Learning Letter

After completing this course I have to say that I do not think I was really prepared to take this class. It seems like most of the students in 493 are either in classrooms now, teaching, or have already completed their student teaching. I have never been in a real classroom. I have never written a lesson plan, and I have never given a lesson to students before. I think this class might be more geared toward students who are already in practicum situations.

            During the first half of the quarter when we discussed philosophy and read about theories for teachers; that was such a useful and amazing experience for me. I am so interested in the theories behind teaching. Reading about new and inventive ways to look at my job was really inspirational to me. I want to be the best teacher that I can be. I want to make the lives of my students happier and more productive. I want to see my students achieve higher goals, and live more fulfilling lives than the generation before. If my students can, in turn, help the generation after theirs to be even more successful and happy, then I have contributed to the betterment of my society.

            I have never had an education class where we discussed and explored philosophy like this. I feel like I learned a lot, not just about the pedagogies discussed in our curriculum, but I learned that there are so many studies, articles, theories, and pedagogical discussions out there for me to learn about! I was embarrassingly unaware of the mass of knowledge available on the subject of effective teaching.

            I found our book talks to be really helpful. I love adolescent literature, but I am not familiar with much of it. In fact, the genre of “teen novels” is so immense that I doubt if anyone is totally familiar with every option available. I was very excited to find a book that I didn’t think my peers would be familiar with so that I could share something new with them. I don’t think that all of our class members saw this assignment in the same light that I did, as some people shared classic and familiar texts, but those talks were really interesting and informative as well. I definitely learned a lot from hearing details about all of these texts and how they can be incorporated into curriculum.

            The mini lesson that we did on our required texts were also a great learning opportunity. I chose an author that I liked, but I had never read this particular book before so I really had fun with the assignment. Even though I do not have experience presenting a lesson, this was an excellent assignment for me to start gaining experience. I was really proud of my conceptualized lesson. I struggled immensely with writing my TPA lesson plan, but the experience really made me realize that I need to change how I am thinking about lesson planning. Writing the TPA format is like learning to speak a new language I am calling “administrative talk”. I need to know how to speak this language if I want to become a successful educator. As a teacher I need to ensure that every student in my class understands my lesson, similarly I must make sure that every other educator in my field can also understand my lesson.

            I felt that my mini-lesson went fairly well, and I learned a lot about teaching. I was so nervous that I rushed through activities that I had carefully times out during my prep time. I asked questions and then failed to wait for responses before I started to talk again. I made a lot of mistakes, and I saw a lot of ways in which I can become a stronger teacher.

            The unit plan was, by far, the hardest assignment that I have ever done. Creating a three week lesson plan was intense. I spent a lot of time researching the book that I wanted to focus my unit around. I read hundreds of lesson plans that other teachers have shared and I began to form ideas about how I would want to teach this text. In hindsight I think that this strategy was a bit ill conceived. When I developed my unit plan I only focused on the book that I wanted to use, but I never really thought about the bigger picture. If I were to do this assignment again I would start with unit objectives, how those big goals line up with common core standards, and once I had the big picture in mind I would work backwards to the daily lessons. Keeping those big unit objectives in mind would have clarified my lessons and focused my intentions.

            When thinking about this course as a whole I wish that we could have spent more time on theories and concepts in education. I am afraid that I will not get many opportunities in my education classes to look at these kinds of big ideas involving overall goals for education and implementation of purposeful teaching. I hope I am wrong, but on my list of required courses left, there is no philosophy class listed.

            This has honestly been one of the most useful classes that I have taken so far. Everything that we discussed in here and every assignment we completed applies a direct connection to what I will do every day of my career as an educator. There was no day, no lesson, and no discussion that I considered a waste of time.

TPA for MY Lesson on Alexie

LESSON PLAN

1.      Teacher Candidate:

Janna Thurston

2.      Subject:

English Literary Arts

3.      Lesson Title/ Central Focus:

Sherman Alexie:  Dreams/Barriers

4.      Grade Level(s):

Sophomore                       

5.      Length of Lesson:

·         20 Minutes

6.      Academic and Content Standards (Common Core/National):

CCSS Speaking and Listening Standard for Grades 11-12 SL 3

Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.

CCSS Reading Standards for Literature Grades 11-12 RL10

By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literary nonfiction in the grades 11–CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 11–CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.

7.      Learning  Objective(s):

·         Students will be able to better understand the character of Junior’s point of view.

·         Students will be able to compare the obstacles in their own lives with those of their neighbors and those of the character of Junior.

8.      Academic Language:

·         “Barriers” must be understood in the context of the book. Having already read the first two chapters the class should be able to use context to understand that Junior is talking about major life altering barriers that prevent his parents from achieving their dreams.

9.      Assessment:

·         Students are given 5 points for continuing the assignment at home. This is a participation homework activity and will not be judged on talent, style, or content. 5 points for turning it in.

·         Formative – The participation will be considered when designing future lessons of this sort.

·         Students have the opportunity to discuss and answer the teacher’s questions, their level of interest and comprehension will be monitored.

·         Formative – These observations will be taken into account when designing future lessons.

10.  Lesson Connections:

·         The students will be compelled to feel more empathy from the character of Junior if they can relate themselves to him. By drawing attention to their own obstacles in life and then directly drawing attention to the way Junior feels will make connections in the student’s mind of empathy and understanding.

·         Prior Knowledge Expectation:

·         Students have discussed some of the biographical facts about Alexie. Based on the cover of the book, the brief write up in the cover, and biographic information discussed the class has been asked to predict possible topics the book may follow.

·         Students must feel comfortable discussing in large and small groups.

·         Students have already read the first two chapters so they should have developed some empathy for Junior’s character already. This exercise builds on the understanding that life is hard.

·         The students are sophomores in high school. A lot of life has been lived. Our community is not wealthy. The majority of the class comes from homes with divorced parents. The students understand the obstacles in each-other’s lives, sometimes a lot better than we do, and they will be able to sympathize and understand their own classmates.

·         Our community is not so different from the Reardon Alexie describes because we are even further from the reservation. Most of us know someone who grew up on the reservation. This lesson will help us understand each other.

11.  Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks to Support Student Learning:

Introduction

·         The learning objective will be made clear during the lesson, and stated at the end of the lesson.

·         I will engage the students in a question about the previous lesson on biographical information on Sherman Alexie.

·         I will introduce the activity after reading a passage from the text about how serious Junior takes his own cartoons. This will encourage a slightly more serious drawing session.

Student Voice

·         The students will be encouraged to discuss, draw, write, and think about the topic and asked to share anything they would like.

·         At the end of the activity, before we share our drawings with the class I will ask for a show of hands vote as to who thinks they learned something about Junior from the activity.

·         Students are asked to draw, write, or in some way express their own dreams for their future. Sharing with the whole group is optional but encouraged.

·         Students are given a homework assignment to encourage further thought on the subject. I will state my office hours as a reminder when they walk out the door.

Learning Tasks

·         The students are learning to put themselves in the mind of a fictional character in order to gain a deeper understanding of the text.

·         The students are learning that their own community of classmates might all face very different barriers to success, providing a deeper understanding of their own community.

·         Procedures asked to accomplish are listening with respect, taking out paper and pencil, drawing or writing, speaking to a neighbor, discussing with the class.

·         Students must draw, write, or in some way express what a dream is.

·         The teacher will read out loud, encourage discussion, ask questions, give a prompt to talk to neighbors, and ask for feedback.

·         Guided practice is involved by asking the students to speak to their neighbor, and by asking students to make another drawing as homework.

Teacher’s Role	Student’s Role
Introduce the lesson with a question, “Did you all read the chapters last night? Let’s get out our texts!”	Answer Get out text
“Turn to page 95.” Read the selection from the text slowly.	Turn to page 95 Listen
“When Junior says that he understands the world through his cartoons, what does he mean?”	Answer
“Turn to page 12. Here is where Junior has drawn a picture of what his parents would have looked like if someone had paid attention to their dreams.”	Turn to page 12
“I want you to turn to the person next to you and take turns quickly telling each other what you dreamed of becoming when you were little.” Hand out blank paper while students discuss. Offer an example, “When I was little I really wanted to be a fireman. I dreamed of being a hero and saving people from burning buildings, riding around on the big red truck, living at the firehouse!”	Talk quietly with neighbor. Listen. Think.
“Now draw what your neighbor wanted to become.”	Draw
Walk around the room, encourage the students to really think about what they are drawing. “I didn’t just want to be any fireman! I wanted to be the best! The best fireman in the world. World famous hero. What would that look like?”	Draw
“Alright one more thing before we can share our pictures. Find space on your paper somewhere snd write down some barriers that might stop someone from achieving this dream.”	Listen. Write.
Make sure the students understand that the barriers need not be specific to the person. Any barriers that life can through at you.	Think. Write.
List some things that might keep you from becoming a fireman.	Write or draw.
“You can stop writing now.” “I would like to read to you from page 13.” Read passage about poverty. “What does Junior men ‘Poverty only teaches you how to be poor?”	Answer. Discuss.
“Did this activity help you to see things as Junior sees them?” “Let’s see a show of hands, who thinks this helped them understand Junior a little better?”	Raise hands as feedback for the teacher.
“Think about what Junior drew on page 12.”	Look at page 12.
“Anyone want to share their picture with the class?”	Share. Discuss.
Announce homework assignment one minute before the bell. “Homework tonight – draw or write what your dream is right now. Tell me what you want to be when you grow up! Due at the beginning of class tomorrow! 5 points! You will have a chance to share with us if you like.”	Pack things to leave. Listen.
As the bell rings remind the students of office hours and help available.	Listen

·         Estimate of Time:

o   Introduction                                                       5 min

o   Look at picture on page 12                                2 min

o   Ask your neighbor about their dreams               2 min

o   Draw a dream life                                              5 min

o   Think about barriers                                           5 min

o   Closure, assignment, office hours                      1 min

·         Key Teacher Questions or Prompts?

o   What does Junior mean by his pictures being “serious”?

o   Think back to when you were a little kid

o   Think about the kind of obstacles that could keep you from your dreams

o   Did this help you guys think about how Junior feels?

·         Students will be asked to turn to the person next to them and ask questions.

Closure

·         Students are asked to give a show of hands if they reached the learning goal.

·         The entire unit is on this book so relevance to future lessons is known.

12.  Differentiated Instruction:

·         Students are given the choice of writing down a description of the dream or of drawing the dream appealing to all strengths.

·         Students are given the chance to do the second drawing at home so that the rest of the class isn’t watching them while they draw if they are shy.

·         All sharing is voluntary so no one should feel singled out over their socioeconomic status.

·         The teacher will move throughout the classroom while students talk and draw, offering prompts and reminders for short attention spans.

·         Differentiated instruction is designed with my class in mind. These are issues we have right now.

13.  Resources and Materials:

·         Resources

Alexie, Sherman, and Ellen Forney. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little, Brown, 2007. Print.

Ippolito, Jaclyn. "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Lesson Plan Unit." Pocket Knowledge (BETA) | Browsing. N.p., 12 May 2008. Web. 1 Oct. 2014.

·         Materials Needed

o   Students need: text, paper, pencil

o   Teacher needs: text

14.  Management and Safety Issues:

·         Management issues are the same as for discussion; chance of rude behavior.

·         Students are familiar with the classroom expectations.

15.  Parent and Community Connections:

·         Junior draws how his parents would have looked if they had accomplished their dreams encouraging deeper though about their own parent’s lives.

·         Students are asking each other what their dreams are as a classroom community.

·         Students are asked to think about how everyone has barriers, but we all have different barriers; relating the lesson to a broader life-lesson.