Joe and I began developing formal lesson plan outlines for both the Madden Football Simulation (Grade 10 Business) and the Proportion , Ratios and Rate Unit (Grade 10 Applied Math). We utilized a lesson plan template provided by the ministry.
I began with the first two activities in the unit:
a) Ratio Webquest - where students were exploring proportion and ratios through a variety of websites.
b) Currency Powerpoint - where students utilized online calculators and MS powerpoint to create a Foreign Exchange presentation
Two more lessons remain before beging to develop our final report as a group which should be completed at the end of May.
Thursday, 19 April 2012
April 19th Session
Marc and I continued to discuss options in tasks to stem-off of the Madden simulation. Thus far, Marc has found it to be a success in engaging students and reinforcing course concepts. We frameworked two additional DI activities to implement. In addition, we've completed the basic outline for each DI strategy implemented in our courses. The outline was based on the Contextualized Learning Activities that we completed for the High Skills Major Business Studies program at Holy Names Catholic High School. Our next area of focus will be the report due sometime in May.
Monday, 5 March 2012
March Meeting
Joe and I began preparing and scheduling for the introduction of the Madden Simulation. First task after the March break is to conduct the pre-unit survey to gather data on what level our students are at. We will conclude the week by conducting the fantasy draft and choosing teams. Second stage will introduce Economic Basics with a Case Study on the NHL. Students will also be simulating the 1st half of the Madden season. Third stage introduces a unit in Marketing. Studnets will be revamping their teams logo, colours and outerwear. At the same time, students will complete the second half of the season.
Upon completion of these three stages, the group will meet again for another TTLP session (April 13th ??). Joe and I will complete the planning for the 4th stage and final evaluation for the Madden Simulation.
Upon completion of these three stages, the group will meet again for another TTLP session (April 13th ??). Joe and I will complete the planning for the 4th stage and final evaluation for the Madden Simulation.
A Change of Plans
Well, today was supposed a day to modify the Romeo and Juliet centres so that they can be used with the Dracula unit. However, in talking this over Liana and we decided to leave the unit as a R&J unit and make changes that we see as necessary. I will then help implement the centres in the classroom of the ENG1P class this semester. This will allow us to improve what we created last semester and try it again. I prefer this plan because although the centres were successful the first time, I would like to make some improvements. It will also be nice to help facilitate in another teacher's classroom. So although the day did not go as originally planned - a success nonetheless.
Monday, 13 February 2012
Reflections on another productive day...
I took some time today to add our materials to the Romeo and Juliet page of our Google site. Today, we had quite a good discussion about what good teachers do. The PLC has offered me a great forum for collegial discussion with teachers I trust and I have come away with great new ideas and insights. We shared some ideas from our collection of professional learning books, both in discussion and on the blog.
It was also nice to get some of our work onto the website and blog. I have many notes and suggestions to organize and share here in anticipation of our next session but I still need a few days to absorb the results of my discussions with students involved in the first learning sessions and my fellow PLC members today.
My goal for the next meeting is to make adjustments to the DI activities for my ENG 3C class so I can use these ideas for the Macbeth Unit. I also have some highlights from the professional learning books I chose for the project. Stay tuned.
It was also nice to get some of our work onto the website and blog. I have many notes and suggestions to organize and share here in anticipation of our next session but I still need a few days to absorb the results of my discussions with students involved in the first learning sessions and my fellow PLC members today.
My goal for the next meeting is to make adjustments to the DI activities for my ENG 3C class so I can use these ideas for the Macbeth Unit. I also have some highlights from the professional learning books I chose for the project. Stay tuned.
In Retrospect
Another useful day of meeting, discussing and planning. I can say with certainty that I am comfortable with our progress, our plan, out timeline and the prospect of completing everything we set out to complete. Our next meeting day is Monday, March 5, 2012 where I plan to take everything from first semester and modify it for a Dracula unit. This should give me a chance to fix what was weak and practice was worked.
DI Resources Continued
Redefining Fair - how to Plan, Assess, and Grade for Excellence in Mixed-Ability Classrooms, by Damian Cooper (ISBN 978-1-935542-14-8)
A large focus of this text consists of assessment. Cooper discusses the necessity to keep the end-learning product in mind in trying to be proactive in planning for each individual student. In other words, in order to provide appropriate evaluation of individual students we need to fully understand what engages them as learners and determine the culminating evaluation accordingly. Cooper also demonstrates the on-going process to develop assessment in a mixed-ability classroom using multiple teaching scenarios. The concept of assessment for learning versus assessment of learning continually surfaces throughout the text. Ultimately, from my interpretation, we should use assessment for learning to improve our assessment of learning. Basically, how a student learns is as important to what a student learns when creating assessment pieces.
The end of the text centres around reporting to parents. Cooper thoroughly discusses five significant areas when reporting DI results in a mixed-ability classroom with regards to parental concerns:
1) What has my child learned?
2) How well has my child demonstrated his or her learning?
3) What has my child not learned?
4) How can I help with what has not been learned?
5) How well behaved is my child?
In all Cooper has numerous examples and materials within the text to help teachers design and implement DI in a mixed-ability classroom.
A large focus of this text consists of assessment. Cooper discusses the necessity to keep the end-learning product in mind in trying to be proactive in planning for each individual student. In other words, in order to provide appropriate evaluation of individual students we need to fully understand what engages them as learners and determine the culminating evaluation accordingly. Cooper also demonstrates the on-going process to develop assessment in a mixed-ability classroom using multiple teaching scenarios. The concept of assessment for learning versus assessment of learning continually surfaces throughout the text. Ultimately, from my interpretation, we should use assessment for learning to improve our assessment of learning. Basically, how a student learns is as important to what a student learns when creating assessment pieces.
The end of the text centres around reporting to parents. Cooper thoroughly discusses five significant areas when reporting DI results in a mixed-ability classroom with regards to parental concerns:
1) What has my child learned?
2) How well has my child demonstrated his or her learning?
3) What has my child not learned?
4) How can I help with what has not been learned?
5) How well behaved is my child?
In all Cooper has numerous examples and materials within the text to help teachers design and implement DI in a mixed-ability classroom.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)