For my advanced 8th grade US History class, I created a lesson plan which involved the usage of Squishy Circuits. In my plan, I used Squishy Circuits to compare and contrast the concepts of the Virginia and New Jersey Plans. At the end of the lesson, students will be able to display and demonstrate how the Virginia and New Jersey Plans are similar and different. Prior to my lesson, my students used Squishy Circuits in 7th grade Mathematics with measurement and geometry. After creating my lesson plan, two of my CEP 811 classmates reviewed it. My classmates provided me with wonderful feedback in regards to making sure Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and intersectionality is incorporated into all aspects of my lesson. The feedback that was provided to me was amazing. After finishing my lesson plan, I felt that my plan was okay, but that I needed some direction and support to make it stronger. I am teaching a new grade this year and feel at times that I am back as a first year teacher. After receiving insight and feedback from my peers, I felt like I was heading in the right direction. The feedback helped me further develop my lesson plan to help answer more questions and provide deeper connections and understanding. In teaching, peer feedback is a huge advantage and is very beneficial. As the old saying goes, “Two heads are better than one” and with teaching this is correct, you CAN’T do it alone. After taking some time away from my lesson plan and receiving feedback, I came back with a stronger intention of where I wanted to go and what I wanted my final product to look like. There was major room for improvement. I made quite a few changes, but the biggest one I felt was the flow and having more student collaboration. Originally students were going to be working alone the whole time, but I knew I wanted to get students more involved in their learning, so I decided to switch to collaborative groups. One of my peers pointed out that my lesson plan didn’t flow. They mentioned that there was a lot to do with the end result, but that I needed to front load the students with more resources and content in order for them to better understand where they were supposed to be going in the end. The one change I didn’t make but did take into account but did add to was the Venn Diagram and presentation of squishy circuits. For the Venn diagram, I decided to add an example for each topic to help ensure students understand the expectations. For the Squishy Circuits, I planned to provide students with an outline and example of what I wanted the final product to look like. Another change that I decided not to make was the readings in which students would be getting their information from. A suggestion was made to scale back the reading to grade level requirements, so students have more time to focus on the final product. I teach advanced students and a part of Maryland standards require rigor and pushing students by providing them with above grade level readings. They will use skills they have developed and practiced to ensure that they understand the material. Just as my peers were to give me feedback, I was to provide feedback to two classmates. I had to challenge myself to think about how the lessons my peers developed would meet various needs and learning styles of students and lead to understanding of their concepts. For example, I provided feedback that students should be given different methods to assess their learning, rather than a traditional multiple choice formative assessment. Reviewing peer lessons also allowed me to further develop my understanding of UDL and intersectionality as I looked to provide insight for each of their lessons. When I created my Squishy Circuits lesson plan, I didn’t realize the amount of work that it would entail. However, I’m happy that I have other teachers to offer suggestions to help make it a better learning experience for my students.
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CEP-811This blog contains ideas and innovations I have done and learned in class. Please feel free to read and comment! Enjoy! :) |