It Is FINISHED!!!

What a relief!! I have worked so hard on both of my units and have now submitted them to my professors, and am currently waiting for my grades back.  I spent several hours in the library looking for children's books to incorporate in my 306 unit and also researching other ideas for my 307 unit.  It took me a while for me to finish both units, but I took my time and made sure everything was the way I wanted it before I finally submitted it.  I learned a lot from writing both of these units and I now feel more prepared to write more lengthy unit that is integrated with other subjects and technology.  I learned about so many technology resources from my other PDP, class, and from other teachers.  This semester, I had a lot on my plate but I was able to accomplish so much and this will definitely help me as I go into 435 and student teaching!

So Close, But So Far!

I am working on finishing up my units for both of my classes and they are both due just a couple of days apart!  I have spent many more hours working on completing and submitting my work in the template.  The hardest part for me has been coming up with the Factual, Conceptual, and Provocative questions.  I had to really sit down and think about what my students would be able to answer based off of the knowledge and content that they just learned from each generalization.  These guided questions were essential to the rest of the unit because they literally guided the rest of the unit.  I have put my 306 unit on the back burner for now because this unit is due before that one.    I have gotten extremely frustrated with having to hunt for content and other materials.  I keep telling myself that once I am actually working in the school system, I will have help and resources somewhat provided for me to work with. This will make the lesson planning process go by a lot faster and will relieve some of the stress.  I have also been working with other classmates and peers trying to bounce off ideas to make this unit the best it can be.  I am proud of the work I have completed so far and hopefully one day will be able to actually teach this unit! 

Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock

This semester, I have two big unit plans due for my classes.  I struggle with writing lesson plans in a timely manner.  On Saturday, I spent six hours writing four lessons for my 306 unit.  I have also been progressively working on my 307 unit and to complete a section of that template has also taken a lot of thought and time.  In general, I have spent around two to three hours working on the beginning sections of that unit.  I know I am half way finished with both units, but I wish there was a way to decrease the amount of time spent lesson planning and the process would come easier.  In my least PDP meeting we discussed planning my lesson backwards and starting with creating the assessment piece that way I know what I need to teach and what will be expected for the students to know at the end of the lesson.  This did decrease the time filling out the lesson, but I still had to take some time to come up with ideas and instructional techniques to teach the lesson.  As I practice my lesson planning, I hope to master it and focus less on that and more on the action itself. 

Flipped Lesson

After searching the internet for an extended period of time, looking for resources and trying to find content information, I decided to change standards in order to make a stronger flipped lesson.  I was working in the library and saw a current student teacher.  I began to ask her questions since she is student teaching the same grade level as my unit.  I asked if she was familiar with the standard and she provided me with some ideas on how she taught the standard in her classroom.  This helped me to propel forward and start on my learning plan!

I designed my flipped lesson following the learning plan that was provided for our unit.  First, I provided my learning targets and then worked my way through the background information for planning the lesson. I created my formative assessment, which then helped me to create my generalizations and guiding questions. I was able to work through form step by step.  The while process took me about three hours because it took me a while to find resources and ideas that supported my standard requirements.  I hope to improve my lesson planning efficiency, but now feel better that I have completed my first flipped learning plan!    

On Your Mark, Get Set......

Preparing myself to create two lessons that combined require twelve, in depth lesson plans is a bit intimidating.  I chose to make the process of lesson planning my PDP because this is something that consumes a lot of my time, and I need/want to find ways to reduce this planning time.  As student teaching is right around the corner, I need to make myself aware of different resources/ materials that I can pull from to make lesson planning a more efficient process.  For both of my units, I have selected standards that center around two main concepts and have attempted to visualize how I am going to teach these lessons.  In my current courses, and as well as my previous ones, I have learned two important aspects of lesson planning are differentiation and integration.  Keeping in mind all of the details and accommodations that come along with lesson planning, I struggle to know where to begin the process. 

Taking the first step in lesson planning should be planning your lesson, inside out.  One should start with the assessment piece and ask oneself what their students should know at the end of the lesson.   However, I have attempted to start my lessons in this fashion and often struggle with just looking at the standard and being able to create an assessment piece from that standard.  Unpacking standards do list out all of the material that the students are expected to know.  I guess I find it challenging because I am having to teach a different style from the way I learned in school, and I do not particularly remember everything, or all of the content that I learned in elementary school.  I know that teachers have access to textbooks and other school materials, but having to construct lesson plans on different subjects for assigned grade levels, along with being rusty on the content that is required to know to teach the lesson just has me stumped. 

It is midway through the semester and my ultimate goal is to get completely comfortable and confident with the lesson planning process.  I know it takes practice and time, but I would to have a concrete foundation for this skill by the end of this semester.