Phase III

Below is a video on my reflection.

Phase II

1. Instructional Decisions/Teaching: Describe and justify modifications made

·         for individual needs- In my lesson plan, I made sure to include multiple ideas for accommodations when it comes to differentiating the instruction for individual needs.  Some examples of these accommodations include the following:                                                   

English Language learners: Modifications can be made for English Language Learners, in terms of the expectations on the assessment (directly associated with the effectiveness of picture captions), based on their capability level.

Special Education: For example, if a student with ADHD is in the class, modifications that may be made for the student is that the assessment work be condensed to 6 slides, including a title and credits page, with adequate captions for their capability level. The student may also be granted permission to work on the project with the help of an aid in a resource classroom.

Gifted Students: The student will be provided with the option of working independently on the guided practice potion of the class and the assessment will be modified by requiring the student to complete 15 slides, including a title and credits page.

At-Risk Students: Modifications for at-risk students would be to work on the computer individually, without being placed in a group for specific help and monitoring from the teacher.  Also, flexibility in the date & format for the project may be accommodated as necessary.

•  to maintain alignment to goals and objectives – In my lesson plan, I made sure to center each portion around the goals and objectives. The goals and objectives of the lesson plan are to: 
• Understand the purpose of a photo essay, which we discuss and review during the anticipatory set,    input, and closure 
• Understand the format for creating a photo essay, which includes caption, which we discuss during the input, review, checking for understanding, guided practice, closure, and assessment of the lesson
• Complete a photo essay as a creative activity by using photos, found on a computer's art gallery or the internet, to illustrate a story, which we do during the guided practice and assessment of the lesson
• Effectively browse the internet to find associated pictures and place pictures, with captions, in a story format, using Windows Movie Maker, which we do during the modeling, guided practice, and assessment of the lesson     
• Work collaboratively in a group of 2-3 students to complete a photo essay, done during the guided practice of the lesson                                                                                                                  
• Read and enjoy a photo essay, which we do during the guided practice and closure portion of the lesson.

      2. Assessment of Learning: Describe the evidence you have that indicates

•   your students' level of success in achieving the lessons goals- I believe that my students were very successful in achieving the goals and objectives of the lesson.  The evidence that I have to support this belief, stems from the accuracy of their answers during the modeling/checking for understanding portion of the lesson, my observations made throughout the entirety of the lesson, and also the examples of the photo essays I have to review, made by the students in the guided practice portion of the lesson.  

• the level of success you had in teaching the lesson- I believe I was decently successful in teaching my lesson.  The evidence I have to support this belief is the simple fact that, despite a few minor technology glitches, my lesson ran smoothly.  The student’s understood what was expected of them, abided by my rules and procedures, and also created awesome examples of photo essays, following my directions to a tee. 

DIGITAL ARTIFACTS:
 Examples from in-class photo essays:

Peer Reflection Survey

1. Name of teacher and lesson observed.

2. [Preparation Success]

Describe, in as much detail as possible, ways in which the facilitator were successful in their preparation for their teaching experience.

3. [Preparation Improve]

Describe, in as much detail as possible, ways in which the facilitator could improve upon their preparation for their teaching experience.

4. [Preparation]

To what level, 1 through 10 was the teacher successful in their preparation for their teaching experience.

5. [Content Success]

Describe, in as much detail as possible, ways in which the facilitator were successful in supporting students in learning content.

6. [Content Improve]

Describe, in as much detail as possible, ways in which the facilitator could improve upon their support of students in learning content.

7. [Content Points]

To what level, 1 through 10 was the teacher successful in supporting students in learning content.

8. [Indy Needs Success]

Describe, in as much detail as possible, ways in which the facilitator were successful in meeting the needs of individual students.

9. [Indy Needs Improve]

Describe, in as much detail as possible, ways in which the facilitator could improve upon their effectiveness in meeting the needs of individual students.

10. [Indy Needs Points]

To what level, 1 through 10 was the teacher successful in meeting the needs of individual students.

11. [Technology Success]

Describe, in as much detail as possible, ways in which the facilitator were successful integrating technology to support student learning of content.

12. [Technology Improve]

Describe, in as much detail as possible, ways in which the facilitator could improve upon integrating technology to support student learning of content.

13. [Technology Points]

To what level, 1 through 10 was the teacher successful integrating technology to support student learning of content.

14. [Assessment Success]

Describe, in as much detail as possible, ways in which the facilitator were successful in developing assessment(s) that measure student learning of content.

15. [Assessment Improve]

Describe, in as much detail as possible, ways in which the facilitator could improve upon developing assessment(s) that measure student learning of content.

16. [Assessment Points]

To what level, 1 through 10 was the teacher successful in developing assessment(s) that measure student learning of content.

Thank you for completing this survey J

Phase 1: The Creation of the Lesson Plan

1.       Assessing Prior Knowledge: If you were teaching this with the targeted grade level students:

·         How would prior experience have been assessed?

The prior experience of the students would be assessed in numerous ways; first, during the anticipatory set and instruction period of the lesson, when I, the teacher, will be checking for understanding, and, again, during the guided practice and independent practice portion of the lesson.  During the anticipatory set, the students will be asked to use their prior knowledge to interpret the story line of a photo essay, through the pictures and words.  Similarly, during the checking for understanding portion of the lesson, the students will be asked to link captions to pictures, based on any previous knowledge they may have of word and picture comprehension.  This will help me, the teacher, assess them on their understanding of creating and interpreting a photo essay to accurately portray a story, using images and captions. During the guided practice portion of the lesson, the students will be separated into groups to create a short photo essay and, again, the students will be assessed on their previous knowledge of picture and word comprehension, as well as, their previous knowledge on operating a computer.  Likewise, both previous knowledge of picture and word comprehension and technology proficiency will be assessed during the independent practice portion of the lesson, as well as, their incorporation of knowledge on their family background, in order to, create a multicultural classroom.

·         What would be the implications for instructional planning and assessment based on the activities you chose to do for assessing prior knowledge?

The activities being used, specifically, the class discussions (check for understanding portion), anticipatory set activity, and group photo essay activity, will provide accurate measures for the level of understanding based on the students prior knowledge.  These activities will provide me with the knowledge of where the students are with the basic comprehension and interpretation skills for creating a photo essay, based on their prior knowledge of word and picture associations.  These activities will also provide me, the teacher, with an accurate measure of the student’s technology proficiency.

2.       Plans Instruction: Discuss how your goals, objectives, and outcomes are:

·         Clearly stated- My goals, objectives, and outcomes are clearly stated throughout the entirety of my lesson.  The main goal of the lesson is for the students to comprehend and accurately create a photo essay and I am continuously addressing throughout the input, modeling, checking for understanding, guided practice, and assessment portions of my lesson plan.  I also provide detailed rubrics that explain what I expect to see from the students during the class period and their out-of-class assessment.

·         Appropriate for students- My goals, objectives, and outcomes are appropriate for students, mainly because I revised an already in-use lesson plan for third grade students and aligned my goals, objectives, and outcomes to the AZ Language Arts state standards for third grade students.  I also made sure to specify certain accommodations for any individuals needing additional services during the lesson.

·         Aligned to state standards- The entirety of my lesson was developed using core state standards from the Language Arts area for third grade students.  My goals, objectives, and outcomes, were based on these standards to ensure me that the students would be walking away from this lesson knowing what a photo essay was, how to use descriptive phrases effectively, & how to create a story using a specified format.

3.       Designing Instruction: Discuss how your instructional design

·         Is contextually and logically organized- I based my lesson plan on the Madeline Hunter format, which kept my lesson in a very organized and contextual design.  First, I begin with my anticipatory set, to engage the students in the lesson.  Next, I start the input portion of the lesson, providing a brief review of previous pertinent lesson information, new material, and a modeling section.  Next, I engage the students in a short exercise to test their comprehension of the input and reviewed material (check for understanding), and then I pair off the students into groups to complete the guided practice portion of the lesson, where they create a group photo essay of their own.  Lastly, before handing out their assessment project, I review the essays created by each group and have a discussion to close the lesson on what we, as a class, like and find to be effective about photo essays’.

·         Uses varied instructional methods that meet individual student needs and target higher order thinking skills- I have many accommodations listed in my lesson plan that can vary or alter the instructional method as needed.  The main ideas I have for this are, rather than using an overhead/PowerPoint/Prezi/SMART Board to display the lesson, I could use manipulatives during portions of the lesson, such as the check for understanding portion.  I also could allow the students to, rather than complete the photo essay on a computer, use a digital camera/webcam/or video camera to generate digital stills to print out and place on a poster board to use as their photo essay.  

·         Integrates technology from a constructivist perspective- I am a huge fan of constructivism.  I believe that including students in the least restrictive environment possible is the way to go and that all students should have the opportunity to learn through their own self-discovery, with simply me, the teacher, acting as a facilitator for learning.  The bulk of my lesson, involves the students working in groups, on their own, to create a digital photo essay, with me, the teacher, acting as a facilitator for their learning.  

4.       Planning Assessment: How will your assessment tools demonstrate

·         The performance of linked goals and/or objectives- My assessment will demonstrate all of the above things in an independent photo essay assignment that the students will work on at home and have one week to complete.  The essay will need to display understanding of what a photo essay is, with accurate pictures and grammatically correct descriptive captions.

·         Student engagement in higher order thinking- The student will be engaged in a higher order of thinking, because the assignment will be based on their family heritage, namely their customs, traditions, holidays, and any other interesting information they would like to provide in the essay.  The student’s will need to be highly creative for this assignment, because along with the objectives/goals for the lesson plan, the student’s will also be being graded on their level of commitment to creativity and detail put into the specified areas of their family heritage.

·         Meeting individual student needs- I have many accommodation listed for the assessment in my lesson plan, to adequately accommodate for individual student needs.  I have additional requirements for gifted education students to keep them interested and further challenged; I have fewer slide/photo requirements for those students who may not be able to complete the necessary amount of slides.  I also require in the lesson, a parental consent form to be returned to me, the teacher, because I realize that requiring so much use of outside of class technology may not be manageable for some students; thus, the consent form will allow me to accurately determine by which method each of my students will need to complete the assignment, whether it be on poster board or the computer.

Digital Atrifacts:
 

•         Original Lesson: http://youth.net/cec/ceclang/ceclang.20.txt

•         Modified Lesson: https://w.taskstream.com/Les/View/6C51516EAD27F19000C9A87E781F607F