Lesson Plan (March 26, 2014)
One of those (rare) days where lesson plans and objectives are changed at the spur of the moment because of assessment.
Revised Objectives and Learning Goals:
- Students will be able to understand the difference between “what you say” vs. “how you say it.”
- Students will be able to use real life examples to explain how one’s intent might not always reflect the actual impact on another person.
- Students will listen to multiple points of views and work together to understand what the problem is and how to solve it.
Anticipatory Set: Let students know that this is a safe space to share their feelings.
Instruction: Choose one student to start the discussion. Let that person explain what all the fuss is all about. Then, have students raise their hands to respond to the comments being made. Make sure that only one person speaks at a time.
Guided Practice: Model phrases to help students create a constructive dialogue rather than a forum for complaints and accusations. Use sentence starters to have students reflect on their own shortcomings and how they could have handled the situation differently.
Closure: Restate what the class agreed upon as a reasonable and fair solution. Review the differences between what someone said and how they might have said it. Acknowledge the fact that what we intend to do might impact others in a way we didn’t mean to. Tell them you are proud of them.
Reflection
I did NOT plan this lesson NOR did I formally instruct them on any of the above statements. As teachers, we should allow assessment to guide our instructions. This spontaneous discussion was created because I knew that my class would not be focused on any other topic. After we talked, everyone was happy and ready to learn. Moments like these happen once, or twice, a year. I am not sure why I even typed this up nor why I decided to use a mock-teaching template to write my thoughts.
Regardless of the format I try to express myself, I feel that words can’t really explain what goes on in my classroom. Sure, I can tell you what we did and what was said. BUT, that will never explain what it actually means to the kids or even what it means to me. With that said, I am going to end with a quotation by one of my students.
Near the end of our discussion, one of my students raised his hand to thank me. I asked him why he wanted to thank me. [Quick background: Right before he said the lines below, he explained that he wasn’t sure how to say his thoughts. I told him to give his best try. Leave it to an EL student to find the words that I can never explain–his “broken English” is perfectly understood.]
Student: Ms. T., you hard on outside. Inside is soft.
Me: What do you mean?
Student: Your heart is so much room for us. I–I don’t know how you fit us.
Prompt
For this week, I want you to think about a lesson you learned (or taught) while at school that did not involve academic standards. Through that experience, you might have developed character, self-awareness, pride, confidence, or some other attribute. Those are the moments that make my job worthwhile. As Lola Ida used to say, “Teaching is not just a profession; it is a mission.”