Rachel+Chall

Hello All! I am a fifth year senior taking my victory lap here at MSU. I am a Spanish minor and went on study abroad to Spain. I love TRYING to speak Spanish although I don't find I'm particularly awesome at speaking the language. I love to travel and have been all over Europe. My dad was in the Army so I lived in Germany for five years (but I don't speak German). My mom is Canadian and I have dual citizenship. I also spent most of my childhood growing up in Canada. My ultimate goal is to become a teacher and work for the Department of Defense schools overseas; somewhere in Europe. Some random facts about me include: I love the smell of fresh laundry, I have two Bernese Mountain dogs at home named Heidi and Gretel, my favorite season is fall, my favorite movie is Gangs of New York, I love seeing musicals and was a total theater nerd in high school.

OH! and this summer I participated in the Detroit Urban Immersion Fellowship and taught summer school at Detroit School of the Arts for six weeks! It was a completely awesome experience and I have decided I would love to pursue a career in urban education! Everyone is always so scared of inner city schools but I gained more experience and knowledge than I have in any of my placements in the past and I had the most amazing time with my students this summer! Here is a picture of me with some of my students! :)

Focus Student Portfolio Assignment Part 1: Description of Placement Our placement class is an honors US history class at Sexton High School, in Lansing. The class is of the 10th grade level and is filled with students who are higher achieving than typical students, and the class is made up of just 10th graders. This is called an honors class, however our student was bumped up from the regular section because the teacher wanted to challenge the student more. Class is 50 minutes long and starts with 5 minuets of announcements followed by about a half hour of instruction, varying depending on the day, and ended with some sort of assessment, usually a worksheet. Our class unfortunately is broken up by the morning announcements because it is the first hour of the day. Sexton is an urban high school and isn’t known for having particularly good academics, most of the students come from poor backgrounds.

Part 2: Description of Student Our focus student will remain nameless for the sake of his privacy. The student is a Caucasian male, approximately 5’7” tall, with medium length unkempt dark hair, relatively dirty clothing (always wears same sweatshirt). He never wears a coat to school because he feels as if he will be “jumped” for it. The student also appears to maybe have some sort of vision impairment as he is constantly squinting during class. The student’s behavior is relatively good during class. When in class he behaves and pays attention to the teacher and interacts well in small group discussions and projects. The student struggles with actually making it to class. He is frequently absent. Last semester the student was in third hour in the regular class before being moved into the honors placement section. This move puts him in the first hour class which he struggles to wake up for. The student also struggles with working in large groups or whole class interactions. He seems uncomfortable and usually keeps to himself in these types of settings. Our student does not have a specific learning disability and does not have an IEP. After consultation with our mentor teacher it seems as though the student may have an emotional disturbance. The information on our student came from our own observations as well as those of our mentor teacher and the 5th year MSU intern in the classroom.

Part 3: Accommodated Lesson

TOPIC FOR LESSON: Fire bombings of Japan During World War II Date: 2-22-12 Grade Level/Course: 10th Grade Honors United States History Unit: World War II

Michigan High School Social Studies Content Standards Addressed: 1)U.S. History and Geography-7.2.2-U.S. and the Course of World War II- Evaluate the role of the U.S. in fighting the war militarily, diplomatically and technologically across the world (e.g., Germany First strategy, Big Three Alliance and the development of atomic weapons).

Summary: Show a clip from the Fog of War documentary concerning Fire Bombings of Japan Discuss the devastating effects of the fire bombings Place class into small groups to discuss the morality of the firebombings and what other tactics might they have used. After small groups have discussed, have groups report out findings

Lesson Objectives (information, disposition, and skill objectives): 1)Students will understand the devastating effects of firebombings on Japan and how they contributed to the eventual Japanese surrender during World War II. 2)Students will work cooperatively in a small group. 3)Students will critique the use of such tactics during war and debate the moral dilemma resulting from them.

Assessment: Write a short exit slip on morality of actions during war

Activities: 5 mins || 1)Show Video Clip on Firebombings || Students’ Activities: Watch Attentively || Time 5 mins || 10 min || 5-10 min || 10 min || 5 min || Give back to Mentor teacher to discuss following day/ wrap up ||  || Time Whatever remains ||
 * Initiation: Welcome to class ||  || Time
 * Teacher’s Activities:
 * 2)Presentation on firebombings of Japan, showing the devastating effects on Japan and their willingness and ability to fight || Pay attention and take notes || Time
 * 3)Break class into groups || Discuss moral issues around the bombings || Time
 * 4)Bring class back together || Groups will report out their discussions with each student sharing one point of discussion || Time
 * 5)Give students exit slip directions || Write exit slip || Time
 * Closure:

Materials Needed: [|http][|://][|www][|.][|youtube][|.][|com][|/][|watch][|?][|v][|=][|fDT][|8][|NdyoWfI] -
 * Behaving as War Criminals - The Fog of War - Robert McNamara
 * Powerpoint Presentation

Resources on Emotionally Disturbed Students:

[|NAPSCE][|-][|National][|Association][|of][|Parents][|of][|Children][|in][|Special][|Education]

[|National][|Dissemination][|Center][|for][|Children][|with][|Disabilities]

[|Council][|for][|Exceptional][|Children][|:][|The][|Voice][|and][|Vision][|of][|Special][|Education]

[|Guidelines][|for][|Identifying][|and][|Educating][|Students][|with][|Serious][|Emotional][|Disturbance]

[|Association][|of][|Texas][|Professional][|Educators]

Assessment of Accommodation:

The student we created the accommodated lesson for happened to be absent the day we presented and carried out the lesson for the class. Even though the student wasn't present, the lesson still accommodated a lot of the students in the class. I think the fact that the lesson worked so well overall with the entirety of the class, is an even better goal as future educators. It's important to work with the needs of students but its also important to not focus solely on a particular students needs. In a classroom of thirty or more students, we need to find the best ways to teach in a manner that will accommodate all of our students. We varied our methods and also our assessments to ensure all students had an opportunity to show us their understanding and comprehension of the content included in the lesson. Overall, the lesson went pretty well. The students were attentive during the powerpoint presentation covering "Japanese Firebombing" and seemed intrigued by the topic. We paused throughout the lesson to ask students questions and gauge their background knowledge. We were pleasantly surprised that some students were able to pull knowledge from past history courses in middle school and apply this knowledge to our lesson. When questioned, students also willingly responded without much poking, prodding, or pushing. Students were also very attentive during the clip we showed, even though we didn't make them take notes, or answer guided questions as they watched the clip. Afterwards we spent a few minutes discussing the film. It took some "leading" to get students to voice their opinions at first. Once we broke the students into smaller groups to discuss our guided questions on the clip, I believe students felt more comfortable discussing with their peers their opinions of the firebombing in Japan, and what they believed defined a war criminal. The three of us walked around the room and helped students discuss in their small groups. We each questioned the opinions of the students to help them give deeper thought to the topic and to also have them question their initial responses and opinions. Students really seemed to enjoy discussing the topic and debating with their peers. Finally, we came together and had students from each group share what they had discussed. A few groups were more willing to share than others, but with some guidance we were able to coax responses out of students from each group. At the end students were given a sheet of paper to write anything they found interesting, something they learned from the lesson, or something they discussed in their group. We included this written response as an exit slip so that students who have trouble speaking up or participating in class are given a fair chance to show that they have learned the content. Overall, I thought the lesson ran smoothly. Some of the students seemed sleepy or tired in the beginning but I think the fact it was first hour and 7:40 am was the main reason for the lack of enthusiasm. Once students were broken up into smaller groups it gave them the opportunity to move around, get their blood flowing, and also to talk, which is something teenagers love to do. By monitoring the groups we were able to make sure conversations remained on topic. Afterwards, we got feedback from our placement instructors who told us that we need to make sure we project our voices loud enough for the entire class, even if it seems like we are shouting or yelling. Overall, the lesson was a success and I believe if Gavin had been present, it would have been a lesson in which he would have excelled because it accommodated the fact he is shy by allowing him to express his opinions in a small group setting as well as through a written response.


 * Student-Directed Investigation Lesson Plan**

Rachel Chall

TOPIC FOR LESSON: Past v Present Political Advertising Student-Directed Investigation Date: March 19, 2012 Grade Level/Course: High School Civics/Political Science

Standards: 3.5.6 Explain the significance of campaigns and elections in American politics, current criticisms of campaigns, and proposals for their reform. 3.5.7 Explain the role of television, radio, the press, and the internet in political communication. 3.5.9 In making a decision on a public issue, analyze various forms of political communication (e.g., political cartoons, campaign advertisements, political speeches, and blogs) using criteria like logical validity, factual accuracy and/or omission, emotional appeal, distorted evidence, and appeals to bias or prejudice. 6.1.2 Locate, analyze, and use various forms of evidence, information, and sources about a significant public policy issue, including primary and secondary sources, legal documents (e.g., Constitutions, court decisions, state law), non-text based information (e.g., maps, charts, tables, graphs, and cartoons), and other forms of political communication (e.g., oral political cartoons, campaign advertisements, political speeches, and blogs).

Lesson Objectives (information, disposition, and skill objectives):

1) Students will be able to analyze resources they discover through investigating political advertisements of the past and present 2) Students will actively participate in investigating positive and negative political advertisements. 3) Students will be able to articulate the differences and similarities (compare and contrast) political advertisements from the past and present. 4) Students will collaborate with a fellow classmate to accomplish this investigation.

Assessment Tools:

Students will be assessed on their active participation researching political ads during class time with their partner Students will also be assessed through their contributions to the overall research findings presented to the class, through class discussion of their research findings. Students will be assessed on their completion of notes taken on political advertisement they discovered during their investigations. Students will need to find two political ads from past presidential elections (one positive and one negative) and two advertisements from the current election (one positive and one negative).

Activities: 2 minutes || Review with the class quickly the difference between positive and negative political campaign ads. Show them a few examples for a better explanation. Divide the class into pairs (try to pair kids together that wouldn’t normally work together, pair quiet students with more outgoing students) or groups of three and tell them that they need to further investigate the similarities and differences between political ads of the past and present. || Students’ Activities Have students get with their assigned partners, and either head to the computer lab as a class, or pass out a set of laptops for the students to use. Students must save their ads to a word document and upload to google docs to share with the rest of the class. If they find commercials they need to save the link for the youtube clip they have found. They need to write a paragraph at the end of their document comparing and contrasting the ads they have found. They need to save the document with the names of the group members so that I can give them credit for their findings. || Time 40 min || Have students upload their advertisements to google docs so they are able to share their ads with the rest of the class and show what they found. Lead a class discussion about the students’ findings. I will choose a few of the ads to discuss with the class. There wont be enough time to go over everyone’s findings. Use questioning to push students to think about attack ads and positive political ads. Have they changed from elections of the past? If so, how have they changed? Are they the same? || Students will discuss the political ads they have found and the ones that I choose to have the students discuss. First I will ask students to volunteer to discuss a particular ad they found if anyone is eager to share. If no one volunteers I will choose randomly.
 * Initiation/Opening/Hook || Break into pairs/groups of threes depending on the size of the class || Time
 * Teacher’s Activities
 * Closure

Exit slips: Students need to write on a slip of paper what they learned through their own investigation on political ads and from our class discussion. This is to be turned in as they leave the classroom. || Time Wrap Up ||

Assessment

Students will be assessed on how well they work with their partner during class time. Also, they will be assessed on whether they are actively participating in the investigation and helping their partner to complete the assignment.

Students will be assessed as partners (a group) on the successful upload and completion of a google doc including two negative and two positive political ads (One of each from the past and one of each from the present). Students will also be assessed on the paragraph comparing and contrasting their findings, to be written at the end of their google doc.

Students will be assessed individually on their participation during class discussion as well as their completion of exit slips at the end of class.


 * Discussion/Debate Lesson Plan **

TOPIC FOR LESSON: Controversial Issues Debated in the Politics of the United States Date: February 27th, 2012 Grade Level/Course: Civics/Political Science

Standards: 6.1.1 Identify and research various viewpoints on significant public policy issues. 6.1.3 Develop and use criteria (e.g., logical validity, factual accuracy and/or omission, emotional appeal, credibility, unstated assumptions, logical fallacies, inconsistencies, distortions, and appeals to bias or prejudice, overall strength of argument) in analyzing evidence and position statements. 6.1.4 Address a public issue by suggesting alternative solutions or courses of action, evaluating the consequences of each, and proposing an action to address the issue or resolve the problem. 6.1.5 Make a persuasive, reasoned argument on a public issue and support using evidence (e.g., historical and contemporary examples), constitutional principles, and fundamental values of American constitutional democracy; explain the stance or position. 6.2.2 Distinguish between and evaluate the importance of political participation and social participation. 6.2.3 Describe how, when, and where individuals can participate in the political process at the local, state, and national levels (including, but not limited to voting, attending political and governmental meetings, contacting public officials, working in campaigns, community organizing, demonstrating or picketing, boycotting, joining interest groups or political action committees); evaluate the effectiveness of these methods of participation. 6.2.9 Evaluate the claim that constitutional democracy requires the participation of an attentive, knowledgeable, and competent citizenry. 6.2.10 Participate in a real or simulated public hearing or debate and evaluate the role of deliberative public discussions in civic life.

Lesson Objectives (information, disposition, and skill objectives):

1) Students will be able to debate and evaluate opposing viewpoints, key to political debate and discussion and important in determining their own political stance.  2) Through active participation through debate students will learn how to argue in favor of their own positions and against opposing arguments. 3) Students will be able to articulate positions taken on a particular topic up for debate within the classroom setting, in order to improve their debate skills.  4) Students will actively participate in groups to research a particular issue, debated within politics of today in order to become informed on the positions of Republicans and Democrats. Students will learn about the positions of different political parties.

Assessment Tools:

Students will be assessed on their active participate throughout class during the debate and discussion. Students will also be assessed through their contributions to the group research of a particular topic of debate. Students will be assessed on their completion of notes they have created to use during their own debate, and also their notes taken during the debates between their fellow classmates on other topics.

Activities: Divide the class into four groups. Assign each group a topic to debate. Divide students within each group into groups in support or against the issue. Give students the rest of the hour to research their stance and come up with points to argue during the debate. Inform students that they must also be prepared for rebuttal and have responses to the points made by their opponents so it is important to research the opposing positions to be prepared for the other teams arguments. || Students’ Activities Will Research assigned social issue. Abortion (Pro Life/Pro Choice) Gay Marriage/Civil Unions Affirmative Action Capital Punishment
 * Initiation/Opening/Hook ||  || Time ||
 * Teacher’s Activities

Homework: Finish researching the topic, come to class prepared for debate. Prepare notes to use for the debate tomorrow. || Time Day 1 || Have to podiums set up in the class. Call groups to the front and conduct the debate between the students. || Have students determine who will be the speaker/how they will take turns speaking.
 * Closure

Have students quickly prepare a closing statement.

When students aren’t involved in the debate, have them take notes on the other debates taking place.

At the end of each debate, have the rest of the class vote on who won each debate. || Time Day 2 ||

Assessment

Grade students based on how well the students are working together as a group, talking about the assignment, being kind and respectful of each other. Assess how well they work together. Each will be graded individually on their contributions to the group work and to their overall contribution to the debate they are assigned.

Grade students individually based on their own notes from their research of their own issue being debated but also on the notes taken on issues being debated by other groups of students during the class.

TOPIC FOR LESSON: The French Revolution Date: February 14, 2012 Grade Level/Course: World History, preferably middle school level
 * Simulation Lesson Plan**

Lesson Objectives (information, disposition, and skill objectives):

1) Students will be able to explain the class structure of French society prior to the revolution. 2) Through active participation through simulation students will develop a better understanding of social stratification, class structure, and social discontent leading to the storming of the Bastille and the beginning of the French Revolution. 3) Students will be able to explain the causes of the French Revolution and justify the actions of French rebels. 4) Students will actively participate in groups to research a particular revolution from other countries around the world, and be able to compare the similarities of that revolution with the French Revolution.

Assessment Tools:

Students will be assessed on their active participate throughout class during the simulation. Students will also be assessed through their contributions to the group research of a particular revolution. Students will be assessed on their completed Venn Diagrams. Students will be assessed on their completed list of characteristics of a revolution.

Activities: I will divide the class into the “Three Estates” of French society. One student will be the 1st Estate or Clergy, two students will be the 2nd Estate or Nobility, and then the rest of the class will be the third estate or bourgeoisie, working class, peasants. I will then have the floor divided into equal areas for each estate and will ask the students to stand in their designated area. I then ask two students from the 3rd Estate to volunteer as guards of the Bastille. I will inform the students that the Bastille is the main prison and is also where most weaponry is held for the army. I will then inform the class that I am the queen of France. || Students’ Activities
 * Initiation/Opening/Hook || The hook will be dividing the class into their designated groups. Students will not know the content of the lesson, this will occur on the first day of the unit covering the French Revolution. Students will come to class unaware of the simulation of which they will be participants. || Time ||
 * Teacher’s Activities

Students will form the groups they have been assigned to and stand in the designated areas for their “Estates”. The two students who are guards of the Bastille will be asked to stand guard around a circle of chairs that are formed as the Bastille. As the queen I would wear a crown, and I then would provide chairs with comfortable cushions for my friends in the 1st and 2nd Estates. After providing them with chairs/beanbags, etc. I would then bring them trays with cookies/brownies and only share with the 1st and 2nd estates. I would let the 3rd estate watch, and allow them to get sufficiently angry that they aren’t given any special privileges and treats. I would then inform that King Louis has imposed higher taxes on the third estate, who are the poorest class. Through questioning I would ask the 3rd Estate what they plan to do in response? Hopefully they are angry enough to want to rebel, but what do they need to rebel? Or to start a revolution? “Weapons” I would then tell them that if they return their “homes” aka desks, underneath their desks are pitchforks and shovels that I have taped to the bottom, these are the only weapons they possess at first. Where would they be able to find more weapons to be better able to fight? I would then direct their attention to the Bastille where I will have placed pictures of rifles of the time period. || Time Day 1 || I would help guide discussion of the simulation and how what occurred relates directly to the events of the French Revolution. I would then ask students if they know of any other revolutions that have occurred throughout the world? || We would discuss as a class the events of the simulation and how they correspond to the events of the French Revolution. Then I would ask students if they know of any other revolutions that have occurred throughout the world? I would list any mentions of revolution from the students on the board to create a list. If students fail to mention key revolutions I would like them to research, toward the end I would mention those that are missing and list them as well. Haitian Revolution, American Revolution, Cuban Revolution, The Great October Socialist Revolution/Russian Revolution, Iranian Revolution, Egyptian Revolution? I would then divide the class into groups, either by table or by numbering off. Each group would be assigned a particular revolution to research. Each group would be given a Venn Diagram in which they would need to label one circle the French Revolution and the other whichever revolution they have been assigned. They have the rest of the hour to each fill out their Venn Diagrams and if they fail to finish they can take them home to complete as homework.
 * Closure

On the final day of the lesson/unit I would have each group present to the class their Venn Diagrams. Hopefully I will have the technology in my classroom to display a Venn Diagram on white board and students will be able to fill it out on the board, and then erase after each presentation. After each group has presented I will close the lesson with a discussion of key characteristics of revolutions. I will ask students to help me create a list of key characteristics shared by the revolutions we have covered. I will ask them to write these down as we go through them and it will be their ticket out the door at the end of the day. || Time Day 2

Day 3 ||

Assessment

Grade students based on how well the students are working together as a group, talking about the assignment and their focus questions, being kind and respectful of each other. Assess how well they work together. Each will be graded individually on their contributions to the group work and to their group presentations to the class.

Grade students individually based on the Venn Diagrams they turn in after their presentations to the class. I will also grade them individually based on the list of the characteristics of a revolution that they hand into me at the end of the third day as their ticket out the door.




 * Reflection 12-November 30, 2011**

Reflection: Go to the below site, take the test... [] and respond to how well it fits you and if you think it is helpful in understanding how you learn.

I definitely think this fits me pretty well. The intelligences it assigned me were "social" "musical" and "nature". I am a very social person and love to talk and share my ideas. I learn a lot by talking. Whenever I have an exam coming up for a class, I email the class through angel to see if anyone wants to meet for a study group. Then I create my study guide for the exam and make sure I understand all of the concepts that I have in my notes but I remember everything better if I talk about it with other people or try to teach it to them. By explaining concepts we learned in class, I am reviewing the concept myself while helping the other people in the study group to understand it as well. I can't learn by simply reading my notes over and over. I get incredibly bored and can't focus for long.

It also said I am "musical" which makes a lot of sense. I was a theater fanatic in high school and was in all of the school musicals. I love all types of music depending on my mood. My friends also think I am very musical because I can listen to a song just a couple of times and I can pretty much have the lyrics memorized. I joke all the time that if I could memorize my schoolwork as easily as I can memorize a song I wouldn't need to study nearly as much. Thinking back to school I remember lessons more when they incorporated songs from a certain time period, we listened to songs about war by Bob Dylan in my high school history class. I also easily remember/memorized the Schoolhouse Rock songs that sang about a range of topics about math, language arts and social studies. I have "I'm just a bill" and "Conjunction junction" and the "Preamble" memorized because of these songs in Schoolhouse Rock.

While I feel a connection to nature, I think this might be the intelligence that makes the least amount of sense. I do love being outside but only during the spring/summer/fall. I absolutely hate winter. I know very little about nature and I definitely don't have the names of trees and rocks and plants memorized. I do love flowers however. I have more of a love for animals. I change the channel whenever the Sarah Mclachlan commercials about abused animals come on. I do love the outdoors and in the warmer seasons I am constantly outside on a blanket reading or outside doing something! I hate wasting good weather because I feel like good weather is limited here in MI. While I hate the winter, I do look forward to winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding.


 * Reflection 11-November 16, 2011**


 * Write about the teacher you were closest to in either middle or high school, why was this teacher important to you? How did it impact what you did in his or her class?**

When I was in high school surprisingly my favorite teacher was Mr. Kolbicz, my algebra 1 and 2 teacher. He was a pretty young guy and he was completely sarcastic. I was a big ball of sunshine in high school so our personalities clashed a lot but we were always joking and having a good time. I always got my work done but he liked to harass me and my friends in class, but when it came down to it he was a great teacher. He made sure I had him as my algebra 2 teacher because I did so well in his class before and I had told him I wanted him for algebra 2. He even made sure my best friend had him at the same time as me so we could be in the class together. I helped him a lot after school tutoring other students who were struggling with the class and I also helped him set up for parent teacher conferences. I even talked to him a lot about my plans for college and went to talk to him when I was having problems in other classes. I really struggled in my trigonometry class that I was taking with another teacher. I wasn't as comfortable with the teacher I had for trigonometry so I would go to Kolbicz class during lunch or during his free hour or before or after school to get help with my homework or help on concepts or problems I didn't understand. The way he taught just clicked with me, and he was so friendly and helpful, I felt comfortable going to him for help even after I didn't have him as my teacher. He even wrote me letters of recommendation when I applied for scholarships and was applying to different schools. My best friend and I made him a frame that said "best teacher ever" and had a picture of us with him that we had taken at the end of the year. Its weird to think that my favorite teacher in high school was a math teacher when I completely hated math. He really had a great impact on me and made me enjoy math. Whenever I'm asked what my favorite math class was, I always respond with algebra and I think it was because of Mr. Kolbicz, not because of the actual content or the level of difficulty of the subject.


 * Reflection 10-November 9, 2011**

I dont really have anything to ask. I just wish we were going to get to spend time in his classroom like the students who will take the TE classes next year. I feel like every year its always "oh we're thinking of doing this" or "oh we are going to try something new" or "we haven't done this before" and I feel like we are missing out. It's very depressing that I'm paying so much money to hear about what the next year is going to get to do. Why aren't we thinking of trying to implement something cool and exciting for OUR class. It's ridiculous I'm paying for, what is it, 5 credits(??) when its the middle of November and we just started going to our placements. I feel like I'm being ripped off. I didn't take out student loans to pay for thin air. I just get more and more frustrated. I don't understand the set up of the class. I wish that the second half of the class on Wednesdays was intermingled with other social studies classes. I would love to meet some of the people in the other classes. I think when we sign up for classes, signing up for seminar and lab should be separate that way we can have more of an opportunity to meet people. Also, I know we spent time on lesson plans, but I don't think it was enough. I think we need to be each writing our own lesson plan each week. I would rather walk away from this class with a binder of lesson plans than with a binder of PPP's. I understand the PPP's are to get us thinking but in reality, everyone puts them off and does them last minute. I dunno......just some ideas. Maybe next semester instead of doing the PPP's we can write a lesson plan each week. I feel like I would love to hear other people's ideas for lessons. We are all in social studies and are going to be teaching, all of us have great ideas, and since we are put in a class together for a reason, I would love to hear other people's ideas and share some of my own for lessons. I just know that next year we are going to be held accountable for writing a lesson plan for each day, and I don't want to walk into my internship year saying "oh yeah, i read about writing lesson plans, but never actually wrote one myself" especially since we read about lesson planning in the first weeks of the class. I barely remember reading it now, let alone 6 months from now. I'd love to walk into a classroom confident in my ability to plan a lesson, and have material to show my mentor teacher that I know what I'm doing.
 * Anything you remember, or want to ask about our visit with Ben at Haslett Middle.**


 * Reflection 9- November 1, 2011**


 * Describe crucial (memorable) aspects of the hidden and null curricula that you experienced in secondary school. (ie what did you learn from school that was not academic, or what did you understand to be important or not important based on what you were taught or were not taught**

I think what I realized I learned from the hidden and null curricula were basic necessities of manners and how to properly interact in social settings with other people. You learn how to address your teachers or people who are older than you and hold some position of authority. It teaches you to listen and wait until someone is done talking, and not to interrupt. Unknowingly you learn a lot about manners in school. You also learn a lot about being on time and consequences of being tardy. The bell system teaches you that you need to be hasty and make the most of the time between classes by going to the bathroom and getting your things from your locker. Looking back, the way my school was organized and the bells system of only 5 minutes between classes really taught me how to manage my time. I needed to be thinking ahead in order to plan when I would go to my locker and depending on how far my classes were if I would have enough time to make it there and back before the next bell. I always tried to be the most efficient. My locker was at one end of the building so if I had a series of classes at the other end, I tried to take everything I would need to so I wouldn't have to go to the other end of the school to get things from my locker. This really taught me how to manage my time, and become more efficient, it also helped me become more organized by having to think ahead.

As far as the "null" curriculum goes, I didn't realize that anything might have been neglected in my education until I came to college. I was in a class here at MSU and my professor started talking about eugenics. Everyone else in the class seemed to now what the professor was talking about but as a freshman I had never heard of eugenics and had no idea what it was. I felt really dumb for not knowing when everyone else did and was having a discussion about it that I couldn't participate in. Its hard to see what you are missing when you are in school because you don't think that your teacher would leave out anything important. Hind sight is 20/20.


 * Reflection 8- October 26, 2011**


 * (A)What surprised you most about this reading? (B) What would you argue were the strongest influences on how social studies began? (C)In what ways might the foundations of social studies impact what we do or don’t do today **

1) What surprised me most about the reading was that the origin of social studies is so blatantly racist. The idea that certain people can only develop to a certain point or potential is completely absurd. It’s hard to believe that people actually believed in this way of thinking. It’s clear that racism and the belief that white people were inherently better, played a huge part in the nation’s education system.

2) I would say that the strongest influences on how social studies began would be the increase of immigration. There was a desire to create a population that fosters the development and continuation of democracy. They wanted immigrants to assimilate and social studies was a way of helping immigrants learn American culture and also created a reliable workforce; one that is disciplined.

C) I think the greatest influence the foundations of Social Studies that have impacted what we do and don't do today includes the idea of tracking. Tracking students in programs such as Special Education, Honors, and AP, is in fact a way of dividing the students and somehow our judgements get in the way of allowing them to develop and learn how they might choose. Who are we to tell a students they should take a woodshop class instead of AP Biology? Isn’t it basically telling the students they aren’t smart enough to be in AP Biology? The same way they told African Americans they weren’t smart enough to take certain classes? In effect it is the same process just in a some what less noticeable way. There might not be blatant racism but there is still prejudice that holds certain students back.


 * Reflection 7-October 19, 2011**


 * How will you teach about Columbus after our discussion the other day? Why?**

To me, I don't think that students are really all that naive in terms of blood, guts, and gore. A lot of students know more than they let on to their parents. MAYBE we should hold back on telling them the truth about Columbus when they are in middle school, but then what is that telling them about honesty? We are supposed to be creating future citizens, correct? So by lying to them when they are in middle school and then telling them later on in high school that the image of Columbus as this amazing man who discovered America and brought civilization with him, is completely wrong, is basically saying its okay to tell a "white lie". Kids today play video games that have tons of violence in them, and trying to explain to our students how violent Columbus and his men were, probably will still seem tame to them because they can't visually see what occurred. We can explain to them the truth about what happened, and they still probably won't grasp the magnitude of the situation. I don't think we should shelter our students from reality. The depth of the material we cover should increase as students get older and are able to understand more fully. I can see both side of the argument here but I don't feel comfortable lying to my students. We can be honest from the beginning and then continue to increase their knowledge and exposure to this topic. As students enter high school we can have them read primary documents and they would be able to think critically of what the accounts say as opposed to might what have been reality. If I could find an interesting documentary to show, with researchers, students might better understand what occurred.


 * Reflection 6-October 12, 2011**

How do you feel about the process of creating a professional growth and development plan? Do you think this is a useful task? Would it have usability in a middle school or high school classroom?

I liked creating the professional growth plan. I believe in setting official goals that I want to meet because then I feel like I am held to those goals. The development plan is like a contract I made with myself. I feel like I am obligated to do what I said I would do in the growth and development plan. I think it is useful because it keeps me on track and focused. It makes me focus on what is important and what I need to accomplish each week. It also made me think about certain aspects or study habits I could improve on. I think it could be helpful and usable in a high school or middle school setting but I'm not sure how responsive students would be to the idea. It might help some students, but others might just blow it off and not take it seriously.


 * Reflection 5- September 5, 2011**

Watching the short film today about whether schools kill creativity or not really got me thinking. It is true that schools do stress the importance of "core" subject areas, but what about the arts? I myself feel like my talents never fully met their potential because in high school I had such a rigorous academic schedule it left little time to take "electives" such as choir, art, photography, drafting, and drama. I missed out on taking choir even though it was a class I really wanted to take because I needed to take classes like AP Biology, AP Government, AP US History etc in order to "prepare" myself for college aka make myself look good for college admission boards. Because we are so focused on getting students into college prep courses, we squander their talents. What really caught my attention was the story he told of the young girl who was "misbehaving" and someone told her mother to put her into a dance school, and because of that decision she is a well known dancer, worked on Broadway, has her own dance studios, and is a multimillionaire. How many students could have traveled down the same path to success in a "nonconventional" profession, but were told to sit down and be quiet and therefore got lost in the shuffle and went on to live mediocre lives in professions they hate? This relates directly to the article we read about "doing more harm than good". We might think we are helping a student by having them diagnosed with ADD and having them prescribed medication to calm them down, but are we just suppressing or killing their creativity? If so, we are doing more harm than good. What if a child is born with the potential to be the next Adele, but we tell her that she doesn't have time in her schedule to take choir? We are wasting talent and it's not fair to the student. We have a direct effect on the lives of students, whether we are aware of it or not, and decisions we make can impact the rest of their lives. We are basically telling students that what they love is of lesser value. If we are telling students one day that they can be whatever they want to be, and they say they want to be a dancer, who are we to discourage them? With the attitude of the school system and emphasis on "core" subject areas, we are telling them that what they want to pursue is impractical and that it would be foolish of them to pursue such "dreams". We are basically telling students that what they love is of lesser value and that they can be whatever they want "as long as it is deemed as something practical within society". Is it so impractical if its something they love? I really agree with the lecturer in the clip we watched. I thought it was such a profound thought that "everyone is born an artist" and that as we grow up we lose our ability to think creatively. I feel like I myself probably lost some of my creative ability as I went through school, and it really is a shame.


 * Reflection 4- September 27, 2011**

Post the response from your colleague consultant about unit plans. If you have not heard back write about anything that has troubled or inspired you about teaching the past few weeks.

I havent received a response from my colleague consultant but I am not really surprised. My colleague consultant is very scatter brained and not really organized. I don't see how someone who is responsible for so many students, so many assignments, and so many lessons, could be an unorganized person. If I wasn't completely OCD about everything, I think I would be even more stressed because of my disorganization and feeling of being unprepared.

I still think what is troubling me the most is still feeling capable of preparing a unit plan/lesson plan. I know we just started, but it still feels so overwhelming. I feel like we are learning so many techniques and ways of planning that I don't really have a good grasp of how to just focus on one technique in order to prepare a unit plan. We have been reading so many different ways of doing a unit plan, that I don't know which one is best, and I feel like I am getting confused and mixed up on which is which and what goes where. My concern is that if it takes me this long to come up with a lesson plan for just ONE DAY, how long will it take me to create lessons for a whole week, month, and year? I feel like I am completely intimidated and the task of creating so many lesson plans is daunting. While they might be useful to me, does anyone else every actually read them?

What I found to be the most helpful and inspiring was the guest lecture on UBD. I love this technique and it completely makes sense to me. The idea of having an EQ really helps me to focus on what is really important in what I want to teach, what I want to cover, and what I want my students to take away from the lesson or unit. Breaking everything down into EQ's and EU's was really helpful to me in being able to manage a lot of information on a topic that would be impossible to completely cover. What do you think?


 * Reflection 3- September 19, 2011**

( A) What has been most difficult in planning this unit so far?

I think what is hardest about planning this unit is simply going through all the standards and finding the particular standards that match the content you want to teach. I think it is more tedious than "difficult". I was able to find standards to match the topics I wanted to cover however. Another aspect I find difficult is coming up with all of the topics that should be covered in the unit. When I myself don't know a lot about the Middle East, it makes it harder to determine what is important to teach the students. I need to learn the material first in order to know what is the most important. This also ties into my fear of being expected to be an expert on everything as a teacher. My students are going to ask me questions about the content, that I might not know the answer too.

(B) Do you think units should be planned chronologically? Around a theme? Through enduring understandings? A combination? Why?

Personally, I like to plan lessons around a theme. I think it gets the main point of the lesson across. I think students would take more from a lesson that's arranged in this manner as opposed to simply shifting through the timeline of events. They won't comprehend the importance of certain events if we only focus on the timeline. However, some students may get confused if we talk about particular topics out of chronological order. I think its a good idea to base a lesson on a theme, but somehow arrange these themes in a way that would make sense to students chronologically.


 * Reflection 2- September 12, 2011 **

(A) Keeping in mind that there are many models of good teaching, describe some attributes or characteristics that good teachers possess.

In my experiences thus far, I would say that any good teacher needs to have a certain level of patience while in the classroom. Patience is a virtue, one that I tend to lack. I really struggle to let students think things over. When I ask the class a question I expect an immediate answer but I need to give them more time. I also get easily frustrated when my students aren't giving me the feedback or answers that I am expecting. If students are learning what I am intending to teach through the lesson I created I become easily frustrated. I need to recognize that not all students are going to absorb the same information or learn the same things from the lesson I am teaching. Teachers also need to have a sense of humor. This summer teaching at DSA during summer school taught me that you have to laugh! You can't take everything so seriously. Students are going to give you a hard time, especially because they can see that we are so young. Its important to take everything in stride, learn from your mistakes and have faith everything will all work out in the end.

(B) Reflect on your own strengths and weaknesses as a teacher at this point, what are some areas you are strong in? Where do you have room for improvement?

Like I said, I need to work on my patience. I want the students to understand everything immediately the first time I teach it to them, but that is just unrealistic. I think one of my strengths is my energy. I come to class ready to teach and energized. I want my students to see that I am excited and awake, so they can feed off my energy and hopefully it will make the classroom environment more fun! I am also a very organized person. I have great organizational skills. I think I could work on my creativity in terms of lesson plans. I have some great ideas and starting points, but I want to make all my lessons fun. I don't want to ever feel like I need to resort to the textbook and handouts ( "busy work" ) just to get through my classes.

(C) What are some things you need to learn or skills you need to practice to improve your teaching?

As a young woman, my biggest concern is classroom management. I can create an awesome lesson but if I can't manage my classroom I will never be able to teach it and have my students retain the lesson. This past summer I taught a class of all boys in their senior year, who were taking summer school classes in order to graduate. There were only ten of them in the room, but I was still completely intimidated. Being only four years older than the young men I was teaching was a huge challenge. They wanted to view me as a friend but I needed to present myself as an authority figure. Also, the fact that I was so young and I was teaching a room full of boys was a challenge. I need to learn how to not be intimidated by my students and I also need to learn how to present myself as an authority figure, someone who is to be respected regardless of my age and gender.


 * Reflection 1- September 7, 2011**

(A) describe and post your favorite memory from a social studies class from middle/junior/senior high school

====My favorite memory from my high school US History class was when we had a student teacher for the second half of the year from Oakland University. For the first part of the year we had a really old teacher who just liked to put notes on the overhead projector (not even through a powerpoint) and he would lecture at us with a monotone voice for the entire hour. The student teacher came into the classroom with such energy and enthusiasm and completely turned the course of the class around. We were learning about the Cold War and she related the events to political cartoons. To wrap up the lesson on the Cold War we watched a movie made based on the book, "The Butter Battle Book" by Dr Suess. She encouraged us to watch the movie and to draw a connection between the story of the Yooks and Zooks and how their bitterness toward each other related to the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. Her use of a Dr. Suess cartoon to relate to historical events, sparked my interest in learning about the Cold War. If I had simply read about the Cold War from a text book I probably wouldn't remember the lesson as well. She also showed us a video that used to played in school for what the procedure would be if there was a nuclear attack. The video showed kids getting under their desks and the narrator also tells the audience to jump in a ditch on the side of the road and cover their head. She made us run our own drill and get under our desks as demonstrated in the movie. It seemed silly at the time but the lesson obviously stuck with me. I also remember learning about the 1950's and she would play popular music from the decade as we came into class and give a piece of candy to whoever could tell her the name of the song and who sang it. I distinctly remember her playing the song "Little Boxes" to describe the suburban lifestyle that people yearned for in the 50's. We also got to watch some cool movies like "Good Morning, Vietnam" with Robin Williams to learn about the Vietnam War, and we also watched some documentaries on JFK and the Watergate Scandal which were really interesting.====

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I also have to say that I was dreading taking my economics class in high school but one of my favorite memories is from this class. We watched the movie "Roger and Me" which is a film by Michael Moore about the GM plants closing in Flint and how distructive it was to the economy in Flint and throughout Michigan. The movie was eye opening and caught all of our attention because, being from Sterling Heights, we felt an attachment to the Motor City and surrounding areas. Watching a film that was so relevant to our lives and had affected our own families helped to teach us about the workings of the economy.=====

(B) describe and post your worst memory or experience from a social studies class from middle/junior/senior high school

My worst experience in a social studies class was when I was taking AP Political Science we went on a visit to the County Jail. I was absolutely terrified. They gave a presentation about the prison and they even showed us weapons that the inmates had fashioned to "shank" each other. Then we went on a tour of the jail and were taken to the levels were the inmates were held. They showed us the equipment they wore when fights broke out. I remember being on the observation deck and all of the inmates were yelling inappropriate comments and making inappropriate gestures at all of the girls in my class. Needless to say, I was terrified.

Other than this experience, I would say the worst part of any social studies class was when I had a boring teacher that had boring lessons and everyday was the same.

(C) describe and post your rationale for why you want to teach social studies and what particular reasons you find compelling for having students study and learn social studies in schools.

I have always enjoyed all of my social studies classes throughout my education. I never loved math or science so I knew that wasn't the route I wanted to take. I love history and I find it so interesting to learn about how our world became what it is today. I also think its exciting to think about what the world will be like decades from now. I've been fortunate enough to travel to many places, especially throughout Europe, and through my exposure to these different countries I fell in love with learning about differences in cultures, architecture, food, dance and language. There are so many interesting places and people throughout the world that I want to expose my students too. I can't pay to take them all on a trip to Paris but I can teach them about what it means to be a Parisian. I can't fly them all to Mexico to see the ruins of the Aztecs but I can teach them about why they exist and the people who built them. Kids are unaware of the world that surrounds them and I want to show them what is out there.