slowwwsteve

Back to personal page I approach school like this kid approaches eating his sandwich. I'm lovinnnnnn' it. Social interaction helps me learn better as a student.

Before Bloomsburg, I lived in… Wilkes-Barre PA

At Bloomsburg, I want to major in… Secondary Education, English

Right now, I’m most interested in… A lot of things

My favorite musical artist is…. Bobby Marley

My favorite movie is…. __Trainspotting__

One thing I like to do in my spare time is… Listen to music

When it comes to technology, I’m most comfortable with…(put X next to all that apply)

X Microsoft Word X Microsoft Powerpoint X Email X Cellphone X Text messaging X Taking cellphone pictures X Taking cellphone video X Taking cellphone audio Video editing Blogging or Social Networking (e.g., Facebook) Making websites

My favorite teachers were the ones who… Made “boring” subject matters interesting

But I didn’t like classes in which… The teacher is unclear

In this class, I’m most nervous about… Nothing

In this class, I’m most excited about… Doing well

If there’s one thing you should know about me as a student, it’s… I always do better during fall semesters, than the spring ones

If there’s one thing you should know about me in general, it’s… I love chicken wings

When composing a unit plan the instructor needs to have an overall relevant subject matter to teach his or her students that is interesting, and that also aligns with set academic standards. It is practical to start both theorizing and strategizing the most efficient ways to instruct unit lessons by choosing literary pieces that are beneficial in achieving these standards in a classroom environment. Take as an example, if a unit plan’s topic seems to lean towards the students achieving better understanding of material with a discussion centered learning environment, then the rationale section should focus and elaborate on strategies that will be conducted during the later lessons.

Our class is currently forming a collaborative unit plan as an assignment and the literary piece has been finalized as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s __The Great Gatsby__. One thing that needs to be addressed soon is the state academic standards that it needs to follow. I bring this up because the collaborative assignment has become the initial example that will further help me develop an individual unit plan for this course. My original idea of one addressing relevant ELA subject matters would be to examine diversity as a growing nation in a literary piece. During my freshman year of college, I was assigned to read Fredrick Douglass’ autobiography. It basically blew me away from several different, distinct points of view. It is an historical piece of literature that still has relevance from both sociological and literary ideals. Students need to understand that our nation has struggled with social inequality throughout history. Fredrick Douglass, originally a slave with no rights at all, gained influential power and eventually his freedom by educating himself how to read and write during his childhood. His autobiography contains many narrative themes that tackle constant racial inequality that many only come to understand vaguely though concrete examples examined in civics courses.

Before I read this piece, there was never much to reflect upon during this time period besides how devastating it was for minorities, especially African Americans. Douglass’ narrative, in his language alone made it feel as if I had an actual connection with the tribulations that affected most African Americans who lived lives of captivity during this time. Developing a lesson plan that examines this historical figure's narratives will further help students come to a rich and reflective understanding of America’s social boundaries of the past, and how currently they affect our diverse nation.

First, I would like to assign students to find an online news article that can further help them think critically about multicultural aspects (students will expand their understanding on how social classes today affect themselves, as well as others). This will help the students to draw upon for better background information about the disadvantages and negative stigmas that come a long with being a part of a certain social class. Much of //A Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass// is devoted to depicting how social classes affected racial discrimination before the 20th century. Secondly, the students then can write a short essay (1-1 1/2 pages) reflecting their personal thoughts and feelings on how the United States has grown as a multicultural state since the abolishment of slavery, but still regarding the limitations many individuals face in the current day.

1.1.11.G Demonstrate after reading understanding and interpretation of both fiction and nonfiction text, including public documents. 1.2.11.A Read and understand essential content of informational texts and documents in all academic areas.

A second activity includes watching video clips that a relevant to //A Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass.// It is a great way for visual learners to gain a better understanding textual themes found in Douglass' autobiography. I also want to find short video clips that can help students understand historically the institution of slavery in general. I do not think with the time constraints it is practical to watch a whole film on the book, but resources such as [|www.youtube.com] and other video clip websites probably have great visual resources that are short and can be integrated into a daily lesson. The whole class would then participate in a discussion reinforcing the information presented to them in the several short video clips. As the instructor I would like to focus attention on how authentic Douglass' autobiography is depicting the institution of slavery as well as the daily life of the average African American before 1865.



UPlan Lesson Reflection Webquest The webquest personally made me elaborate on the relationships between assessment standards and activities for the collaborative unit plan. Furthermore, it helped me see the bigger picture of where these standards are formulated at the national level. One can notice their correlation to Pennsylvania state standards and anchors. I found the questions that applied to the collaborative unit also were written so that one could reflect on the lessons that were taught for the unit. The answers to these questions then also relate to how we as a whole can adjust future lessons, so that they align with the standards. Also, two of questions prompted us to focus on maybe negative things that happened in the lessons that were taught and how they could be fixed in later lessons. This made me reflect on the three that had occurred. Which, I found for the skill level that we are at as prospective teachers that we all did well. Secondly, the webquest helped me think about the standards I must address for my the individual unit plan. Before this activity, I just had several ideas for a pretty intense assignment. The questions that were asked helped me as an instructor strategize how effective my lesson can potentially be if I formulate my lessons that follow the standards that I pretty much chose during this activity.

IT'S FINALLY HERE!!! (First 5 Lesson Plans) I still want to do a little tweaking with my standards, but I'm pretty sure it is done well. Just let me know what you think Dr. Sherry. Thanks, Steve