Preparing for lesson three was a difficult task. In class last week we were told that the twenty minutes we have been planning our lessons around is simply an arbitrary number and that we should plan our next couple lessons for a longer time frame and only teach a portion of them. So when I began to think of a bigger lesson to go with Civics EALR 1, “the student understands and applies knowledge of government, law, politics, and the nation’s fundamental documents about local, national, and international issues and to demonstrate thoughtful, participatory citizenship,” I began to think even bigger than a single class period (Online Grade Level Standards & Resources, 2010). Component 1 is that the student “understands key ideals and principles of the United State, including those in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other fundamental documents” and the first GLE with this is that the student “analyzes and evaluates the ways in which the U.S. Constitution and other fundamental documents promote key ideals and principles” (Online Grade Level Standards & Resources, 2010). I liked the opportunity this lesson provided for me to teach about a local issue. Instead of teaching about something that took place across the country a hundred years ago, I was able to teach about the Boldt decision, a topic based in Washington State and took place in the 1970s. I love the idea of teaching about court cases because there are automatically at least two sides to the situation. My objective read, I can analyze the amount of justice produced from the Boldt decision. I decided to make this another discovery lesson where the students would hold a debate, with one side arguing the decision promoted justice and the other side saying the decision was unjust. That was when the lesson got bigger than one period.
The lesson began with a Bell Starter activity where students took a few minutes to answer the question, “what does justice mean to you?” Bell starter activities are a highly recommended tool for classroom management (Charles, 2011, p. 113). After a minute or two of the students writing, I offered a suggestion if they were stuck or were having problems getting started. That little bit of advice received positive feedback from my peers. I had not planned to do it ahead of time, but offering some guidance after the students have had time to think is something I will try to use more in the future. After the students turned in their responses, we discussed what justice is; the students interacted with one another and had great answers. This was when I segued into the debate.
By making the Boldt decision a debate, I had to allow enough time for students to research, write opening and closing statements, prepare questions for the opposing side, and prepare answers to their opponent’s questions. While the students may already be familiar with the way a debate works, this case was one that they would have little to no familiarity with. In a real classroom I would plan on them reading about this in a textbook or a packet the night before, but for our in-class lessons, I was going to have to provide them all the time they needed for research. This was my biggest challenge for the lesson: how was I going to give my students enough time to plan a quality debate without being able to assume prior knowledge. I decided it would be best if the students had an entire period to research and design their arguments and to come to class the next day prepared for a debate. The school I did my observations at for my September Experience had carts with laptops that teachers could check out for use in their classrooms. I acted as if I had this opportunity and assumed that the research would be done on laptops in class. The period that I taught to my colleagues was then the first of this two-day lesson. I divided them into heterogeneous groups like I did in lesson two because that method is supported by research (Cruickshank, Jenkins, &Metcalf, 2009). The next trial that this brought up may seem minor, but still brought me some confusion. I became unsure of how to make the objectives and write the lesson plan for a lesson that would take two days. I was unsure if I was supposed to treat the two days separately or keep them both on the same planning template. When I discussed this with Dr. Williams she said it was fine to not include every detail that would happen on day two on the first lesson plan, but to make sure I included assessments in day one. The debate was obviously going to be a big part of the assessment; I created a rubric for the actual debate using a tool I have been shown in an earlier class called Rubistar (rubistar.4teachers.org). I also decided to use an “I Learned” statement (Ellis, 2001) as a way to do some formative assessment at the end of the research day. This way, the students have the opportunity to take a few minutes to think back over the information they had been reading for the last hour and really assess what they had learned. I also required that the different teams show me their outlines for the debate before they left at the end of the day as a form of accountability to keep them on task.
I really appreciate the feedback I receive from my peers. The last time I gave an assignment involving use of the Internet they suggested that I provide some possible sites since I was requesting they use credible sources. I made sure to do that for this assignment and they appreciated that. A couple of my peers said that I was well composed again, remaining calm when I was in the front of the class. I am still not sure that I will feel this way in front of high school students; however, the practice of teaching in front of the classroom (even if it only has three other people in it) is helping me to feel more comfortable. One thing that I have struggled with in the past is giving clear directions the first time around. I am always able to clarify things when students ask questions, but this time I was told that I had “great explanations” and I did not find myself having to re-explain things to each individual. I also received positive remarks for my parent involvement attempts. My plan was to email parents the week before the debate and ask them to go over their student’s arguments for the debate and ask them possible opposing questions. I wanted to help make the parents a support cause in this lesson, someone who would help build the confidence of students who may be nervous before the debate.
The social studies are often filled with topics that do not always have a right or a wrong answer. This is why I like the idea of using debates when I am a teacher. Students can present different sides and neither one is necessarily wrong, they are just different. Debates can help show students that life is full of gray areas and build their abilities to become informed on these topics. In class we have talked about making sure we are involving parents in our classroom. I had a difficult time trying to decide how to involve parents in this, but now I really like the idea of putting them in a position where they are a support cause, not someone who is always checking over their student’s shoulders to make sure homework is getting done. Encouraging parents and students to have conversations about the topics we discuss will open up the communication lines and also spur the students’ thinking. One of my goals as a social studies teacher will be to encourage my students to be informed citizens. Debates – not arguments – with their peers and discussions with their parents will help to build the practice of being an informed citizen.
I am continuing on the path of becoming a better lesson planner. Planning these lessons are helping me to become acquainted with the EALRs and GLEs and learning how to tie all of the pieces together. I know I still need to work on making modifications and accommodations; this is something that seems so vague to me since I am not thinking of one particular student when I am making my lessons. However, I know that as I continue to get better at planning lessons, this too will become easier to plan.
References
Cruickshank, D.R., Jenkins, D.B., & Metcalf, K.K. (2009). The act of teaching (5th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Ellis, A.K. (2001). Teaching, learning, and assessment together: The reflective classroom. Larchmont, NY: Eye On Education.
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (2010). Eleventh grade – Unit Outlines. Olympia, WA.
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (2010). Social studies standards – Essential academic learning requirements: A recommended grade-by-grade sequence for grade level expectations – Grades k-12. Olympia, WA.
