Oniline Reflection #3: Total Control

As I begin taking total control of the classroom, I am also taking on the responsibility of an additional prep. I have fully taught one unit by myself and am preparing for two units simultaneously at the moment. My CT has been a huge help in the beginning stages of planning, providing me with several resources and ideas for fun and effective class activities. Currently in the honors class, I am having students create a PicCollage showing the events that occurred during the time period of the novel (1940s). In order to complete the PicCollage, students first had to complete a Webquest to find information to include in their PicCollage (Smagorinsky 39). Since these are honors students, some of them tend to over think things and I have found that a smile and nod often gives them the nudge necessary to take an idea and run with it. One example of this is when students researched the 1940s, I asked them to identify a major event from the time period. All students were able to identify that WWII occurred during this time, but were looking for a more specific event. When they raised hands and asked if they were on the right track, I often smiled at them and occasionally pointed at something on their screen saying “that’s interesting”. It was hard not to tell students directly, “yes, that is what I want”; I wanted them to figure things out and do the research and learn from their findings. I feel that this will help students “draw on prior knowledge to connect with new knowledge” throughout our unit over A Lesson Before Dying by Gaines (Smagorinsky 183).

For the regular sophomore class, I am compiling a unit over Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night comedy. Currently, students will be taking notes and completing web quests over the life of William Shakespeare. My CT suggested that rather than having a long drawn out lecture over the material, students would do better by completing projects about the time period and play writer and would ultimately take more from the lessons. I have taken her advice, and am looking forward to seeing how students do with these activities.

With the guidance of my CT, my units seem to be shaping up nicely. I have yet to begin my Twelfth Night unit with the regular sophomore class, but the enthusiasm from the honors students this afternoon has boosted my confidence. I look forward to seeing what my students can come up with and am excited for their final projects.