Connecting and Learning
This principle is primarily based on how I learn and find meaning in the world. I am constantly connecting new ideas with already existing ones; if my previously-held ideas don't match up with the old ones, then serious discernment takes place until all is right and some sort of equilibrium has been reestablished in my brain. As you have probably observed in my About Me page, I have had a variety of learning experiences in my lifetime in a variety of different environments and disciplines. Because I am so readily able to access that knowledge and those experiences, it provides me with a framework that I can then apply to new ideas.
For this reason, I consider "connection-building" to be an important literacy skill that I like to develop in my students. When they are presented with new material, any chance I can give them to "skip a step" when it comes to facilitating meaning and understanding is a chance that I want to give them.
For this reason, I consider "connection-building" to be an important literacy skill that I like to develop in my students. When they are presented with new material, any chance I can give them to "skip a step" when it comes to facilitating meaning and understanding is a chance that I want to give them.
Lesson Plan: Qualities of a Hero (Communications 12)
This was an "introductory lesson" that preceded a project that I would assign later where I would ask the students to write their own short narrative on a hero of their own creation. At the particular school where I did my practicum, Wednesdays were shorter days, so classes were only 45 minutes long. The main ideas that informed this lesson was a short, informal class discussion on what qualities we would look for in a 21st Century hero. This was a class that was very well-read in different media platforms that featured heroes (video games, comic books, movies, etc.) so this lesson served as a way for students to connect what they already knew about the subject to the heroes that they would create.
Click here to see my lesson plan for this lesson and my reflection on its effectiveness.
Click here to see my lesson plan for this lesson and my reflection on its effectiveness.
Synthesis Essay: The Picture of Dorian Gray (Senior English)
This assignment would serve two purposes. This would be the final assignment for a novel study of The Picture of Dorian Gray and would have the students demonstrate their ability to develop one of the topics that we would discuss in class and write an essay about it. The second purpose of this assignment would be to give my students practice with writing a "synthesis essay" in preparation for the provincial exam. Since The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel that is constantly in conversation with itself, having the students write a synthesis essay is a logical medium for wrapping up a study of this novel.
Click here to see a more detailed description of the assignment.
Click here to see a more detailed description of the assignment.
To Kill a Mockingbird: Then and Now (English 12/Social Justice 12)
This was a final assessment that I used to finish my novel study with my English 12/Social Justice 12 class's novel study of To Kill a Mockingbird. In this project, the students were to choose one of the social justice issues that we discussed from our reading of the novel and write an essay where they were to argue if that issue was still a problem today. Students were to examine how these issues were being represented and discussed in current-events resources (academic articles or news stories) and compare how these issues were being discussed in their contemporary sources with how these same issued were presented and discussed in the novel.
Click here to see a more detailed description of the project and my reflection on its effectiveness.
World War II One-Pager Project (Socials 10)
This was a Unit Project I assigned to conclude my class's study of World War II. This was both a "review assignment" as well as an opportunity for my students to explore and discuss aspects of the war in more detail and with a deeper reflection. Students were assigned a section of the chapter from the textbook to re-read and examine for Nonfiction Signposts; they were then to represent their analysis of the signpost (and its connection to another part of the chapter) in the form of a One-Pager.
Click here to see a more detailed description of the project and my reflection on its effectiveness.
Angel vs Tiffany/Angel vs Owl: Compare and Contrast Between The Night Wanderer and Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel (ELA 8/9)
This was an assignment that I gave to my English 8/9 class during our novel study of The Night Wanderer, by Drew Hayden Taylor. As a part of our novel study, I showed the students select episodes from the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, specifically episodes that showcased aspects of Angel's character that were similar to the main characters in the novel, Pierre/Owl (a vampire), and Tiffany (a teenage girl). In this assignment, students were to write a "compare and contrast paragraph" where they were to discuss the similarities and differences between either Angel and Tiffany or Angel and Pierre/Owl.
Click here to see a more detailed description of the assignment and my reflection on its effectiveness.