For my first lesson I've mainly kept the school in mind as well as the chemistry proficiency of the class. I've tried to include a different lens on chemistry as well, namely through the different genders and race of researchers as well as bringing in Indigenous chemistry into the lesson. I've incorporated the elements of DSSS including focusing on environmental education, technological advancements, the school mascot, and Remembrance Day events. I also kept the VARK learning profiles in mind incorporating activities from each aspect of VARK. These include kinesthetic components such as sitting down and standing up to correlate with low temperature and high temperature, respectively, short answer questions for those who prefer to read and write, videos for visual/auditory learners, images and live demonstrations with plastic eggs and velcro to model collision theory for visual learners, and discussions for auditory learners. I finished off by providing an assessment on catalytic converters for the students to conduct research on, including interviewing their parents to encapsulate DSSS's mission statement. I thought I understood the needs of the group quite well until lesson delivery. From the feedback I got, I think I need to cover less content and take the time to consider larger environmental issues such as climate change in the form of a discussion since most of my peers come from a history/languages background. After lesson planning, I realized that it was one of my weaknesses as I know that I am someone who prefers to hold ideas in my mind and act upon them when necessary. I understand now that the purpose of lesson plans is so a supply teacher can read my instructions and carry on with my class as intended. As such, I've been reading through the lesson plans my peers posted especially those from POD A because I have not attended their classes. If I can get an idea of what the class is about without attending the class, I believe that is a good lesson plan. For example, for Stephanie and Lucy's lesson plan in ENG2P on Romeo and Juliet, I really appreciated the rationale that they included for why a certain activity is listed in the lesson plan. I also really liked the inclusion of a "prior knowledge" heading so the students will be able to know if the lesson is good for them as is, or if they need to do a bit of preparatory work. I found the lesson plan easy to follow with clear instructions without being overly detailed. I will incorporate these elements into my own lesson planning, mainly the rationale section as the third lesson is part of a continuous series of lessons in one unit and thus students should have the prior knowledge from previous classes. With Becca and Kat's lesson plan, I really appreciated how they listed the learning objectives starting with "I can....," the learning skills that will be used in their lesson, as well as the 21st century global competencies. This allows all the activities planned to be relevant to the curriculum as well as provide purpose to learning for students. In Sam and Sara's lesson plan, I liked how they included questions after each activity to check in with the learner and to further the students' understandings through the use of AfLs. This lends its way to help auditory learners as well as those who benefit more from speech and talking with others. In addition, it allows teachers to check up on what was confusing for the students giving teachers a sense of how the classroom is doing and if any more time needs to be spend on a particular topic. With Alina and Roslyn's lesson plan on multiplying and dividing monomials, I appreciated how they started their Minds-On activity with a COVID-19 exponential growth video which really sets the stage for a current lesson in the curriculum and to draw upon knowledge that the students have previously known about. I will use this idea to incorporate the USA Presidential election into my third lesson to show how single displacement reactions work. In general, as a class we talked about how even though we are teaching a class of diverse individuals with little to no background in the subject we teach, the importance of chunking information and breaking it down into a way that is understandable by all is very important. Regardless of the age and type of student, sitting for a long period of time is tough for many individuals and absorbing information for lengthy periods especially in a virtual setting can be even more very challenging. In addition, we spoke of the ethical considerations that may arise from using certain types of text and media in class. For example, showing a text on the world wars might elicit negative emotions in some students coming from first hand experience with the trauma throughout their lives. Similarly, a text on oppression would also not be ideal in a diverse class as the teacher may never know the triggers that could lead to a traumatic attack. Thus it is always important to keep your own positionality in mind and to provide warnings and perhaps even consolidate with students before teaching a particular lesson. Although this is more applicable in skill-based and controversial subject matter such as English and History, as Brandon Zoras puts it, "this is everyone's responsibility not just the English teachers." Even in chemistry and math, I can still aim to bring in different viewpoints of underrepresented people and researchers into my lessons. These all have to be under careful scrutiny though, as I may never know what caused one of my normally outgoing and outspoken students to shy away and be traumatized for the rest of their day. I further appreciate how even though we are all educators, everyone brings in a different element into their teaching. I hope to incorporate these ideas into my teaching so I can continue to grow as an educator. Link to lesson 1: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZFmhN6Ehrj6zH5_OPkHVBFyVHagViQeM6MlgN9jyVFA/edit?usp=sharing Link to lesson 2: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14pfvG3X0PJHJ67S3NZ90fQh5xXplkR4bwz5gSl1-frQ/edit?usp=sharing Link to lesson 3: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1SM8OLbMMpXFUTuVFsePkiJssEEd9ZVwxvebv9nSjgbo/edit?usp=sharing
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AuthorHi! Thanks for taking the time to read about my journey. I hope you can take something from my experiences and share yours in return. Don't be shy! ArchivesCategories |