Putting on the Shoes of a Teacher: Lesson Plan 1 Reflection

Brief Assignment Introduction

        In this post, I will be discussing our class's most recent assignment, a lesson plan. This assignment tasked us with creating a lesson plan revolving around argumentative writing. We were asked to find standards, create student learning objectives/goals, write an opening script, as well as create a model of the assignment for student clarification. Once completed, we were then in charge of presenting our lesson to small groups, consisting of our peers, to gain some practice with teaching and receiving feedback. 

Reflecting On My Own Lesson

        The argument topic I decided on for my own lesson was: "Should schools switch from five to four day school weeks?" I selected this topic because I figured it was something the students would be really interested in, which would help them stay engaged and excited to write their arguments. Throughout my lesson planning process, I wanted to make sure that I was being clear about my expectations for the assignment while also engaging the class. In past classes I have had to write several lesson plans, so I didn't find much difficulty in completing this one. However, I have never had to present a lesson I have created so that was very nerve-racking for me at first. Although I was nervous, I was pleased to receive positive feedback from every member of my small group. One nice comment I received was that I presented in a casual way that made them feel more comfortable to speak up and stay engaged. My group mates also liked how I shared my own personal opinion on the argument topic because it made them feel confident to share their own. One challenge I faced during the presentation was that my screen sharing was not working, so I had to come up with a new way of explaining my article on the spot, and it ended up being fine. Ultimately, I actually really enjoyed presenting one of my lesson plans for the first time and I'm excited to practice more in the future!

I have included a link to my lesson below in case you want to check it out:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRMMdTyY1m5G7sckEDHkSFOfhb-lS1l6TBRrmlKgvSBuuAP7BzUiN5gCmW461RCxbxpI-NDx6uMd7KV/pub

Reflecting On My Experience as a Learner 

        As a learner during the presentations of my small group, I noticed some teaching moves that were effective for me as a student. During one of the lessons, a teaching move I liked was how the instructor had everyone raise their hands for the side they were taking and then went around and asked students to explain. This was completed before any articles were introduced, so it gave me as a learner an opportunity to present my prior knowledge and initial thoughts on the topic before potentially being persuaded by the article. Another teaching move I liked was the engaging questions at the beginning of everyone's lessons. Each teacher at the time would start off asking an engaging question related to the argument topic of their lesson plan and have us respond to the question. I really liked this approach because it got me excited as a learner to share my thoughts and learn more moving forward. During my group mates' presentations, there weren't any moments that I found challenging. Each of my group mates did a great job at presenting interesting topics and keeping me engaged the whole time!

Diving Deeper Into One Lesson

        Out of respect for the privacy of my peer, I will not share their name. However, the lesson I wanted to dive deeper into was centered around the question of if the death penalty should be abolished. I really enjoyed this lesson because my classmate gave us multiple opportunities to ask questions throughout their time sharing, which I think is really important in classrooms. I also wanted to note how they went into depth of fully explaining every step of what was required of students, which provided clarity and didn't leave room to question what needed to be done. There was also a moment open for a class discussion so students could get a feel for arguments and how to go about writing them. Something I included in my own lesson plan that was also included in this one was questions to consider. I think these are really important to include when expecting students to write because it gives them questions to fall back on if they are feeling stuck and don't know what to write about. Overall, I think this lesson plan was well organized and the topic was very engaging, which is what drew me to dive deeper into it.