Hacking Lessons

In developing my lesson, I was hyper-aware of the consequence of assuming what students may and may not know. I graduated and do a lot of my work in Fairfax County Schools; however, Prince William County schools and Osbourn Park High School run their English education quite differently. I think this explains my concern over checking with Mrs. Hakes what students may or may not have been exposed to in previous years. In her notes, Mrs. Hakes later remarks how well my lesson was planned, with deep consideration of the observed methods and classroom processes (A. Hakes, personal communication, March 28 2017). This statement expresses my effort to be not only thorough but also focused and concerned with students’ prior knowledge during the developmental …show more content…
When actually giving the lesson, discussions can take, more time than expected, or even giving directions so, everyone is clear about what is expected. Therefore, mocking the lesson with peers would definitely be beneficial when conducting a brand new lesson for the first time. Though doing so is not always possible. Mocking a new lesson is not always, if even often, possible. While it may not be ideal for students, having presented this lesson to a class once, I could easily go back and alter the timing, and any other challenges identified. For example, I would not provide so much time for the brainstorming. Both my mentor and the students felt it left awkward and empty, silent space; which as both ineffective and delaying. Not everything is going to work the first time, and if we are honest about this when presenting a lesson, and remain open to critiques by our students then we can better the lesson, exemplify the writing process, and develop trust in the classroom learning community. Though my assumptions on time may have been skewed, other assumptions I made were well founded and proved …show more content…
Because of snow days and the structure of the unit I entered into when I began my observations, students spent much time working individually, viewing the film, or completing their final assessments. I assumed in the beginning that students would have mixed receptions of me taking over their class for the day because of this lack of built relationship. But I was pleasantly surprised as I modeled the annotation of Blake’s “To Morning.” I could feel the atmosphere becoming less awkward and more accepting. Some notes students left even remarked they enjoyed this portion of the lesson because it allowed me to directly interact with them; of course their other comments also included, “be less awkward in the beginning,” something Mrs. Hakes also noted but understood due to the circumstances (A. Hakes, personal communication, March 28