Professional Development - How big is Africa?

For my professional development, I attended a lecture on campus about African cartography. There was a beautiful collection of maps that people have drawn to represent the content of Africa. Later as a class, my Geography peers and I discussed the geography of Africa and how it really was not part of our Social Studies Education. Which got us thinking...

As future teachers, it is our job to give Africa the recognition it deserves. In schools, it is is not a main component, and statistics show that most school children think Africa is much smaller than it is. They think it is smaller, because it is given smaller importance as compared to other continents like Europe. To show it's true size, we found this image here. 

Another discussion we had about teaching Africa is to stress to our future students that Africa is made up of different countries, just like North America is. Americans tend to lump Africans together, but the people living on the continent are diverse and live in extremely diverse areas. Although there are some people who live in poverty, there are people who are wealthier there, too. It is an important theme to teach students overall to not make prejudices about a society. To finish off our discussion, we looked for some lesson plans or ideas that followed our vision of teaching Africa's geography. Boston University actually has an outreach program that I personally like for grades k-12.

Overall, the discussion helped us all grow in what we want to teach as educators, as well as how to defend our ideas. Looking for professional lesson plans and talking together helped us get more comfortable with the idea of using reputable sources for our lesson plans.

Observation #4

1)     What do you think the objective is?

The objective was for students to remember the significant events of the D-Day Invasion during World War II that we went over in class.

2) What level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is that?

Knowledge

3) How will you assess it in 10 minutes or less?

Short Essay:

1)     Identify all of the countries involved in the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

2)     Why did the invasion have to wait until June 6? (Hint: Think “natural forces”)

Multiple Choice:

3)     Where is Normandy located?

a)     The west side of England

b)     The middle of France, close to Germany

c)      Northern France

d)     Northern tip of Spain, where it meets France

Observation #3

I came to observe during the first class of the day. I was one of the first people in the room, and so I saw that as most of the students trickled in they went to a bin and took out a red folder and brought it to their seat. On the board there was a “Do Now” task for the students to put into their red folder. As the bell rang, the teacher came in from the hallway and shut the door, indicating she was ready to start the class. The teacher encouraged every student to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, but she did not make anyone participate. After the pledge, a student came on the intercom to do announcements. There were a few reminders during the announcements, such as that teachers should limit the number of bathroom passes. During and after the announcements the students were writing in their folders to finish the “Do Now”. The teacher took attendance during the announcements, which I think was the best way to create more time for instruction. After she was through, she walked around to see each students’ “Do Now”. During her walk around the room, one corner was getting particularly rowdy and they were speaking loudly in Spanish. The teacher excused herself from the student she was working with and walked over to ask the corner students to please take out their books and read quietly while she finished up.

            One student walked in about ten minutes later, and she asked a peer to catch him up on what was going on. She gave that student a few minutes to catch up and then she asked the students to put their eyes to the front and put away their books. The teacher encouraged her students to share their “Do Now” with one another, and they had a small discussion about it. It was interesting that the students did not raise their hands but called out the answer. Although it seems like it could be a disaster, the students were respectful of one another. After the discussion, the teacher collected their homework. From there, she turned on her PowerPoint and asked the students to turn their desks towards the screen that displayed the information. During the PowerPoint, the teacher engaged the students with questions during the presentation and praised them for speaking up – whether they were right or wrong. I think that this helped the students feel safe to speak, without getting yelled at if they were wrong. A gentle “not exactly, but good educated guess” was enough to encourage them to think and try again. One student made an appropriate joke, and got the whole class laughing. The teacher, knowing it was coming from a good place, laughed for a moment and then asked them to get back on task. Overall, the class went really well. I am not sure if I just came on a good day, or if the class is always so well behaved. However, I do believe that the classroom was set up in a way that was conducive to learning.

Microteaching II

Oh what a relief! I definitely feel that it gets better as we go along. It was kind of awkward letting you (the students) explore while I just paced about. However, I feel more confident than my first lesson.

Observation #2 - Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan Template for SED 406 and 407 part 1 = planning
Teacher Candidate: Mrs. Social Studies	Subject: Modern World History	Grade(s): 11
Name of Lesson: Review the Causes and Effects of WWII
Learning Objective(s), including Bloom's taxonomic level: (label A, B, C, *D) *optional Bloom’s taxonomic level – Knowledge/Analysis The students will review together in groups the causes and effects of WWII worldwide to complete the study guide before the test.
Student Standards (GSE or/GLE or Common Core-in draft for math/science- list which): GSE: HP 1 (9-12) –2a Students interpret history as a series of connected events with multiple cause-effect relationships, by explaining cause and effect relationships in order to sequence and summarize events, make connections between a series of events, or compare/contrast events
Teacher Standards (professional society and/or NETS  and RIPTS-list which): RIPTS – 3.1 Teachers understand how student’s use their prior knowledge to construct knowledge, acquire skills, develop habits of mind and acquire positive dispositions of learning.
Rationale: Why this lesson? How does it fit into the curriculum and context? Is this the introduction, conclusion, or somewhere in the middle of the unit of instruction? This lesson is at the conclusion, when the students need to review all they have went over for the past two weeks in order to apply it logically in an assessment.
Materials/Resources needed, including technology: Textbooks, previously graded hand-outs/homework
Accommodations and Modifications (special needs and learning styles) Students who work best alone may do so. Quieter groups on one side of room, louder groups on other.
What content resources support this knowledge base? (list at least 2)
How confident are you in this topic as you start this lesson? Mrs. SS seems very confident that this lesson will be of good use to her students.

(Boxes expand as you type)   Lesson Plan Template part 2 = action
Bell-ringer: How will you get students seated, and ready for academic work? (without your voice) Mrs. SS shuts the door as a “last call” type of gesture.
Anticipatory Set: How will you introduce the material, interest the students, show relevance of topic?
Phase (change as needed)/Time	Teacher action	Student action	Questions/Assessments
e.g. Intro/2 min.	Greetings/ Do Now: take out homework from the last 2 weeks	Get out past homework assignments
3 min.	Asks students to get into previously assigned groups based on learning style/ Pass out review sheet (35 questions)	Students grab work, textbooks and assemble in groups, take review worksheet
50 min.	Go around to groups, make sure they are on task, answer questions	Review with peers, ask for help if necessary
15 mins	Have students get back to seats to talk as a classroom	Listen, respond, answer questions
8 mins	Current World Events discussion	Ask questions, or give answers if they know about the events.
HW/Application/	Ask students to study for test in two days	Study review sheet
Review and Reflection: How will you review for students who are still having trouble? Available for after school help to discuss review sheet
Extension: What will you offer to students who have mastered this? The students may start reading the next section.

	Lesson Plan Template pt. 3 = reflection
WHAT?	What went well?   Students were very involved in review, groups worked nicely, not too many distractions
	What area of weakness needs addressing? Remind students to keep their homework assignments with them or remind them to bring them to class as some students forgot.
	Which objectives were met? What is the evidence? The students reviewed the material and were able to piece the story of the era together cohesively
	Which students did not meet objectives? All met the objectives with help from peers/teacher
	Was time managed appropriately? Yes, most time spent on review
	Did any teacher mannerisms or actions detract from the lesson? No
	*What were the strengths and weaknesses of classroom management? All students were on task as they wanted a good test grade and liked their groups.
SO WHAT?	Was the lesson engaging? Yes, students wanted to finish the review before class was over, worked together to accomplish
	*What did I learn from my peer observation (address at least one aspect)   Group work is good for some classrooms, and this is one of those.
NOW WHAT?	How will this experience influence your professional identity?  This gives me a model to look to. Every class is different and you must find what works for them. Students in this room find that review is necessary and helpful and appreciate getting time in class. (See it as a privilege).
	How will it influence how you plan/teach/assess in the future? Will take the time to know what my class needs so that I can give them effective lessons and use classroom time to their advantage so they receive as much as possible.