My first lesson was on writing effective introductions. I had planned some lessons before, but I feel uncomfortable doing lessons when I just speak in front of the students. Unfortunately, this can lead to some of my lesson plans being convoluted.
When I planned my first draft of the lesson plan, I did create a handout based primarily on the Norton Field Guide on strategies for introductions. I found that doing research and thinking about reporting on what I learned was a helpful way for me to reframe direct instruction. In this way it seems more conversational rather than strictly a presentation that teaches a formula.
I attempted to make my draft engaging through a few strategies. First, I tried to use model writing by thinking of 4 different ways I could write the literary analysis essay on Warriors Don't Cry. This was helpful for me as an exploration and I tried to think of them as different models or preferences for students to start writing their essays. I tried to make a quiz that corresponded to the different choices, but it was unnecessarily complicated. I liked the idea of a quiz being part of a workshop type lesson, but I think it needs to be more about prior knowledge, something more concrete.
Introductions Lesson Draft
After I submitted my draft, Professor Gleason and I got rid of the complicated quiz, but kept the handout. She helped me find student writing samples that I could use to show model introduction paragraphs from literary analysis essays. I thought this would be really helpful for the students to see what an authentic example from a college student's A paper would look like. It made me realize how important it will be for me to continue to keep contact information for my students so I can ask for their permission to use their papers in lessons in the future.
Professor Gleason also gave me the template below to structure my lesson. I have seen several lesson planning templates in different classes and they are all slightly different. I liked this structure that Professor Gleason had gotten from Maria Vint. I think it is clear. I like how it has materials listed for each section. I also found it helpful to script out my lesson. In this particular lesson planning process I found that scripting my lesson helped me really articulate the purpose of the lesson- both what I was teaching and why that lesson was important. I think I should still work on looking through lesson planning templates to find one that helps me really anticipate as much as I can before teaching. I'm sure that what I eventually end up using will be some sort of hybrid so I would like to do some research to create a format that works best for me.
When I planned my first draft of the lesson plan, I did create a handout based primarily on the Norton Field Guide on strategies for introductions. I found that doing research and thinking about reporting on what I learned was a helpful way for me to reframe direct instruction. In this way it seems more conversational rather than strictly a presentation that teaches a formula.
I attempted to make my draft engaging through a few strategies. First, I tried to use model writing by thinking of 4 different ways I could write the literary analysis essay on Warriors Don't Cry. This was helpful for me as an exploration and I tried to think of them as different models or preferences for students to start writing their essays. I tried to make a quiz that corresponded to the different choices, but it was unnecessarily complicated. I liked the idea of a quiz being part of a workshop type lesson, but I think it needs to be more about prior knowledge, something more concrete.
Introductions Lesson Draft
After I submitted my draft, Professor Gleason and I got rid of the complicated quiz, but kept the handout. She helped me find student writing samples that I could use to show model introduction paragraphs from literary analysis essays. I thought this would be really helpful for the students to see what an authentic example from a college student's A paper would look like. It made me realize how important it will be for me to continue to keep contact information for my students so I can ask for their permission to use their papers in lessons in the future.
Professor Gleason also gave me the template below to structure my lesson. I have seen several lesson planning templates in different classes and they are all slightly different. I liked this structure that Professor Gleason had gotten from Maria Vint. I think it is clear. I like how it has materials listed for each section. I also found it helpful to script out my lesson. In this particular lesson planning process I found that scripting my lesson helped me really articulate the purpose of the lesson- both what I was teaching and why that lesson was important. I think I should still work on looking through lesson planning templates to find one that helps me really anticipate as much as I can before teaching. I'm sure that what I eventually end up using will be some sort of hybrid so I would like to do some research to create a format that works best for me.
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Overall, I think the lesson went fairly well. It had been a while since I had been in a teacher role and I felt comfortable and felt I had both a strong and approachable presence. I realized that I kind of just gave them the handout instead of really guiding them though it. This is something I would like to work on in the future.
I think the questions sheet went well and was straightforward enough to answer. It was when students divided into groups that I hit some snags. The groups were too large for there to be productive discussions and it was time consuming for them to switch to spots. If I were to do this lesson in the future, I would have them pick their favorite introduction and explain why to a partner, while also taking a vote in the class. I simply wanted to make sure they were moving and talking in the lesson, but ultimately it was better for them to stay put.
I printed out my model introductions that I had originally created for the first version of the lesson. I'm glad I did this. In this class students read at drastically different rates I discovered. I realized that having some additional materials created for students who finish early is a good option for keeping them engaged in a way that is quiet and independent.
I think the questions sheet went well and was straightforward enough to answer. It was when students divided into groups that I hit some snags. The groups were too large for there to be productive discussions and it was time consuming for them to switch to spots. If I were to do this lesson in the future, I would have them pick their favorite introduction and explain why to a partner, while also taking a vote in the class. I simply wanted to make sure they were moving and talking in the lesson, but ultimately it was better for them to stay put.
I printed out my model introductions that I had originally created for the first version of the lesson. I'm glad I did this. In this class students read at drastically different rates I discovered. I realized that having some additional materials created for students who finish early is a good option for keeping them engaged in a way that is quiet and independent.
When you are teaching on your own next semester, you can show a fellow teacher or Tom Peele your lesson plan and ask for feedback before you actually teach the lesson. Don't hesitate to ask for feedback from other people: they will usually be happy to respond to your ideas and they might ask you to do the same for them.
ReplyDeleteYes, you are right: one of the things you have to account for in advance is the drastically different reading speeds of a wide range of students. So you can always create MORE for the fast students and allow for the fact that some students won't get everything read. That's ok.