A Reflective Essay On Thomas Paine

I attended block teaching four days this week since the school was closed Friday the 23rd. On Monday the students worked on Cornell notes for three chapter headings then I held a review of the material. Tuesday was the day of my 2nd observation. I was teaching a lesson on Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense. This lesson was not my best lesson. I attempted to cover a complex topic with too many supplemental readings in addition to the textbook. This turned into pulling teeth during class discussion. The lesson left students feeling overwhelmed because they were not able to process all the material in such a short amount of time. On Wednesday right before the lunch period began there was a threat of a school shooting called in. This event dominated the class period the next day. My …show more content…
The two primary sources they were comparing was Thomas Paine’s in excerpts of his pamphlet and an excerpt from John Adams autobiography responding to Paine’s pamphlet. I was very happy when the next day 17 out of the 23 students in the class handed it in. A few of these students were just absent so they didn’t get the assignment and about 3 just decided not to do it. The responses were mixed which was awesome because I wasn’t expecting the wide variety of responses and perspectives. This assessment allowed me to see the student’s individual learning because many of them rarely if ever participate in class discussion. While this assignment was more of a matter of opinion not an objective right or wrong type of answer I cannot say that it showed students demonstrating their understanding accurately the assignment did show that they can accurately use primary and secondary sources to back up their claim/opinion. They created an argument and defend it with the use of support from the