Reflection for Lesson Plan #2

Lesson Plan Reflection 2
As I have posted in my previous blog about my thoughts on this second lesson plan I have gone through a long thought process of how to get what I intended for success. It took me quite a while to put things together because I had so many ideas that I wanted to incorporate with my lesson. So I jotted down all my ideas and then I tried to formulate something that makes sense for this lesson plan project. The outcome of the lesson plan would seem flawless but I do not want to speak so soon as I have never put for the test. My intention for this lesson plan was something fun and educational that utilized a lot of technology for my students to display their knowledge of what they learned in the classroom and what they learned with using the technology.
My professor advised us that first and foremost to think about the content of our lesson plan with the utilization of technology while teaching as well as learning on the student’s behalf. Since my emphasis area for secondary education is on Social Studies/History I thought that the Civil War would be an interesting topic to consider. I know that most students would find History to be a boring subject so this presents a challenge for teachers who teach this topic. What I have noticed in my previous history classes both in high school and college was the lack of utilization of technology. Traditionally most of the teachers that taught history would just lecture and give notes. Of course book work is not always the most exciting to do and this limits the students who are not the “Linguistic” type of student. In this case I wanted to utilize Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence theory within their learning process by providing multimedia into the lesson. Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory according to
Dr. Thomas Anderson’s website that, “It suggests that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on I.Q. testing, is far too limited. Instead, Dr. Gardner proposes eight different intelligences to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults. These intelligences are: linguistic, logical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, music, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and natural intelligences.” Anderson (1998-2000)
What I intended to do with my lesson is that the students will express themselves with whatever In my lesson the students are to use the links and their Bebo.com accounts to communicate with me. I will place the links in which the outside reading sources for the students for use. By having things set up on the internet the students are able to utilize search engines to search for more material to enhance their needs as to learning the topic. In my lesson I want my students to focus on certain aspects of the Civil War to give them a part of the picture and then piece together a reflection of those aspects. I have broken down those aspects to the roles of people during those times to create a perspective as to how the time and events that affected the daily life during this time in the United States. With the information that I will present in class, I expect them to do the outside reading in order to understand further the topics by going online. At least when the students are required to go online for the reading they will further explore the Internet by searching for related articles to help better their knowledge and understanding of the topic. At the same time they are also gathering informational research for their project in creating a short movie based on a certain aspect mentioned in the articles and lecture. The students will then create a movie with the utilization of technology. I want them to express what they learned through creativity. At least when information is expressed in a way that is comfortable for the student it gives them more of a grasp of the information. The learning does not become so hard with the application of what they are learning. According to The Brain From Top to Bottom website, students will be using implicit memory in which they will be expressing it by means other than words. Canadian Institute of Health Research (n.d.) I want my students to find meaning with the lesson and with meaning there will be application. What I hope for them to take from the lesson is an understanding of the Civil War and its importance through these aspects.
This lesson was kind of a complicated one because you not only had to utilize the content of the subject but also applying technology in the lesson. With this lesson laid out I hope that my students will become more technologically literate and also appreciative of the significance of the Civil War in the United States.




Anderson, Thomas 1998-2000 Multiple Intelligences retrieved from http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm
Canadian Institute of Health Research, (n.d.) retrieved from http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_07/d_07_p/d_07_p_tra/d_07_p_tra.html