ipts10

Standard Ten | Reflection and Personal Growth

**Trail of Tears** My cooperating teacher, during one of my pre-student teaching experiences, asked my fellow classmate and I to create a lesson on the Trail of Tears. My curriculum and instruction professor had introduced our class to an issue-based concept called RAC (Reasoning and Conclusion) that could be applied to a reading we planned to use about President Jackson and the Trail of Tears. The artifacts are both the RAC worksheet I created for this particular lesson, the lesson itself, and notes that I jotted down as I was presenting the lesson.

The worksheet and lesson plan demonstrate a reflective thinking process because I took notes while teaching and also noted feedback from my cooperating teacher once the lesson had finished. This lesson was difficult because the students had never really had the opportunity to have an issue-based discussion in this way; therefore it was a challenge to complete the lesson. Regardless, knowing how to be flexible and reflective when teaching is essential for the success of each and every student.

Being aware of what is and what is not working during a class period is critical because I have the opportunity to change the direction of the lesson on the spot and note those changes for future classes. Each group of students is different, but recognizing those differences and the ability to make the necessary changes on the spot shows that I focused on what is best for my students. This standard also reflects the importance of accepting constructive criticism and using that knowledge to improve both planning and teaching.

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**The Court System** When teaching about the Judicial Branch, I decided to have my students complete an activity that came from their textbook about the Court System in the United States. The activity included a worksheet and several cards that gave students clues and definitions toward what they needed to place in each box on the worksheet. Using the clues, they had to use their textbook to find the right Court or vocabulary word to place in the box. Using an overhead of the worksheet, I modeled the first box, to demonstrate how to look for the information and understand what the clue was saying.

The lesson ended up being extremely confusing for many students. To try and combat student complaints of not being able to locate the information within the book, I provided the page numbers of each box for the students. From this lesson, I realized that what I might think is fun and engaging for students isn't always the case. I have learned to be very specific in directions I give, and to move around more to check on student understanding, as all students will not be vocal about their confusion. In the future, I may consider using the worksheet again, but as a note taking sheet rather than an activity.

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