The lesson plan is our most difficult assignment. It requires all the skills we've practiced so far to work in unison. As such, we start with a "big picture" view of the lesson plan assignment. This week, we'll overview the lesson plan assignment and look at how assistive technology can be used to differentiate material for students.
The materials to the right are the information you need to know before starting to write your lesson plan. The first is a list of considerations to take before planning. It has been compiled over years based on the strengths and weaknesses of your predecessor's lessons. The second material is the EdTPA lesson plan format that we'll use for our lesson plan project. |
Last semester, a staggering number of students literally wrote "my lesson plan does not address any learning standards," instead of creating a standards-based lesson. Just check out our rubric, and make a tally of how many score points you CANNOT score without learning standards. For that matter, a staggering number of students left notes in one of the other nine boxes the EdTPA asks you to submit indicating that their lesson just didn't meet the requirements. Spoiler alert: literally writing down that you didn't do the assignment doesn't score additional points for confidence. Furthermore, you'll be laughed out of an interview, or removed from a job you land as a non-tenured teacher when you write, "I'm not interested in learning standards, they like, feel like they get in the way, so I didn't use them, and I made up this lesson because I feel like it's important." I'm not kidding, about the job, or the assignment. Lesson plan alignment between standards, Central Focus, Essential Strategies, Instructional Activities, and Assessment is called teaching. You need them all to fit.
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Students last semester massively messed up the quality of writing on their lesson plans and commentary. I'm not sure if it was the distance learning format, or apathy come late semester, or misunderstanding, but I want to make sure that no group of students ever makes the same mistakes. Watch both these videos, and answer on Google Classroom: What do you need to do to succeed on your lesson plan and commentary?
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Close Read ToolsWe're going to do a close read of a 100% lesson plan and commentary. We'll use a variety of the close read strategies that I use with my 8th graders, and discuss how each can be used with different grade levels and subject areas. Will you be graded? Kinda, but on participation. Give each method an attempt. As long as you're in the ball park, you've landed the 5/5 for this activity.
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Today's homework assignment is to continue working on your Technology Reflection project by adding two sections: one for Peardeck and one for Nearpod. In a post-pandemic, distance learning classroom, traditionally walking around the room and observing to check if students are on task is no longer a possibility, and these two technologies are hitting their stride.
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These images aren't linked because both are Chrome add-ons and links would not work without having downloaded the add-on.
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Inquiry-based research is the most powerful technology tool at the aspiring educator's disposal. It is infinitely differentiate-able. It is infinitely scalable. It harnesses all the power of the internet without the limitations of infinite prep work. We'll look at two forms of inquiry-based learning today: research, and web-quests (web-quests being a supported form of research.)
We'll begin today's class with a look at answering BASICALLY what inquiry-based research entails in a school setting. It is a great passion of mine, but there are definitely some advantages and disadvantages to consider before employing an inquiry-based lesson or unit in a classroom.
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After learning the ropes about inquire-based research, we'll do a quick dive into my own, personal inquiry-based research project. It's the capstone of my 8th grader's curriculum, and the work they produce is generally AMAZING!
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Next up, mind mapping some inquiry-based research quotes. Instead of spending hours reading two incredibly dense articles, we'll read a series of quote and organize them into a mind map, thereby creating schema, and increasing the likelihood we'll remember them, Depending on the status of our COVID safety, we might explore Google's JamBoard software to augment our mind maps.
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Quizlet is a software that helps students to study and learn vocabulary. There are some cool, competitive features, flashcards, and other questioning options. It is very popular in schools with both teachers and students alike. Quizlet Live even allows students to compete against each other from the safety of their own homes.
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Wait... I don't have any kids' books in my apartment. All bookstores are closed! Even if I bought kids' books on Amazon, how do I share them with kids, even if I get the digital version? Is copyright infringement my only option for sharing meaningful text with elementary and early middle school kids?
Copyright infringement isn't the only option. All the cool kids use Epic for elementary and early middle school students. |
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Padlet is a simple software whose applications are limited only by your creativity. Students can post writing, images, links, etc, and it allows collaboration between multiple people, even under the constraints of distance learning. While good for simple CFU's and planning, Padlet would not be ideal for an important, final assessment.
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This software is called EdPuzzle. It's a favorite for sub plans, but in the current era of distance learning, it's becoming progressively more ubiquitous. EdPuzzle allows you to embed questions within a video. Basically, students put on headphones and watch a video on their own, individual computer, and at certain, designated points, the video stops and students are prompted to answer one of a variety of questions. It's a great way to "chunk" a video and also an effective way to build in accountability.
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Before each writers workshop, we use an activity that has been wildly successful with students of all ages that I've taught. Essentially, you'll look at quotes and images from former students work and evaluate them using our actual project rubric.
What this activity forces students to do is to familiarize themselves with the quality required of the different score points of our rubric, which in turn makes them more aware of what their project will score, and less likely to ask themselves "am I doing this completely wrong," during those last few minutes before the due date. |
To Do Today:
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The quality of the writing on the lesson plan itself is immensely important for the score students receive on the plan. Tragically, in the last three years, the quality of the writing is exactly the location that has been the most wanting. Students think that they can come into class and "rip it" for a fifteen-minute lesson, and then just sit back and collect an A. This could not be farther from the truth. For the first time that I've taught this course, we'll run a traditional "writers workshop" to refine the quality of students writing itself before continuing on to "rip it" for the lessons themselves next week. We will spend the entirety of today's lesson working in our groups to produce fantastically-written lesson plans, create fantastically-designed digital tools, and write thoughtful and well-crafted commentaries.
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