Standard 1.1 Knowledge of Learners & Learning: Candidates assess learner needs and design instruction that reflects educational best practice.
Every thirteen year old quickly learned to despise the moment when his or her history teacher uttered those dreaded words… research paper. I can remember my stress while being corralled into the old, eerie media center where we were ‘shushed’ and told to get to work. This is not the intended function of a school library; this environment should foster active learning because students learn best while working with each other.
During my Research Methods course our professor presented my peers and me with this all-too-familiar scenario, “Mrs. Jones’ eight-grade history class is writing a research paper on a pre-assigned historical figure. Students will read their paper to the class in order to teach their classmates on their historical person.”Our job was to modify this lesson so that it was relevant, engaging, and meaningful to reflect educational best practices for teaching and learning. My goal was to design an assignment that would engage middle school students. Middle school students are very centered around their peers; therefore I would want to give these students an opportunity to work with each other. They are more likely to listen to what each other has to say than their teachers.
In order to engage these students the project would be to prepare for a Talk Show question and answer session to teach one another about their historical figures. Students would accomplish this by researching their historical figure using print and non-print resources. Through preparing for the talk show, students would need to unknowingly prepare beyond the scope of just the minimal facts. In actuality they would need to have a more in-depth understanding of their historical figure that would be an inquiry-based approach to presenting research than just regurgitating hollow information. Since students would be required to teach each other about their historical figure, I would like to see the addition of a peer and self-evaluation rubric.
As I reflect on my assignment, I notice that a pre-assessment is missing. It is essential that students be pre-tested on their current understanding of research methods. This information would guide instruction for the school librarian and teacher. I would also add exit passes and other forms of assessing students’ progress throughout the assignment.
To make this project easier to handle, collaboration between the school librarian and teacher is key. I created this artifact earlier in my program of study and I did not fully realize the significance of collaboration. Students would need substantial guidance with an assignment of this scope. By collaborating together it would lower the student-to-teacher ratio in order to help navigate students through the information seeking process.
Although the modified lesson is not perfect, I believe that with the addition of a pre-assessment, exit cards, peer and self evaluation rubrics and collaboration with the classroom teacher the lesson could be an authentic and inspiring activity to get middle school students to learn. Students would be required to use a variety of print and non-print sources because they would want an array of information to really be familiar with their person of study. It would also call on a little creativity and I’m sure students with a more extroverted personality would really make this project enjoyable for students watching. Turning a research paper into a Talk Show collaborative assignment between the school librarian and teacher would generate an in-depth understanding of the historical figures for middle school students.
During my Research Methods course our professor presented my peers and me with this all-too-familiar scenario, “Mrs. Jones’ eight-grade history class is writing a research paper on a pre-assigned historical figure. Students will read their paper to the class in order to teach their classmates on their historical person.”Our job was to modify this lesson so that it was relevant, engaging, and meaningful to reflect educational best practices for teaching and learning. My goal was to design an assignment that would engage middle school students. Middle school students are very centered around their peers; therefore I would want to give these students an opportunity to work with each other. They are more likely to listen to what each other has to say than their teachers.
In order to engage these students the project would be to prepare for a Talk Show question and answer session to teach one another about their historical figures. Students would accomplish this by researching their historical figure using print and non-print resources. Through preparing for the talk show, students would need to unknowingly prepare beyond the scope of just the minimal facts. In actuality they would need to have a more in-depth understanding of their historical figure that would be an inquiry-based approach to presenting research than just regurgitating hollow information. Since students would be required to teach each other about their historical figure, I would like to see the addition of a peer and self-evaluation rubric.
As I reflect on my assignment, I notice that a pre-assessment is missing. It is essential that students be pre-tested on their current understanding of research methods. This information would guide instruction for the school librarian and teacher. I would also add exit passes and other forms of assessing students’ progress throughout the assignment.
To make this project easier to handle, collaboration between the school librarian and teacher is key. I created this artifact earlier in my program of study and I did not fully realize the significance of collaboration. Students would need substantial guidance with an assignment of this scope. By collaborating together it would lower the student-to-teacher ratio in order to help navigate students through the information seeking process.
Although the modified lesson is not perfect, I believe that with the addition of a pre-assessment, exit cards, peer and self evaluation rubrics and collaboration with the classroom teacher the lesson could be an authentic and inspiring activity to get middle school students to learn. Students would be required to use a variety of print and non-print sources because they would want an array of information to really be familiar with their person of study. It would also call on a little creativity and I’m sure students with a more extroverted personality would really make this project enjoyable for students watching. Turning a research paper into a Talk Show collaborative assignment between the school librarian and teacher would generate an in-depth understanding of the historical figures for middle school students.