Assignment
3A: Field Experience
Field Experience
Field Test any one of your pre-assessments
from Assignment 2B
Your purpose is to test the effectiveness
as well as the validity of your pre-assessment and rubric.
I. Find a friendly group of 4-8 students,
your real students, or your family members and friends, who are 12 and older.
II. Explain your purpose to your friendly
group of students.
III. Administer one of your pre-assessments
from Assignment 2B to your group of 4-8 adolescents.
IV. Record your pre-assessment findings.
V. Evaluate the effectiveness of your
pre-assessment and rubric.
VI. Adjust your rubric according to your
findings.
VII. Report as a 10-slide PowerPoint or
Prezi, a 750-word essay, or a 750 word Blog entry. Close with a discussion of any changes you
would make and why.
Please submit your blog link for grading.
I
decided to work with a group of family members and friends for this assignment.
Although I was able to observe a classroom this past week, I was unable to
implement my lesson plan. I chose to administer Monday’s pre-assessment to my
group of five. I opened with a PowerPoint presentation that led into a discussion.
I went through the PowerPoint presentation, adding to it as I went along. The
first two slides, after the introductory slide, include visual representations
of a few important scenes from the past three chapters of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, chapters 16-18. I
wanted to include visual representations to make the readings more easily
accessible. I wanted to include as many visual aids as possible for my English
Language Learners and students with special needs. In accordance with the
Specifically Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE) approach, I
decided to tie language learning to content instruction. Implementing SDAIE
strategies, I planned my lesson to meet curricular objectives related to
content and language objectives. Scaffolding instruction, I included the
following illustrations in my PowerPoint presentation.
The first slide includes
a single panel of Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch, Jean Louise “Scout,” and Dill
Harris in the colored gallery. The second slide includes a multiple-panel
sequence of the trial, featuring Mayella Ewell, Tom Robinson, Judge John
Taylor, and the jury. The comic strip-like layout of these illustrations was
meant to give students a better understanding of this short sequence of events.
Following the images, I included a few essential questions related to the readings.
Leading into the planned activity, I presented a short clip of the film
adaptation of Harper Lee’s award-winning novel. Incorporating Instructor Robert
R. Pacilio’s feedback, I introduced the clip properly. I made it clear that the
film is not entirely faithful to the novel, and I pointed out the differences
between the presented scene and that particular part of the novel. According to
Peter Serdyukov and Mark Ryan, technology can be used to enhance the learning
environment (2013, p. 156). I simply wanted to bring the scene to life. I
wanted to draw the students into one of the trial’s brief moments of intense
drama. This video was meant to contextualize the planned student activity.
Following the video clip, I included a slide with a photograph of the
Scottsboro Boys and a few approved websites related to the Scottsboro trials.
My audience really enjoyed the short clip of the film and
felt that it was introduced at the appropriate time, before the slide
introducing the Scottsboro Boys. I wanted to create a smooth transition from
the scene in which Atticus Finch cross-examines Mayella Ewell to the Scottsboro
trials. I would have liked to go into more detail with this particular slide,
but I was unable to at the time. I also regret not having introduced the
approved sites, which are known to yield great web-based resources. I would
have also liked to demonstrate how to use these particular websites. I find
that it is my responsibility as an educator to prepare my students for a
society almost entirely dependent on technology. According to Serdyukov and
Ryan, “any learning activity that needs information can benefit from web-based
resources” (2013, p. 166). In today’s technologically advanced world, “literacy
means more to us than simply mastering the ability to decode the written word”
(Methodology, 2009, p. 85). In recent years, a great deal of emphasis has been
placed on developing computer literacy and visual literacy. Today’s students
must know how to operate a computer and extract or create meaning from images
using electronic devices (Serdyukov & Ryan, 2013, p. 46). For the planned
student activity I wanted my students to utilize these approved websites to
research court cases similar to Tom Robinson’s trial.
The next slide was meant to introduce the newsletter
activity. I felt that I presented the requirements and expectations well
enough. However, one of the members of my audience remarked that I should face
the audience at all times and project my voice with confidence. It was quite
difficult changing the slides at the appropriate time, so in the future I will
make the necessary adjustments. It is important to always make the most of a
space, and I was not adequately prepared. According to the text Methodology for
Second Language Development, it is important to always speak slowly and
clearly, and avoid idiomatic expressions with English Language Learners in the classroom
(2009, p. 85). I failed to modify my speech to make the language more easily
accessible to my English Language Learners and students with special needs.
I felt that I provided some nice samples of courtroom
sketches in the next couple of slides. I was quite fortunate to find courtroom
sketches of Tom Robinson’s trial. For this portion of the activity I wanted
students to really consider Tom Robinson’s trial, perhaps the most significant
event in the novel. I would have liked to discuss the importance of courtroom
sketches before the age of electronic media coverage, but I was unable to,
which was perhaps for the best. I know that this lesson plan was not perfect.
It was more of a lesson in journalism than an English Language Arts lesson, so
I would also like to work on that. I wanted to discuss the importance of the
activity and how it relates to academic content standards, but I felt that my
execution could have been better. I wish I could have implemented my lesson
plan in a formal classroom setting, but I did not want to inconvenience the
teacher who was kind enough to let me observe her classroom. I was able to
create an informative and aesthetically pleasing PowerPoint presentation, but I
wanted to do so much more. I did enjoy the planning process, but I was not able
to really experience teaching in a classroom setting with middle school or high
school students. If I were given a second chance at this assignment I would
find another class where I might have the freedom to teach or co-teach or find
willing student participants to work with outside of school.
References
Methodology
for second language development. (2009) National
University Ed. Boston: Pearson.
Serdyukov, P., Ryan, M.
(2013). The 5-minute lesson plan: A
practitioner's guide. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions.
