It is always good to see examples of using a lesson or experience across content areas. I did not think this way while at the museum but after seeing the poem Dr. Stohr-Hunt wrote about the camel was a great reminder to always think across content when thinking about what your doing or what you want to do.
With the completion of literature circles this week, our group enjoyed the aspect of reading the fiction book followed by the non-fiction. I liked how Out of the Dust gave me a view of life during the Dust bowl time period and then I got the actual facts afterward with the Dust Bowl. It’s a good way to have students make connections between the two, understand the life and times of the period, and I think using this format in the schools will help students pull the meat out of what I will be asking them to learn in a fun manner.
Differentiation has always been an issue for me when doing lesson plans but I feel like the discussion tonight may have help me overcome the troubles I have had with it. Specifically when it was said that it is not for the content but how you access the content and/or how can you change the end product makes perfect sense. I’m not sure I was always focusing on how to change the content but putting my focus on how to assess the content and the end product will hopefully have me focused on the right area and allow me to come up with material easier than I have before.
Our guest gave a great presentation on how they performed the DBQ. The resources they shared for finding information will be useful, even the twitter info. I am not on twitter but will think about signing up to be able to get more resources. Sometimes I wonder if their is such a thing as too many resources. Having so much to choose from can be as detrimental as not having enough resources. However, after creating the last lesson plan for class, I was looking at many resources and could not find anything that jumped out at me. I was able to find something after searching for a very long time of course but I was searching the same resources for the most part. So, I will be expanding my resources from now on anytime the present themselves. Another one is Pintrest. I did sign up for that in a previous class but have not used it enough to where I am comfortable with the app and finding material on there but will add that to my rotation to search for items going forward.
Mike, I want to focus on something you mentioned in your reflection that stood out to me as an “a-ha” moment”
“Specifically when it was said that it is not for the content but how you access the content and/or how can you change the end product makes perfect sense.”
I am glad you were able to clarify something you were unsure about it earlier. The process or skills used to access the content can be a key player for students.