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.