Lesson Plan Reflection

Shannon Forsberg

Lesson Plan Reflection

Description:

            The lesson I implemented was to have students analyze various forms of media and to make connections to how media can effect socialization. I first showed students various TV commercial clips and guided a class discussion leading that analyzed how the advertisements could affect socialization. Then in small groups students analyzed magazine advertisements and shared their conclusions with the class. Students then analyzed a song of their choice and created a presentation using PowerPoint. I initially was going to have students choose any piece of media to analyze, but then decided to just have them choose a song of their choice. I also was going to allow students a choice between creating a PowerPoint or a poster for their presentation, but decided to require a PowerPoint because I allowed them multiple days in the computer lab to create it.

Narrative:

            This lesson took place after students analyzed fairy tales, and a Disney movie and the effects of each on socialization. My lesson ended up taking a lot longer than I initially intended it to, however I think that it was worth it in the end. The lesson began by showing my junior and senior Sociology students five different TV commercials that I had downloaded to my laptop from home. I tried initially to access the commercials online from school; however our school network blocks us from YouTube and other various sites, so I had to download them from home. I had to connect and setup the projector to my computer before students arrived in class. I made sure the commercials would play, and that the speakers were connected properly. Once I was set up, showing the TV commercials seemed to go over well. Students enjoyed that the commercials were ones that currently are being shown on TV. They told me that sometimes teachers have very outdated material, so they felt that they could relate better to these. After each commercial I showed I would ask guiding questions to the class. “Who is this ad targeting?” “What stereotypes do you see?” “What messages about our culture is this ad saying?” Students seemed to easily be able to dissect each of the commercials I showed.

            I then showed students a Vitamin Water advertisement found from three different magazines. The image of the advertisement was the same for all three; however the copy was different on each. Each of the ads had copy that targeted their readers. Students seemed shocked that the messages on each were so different, yet it was the same ad. They were then placed in groups and given a magazine ad and had to analyze it. Students did this very quickly, which I was surprised by. However, while groups were sharing their analysis, I found that they were not as through as I had hoped. I think the next time I will have specific questions for students to answer regarding each ad. This way I will know they are analyzing it fully.

            After deciding to require a PowerPoint presentation for their individual song analysis, I had to make sure I could get enough time in the computer lab for students to complete their presentation in school. I realized that some students may not have access to certain technology at their homes, so I felt if I was going to require a PowerPoint, I would have to give them time to finish it at school. Luckily I was able to get the computer lab for the next three days. I gave students a rubric for their song presentation which outlined all the requirements. Students seemed to enjoy that they were allowed to choose their own music, however some did have a hard time realizing what “school appropriate” songs were. Students were required to email me their presentation once it was finished so I could download it on presentation day. Almost all students did this successfully, with the exception of a few who had to bring in a flash drive to me. It was very easy for me to access their presentations because I placed students in specific hour folders on my email. Then, as each presented, they just had to go into their hour folder and get their PowerPoint. I think I will do this again because when it came to grading, I had all their work in my email, so I could easily look at it again.

Reflection:

            After this lesson students were able to make connections to various types of media and there effects on socialization. Students learned how to collaborate and use critical thinking skills. Students also learned how to use PowerPoint technology to create presentations. This afforded for students of various learning abilities to be accommodated. By presenting material in various ways, students of all learning styles were able to engage in the content of this lesson. Having access to music sites and downloading music on the school computers made it difficult for some student’s presentations. I decided to require only the lyrics of the song in student’s presentations instead of the music itself. This gave all students the ability to share their song in their presentation without requiring their personal music collection.

            There were many elements of constructivism and behaviorism in my lesson. Students were allowed to view familiar forms of media in a new way. They then had to collaboratively and individually reflect on various forms of media and make connections to their own socialization by presenting their analysis. Students also made connections from previous stereotypes analyzed in previous lessons. After modeling the TV commercials analysis students then made similar connections to stereotypes discussed in their own analysis. I realized after this lesson that students had personal connections to their music, and this was shown during their presentation. I saw how students made connections to not only the content of the lesson, but to their own personal feelings and thoughts about their songs. This lesson was supplemental to the socialization curriculum in place. The individual presentations of song analysis was intended to enhance student understand of media effects on socialization. By incorporation of various ways of presenting material along with collaboration and individual work, allowed support for all learners.

            In order for this lesson to be successful, teachers and learners need to have access to specific technologies and knowledge and basic skills of these technologies. Knowledge of internet and email skills is required, along with access to computers, and a projector. Because of these skills, assessment was very convenient. By having students email me their presentations, I could take a closer look at the students PowerPoint after their presentation. This also gave me indication to how well they worked in class.  Technology played a large role in presenting content and assessing student learning. Technology allowed me to present content that students could easily connect to, and made assessing student learning a breeze. Technology allowed me to grab student’s attention and get students thinking about the material being presented. It also allowed students the opportunity to present their understanding in a personal way. Students really enjoyed using the computer lab to create their song analysis. Some students had questions on how to attach their presentation to their email in order to send it to me. By allowing enough time in the computer lab for students, I was able to give one on one help to all students. Students were allowed the opportunity to show in detail how they made sense of the content with the use of technology in this lesson. Students seemed to enjoy that they could easily represent their learning with technology.

Digital Story

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Justice Podcast

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Justice Podcast

Wicked Project Final

The problem I found in my classroom was that students found it difficult to listen to my lectures, take notes, look at visuals and comprehend the pertinent material all at the same time

The solution I explored was to use Google Docs as an online forum for students to take notes AFTER my in class lecture by listening and watching the lecture I gave in class.

TC-Using Google Docs as the technology for online note taking will go hand in hand with the pedagogy of expecting students to listen to lectures, take notes and look at visuals simultaneously.  Students who need a longer amount of time to process information can take notes at their own pace, using the stop and start feature of my online lectures. This will ensure they have the time to write down every piece of information they think is important in my lecture. This will also allow visual learners the opportunity to look closely at the visual examples provided during my lectures, and not simply focus on taking notes.

TC- Using Google Docs is a great technology for students to learn how to deduct information from a lecture. By providing inductive reasoning in my lectures, students have the opportunity to use deductive reasoning and apply what they heard in class and take notes AFTER the lecture. This allows students to learn how to reflect and infer what they think the most important ideas and concepts were in the lecture. By using Google Docs, students can they share their notes with classmates and reflect and learn from each other by collaborating on content notes. Also having access to the revision history of documents through Google docs, allows the teacher to see how students share information.
The sharing and collaborating feature of Google Docs is the feature of this technology that makes my content in my class more accessible. Students are allowed to share notes, compare notes, and collaborate on content outside of the classroom. Google Docs also gives students who are absent or not in school the chance to read other peers notes and watch and take notes on the content missed. This can be crucial for High School students because they tend to miss classes often.

 PC- The Pedagogy used for content knowledge in my solution is using inductive and deductive strategies through Google Docs. This way a student will be able to learn and grow to be expert note takers. They will be able to visualize the content inductively, and also deductively. This will build note taking skills by learning how to extract pertinent information from lectures.

 Wicked Part 1

Wicked Part 2

Wicked Part 3

Professional Learning Plan

Check out my Professional Learning Plan here.

Group Leadership Project

The High School group chose to present Weebly as our PD. Weebly is a user friendly free website building application that can be implemented easily, regardless if you are a technology person or not. Our group chose Weebly because we all felt that having a resource for our students to access videos, notes, homework assignments, and discussion outside of our classroom will allow everyone to stay on the same page. Many times High School students miss classes for various reasons, and reviewing and explaining to one or two students what the class did while they were absent seems like a waste of precious class time.
During the development of our final product, I learned that not all free programs online work well (conferencing on WebHuddle was disappointing), that even teachers need to stay organized and have clear directions of what they are trying to complete, and that never giving up through the struggles of technology based group work pays off.
If I had to develop a similar product again, what I would do differently would be have a specific portion or component of Weebly to focus on, instead of a complete overview. Maybe I would show how Weebly is used for a classroom website, and how students can benefit from having an online resource. This was definitely a learning experience, and has helped me to grow as a person both in my professional and personal life.  
Check out our tutorial all about Weebly for Education

Part B- Storyboard and Script

Our project is coming along well, and everybody is chipping in to do their part. I created a Document for our script and a Presentation so that we could all collaborate in one area. I wrote and created the slides for the presentation for the introduction to our technology, and then my portion on how to create content and links.
For the final presentation, we plan to record all of our specific areas of concentration using Jing, and include the audio of the script. We then are going to upload all the videos on a Weebly site that I created so that we can incorporate the actual technology into our presentation. I will also be recording the introduction and including it in my Jing upload of my portion. Then one group member is going to write and create slides for our conclusion, another will jazz up the actual Weebly site, and finally another will record and upload the conclusion using Jing and add it to our Weebly site. I have volunteered for the introduction portion of the presentation, and the other parts will be decided tomorrow at our online chat at 4pm on our Google Script document. The project is coming along well, and soon will be ready to share with the class!