Critical Evaluation of a Lesson Plan

http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/2730.html

I plan to teach Elementary Education with an emphasis in Special Education. The lesson plan I chose is titled "Connecting Letters and Memory".

This lesson plan is one that can take place over a span of a few days or over a couple of weeks. The objective is for the student(s) to be able to connect the sound of a letter and match it with the written letter.

The lesson does require some materials that include; molding clay, worksheets or paper, markers and an  alphabet poster that has all the letters in lower and uppercase.

The lesson clearly states the need to break the lesson in to units. The units will take in to account the student (s) disability and give the teacher a good direction as to how long the lesson should take. By individualizing the lesson, the teacher is incorporating the Constructivist Learning Theory as they are using schema building right from the beginning.

The teacher begins the lesson with having the student(s) "associate the letter with the sound the letter makes". This is done by having the student say the letter and then write it down to see it.  This is a perfect example of the teacher using the Developmental Learning Theory. It gets the student beginning with the abstract sound of the letter to the concrete of seeing it on their paper.  The lesson goes on to note that for those students who have perceptual disabilities, it works well to have them repeat the letters as they are writing them down. This is a perfect example of using the Constructivist Learning Theory to mentally engage the student(s) to speak the letter as they write it down. 

The student(s) are shown the written alphabet in order and then given pieces of clay to mold/shape the letters they see on the sheets of paper. This is applying the Developmental Learning Theory by having the concrete examples of molding their own letters. It is also allowing the students later on to use the same theory by connecting the written letter to the words that they will form and then attach to make sentences. By asking the student(s) to mold the letters they see, it is applying the Constructivist Learning Theory as it is mentally engaging the student(s). You could also apply the Social Learning Theory in that the student(s) may become frustrated if they cannot replicate the letters as to how they see them.

Once the molding is complete, the student(s) can wrap their letters individually to use again the following day. The lesson goes on to state that the letters can be used for other lessons to have out in front of them and the ability to move them around.

Unfortunately the lesson plan did not outline or mention anything about allowing students to work with one another or in small groups. I believe this could be a critical part of the lesson that would apply the Social Learning theory and allow students to work with one another. It could also allow for the theory to be put into play with having the teacher model what the clay letters would look like.

The things I liked about this lesson plan is that from the beginning to end the student(s) is working on writing their letters, sounding them out and molding them with clay. It appears to keep the students engaged/entertained which aids to having positive classroom management.

I do wonder if this lesson could be "too easy" for student(s) and not apply the Zone of Proximal Development to the plan. It would require the teacher to assess where the student is before the lesson and if the lesson would even be appropriate to use.

One of the things I did not like about the lesson is the vagueness when discussing how to apply to a small group of students. The lesson could be altered, however  would require the teacher to have backup plans for those students who breeze through letters that other students struggled on.

Overall I think it is a good lesson plan that engages the student and applies all three theories we discussed in class. I could see where it would be beneficial for students who are needing the extra help in connecting the letters they see to what they hear.

Despite this video being made in the nineties, I really enjoyed it and believe it to still hold a lot of truth and validity to what needs to be done today in order to change the way students learn. The video showed us different scenarios in which the long held belief of "telling is teaching" is in fact not the best way to teach and that it does not help students comprehend and does not actually help the students learn, but rather a way of getting through information.

A couple of key points that I took from the video include:
1. The teacher must recognize that children have their own minds and beliefs and that if this isn't taken into account, students fail to learn.
2. The teacher must not believe that what may be obvious to them will be obvious to their student.
3. It is crucial to encourage students to ask questions, create an environment where they can use hands-on experiments to test their ideas that will allow them to create logic themselves so that they can take ownership of what they have learned.
4. Students will be able to go beyond the lesson taught when they ask those questions that are in depth and can be applied to more than the lesson itself.

I learned that being a teacher is not simply getting through chapters in a book, or giving them the answers, but rather a method that will require patience on the teacher's part, will undoubtedly be frustrating to students and may require students to let go of something they previously have held as a belief. In essence, it will be turning everything we have learned about teaching upside down.

In my future teaching, I will, without a doubt, be that teacher that is always getting questioned by my principal, and parents on my methods of teaching. I will apply what I saw in this video and what I am about to learn in this class to each lesson I give. I will assess as best I can to what my students already know before going in to a lesson. I will allow my students to collaborate with one another, ask more questions when asked a question and allow them to express themselves and test their ideas.

Our first class from beginning to end, was based on these principals. Dr. Kruse was assessing our knowledge of what type of thinkers we are by asking us questions. During our time setting up our Google+ and Blogger accounts, no answers were directly given. We were either pointed in the right direction, or asked to seek out help from a fellow classmate.  Dr. Kruse had us working together as class and seeking out others for help.  He challenged us to arrive at the answer ourselves through trial and error so that we were able to take ownership.

My simple question is, "Why is this not the way teachers are teaching their students?" It is sad that I may already have the answer in that it takes time, will create a lot of frustration from students, is unconventional, and politics play a huge part in the way that teachers can teach.

Test. Test. One two I am extremely excited to learn more about google+ and connect with the class. Emerging Class.

Test. Test. One two