Steve+Wolff

Hi, I'm Steve and I'm excited for TE 407, and getting to know my students. I am a Social Relations and Policy Major with a minor in History, and I am excited to back for TE 407! When I am not engrossed in TE or other studies, I enjoy hanging out with friends and watching or playing a variety of sports. I grew up in East Lansing which some people find quite interesting, and while fortunately I do not live with my parents, I grew up a big Michigan State fan. Despite the fact that my two older brothers went to a school in Ann Arbor, I am always eager to talk spartan sports. I am a big animal lover, and my cat Rocko is my favorite fur ball in the world.



Just recently, I was able to go to the US Open Tennis tournament in New York and watch the best players in the world, which was a great experience. I hope to coach tennis in high school which is a great way to get to know students outside of the classroom. The last four summers, I have worked as a tennis instructor at the Todd Martin Development Fund in Lansing, which has been a blast, and rarely feels like a job because I get to play tennis and hang out with kids all day!

good website: http://rockhall.com/education/resources/lesson-plans/

get students to register to vote senior year

September 11th Lesson Plan First, show footage of the planes hitting the tower, give the students a chance to really get a feel for the moment

Discuss potential reasons for why we were attacked- legitimate things US has done wrong Intervention in the middle east, propping up leaders that would help us money wise (oil in particular).

Role of individual players- Bush, Bin Laden, the hijackers, people killed on flight 93, relatives of people killed, etc (play interviews of Bin Laden explaining why he did it, interviews of Bush on his response)

Use of religion- how radical Muslims have distorted Islam.. the hateful response of some Americans who see all Muslims as potential terrorists Response to the attacks by the government- PATRIOT Act, war in Iraq

Criticism of the response/ Conspiracy theories- play clip from south park?? (is it okay for me to espouse conspiracy theories/play clips from a crude show?)

Discuss Bin Ladens killing, since this is an event they might actually be able to remember.. Also, I could ask if they know anyone or have anyone in their family who is in the military and ask the students how they would feel if they had been alive for the attacks.

FIVE DAY UNIT PLAN Day 1 Introduction Try to diagnose prior knowledge, perceptions, rumors, that students might have heard about alcohol. Complete a K-W-L chart about alcohol, try to gauge what their knowledge is about alcohol. Assessment: diagnostic and formative recording of prior knowledge

Day 2 Discuss Health/Legal Consequences of Alcohol Show the students a picture of a healthy liver, and one that has cirrhosis, Illegal to drink under 21, can get an MIP, legal limit to drive is .08 (while obviously this is irrelevant for middle schoolers, it is still important to hammer home early the point that drinking and driving is dangerous) For an activity I could try to get some "drunk goggles" and have students wear them and try to walk a straight line. This could be a fun way to show students how hard it is to function, and drive a car while intoxicated. While it is important not to scare the kids about alcohol, it is crucial to point out the dangers. Assessment: Observe how students react to scary facts about alcohol, and see if they are convinced drunk driving is dangerous after using the drunk goggles.

Day 3 Debate the merits of Prohibition In the early 1900's, the sale of alcohol was prohibited in the United States. I could assign students to research Prohibition and assign half the students to be Congressmen arguing for passage of Prohibition and the other half those who would like to prevent its passage. Or, I could divide into smaller groups and have some students identify with individual groups, (i.e. how would a priest view prohibition, a housewife, Al Capone, etc). Assessment: Observation of students participating in formal discussion

Day 4 Debate the merits of decreasing the drinking age to 18 While this could be risky, I will have to make sure that the discussion remains serious and fact based, and not students joking about how cool it will be to drink 3 years sooner. However, I think this could be accomplished if students that are assigned to argue for keeping the drinking age at 21 do their jobs well. Encourage students to argue passionately for their side in the debate, reward better debate team with a prize. Assessment: Observation of students participating in formal discussion

Day 5 Wrap up discussion about alcohol and its' dangers, ask students what they learned from the debates. Try to have students provide arguments from the other side in the debate so they get to see both perspectives. Assessment: if students were actively participating in debate, move on. If students were not participating or unprepared, assign a paper that discusses the dangers of underage drinking.

Chapter 3 Study Guide

Components
 * 1) Lesson Objectives
 * 2) Assessments
 * 3) Start of lesson
 * 4) Teacher activities
 * 5) Student activities
 * 6) Closure
 * 7) Materials and resources
 * 8) Reflection

The Importance of Reflection
 * 1) Reflection in Action (are students getting the most out of the activity?)
 * 2) Reflection on Action (how could the activity be improved?)
 * 3) Reflection for action- Plan, act, observe, reflect, create meaning, decide

Student Motivation
 * 1) Intrinsic Motivation (students who want to learn for the sake of learning)
 * 2) Extrinsic Motivation (students who require rewards, whether they be monetary or in the form of teacher praise, to put in their best effort)
 * 3) Motivation to Learn- students who see the purpose and value of school (but may not have intrinsic motivation for all tasks)
 * 4) self efficacy- what we believe we can accomplish if we put in full effort
 * 5) locus of control- getting students to believe that they can be responsible for their own success

Classroom Management and Discipline
 * 1) Management- a proactive approach to help students learn
 * 2) Discipline- a reaction to student misbehavior
 * 3) Relational teaching- the relationship the teacher has with the class and each individual student

United States Involvement In Foreign Affairs This class will focus on the historical interventions of the United States in a variety of countries around the globe, coupled with a current look at present U.S. involvement such as the Israeli-Palestine affair. Students will get exposed to many different regions around the world, including the Middle East, Central and South America and Africa, and seeing how the U.S. has shifted from policies of non intervention to our current policy of constant involvement and influence. One focus of this class will be to get students to think about why we intervene in some places (Afghanistan, Iraq) and not others, such as the genocide in Darfur. We will also look at how domestic issues impact U.S. appetite for intervention, such as the impact of a poor economy. Students will learn to see these issues not just from the perspective of an American but also from the perspective of someone living in one of these countries and learn that these issues can be far more complicated than they first appear.

UNIT ONE: U.S. and the Middle East In this unit, students will learn about U.S. involvement in the Middle East, particularly focusing on the beginning of our involvement which took place in the mid 20th century (when oil was increasingly needed to drive our economy) and culminating in discussions of September 11th and our present situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also, we will study the Arab Spring, looking at the uprisings in Libya and Egypt and exploring if the conditions are ripe for more revolution. Later in this unit, we will study the impact of religion on society in the Middle East, and the United States involvement in the increasingly relevant and volatile Arab-Israeli Conflict.

UNIT TWO: U.S. and Central/South America In this unit, we will examine U.S. involvement in Central and South America, particularly focusing on the 1970's and 1980's when the U.S was heavily involved and had the CIA carry out many secret missions in an attempt to prevent the spread of communism. We will study the Iran-Contra affair in detail as it combines middle-eastern conflict with corrupt U.S. involvement in Nicaragua. Students will research for themselves disturbing allegations that the U.S. also used money obtained from drug trafficking to help fund the Contras. Here, we will debate whether preventing the spread of communism can be used to justify just about anything.

UNIT THREE U.S. and Africa In this unit, students will look at the U.S. involvement in Africa beginning with the slave trade, focusing on the conflicts in Rwanda and Somalia in the 1990's and ending with discussions of U.S. intervention in Darfur and whether we have done enough to prevent genocide. Students will learn about Africa's many different nations, cultures, and languages, and how these countries have responded to U.S. calls for democracy. Last, we will study the pros and cons of U.S. aid in Africa and whether or not the U.S. is doing enough to help develop Africa in the 21st century.

Texts //U.S. Involvement in Central Affairs, Three Views From Honduras// //Somoza and the Legacy of U.S. Involvement in Central America// //Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and how There is a Better Way For Africa//

Grading: Students will be evaluated in a variety of ways, but the main focus of the course will be on class discussion and participation. We will have tests on each Unit along with a final paper which students will write, with teacher approval, about a topic of their own choosing.

an interesting article that I found about teacher and student incentives: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/education/03incentive.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB

another article about teacher cheating http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/nyregion/how-cheating-cases-at-new-york-schools-played-out.html?hp

__Reflection for the week__: Talk with your colleague correspondent about how she or he creates unit plans. Write a summary of what the correspondent shares with you, what you think about the response, and how you make sense of unit planning after the excursions we've had in unit planning over the past few weeks.

My colleague correspondent is my mom, and she is a special education teacher at Reo Elementary School in Lansing. She has about ten kids in her classroom and she works with K-3 students on Math and English. It is important for my mom to individualize her lesson and unit plans because she works with a broad range of students that are generally at different ability levels. She tries to gauge where each student is in the learning process of a specific area (i.e. reading) and arranges her unit plan as such. In reading for example, if a student only knows certain letters of the alphabet, she tries to teach the student words that only have these letters and gradually build the student's reading using the Orton-Gillingham method. Since students come and go in her special ed classroom, it is critical that she has a plan for each individual student when they come in the classroom, so she wastes as little time as possible. Last, more broadly than the unit plan, she sets goals for each student in her IEP's (individual education program) where she also assesses how each student learns and how to best teach the student. While special ed is not what I am going into and it is very different than being a secondary history teacher, I still think there are lessons to be learned from my mom's teaching. It is critical to engage each student at the level that they are, if you try to teach things that are way too complex for them, they will likely tune you out, and the same goes for the smartest kids, who need to be challenged.

Create a lesson plan (you choose the length/duration) for a topic that comes from one of the units in the 7th *or* 8th grade scope and sequence charts at Portland Middle School (see documents a,b, and c above in this day's agenda). Notice that each unit typically lasts about 9-10 weeks in 8th grade, but differs for 7th grade (8th grade has one-word descriptors, whereas 7th grade uses more phrase-based topics that make up the units). Think about how long you want the lesson to go for the topic you choose within that unit. For example, how long would you do lessons on "slavery" for the 9/10 week unit on the Civil War? Paste this lesson plan on your individual wiki page as the reflection for the week of October 17-21.

Reconstruction of the South- This is an area of history that I think is overlooked and is a crucial part of our history that we need to do a better and more thorough job of teaching.

Day 1 Introduce Reconstruction within the context of the civil war, tell the students that Reconstruction technically started with the Emancipation Proclamation. For an activity, I will distribute copies of the Emancipation Proclamation and have the students read through it on their own.

Now, I will have the students get into groups and discuss the consequences of the Emancipation Proclamation.. For an activity I could break the students into groups and have them discuss how they would react if they were different groups from the time (slaveowners, slaves, Abraham Lincoln, northerners, etc) which would allow them to gain a greater perspective on what the Emancipation Proclamation meant to the country... At this point, I will tell the students that the group that is most focused during the activity gets candy (this symbolizes Lincoln promising to free the slaves in the Emancipation Proclamation).. Then, after the presentations I will announce who I think did the best job, but that like the slaves from the south who were technically free but couldn't leave their plantations, they will have to wait and that I will give them the candy at the end of the week.

For homework, students should research Reconstruction and be able to name 3 facts about it and 3 key people that had a significant impact on Reconstruction and why they were important.

Day 2 Discuss the homework, if I sense that many students didn't do it a pop quiz on the homework assignment. Lecture about how Reconstruction was going, be sure to touch on the fact that African Americans had significant political representation, but were still suffering economically and socially. For an activity, I will try to stage an election that mirrors the chaotic election of 1876. I would have students vote on an issue (i.e. to change the school mascot) and whoever gets fewer votes I would say that they actually won the election. While I'm not sure exactly how it would work, I would try to have a sort of trade between the two sides which would give the students an idea for the corruption that took place in 1876 (i.e. take one student out in the hall from each side and come back in the class and announce that the results have changed). This should illustrate to the students the deal that allowed Republican Rutherford B Hayes to become president instead of Democrat Samuel Tilden in exchange for pulling federal troops out of the south. For homework, have students write an essay about either political, economic, or social implications of Reconstruction

Halloween Outline

History of Halloween -European origins

Religious aspect -Why do some Christians not celebrate Halloween? -Influence of All Saints Day

Halloween scary movies -ask students their favorite movies, play clips from some that won't freak out the students too much.

Costumes Ask students what their costumes are this year, and if there is historical significance to them.

Discussion -Engage a similar discussion to the one we had in class about appropriate Halloween costumes- Hitler, blackface, dressing as an illegal immigrant, etc.. - Break up into small groups and have students discuss freedom of speech, do students have the right to dress however they want? Where would they draw the line?

Cold War Buildup- end of WWII-Cuban Missile Crisis Bellringer- compare Cold War with escalation of students conflict with a sibling or friend.. What tends to lead to conflict? (differences in opinion, misunderstandings, greed, etc) ---ordering a pizza (you want pepperoni, your friend wants cheese-**difference in opinion…** but, since you get into such a big argument, you fail to realize that he would be okay with taking the pepperoni off- **failure to communicate**.. also when the pizza comes you want more than half because you are the one ordering it- **greed**
 * Microteaching #4**

The Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, and France were viewed as the victors in WWII but since European powers were decimated by WWII because much of the fighting had taken place on European soil, only the Soviet Union and US were prepared to be superpowers.. However, these countries were not prepared to share the stage with the other for a variety of reasons.
 * What were the two superpowers after WWII? And why did they emerge?**

So, both wanted to be the lone superpower, which goes back to the pizza example of **GREED**, difference in ideology- communism v capitalism (**communism-** a form of government that gives power to the working classes, and no one has private property, it is all government owned.. **capitalism-a market based system that allows the free market to operate, allows for private property, wealthy tend to have a lot of power.. These ideologies are polar opposites –DIFFERENCE IN OPINION** --- Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
 * Why did these countries come into conflict? ..**

-- US Makes a statement that they will be the world’s superpower post WWII (countries at the time thought it was impossible to explode two nuclear bombs in such a short time, didn’t think the US had the technology)

US government in the 1950’s had the “Domino theory”- the worry that if one state became communist, its surrounding states would become communist as well.. This theory justified military action in countries all around the world

Korean War After Japan surrendered in 1945, the US and Soviet Union divided Korea into two parts- US had the South, Soviets had the North --“to the victor goes the spoils” North established a Communist government in 1948, the 38th parallel became a political border between North and South Korea -reunification talks of north and south failed, the war started in 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea -the war ended in a stalemate, but it was the first significant conflict of the Cold War, and showed that the Cold War was heating up

The rest of the 1950’s was basically an arms race between the two superpowers as both countries tried to build up their nuclear arsenal in anticipation of nuclear war… **lack of diplomacy** between the two sides as each vilified the others system of government.. In the US this was apparent with the McCarthy hearings where people were accused of being communists… **FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE**

Cuban Missile Crisis Cuban and Soviet governments secretly started building bases in Cuba for nuclear missiles that could hit most of the continental United States

US spy planes saw these bases The United States considered attacking Cuba but decided on a military "quarantine" of Cuba. This meant that the US would do a naval blockade Cuba which would not allow offensive weapons to be delivered to Cuba... The US also demanded that the Soviets destroy the missile bases that had already been built

Soviet Prime Minister Kruschev wrote in a letter to Kennedy that his quarantine was "an act of aggression propelling humankind into the abyss of a world nuclear-missile war". Cooler heads prevailed as the sides were able to negotiate the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba in exchange for the US removing missiles from Turkey that were aimed at the Soviets…. And now everyone can have pizza because the world wasn’t destroyed! .... In hindsight, I should have reviewed with my students what they learned from the lecture and asked them for any questions that they may have had because I did cover a lot of material in a short amount of time. Also, if I had done this lecture for high school students instead of my collegiate peers, I would have had to make sure that they understood key terms such as 'quarantine' and I may have had to do some scaffolding before my lecture to remind them of some of the key historical figures that I would be discussing, such as Kennedy and Krushchev.

Microteaching #5 Show the students the image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cold_War_Map_1980.svg .. This lesson is meant as a follow up to my lesson on the Cold War.

Questions for students: Which country is the United States? Which other countries do you recognize? Can anyone tell me which country is the Soviet Union? What do the colors in this map represent? Ask where Cuba and Turkey are but they probably won't know so explain about how each country is putting missiles in these countries because they are close to the enemy. Does this map support the idea of the domino theory? (that if one nation falls to communism, that its' neighbors are more likely to try communism as well) What do you think about the language used in the key? (one of the maps I came across labeled all the communist countries as communist dictatorship).. Does this bias the information being presented in any way?

11-13

One geography concept I would like my students to be able to understand is the concept of the environment, and humans' responsibility to protect the environment for future generations. First, I would like for students to think about the environment and what I mean when I say environment and what the word encompasses. I would like for the students to brainstorm ways that they could help preserve the environment so that they can get active in the community. Not only can students do things on an individual level like recycling (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfrxFbhy5RI), they can also get involved politically and support candidates that are committed to protecting the environment.

To illustrate humans' impact on the environment I could have students research global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution so that students get to see for themselves the impact of carbon dioxide on the atmosphere, and if there are students that disagree with this conclusion, we could have a lively debate on the issue. This way, students get much more involved and feel more invested in the issue than if I had just told them that nerdy scientists believe the Earth is warming .1 degrees Celsius every five years.

From the Segall article I learned that it is important to get students to engage maps and understand that maps are not perfect, and can have a bias depending on who the cartographer is. For example, mapmakers may choose to include or exclude countries or significant physical features and it is important to recognize that maps can be biased just like newspaper articles. The Schmidt article really underscored the importance of geography because while it is not necessarily important to memorize every single country on a map, it is important to understand the cultures and makeup of a variety of countries. For example, with the Iraq war it was not Americans "inability to locate Iraq, but that we don't understand the structure of Iraq and its people." If more Americans had understood Iraq and all of its complexities, maybe we would not have gone to war and thousands of lives could have been saved.


 * Lesson on the Environment Conceptual Unit Plan**

Humans and the Environment Lesson Number 2 Lesson Title Government Attempts to Curb Climate Change Lesson Length 80 minutes -Students will understand that there have been attempts by governments to prevent further damage to the environment. Governments have attempted to curb greenhouse gas emissions due to the scientific evidence that global warming is being exacerbated by pollution. -Students will understand that little progress has been made, in large part due to the largest economies being unwilling to sacrifice economic growth for environmental protection G5 5.1 Humans and the Environment 6.1.3 United States History and Geography
 * Lesson Objectives:**
 * Standards Addressed:**

Lesson Rationale: This lesson is important because it allows students to understand that environmental degradation is a real problem and that governments have tried to enact legislation to protect the environment for future generations. Exploring the Kyoto Protocol will allow students to see how difficult it can be for change to be made on the global stage if there is no enforcement mechanism. Text of the Kyoto Protocol [] (I will not have students read through the whole thing but point out to them that there is no enforcement mechanism.) //An Inconvenient Truth// Article by Thomas Friedman: [] Lecture on efforts to protect the environment especially in the United States, such as the conservation movement in the early 1900’s (led by Teddy Roosevelt).. Also go over the Environmental Protection Agency, Clean Air/Water Act, etc.. (10 minutes) Play a few clips from //An Inconvenient Truth// and detail the importance of government response to global warming (15 minutes).. Lecture about the Kyoto Protocol and how there have been varying degrees of cooperation. Give students time to write their congressperson encouraging them to support or oppose climate change legislation. Emphasize that it is legitimate to be against climate change legislation for economic, or other reasons. (20 minutes) Print off copies of the Thomas Friedman article and discuss whether or not students think the president should have the power to create standards without the approval of Congress (20 minutes)
 * Lesson Resources:**
 * Class Breakdown**
 * Ticket out the door-** Ask for students to express their opinion about whether or not the president should have this kind of power. Collect student responses on the way out the door.

Professional Growth Plan The three areas for growth that I am going to focus on for the fall semester, 2011 are: **professional appearance, content knowledge, and critical thought**. Improving in these three areas will help me become a better-balanced individual and a better teacher when I get in the classroom.
 * Professional appearance** is important for being a successful educator because it is important to give the students a good first impression when they see me walk in on the first day of class. They need to know that I am serious about my job, and it is difficult for me to do this if I walk in with crinkled jeans and a tee shirt. Students need to respect me in my classroom and my professional appearance is the first thing they are going to notice. This is definitely an area that I can improve upon, and it is an area that I have struggled with in the past. I have worked as a tennis instructor for the last four summers and my boss has taken issue with my dress (i.e. wearing the same two pairs of basketball shorts over and over, and not shaving enough) and she believed I was not living up to my capabilities as a tennis instructor because of it. While I thought this was a little overblown, I do see her point that I need to dress for success, and I have made an effort to be more professional in my appearance. However, I still think I have room to grow and it probably comes down to me spending a bit of money on my wardrobe and putting a little more thought into what I wear.
 * Content knowledge** is another area where I have room to grow. Since social studies is such a broad subject, and I could be teaching a wide array of topics, it is important for me to be capable in all of these areas. While I have taken a few Economics courses at MSU, I still think I could improve my content knowledge, and I will read //Freakonomics//, a book that has been discussed in class as a good resource for economics. In order to be able to teach these subjects, I need to have a deep understanding of the subject matter, and continuing to challenge myself to learn outside the classroom will help me do just that.
 * Critical thought** is the final area that I am going to focus on improving because I know it is very important to engage with students about current events that are affecting them on a day-to-day basis. It can be difficult to get students interested in topics that happened hundreds of years ago, but if I can relate current events to my content, I will be able to reach the students much more effectively. So, I plan on making a concerted effort to read the news and obtain it from a variety of sources, ranging from the Lansing State Journal to the New York Times. At present, I do a decent job of keeping up with current events, especially politics, but I need to have a wider range of knowledge. To monitor my growth, I will be able to tell if I know what is going on when people are talking about current events, and it will help me if I start to discuss current events more with friends and family.

Part D Evaluation of Growth For **professional appearance**, I definitely feel as though I made progress this semester, though I certainly still have room to grow in this area. I added two nice pairs of pants and a pair of shoes to my wardrobe that helped me look the part of being a teacher. Additionally, while I did let my beard get out of control this semester, I did try to keep it well maintained when I went in to class. Students loved comparing me to Abraham Lincoln so I did not see harm in keeping it for a while, but I have now shaved, and I plan on being clean-shaven next semester. In terms of **Content Knowledge**, my progress is mixed. I checked out //Superfreakonomics,// which is the sequel to //Freakonomics,// and have been reading it in my spare time. Sadly, I have not finished it yet, but I find it quite interesting and I will finish it over Winter Break. After I finish, I will make a PowerPoint that explains some of the more interesting topics in the book, and I will practice performing it in front of my peers because I need to gain confidence in teaching economics. For **Critical Thought**, I definitely made an effort to read the news from a variety of sources, the website, realclearpolitics.com was a good resource for me to get opinions from journalists all over the country on political, social, and economic issues. At times, I was able to incorporate the ideas that I was reading into my microteaching or into my teaching experience at Haslett Middle School. For instance, one of my students at Haslett Middle School mentioned that her brother was partaking in the Occupy Wall Street protests that have been going on around the country. Thankfully, since I had been following the news, I was able to connect this to the lesson that we were doing which was the Bill of Rights. In this instance, her brother was exercising his freedom of speech; though some of the protesters have had this right restricted which is always a good debate to have with students about how far our rights should be extended. Overall, I think I have made progress this semester in all three areas, but there is still far more work to be done in these, and other areas, so I can be the best teacher that I can be.

Lesson January 18th- Using Music to teach social studies Tupac's "Changes" .. while some of the lyrics are explicit I would only play a part of the song, mentioned here: I see no changes. All I see is racist faces. Misplaced hate makes disgrace for races we under. I wonder what it takes to make this one better place... let's erase the wasted. Take the evil out the people, they'll be acting right. 'Cause mo' black than white is smokin' crack tonight. And only time we chill is when we kill each other. It takes skill to be real, time to heal each other. And although it seems heaven sent, we ain't ready to see a black President, uhh. It ain't a secret don't conceal the fact... the penitentiary's packed, and it's filled with blacks.

see if students think that this song is outdated because we have a black president or if discrimination still persists

Other good songs: Ohio- crosby stills nash and young http://www.lyrics007.com/Sublime%20Lyrics/April%2026,%201992%20Lyrics.html http://www.lyricsdepot.com/public-enemy/fight-the-power.html I can (nas) words i never said (lupe)

raises the question, what is patriotism?


 * January 21**
 * Professional Growth Plan (Second semester)**
 * Professional appearance** is an area that I will continue to try to grow in this semester. My Christmas haul added a few nice shirts to my wardrobe, and my mentor teacher complimented me on my new shirt this past week. Thus, while I usually like to dress casually, I have started to see the merits in dressing more formally because other people tend to respect you more. This semester, I will wear a nice dress shirt and pants to my mentor classroom (Mssrs Thom, Fox, Ropek, and Mccannally can make sure I live up to it), and maybe even mix in a tie here or there. This way, not only will I appear more professional to the students at Haslett Middle School, but I will be preparing for my internship year and beyond when I will have to dress well every day.
 * Possessing the Posture of an Educator** is another area that I need to improve upon this semester. More specifically, I need to become more assertive at my mentor classroom and also during class discussion and group projects. This means that I will try to get more involved during discussion and will try to take the lead on any group projects that we may have. While there is a fine line between being assertive and being too aggressive, I definitely think that I need to become more assertive if I am going to be a strong, effective teacher.
 * Content knowledge** is the last area that I would like to continue to grow in this semester. While I feel like I have a solid understanding of social studies, I do not feel as though I have reached a level where I would be comfortable teaching the subject to students just a few years younger than me. To conquer this problem, I will seek out literature such as //Lies my Teacher Told me//, which is a book that my classmates have mentioned as being quite interesting. This way, I will be able to continue to broaden my content knowledge even when I am not taking history classes. Also, by reading this book, I will have the ability to provide students with a different perspective and teach them things that they were previously unaware of.

Cooperative Learning Lesson Plan- Japanese Internment

Time Frame- 2 class periods (though I will give them a few days in between when I give the assignment and when it is due so they can research/ask questions)

Objective After this activity, students will have a greater understanding of the government’s decision to intern Japanese-Americans during World War II and how this policy impacted thousands of Americans. In this activity, students will engage primary sources, government documents, and more to get a better sense of the hysteria that was going on in the U.S. after Pearl Harbor.

Procedure The first class period I will give a brief overview of Japanese interment camps so the students have a working understanding of what actually happened. Then, I will divide students into groups of 4 or 5 depending on how many students are in my class to research a topic that I have assigned for them. I will give each group their topic and allow for students to brainstorm ideas that they may have on what to do. If time allows, I would like for the students to be able to go to the computer lab so they can have access to sources that they may not have at home. While I am splitting students into groups I want the students to come up with the answers to their questions largely on their own. They may brainstorm ideas with their group members but I would prefer to hear each student’s opinion and not one person’s opinion five different times.

Group 1 will examine government documents that dealt with the decision to intern 110,000 Japanese Americans, (62% of whom were American citizens). This group will focus solely on the legislative and executive branches, and how they dealt with the problem.

Group 2 will examine the effect, mainly social, that internment had on the Japanese during the war (looking at primary sources of people in internment camps, the stigmatization, etc).

Group 3 will examine the economic consequences of internment on the Japanese, and also how the United States has tried to compensate them for what is now viewed as a grave injustice.

Group 4 will examine the supreme court case, Korematsu v United States which contested the constitutionality of the internment of Japanese Americans.

Group 5 will compare the panic associated with the Pearl Harbor attacks to other moments of similar magnitude in the U.S. such as the attacks of September 11th, 2001. This group will attempt to compare controversial legislation such as the PATRIOT Act and Executive Order 9066 which interned thousands of Japanese.

Group 6 will be responsible for sparking discussion by providing a different perspective, and argue that interning the Japanese was necessary for national security purposes. Also, they could bring up the fact that some Germans and Italians were also interned though these were generally not American citizens.

Assessment: I will jigsaw the students into groups with people from other groups so that each person presents about there own topic. This way, each student is responsible for the content and they will also get to practice presenting information to their peers, an essential skill for the 21st century. This means that I will have more of an informal assessment by walking around to the different groups and making sure that everyone did the assignment to the best of their ability.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">NOTES FROM 1-25 ON GOOD TECHNOLOGY SITES TO USE <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">weebly.com <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">polleverywhere.com <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">glogster.com edmodo.com (similar to facebook but for education) squared 5 (i downloaded it already) moodle.org evernote.com smartexchange

Good articles for students http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/02/12/us/entitlement-map.html?hp http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/13/weekinreview/deficits-graphic.html?choices=4mt9n5m2 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/magazine/07Teachers-t.html?em

Role Play Lesson Plan

Purpose/Procedure: Students will gain a greater understanding of the presidential race that is upcoming. Students will be divided into two groups, and will nominate one student to represent their group as either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama. Then, students in each group will prepare questions to ask the candidate from the other group that are intended to be difficult to answer and sway voters to their side.

Introduction: I will begin with a short lecture giving students an overview of the candidates, but then we will go to the computer lab so that students can do some ‘opposition research’ and find out what would be some tough questions for the opposing candidates. If necessary, I will moderate the debate, but I would prefer for students to be the ones asking the questions to their peers. Most likely, this would be a two-day activity, as students would need to research, and then come up with some good questions as a group.

Assessment To emphasize the ‘role play’ part of the assignment I will have students act as though they are reporters of various news organizations that are quizzing the candidates. If I wanted the students to get creative, I could have them make nametags and press passes for the journalists that they are. I will assess students based on the quality of their questions, but mainly on whether or not they are engaged in the activity and try their best. The candidates are encouraged to argue with each other when appropriate so the class can get a feel for the intensity of a presidential election. Afterward, I will have students vote publicly, then anonymously, to see which candidate they prefer. In having them vote in different fashions, I will be curious to find out whether or not there is a discrepancy between the results. Here I will point out the differences between the secret ballot, and countries that have “elections” but are rigged such as Venezuela.

Differentiated Instruction Lesson Plan Objective: students will become familiar with countries around the world that often do not come up in discussions concerning the United States. (countries that we have gone to war with like Vietnam frequently come up but many countries students are simply not exposed to)

Procedure: students will be split up into groups of five, and each group will be assigned a country for them to represent to the rest of the class. Students will be expected to give a presentation to the rest of the class describing this country's culture, history, government, foods, etc. I will attempt to have a category for each group member so each student is responsible for bringing something to the class presentation. Students will be given this assignment on a Monday and I will expect them to present to the class on Friday. For fun, students could dress up, or bring in food from their country if they would like (if I'm in a low income district I would not articulate this, as students likely would not have the resources to do so).

Assessment I will assess students based on how well they perform in front of their peers, how well they came prepared to class, and how well they pay attention to each other. This activity will be good for English Language Learners because they will get a chance to work together in groups, and also practice their speaking skills in front of the class. For the student at our placement that we are focusing on, he likes to work in groups, so this assignment will be beneficial for him.

Notes 4-9 Classroom Management Plan.. know that students will be reading it, but principal and parents will also likely read it Syllabus or 'class contract' as some teachers call it

1. Student Expectations- classroom management plan show up on time, have all materials, learning outcomes (enjoy history, etc), define participation

materials for class, specific paper requirements (might want to do word count)

Tell the students what they can expect from you

Norms

Conduct

Behavior

Civility

Classroom Management Plan <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">United States History (10th Grade) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mr. Wolff <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4-24-12

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Classroom Management Philosophy <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I believe that my class should be a place where students feel free to express their opinions openly, because in history, more than any other class, it is important for students to feel free to participate and debate, because the answers to questions that I pose will be open ended, and not right or wrong, as they are in mathematics. Thus, it will be important for me to encourage student participation as much as possible, and also to punish students who may criticize others for speaking out in class.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Learner Outcomes <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">By the end of the year, I expect students will be able to identify and explain important historical events in the United States, and why they are significant. Also, I want to teach students to be critical historians, and recognize that history is subjective, and varies depending on a person’s point of view. For example, the Civil War is certainly taught differently in the South than the North, meaning that the story depends on the perspective of the person telling it. Additionally, I seek to improve students writing skills by requiring typed responses to readings, and also answers in essay format on exams.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Student Expectations <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students should arrive to class on time, and students that are consistently tardy will have tardies start to count as unexcused absences (3 tardies = 1 unexcused absence). <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students with more than 3 unexcused absences will start to have their participation grade knocked down (by 5% for every unexcused absence over 3). Students are expected to participate in class discussions and arrive for class with the homework completed and ready to contribute. If it is clear that a student is unprepared for class, they will not get participation points for the day.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students need to come to class with the requisite materials (textbook, notebook, pencil, etc) and should be ready to learn when the bell rings. Oftentimes, I will have a prompt written on the board or overhead to start the class so they can work on it as soon as they get in the room. Students will be expected to listen when I am talking and should treat their peers with the same respect when they have something to say. Students that consistently speak out of turn or inappropriately will lose participation points as I see fit. Inappropriate language will not be tolerated, particularly that which demeans groups of people and students will also lose participation points for poor language.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Cheating will not be tolerated in my class and students will lose credit for work that is plagiarized or copied off of a classmate. If a student repeatedly tries to cheat or the offense is serious enough, he or she will fail the class. Students should have cell phones and other electronics put away and if they become a distraction, I will confiscate them until the end of the school day.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Grading Scale <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Tests: 35% <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Tests will be given about every 2 weeks and will be mainly multiple choice and essay format.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Homework 25% <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Homework will be given about twice a week and will usually be a short assignment that will get the student thinking about History outside the classroom, but will usually not be too burdensome. Homework may be used to spark discussion in the following day’s class.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Projects 20% <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">There will be 1 or 2 big projects each semester that students will be assigned early in the semester that they will be able to work on for a few weeks. Projects will likely be done individually or in small groups so that students remain accountable for their work.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Participation/citizenship 20% <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">To have a functioning classroom, it is critical that students respect each other and their surroundings. In addition, students will need to participate in class discussion not only for their own good, but so that other students get to hear perspectives and opinions that they would not think, nor agree with. Thus, this portion of the grade will be fairly significant, and will allow for students that struggle with test-taking the opportunity to make up for it by showing up on time, participating, and trying their best.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If students are ever struggling with an assignment or have questions I will be available before and after school, and I also would like to create an online discussion group or page so that students can interact with each other and myself so they can continue their learning outside of class. At the least, students will have my email address so they can contact me if they have any questions.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Role Play Lesson Plan

Mr. Wolff

Purpose/Procedure: Students will gain a greater understanding of the presidential race that is upcoming. Students will be divided into two groups, and will nominate one student to represent their group as either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama. Then, students in each group will prepare questions to ask the candidate from the other group that are intended to be difficult to answer and sway voters to their side.

Introduction: I will begin with a short lecture giving students an overview of the candidates, but then we will go to the computer lab so that students can do some ‘opposition research’ and find out what would be some tough questions for the opposing candidates. If necessary, I will moderate the debate, but I would prefer for students to be the ones asking the questions to their peers. Most likely, this would be a two-day activity, as students would need to research, and then come up with some good questions as a group.

Assessment

To emphasize the ‘role play’ part of the assignment I will have students act as though they are reporters of various news organizations that are quizzing the candidates. If I wanted the students to get creative, I could have them make nametags and press passes for the journalists that they are. I will assess students based on the quality of their questions, but mainly on whether or not they are engaged in the activity and try their best. The candidates are encouraged to argue with each other when appropriate so the class can get a feel for the intensity of a presidential election. Afterward, I will have students vote publicly, then anonymously, to see which candidate they prefer. In having them vote in different fashions, I will be curious to find out whether or not there is a discrepancy between the results. Here I will point out the differences between the secret ballot, and countries that have “elections” but are rigged such as Venezuela.

Resume Stuff What I've done in service learning assignments: verb+noun=result

try to say things in the interview that aren't on your resume

want students to become critical thinkers engaged citizens want students to be able to interpret a wide variety of sources thinking about how you think- be able to put yourself in other people's shoes look at issues from others perspectives committed global citizens develop cooperative learning strategies

coaching -get students to develop their skills, sense of teamwork -want students to develop self-worth so they don't succumb to peer pressure or suicide