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Assignment 8
- What content will you do a lesson plan on? (As always, we'll be specifying SOLs addressed, so here's a link to them.)
- Unfortunately, I've done nothing but write lesson plans over the last few weeks; this means I will be recycling something for this assignment. Bright side? At least it will be in my content area.
- What are your initial thoughts on the three stages of backwards design? Sketch out a couple of words on each stage.
- I think Curry has reprogrammed my brain, and I only think in backwards design mode now. Not that I'm complaining, because it seems to make the most sense--it's actually easier to plan a lesson by thinking about the objectives first, cuz otherwise you'd end up in the middle of muck and spend far too much time on something that won't work anyway. It's like if you have an interview, first thing you gotta do is figure out where it is, what mode of transportation you're gonna use, then plan your route based on that. You would never hop on a bus and hope for the best...unless you live by a completely different philosophy.
- What tech might you use in the lesson? How will it be adapted between the two versions?
- probably a laptop, for research purposes (my honors class in 488 this semester actually has laptops in there all the time!), a smart board, and then possibly a wiki or blog or both. Maybe a movie clip or slide presentation too. Depends on how much time i have vs. content. The learning part of English classes tend to be grounded in text, so there's often not much calling for technology unless you're assessing.
2 comments:
Hi there! I was wondering if you could give me feedback on my lesson plans when you get the chance. I'd be happy to do the same for you!
Here's the feedback - Sorry for the delay.
1. What lesson plan format is being used? Backwards design or something else?
Backwards design
2. Locate the goals or objectives.
1. Do they cite the SOLs or another set of standards?
Yes - English SOL 12.1a
2. One problem with standards is that they can be extremely vague; the person reading them isn't sure what they mean. Does this plan provide clarity (as needed) to the standards addressed? Do you have a clear picture of what the students should exit the lesson with, based on reading the lesson's goals/objectives section?
This lesson plan is interesting and clearly stated. It seems like it would keep the attention of students and have them learn a lot about the hero, but I’m not sure how the lesson addresses the SOL it attempts to work with (Choose the purpose of the presentation: to defend a position, to entertain an audience, or to explain information) or addresses the idea of the quest.
3. Read over the assessments.
1. Are the assessments summative, formative, or both?
There are formative assessments in the lesson plan that would eventually lead to a summative assessment.
2. Can you suggest additional formative assessments that might be helpful? (Note: you might not be able to do this until after reading the learning activities, so loop back to this if you have to.)
If I were going to add a formative assessment, I would perhaps add a proposal for the final project.
4. Read over the learning activities.
1. Identify the technologies used in each version--just jot a quick list.
High tech - Smartboard, projector, laptops, class blog, and speakers. Low tech – CD player
2. In the tech-intensive version, do the selected technologies support the targeted objectives? Do you have any suggestions about a different technology that might work better?
Using a smartboard to record students’ brainstorms is a great idea, especially if students want to refer back to them later. It would be very easy to pull up the file on the computer and work with it.
3. In the tech-reasonable version, note how the teaching strategies have been adapted to accomodate the lack of available tech tools. Does the adaptation seem successful to you? Was anything lost or gained by not using technology? Do you have any suggestions about how to change the adaptation.
The only thing lost in not using a smartboard in brainstorming is the ability to easily save work in an organized fashion. But by using the post-its, students still have something refer back to. To keep things organized, I would have students attach the post-its more permanently in place with tape.
4. Is this section (learning activities) clear and specific? For example, are approximate times listed? Materials needed? Could you implement this plan if it was handed to you?
A very complete list of items needed for each section of the lesson is given, helping the teacher to better organize the parts of the lesson. I especially like the intro to the lesson – I think that getting the students out of their seats would help them become more engaged in the lesson. I think perhaps a little too much time is given for brainstorming about what a hero means, but many discussions could be started in that time.
5. Offer any additional thoughts that you think might be helpful.
I really like this lesson – I think it’s a great way to get students thinking about heroes and get ready to write about them. I would perhaps spend a little less time on the brainstorming. I think that 12th graders would get the idea of the lesson in less than 80 minutes.
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