scenarios with the class, while the audience took notes on the scenarios and the decisions that each group made.
 * 1) **Were you successful in this goal? How?**

I do think I was successful in this goal, for the most part. The scenarios I presented the students with were realistic and related to situations they might face in their everyday lives. Many of them expressed the difficulty to make a decision because each choice had negative and positive consequences. I observed that many groups used their personal experiences to base their decisions on, and this helped them to analyze the factors that internally motivated their decisions.
 * 1) **What specifically went well?**

Students seemed to be very into the discussion of the assignment. I observed many great conversations in which students were balancing the different factors and discussing their reasoning for their decisions. I also gave specific instruction for audience members to take notes on their classmates’ scenarios so that they could use this in their journals the following day. This direction gave the audience members a specific task, which made them pay more attention, and the lesson go more smoothly.
 * 1) **What did not go well in your lesson? Why?**

Some of the directions were a bit unclear, and I also found myself second-guessing my decisions. Many students were confused about whether or not to just write their own opinions in their paragraphs or include their group members’ ideas as well. This detail was not explicitly expressed in the directions and caused some confusion. I was able to clear this up as we went along, but it took a little away from the flow of the group work. I did not adjust the lesson between first and third period, however, immediately following the lesson I thought of a new way that the lesson might be improved. Rather than having each group present to the class one at a time, I could have students rotate in stations and share their work with partners. This way, they could have one-on-one conversations with student from different groups and discuss their ideas more in-depth. This would also give them a chance to work with several different people in the class, rather than just their group members.
 * 1) **What adjustments will you make or did you make during the course of your day to replicate the lesson?**
 * 1) **How does this lesson find its way into your unit and how well does this lesson scaffold and/or integrate into the next lesson?**

This lesson was the second day in the unit on the Odyssey. Yesterday, students were given a background lesson about the Trojan War, and the events leading up to the beginning of the Odyssey. Before getting into the story of the Odyssey, I wanted students to think about their own real-world obstacles, before they see the ones which Odysseus must face. Tomorrow, they will continue with the lesson and write journal entries about their responses to the other groups’ scenarios. The journals will be more open and allow students to consider their personal experiences with certain situations. Later, as students read the Odyssey, they will be able to look back at the scenarios, all of which reflected one of Odysseus’ obstacles, and make connections between their choices and their hero’s choices in the poem.
 * 1) **What theoretical principle and or project did you tie this lesson from your coursework?**

This lesson pulled heavily from ideas about making personal connections to literature. As students had to consider their own perspectives and the perspectives of others, they were able to develop a sense of their internal/external motivations, and will later be able to connect these to the story of the Odyssey.
 * 1) **Will you use this lesson again? Why?**

Yes, I will use this lesson again, either as an introduction to the Odyssey or perhaps another story. I think this type of lesson could also be used when introducing more modern novels that involve teen characters going through similar situations. I would try the different format of sharing at least once to see whether this would be a more efficient method.
 * Reflection Assignment (Second Spring Posting) **
 * Reflection Assignment (Three Postings): **


 * 1) What was your original intent or goal for this lesson?

I wanted students to practice writing free verse poetry, which we were currently covering in class.


 * 1) Were you successful in reaching that goal? How?

Yes. The activity was as follows: We read three poems together in class (one at a time). After each poem students were given 2 minutes to make word clusters or thought bubbles. They were then given 3 minutes to write a “re-created” poem of the original. By the end of class each student had successfully written 3 different short poems. We shared these together in class.


 * 1) What specifically went well with your lesson?

I think the organization of the lesson went well. I was able to explain the activity easily, and students caught on quickly with the assignment. Many of them enjoyed the timed writing and viewed it as a challenge. They also like sharing their peers work in the end (we switched papers to reduce the pressure of reading their own).


 * 1) What did not go well with your lesson? Why?

I could have included more discussion about the actual poems we were reading. At times I made specific points about what the original authors did well in their poems, but I did not go too in depth with this. With more time, I may have been able to really highlight some important writing strategies for the students to use in the future.


 * 1) What adjustments will you make or did you make during the course of your day to replicate the lesson?

Between first and third period I was able readjust as far as timing. In first period I did more explaining of the poems and we were not able to read everyone’s poems in the end, which was important. By third, I cut out my lengthy discussions of the poems so that we were able to get through each person’s poems.


 * 1) How does this lesson find its way into your unit and how well does this lesson scaffold and/or integrate into the next lesson?

We are in the middle of a two and a half week poetry unit. We have been studying Free Verse poetry for 2 days. After looking at some of the characteristics of Free Verse, I felt it was time for students to practice writing it. The ideas continue into the next lesson and will be included on the test at the end of the unit.


 * 1) What theoretical principle and/or project did you tie to this lesson from your coursework?

-breaking up activities into distinguishable units of time -giving time limits that optimize creativity -pulling in a variety of poems from different backgrounds


 * 1) Will you use this lesson again? Why or why not?

Yes, I will use this activity again in the future. Overall, I felt it was very successful. There were many students who have not liked poetry up until this point, that responded very positively to the lesson.


 * This idea was given to me by my fellow student teacher, David White so I must give credit where it’s due!!!
 * Re ****flection Assignment (First Posting Spring) **

The goal was to review why sources are credible or not, practice paraphrasing, and learn how to create the different types of citations. Rather than lecturing about each of these topics, students will be put into groups where they will each have an individual task, related to the previously stated topics, in which they must complete. At the end of the group work, each team will present their work to the class by placing their resources on the correct board, explaining their paraphrased statement, and giving instructions on how to correctly cite their source. This allows students to be active in the learning process, rather than passive receivers of information. The goal was to review why sources are credible or not, practice paraphrasing, and learn how to create the different types of citations.
 * 1) **What was your original intent or goal for this lesson? **


 * 1) **Were you successful in reaching that goal? How? **

Because this was the second and first day for some of these topics I felt that it was a lot for students to take in at first. Research can be very overwhelming for students. I really wanted students to investigate the sources and come up with information on their own-actively participate in their learning. I think the group structure and assigned tasks gave students a focus, and that they were able to learn the information. I didn’t expect them to be experts in citations by the end of the lesson. I wanted more to see that students knew how to find the information in their sources and how to go through the process. I do feel that this was accomplished and that students got a good sense of what research is all about.

I think the best part was when students reviewed the credibility of the sources. They seemed to have a good understanding of the types of clues to look for when researching and how to pick out the good from the bad. They were able to express these ideas clearly in their presentations. I also thought the “running works cited page” was a good way to have students practice citations while showing them how to format their pages at the same time. I think it was more effective to demonstrate this process for them in class, rather than just explain it or show it on a handout.
 * 1) **What specifically went well with your lesson? **


 * 4. ****What did not go well with your lesson? Why? **

One thing that did not go as well was the paraphrasing portion of the lesson. I wanted students to paraphrase their ideas from their sources and then share them with the class. While their paraphrases seemed fine, there was no way for me to check at that moment whether the paraphrased sentences were plagiarized or close to the paraphrasing they had learned. It seemed to take up time when I wasn’t able to really investigate their words and make comments about the accuracy of their work. I also struggled a little bit with time management and making sure everything was covered correctly.

I did this lesson in first and third period. In first period I underestimated how long it would take. Because of this I was rushing at the end of the period to cram all the groups in and did not do a good job of explaining the material. I believe the kids could sense my increasing anxiety and became somewhat off task as I scrambled to finish the lesson. By the time third period came I was able to re-adjust the lesson in order to avoid being so rushed. I decided that my current schedule could be adjusted and that I needed to make this a two day lesson. One the pressure to finish in one period was off, I was able to slow down the pace and really cover the necessary information. This increased my clarity and students seemed to be more focused and on task as a result.
 * 1) **What adjustments will you make or did you make during the course of your day to replicate the lesson? **

This lesson is a part of a larger research project that we will be working on in class over the next month. Along the way I will be helping students as they work to incorporate these research ideas into their work. In the end, they will be required to turn in a works cited page and I will be able to see how well they have learned they information.
 * 1) **How does this lesson find its way into your unit and how well does this lesson scaffold and/or integrate into the next lesson? **

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif;">During the lesson I tried to do the following things that I have learned throughout my coursework:
 * 1) **<span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif;">What theoretical principle and/or project did you tie to this lesson from your coursework? **
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif;">Groups were created with each student’s abilities in mind and included students of varying abilities.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif;">I broke the lesson into parts (introduction, group work time, presentation time, and summary) of about 10-20 minute intervals to keep students engaged in the learning process.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif;">I tried to incorporate multiple learning styles into the lesson in order to appeal to, and actively engage all students.


 * 1) **<span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif;">Will you use this lesson again? Why or why not? **

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif;">Yes, I will definitely use this lesson again. I think that citations and research can be a very boring topic for students. I think this lesson allows students to discover the information on their own, rather than feeding it to them in a lecture. I think the variety of the activity and group work made the boring subject a little more engaging for students. In the future I will take into consideration that the lesson should be completed over a couple of days in order to fully cover the important elements for students.

Ashley Parker


 * Reflection Assignment (First Posting): **


 * 1) What was your original intent or goal for this lesson?

The intent of the lesson was to review the pronouns that students had been learning throughout the week. I wanted to create an activity that included connections between visual elements, vocabulary, and pronoun rules. After the “word photo” activity was completed I also wanted to go over review questions, in the form of a review game, to help them prepare for their pronoun quiz the following day.


 * 1) Were you successful in reaching that goal? How?

I feel uncertain about his lesson for a couple of reasons. This was the first full lesson I attempted to teach. My CT had been teaching the class about pronouns throughout the week. When the students took their pronoun quiz they still did rather poorly. The students seemed to understand most of the lesson during the activity as well as the review game. However, my initial beliefs about the lessons success turned out to be inaccurate. I feel that perhaps they were not grasping the information after spending a week on the material, and the one day of lesson I presented was not enough or effective in teaching them the information. I believe it was a combination of factors, including lesson errors on my part, as well as the fact that this lesson was presented at the end of the week and students still did not understand what it was that they needed to be learning.


 * 1) What specifically went well with your lesson?

The main thing I think went well in the lesson was that students were excited about having some variety in the classroom. The visual activity and the review game were different from what they normally do in class. I tried to create an activity that would help engage their other senses in order to see the material in a new way and I feel that students really appreciated and enjoyed this new strategy. Also, as it was my first lesson I think I did a pretty good job in my instruction of the material.

4. What did not go well with your lesson? Why?

There were some organizational issues that could have been planned better. For instance, I broke them into groups but the way I went about dividing them got a little hectic. Also, when I taught the lesson in the first period part of my group strategy did not go as well as it could have. Rather than having groups focus on one area and then explain it to the class, I had each group working on all of the areas and then had volunteers explain their work. This gave students less time to focus on what they were doing and I think they may have had to rush through the activity in order to finish, rather than really taking in the information.

I was able to teach the lesson in a later period that same day and made changes to adjust the issues I faced with the first period lesson. Rather than calling out groups in the beginning of class I had sticky notes on the desks with the groups and had students quietly find their groups and sit together. This helped with some of the chaos that I experienced in the first lesson. Also, rather than having the groups complete all of the parts in the activity, I assigned each group a specific task. Each group was then able to focus on their section and explain it better to the class. I felt that this worked better from a classroom management perspective as well as a learning perspective.
 * 1) What adjustments will you make or did you make during the course of your day to replicate the lesson?


 * 1) How does this lesson find its way into your unit and how well does this lesson scaffold and/or integrate into the next lesson?

This lesson was given at a time when I did not have control over the planning of the unit. I did a pronoun review that was built from a pronoun unit. It was built into this unit towards the end, in order to prepare students for their quiz the following day. It was integrated into the unit but the pronoun lessons ended after the quiz. However, as the weeks progress students will be expected to remember what they learned about pronouns and use them accurately in their writing. Students will build upon their pronoun knowledge throughout the rest of their academic careers, as pronouns are continually used in writing and speaking. Therefore, students will need to continue practicing the concepts they learned.


 * 1) What theoretical principle and/or project did you tie to this lesson from your coursework?

During the lesson I tried to do the following things that I have learned throughout my coursework:


 * Groups were created with each student’s abilities in mind and included students of varying abilities.
 * I broke the lesson into parts, dividing the time into about 10-20 minute intervals to keep students engaged in the learning process.
 * I tried to incorporate multiple learning styles into the lesson in order to appeal to, and actively engage all students.
 * Before the activity I gave them a visual example (on the worksheet itself) of what they needed to be doing. I also modeled an example on the board and explained my exact thought process to them. I demonstrated, on the board, how I made the connections in my mind and how I came up with the word photos for each type of pronoun.


 * 1) Will you use this lesson again? Why or why not?

I would use the lesson again. However, I think the main problem with the lesson was that it was given at the end of the week when students still did not fully understand the concepts and was used as a review. I think it would be better in the future if it was presented at the beginning of the unit or somewhere in the middle. It was not as effective because the students who still did not grasp the information were unable to successfully complete the activities. I would also need to make some other changes to the activity in order to make the group work a more stream-lined process. It might also need to be spread out between multiple days so that students did not have to rush through the activities and would have time to really take in the information.

___ Hey Ashley, I really like this idea about the citation stations. As a fellow student teacher, I find it very difficult to keep students engaged with the technical information for reaserch papers. I wonder if you extened the time for the students, instead of cramming it in two days. Maybe extend to four days in order ofr them to understand it better and not feel to squished in time. For the parphrase checking, maybe have a whole other station for Turnitin.com. Have students check to see if their own work is considered plagiarism. It might give them an idea what to lookfor in their writing and also get the idea that teachers are serious about plagiarism.

I think I might "borrow" this idea in the future. I like the idea of every one working on something different but keeping the focus on the technical writing learning. By the way, MRs. Nichols mentioned this idea when I spoke with her during last observation. She was impressed!