Teaching is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we expect excellence, we will

subconsciously work towards receiving it, as will our students. If we expect

anything less, that’s what we’ll get.

Explaining goals of lesson Constant formative assessment to check

student understanding Question breaks Modeling activities and projects While working on finished products, holding

conferences with each student to check in on their work

Watching student behavior closely to determine any irregularities

Several drafts of Family acrostic poems Sounding out words, rather than providing

spelling Critical thinking questions teaching students

to think deeper and learn how to find answers Practice! Students are responsible for turning in their work

on time and completed as well as for asking for help when needed

Students receive feedback on assignments to help them improve on future tasks

Beginning lessons with general topics that can be connected to outside world

Families unit connected well to students’ own families› i.e. family tree, family contribution sheet, etc.

Letter writing portion of literacy unit will continue into next semester› Students will be writing actual letters to pen

pals from a different country to discuss their families and culture

Choice was not given too often nor was it given on a large level, however it was placed into lessons sporadically so as to not bore students or make them disengaged

Examples:› Students would get to choose which poetry books

they decided to explore when learning about poetry› Students will be given creative freedom when putting

together their poster presentations on specific countries and cultures over winter break

› Students will be given freedom when writing letters to their international pen pals (topic will be given, but specifics will be left to them)

Reading own book during silent reading time (when possible)

Starting lessons with energy and passion to get students excited› i.e. reading one of my own favorite poems while starting a

lesson on poetry Using creative ways to engage students› i.e. read-aloud, context clues game, gallery walk with

family pictures Future: during lessons about specific countries and

families, I will dress up for the specific place we are studying› i.e. gown (prom dress) for British royal family, Pakistani

traditional clothing for Pakistan

Students are asked if they have questions, comments or concerns

Lessons are constructed with continuous formative assessments to ensure student understanding and participation

I have tried to speak with students informally after school to gauge their reactions on the day’s lesson

Students receive chances to work on finished products to share with class and family

Students are asked to respond to lessons and content learned, as well as to general questions about the topic covered› i.e. What is poetry? Why is family important to you?

Turn and talk is used in many lessons, albeit more on an improvisational level

Some group/pair activities:› Exploring a children’s poetry book and choosing

one poem to read out loud to the class (we even had one pair try rapping the poem)› Exploring pictures of families around the world in

groups and discussing similarities and differences, as well as interesting things (i.e. Miss Husain and her family!)› Venn diagram comparing two families from

around the world – completed in pairs

Discussion 1 Lacking classroom

community Lacking background

knowledge of discussion method

Mostly question-answer

Lots of teacher prompting

Discussion 2 Students used

discussion cues (I agree, I disagree, I would like to add)

Still lots of teacher prompting

Students did not get the talking-to-each other part and still tended to talk/respond to me rather than their peers

Moral of the story: Discussions take lots of planning, practice, and classroom cooperation.

Social Studies Pre-assessment:

discussion about what family is, its definition, and why it is important

Assessment: presentation on families from a specific country and how they are similar to and different from student’s own family

Assessment 2: short quiz on the concept of family

Literacy Pre-assessment: quick

write on “What is poetry?”

Pre-assessment 2: letter to teacher about their personal experiences with letter-writing

Assessment: final draft of acrostic poem

Assessment 2: short quiz on acrostics/poetry

Assessment 3: final draft of pen pal letter

Shorter lessons Crystal clear explanations for activities with all

directions detailed, no matter how seemingly insignificant

Modeling of every single activity, not just the big ones

More creative ways of setting up the attention-getter in a lesson

More structured chances for students to explore material they are unaware of› i.e. poetry books

How much adjustment was needed How little things can excite students How being able to relate to the teacher

or to the material made students so much more engaged

How little my students know, unfortunately

“…teaching is not about what I know, but what I enable others to do.” ~The Teaching Professor Blog

Started out overwhelmed that I would have to know so much information realized a lot of teaching is based on teaching students the skills they need to help them become self-sufficient and motivated learners

Very difficult to find balance between question/answer and student-led discussion

After two discussions, I do have an idea of how I would work with my own class from the beginning of the year to develop discussion skills and begin practicing with them

Discussion is very much based off of being able to think critically and deeply – when students don’t have those skills, it’s hard to get them to really discuss a topic

I have begun developing ideas as to how I would begin the year with a new class› Solid discipline system› Introduce social studies as rules of the classroom, being

good citizens, etc.› Develop structured schedule and follow it!

Creativity! it’s so important to me to be able to act like a complete fool in terms of dressing up or role playing for my class to keep them engaged as well as learning

Getting to know students well as individuals is also a big deal. Once you know them, you can easily tell when something’s not right or when things are going really well.