Chapter 8

 The lesson plan will be of the Great Depression and how it affected the general populace. My high school kids will develop an understanding and think critically of the human experience during this time period. During this phase in life, my students will probably have an increased recognition of the Great Depression and can piece together different ideas/lessons of the Great Depression to begin to understand the human aspect of this era. They also will understand the content relatively slowly and forcing them to learn is out of the question. I hope this lesson plan will have a positive transfer for the class.

I will assign my class to write a diary/journal entry of a person living in the Great Depression and to convey their experience using the 5 main human senses. I will give them a choice of three characters to write about. Before class is over, I will also ask the class to do a ticket out the door with a question I will ask/write on the board, like what we do in 401 class. They will also turn in their diary/journal for a grade. From this lesson, I see a few aspects of the cognitive process that may work for my students. 

 1. Comprehension Monitoring- I am utilizing this to check my students to see if they are understanding the material via writing about it in their own words. I will read each journal and grade accordingly.

2. Illusion of knowing- My students may see this as an assignment, but they may see this assignment like an iceberg. I see the 90% of the iceberg my students do not see. I believe this assignment will help them in writing, creativity, and think convergently.

3. Higher-level questions- With the ticket out the door, I will give them a thought-provoking question to see if they mastered this subject area of the human experience during the Great Depression.  

 To end, I believe this lesson correlates with Bloom's taxonomy, but instead of viewing it like a pyramid, I see it as a circle because depending on the student, they may see and take my lesson differently than another student. I believe as long as they fit into one category of Bloom's taxonomy, they will "reach" the other categories as well from their own level of understanding. 

Chapter 7

For my high school history class in the inner city, I will teach a lesson that will bring history alive. If I were in Memphis and teaching U.S. history in the 1960s, I would go to the National Civil Rights Museum. When I get funding for this field trip, everyone in my class will go for the day. I will have other history teachers involved as well. My purpose is to provide opportunities for firsthand observation to see "history in the flesh." With a journal I have already assigned at the beginning of the school year, they will write observations and questions in their journal. As they can write anything they want, this day will be part self-reflecting, group, and class discussions. With the field trip, I also want the kids to have a conceptual understanding of the topic we are going through in class. I want them to feel the emotions, hear sounds, and understand the reason for the Civil Rights Movement. I also want, for those with hardened minds, to realize that the world is not against them. I want them to realize that this movement was bigger than those who participated in this historical event... The Civil Rights Movement was not a race war or riot, but a fight for injustice. This is also the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. King was murdered. Though MLK's role in the Civil Rights Movement halted in front of Room 306, the spirit for justice lives on. SKIN color does not matter. I also want my students to know that they are in a good environment when they are in my classroom. 

 

The next day, I will have those who want to share their experiences come up to the class/ or have group discussions. I will tie in everything we observed at the NCRM and our curriculum the students' personal lives. If I have more money and time, I will dedicate one more day to bring in a person who participated in the Civil Rights Movement and speak of his/her experiences.

 

This would be awesome to do.  

 

Their history, is my students' history as well.

Chapter 6

Out of all the learning outcomes, I hope to instill one to my students. I want them to gain implicit knowledge for themselves. As a former high school student myself, I did learn in the classroom, but do I remember any of the assignments and learning styles of the teacher? I remember very little, but I do recall the care and passion I felt from the teachers that taught with much vigor. That, and other factors, helped me decide that I wanted to be a teacher. They broadened my horizon and I am grateful for my teachers that had a hand in shaping me who I am today. As my teachers have done before me, I hope to do the same for my inner-city students. I also hope to have my students achieve automaticity. Whether it be for school and/or for their future, I have accomplished something. The video clip, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT0L1U-Rdj4 though it's just a movie preview, it conveys what Ms. Gruwell achieved with her students.

Though it's a bit long, it's from TEDtalks. It's Ms. Gruwell herself and her experiences in teaching with inner-city high school students. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thd8xw_poNo 

Ms. Gruwell is not the only exceptional teacher I want be like, but she was the first to grab my attention. I've adapted some of her teaching methods that I will use for my own.
 
I want my students to achieve success, college bound or not, after high school. I want them to convey a positive implicit memory of themselves and the world around them. From classroom lessons, projects, and discussions, I want my students to achieve automaticity. It may take lots lessons, encouragement, and time out of my life... it'll be worth it. It'll be worth it when my students can experience life of good, positive, and a liking for knowledge. The more I understand these theories of learning, the better prepared I can be as a teacher. I better get studying.

Chapter 15

 
I will start off by introducing myself and tell her a little bit about myself. I would want to lighten up the mood before going into Ingrid's achievement test results. Once we have our little ice breaker conversation, I will then  explain why students are tested and explain what the different types of scores are. Then, we will go over her test results. I will tell her that Ingrid's strengths were in reading comprehension, science, and social studies. Her math concepts were average-above average, while math computation and spelling were average-below average. I will also remind her that these averages are derived from a national score. For the stanine score, I will tell her that Ingrid's score of spelling and math computation was below average and the test revealed an area in which she needs improvement. For math concepts, she performed at about the same level as other students who took the test. For reading comprehension, science, and social studies, test results mean that she performed better in that area than other students who took the test. To explain the percentile, whatever percentile she received on the test, she scored whatever percentage higher than her peers who took the test. If Ingrid's grandmother needs further explanation, I will do my best to simplify it more. 

If her grandmother asks how Ingrid can improve at home, I will advise her to gently nudge Ingrid to continually do her best in school and that her teacher honestly cares for her to do well. I will also advise her to create a positive learning environment at home where Ingrid will slowly want to learn her material. She should also be a part of the learning process so Ingrid's attitude and effort improve. If I get permission, I will ask for a home meeting to see if I can try to help Ingrid outside of the classroom.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nassp.org%2Fportals%2F0%2Fcontent%2F48921.pdf&ei=ZV0UUZ67FpCM9ATgnoGgAQ&usg=AFQjCNEcboKZ9MWPypF6qKQF5oE8BBwzuw&sig2=UXSRsxvJLhw1BGHHYelcoQ

This PDF is short, but reminded me of how parent/grandparent involvement will greatly help the student to be motivated to learn.