Reflection
My students loved all of the activities where they walked around the room in order to answer questions, as it got them moving and thinking. Most were a little shy about presenting in front of one another, but it's a skill I'd like to see them improve on.
Because I first started teaching what the district assigned before I got permission to teach other, more fun and relevant poems, my unit is a little different than what I taught. The way my unit is presented here reflects the changes I would have made - I would have had an introductory lesson to help the students understand more about poetry and try to spark more of an interest in them, and the first poem we would have analyzed together would have been something more age and context appropriate, as I have done in this unit. I also changed the vocabulary lesson to something that the students would find more useful and be able to find examples of. Another improvement I would make is to have a quiz over some of the terms so that I would have a better measure of who understood what and what further instruction was needed, as well as serving as a way to make the students take responsibility for their learning.
This unit made me so much more aware of how different people are touched through different mediums. I've never been so good at writing poetry, but I am so thankful for all the people who do have that gift, as they helped me reach my students. I think my students' felt more involved and appreciated, when they were told that they could pick or write their own poem to share with the class. For some, it was a way to express themselves by reading someone else's words, and for others it was an opportunity to use words to express their own thoughts.
The unit made me see how many approaches you can take to teach one thing, and how much enjoyment students can get from changing things up a bit. I really noticed how much more motivated my students were when they had to present or when they felt like they had a mission. I feel like my poetry selections as well as my lesson plans demonstrated a love for God as well as for my students, and I feel like the lessons showed a love of the content. The students were excited to learn that I was teaching a poem I personally loved. They also loved when the poems were something they could relate to.
Because I first started teaching what the district assigned before I got permission to teach other, more fun and relevant poems, my unit is a little different than what I taught. The way my unit is presented here reflects the changes I would have made - I would have had an introductory lesson to help the students understand more about poetry and try to spark more of an interest in them, and the first poem we would have analyzed together would have been something more age and context appropriate, as I have done in this unit. I also changed the vocabulary lesson to something that the students would find more useful and be able to find examples of. Another improvement I would make is to have a quiz over some of the terms so that I would have a better measure of who understood what and what further instruction was needed, as well as serving as a way to make the students take responsibility for their learning.
This unit made me so much more aware of how different people are touched through different mediums. I've never been so good at writing poetry, but I am so thankful for all the people who do have that gift, as they helped me reach my students. I think my students' felt more involved and appreciated, when they were told that they could pick or write their own poem to share with the class. For some, it was a way to express themselves by reading someone else's words, and for others it was an opportunity to use words to express their own thoughts.
The unit made me see how many approaches you can take to teach one thing, and how much enjoyment students can get from changing things up a bit. I really noticed how much more motivated my students were when they had to present or when they felt like they had a mission. I feel like my poetry selections as well as my lesson plans demonstrated a love for God as well as for my students, and I feel like the lessons showed a love of the content. The students were excited to learn that I was teaching a poem I personally loved. They also loved when the poems were something they could relate to.