Standard 5:

Application of Content

The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing

perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and
collaborative problem solving related to authentic local and global issues.
Reflection:
Application of Content addresses how the teacher carefully plans instruction
to facilitate learning acknowledging local and global issues. The artifacts below
include a picture of Marilyn Frenchs Gender Principles Theory with my annotations,
and a few copies of student work. One will recognize how I have integrated this
standard in my planning and instruction by referencing these artifacts.
The students were challenged to critically think about gender roles in The
Odyssey. I approached this concept in two ways. One way is that I introduced a
modern day example of a character from the story. The students read about Edith
Wilson, who is sometimes considered the first female president of the United States,
and had to make a comparison to Penelope from The Odyssey. The second way is I
introduced a theory by Marilyn French called Gender Principles. The theory is
challenging read but the students received a copy with my annotations and
highlighted sections. They also received a guided reading packet. The packet asked
questions to assess understanding but it also required the students to make a
comparison to The Odyssey. The students had to really think about the theory and
understand how it connects to the story. They collaborated with other classmates to
make sense of the theory and answer the guided reading packet. The students had
class time to do so. Most important however, the purpose of these two activities
was to help the students understand the relevance of The Odyssey in our culture
today.
Reading a story that was written 2,000 years ago is tough for a freshman
audience. It is tough because of the archaic language and also because the text
seems irrelevant and insignificant. The lesson focused on how Western culture has
contributed to peoples perceptions on gender. The students were able to critically
think about the way cultures perceives gender which is thus implicitly connected to
literature, and in our case of study, connected to The Odyssey. The students
engaged themselves with a complex idea and identified a global issue. They
examined imagery associated to gender, related it to a god or goddess that they
had previously studied, and reflected on what this means to our culture today. Also,
they had to make connections to the main character, who is a male, and his wife.
The lesson dealt with students problem solving and identifying the root cause of a
current local and global issue.
Artifacts: