FINAL PERFORMANCE NARRATIVE: DESIGNING A UNIT AND LESSON PLAN 1

Final Performance Narrative:

Designing a Unit and Lesson Plan

Damian Hondares

University of Pennsylvania
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As I prepared to enter teaching, I had a myriad of lessons and units I thought I might

teach. But I had never thought about an introductory unit. I had never considered the concepts I

would emphasize from day one and the tone I would set. This assignment allowed me to explore

those concepts and to understand them within the Understanding by Design framework.

Fortunately, Understanding by Design asks educators to anchor our lessons and units in

big ideas, rather than specific texts (Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006, p. 27). This is the approach

I aspire to take as an educator. Being intentional in choosing texts for the classroom also means

being intentional in thinking about what those texts represent.

As someone who strives to be a culturally responsive and social-justice-oriented

educator, I wanted this unit to get to the heart not only of who my students are as learners, but

also as individuals. I wanted a unit that allowed me and my students to engage in questions of

identity. Logically, the cornerstone of identity as a concept is the individual.

Not only does studying the individual enable the class to explore questions of who we are

and the identities we bring into the classroom, but it also opens a door to macro-level

conversations. We live in an individualistic, Eurocentric society. What are the implications? But

on another level, what does it mean to be an individual? Is it even possible to truly be an

individual? I want students to think about outside forces that shape our selves. In this way, we

disrupt normative narratives of rugged individualism and we see a much different, more nuanced

picture. This unit also opens the door to subsequent units on collectivism and other themes that

will further complicate and challenge students assumptions. More importantly, however, this

unit opens the door to a conversation about what Lisa Delpit calls the culture of power.

Delpit argues that there is a culture of power, referring to the codes and rules for

participating in power. Teaching students these codes and rules enables them to navigate the
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culture of power (p. 282). Delpits argument resonated with me, reminding me of one of my

favorite high school teachers, Mr. Karli, whose class was constructed around critical dialogue on

issues like power, race, gender, and class. He opened my eyes to a world of power I had never

known, made me think critically about the norms of the society in which I lived. He pushed me

to understand myself and my identity in ways I never had before. In preparing his students for

the culture of power, Mr. Karli effectively engaged students in dialogues that bridged the gap

between micro and macro. That was my precisely my goal for this unit.

I was also inspired by Henry Giroux, who argues that teachers should view schools as

economic, cultural and social sites that are inextricably tied to the issues of power and control

(p. 126). To teach about the culture of power, an educator must first believe that issues of power

are relevant to the classroom. By focusing on identity, I ease students into studying power, first

thinking on the micro level before exploring connections to the macro. A.J. did this in Leaders of

Change, teaching a course that focused first on students experiences in the school system before

steadily shifting outward to a systemic level. Students were immediately engaged, making

connections between texts and their personal experiences in education. But even when the focus

shifted away from the micro, they remained engaged, seeing connections forming between their

lives and the larger systems that dictate the course of their lives. By connecting the political and

the personal, A.J. succeeded as I hope I will in taking the same fundamental approach.

Once I had the big ideas in mind, I needed to select texts to convey those ideas. I knew

that I wanted to incorporate Carol Dweck and Howard Gardners research on growth mindsets

and multiple intelligences, respectively. Focusing on the individual would enable me to

incorporate their research, which not only pertains to the concepts at hand, but which should be

taught to students at the beginning of every course.

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Dweck argues that research on equity in education has neglected students and teachers

beliefs. She finds that students with a growth mindset who believed that intelligence could be

developed outperformed students with fixed mindsets who believed that intelligence was a

static trait (Dweck, 2010, pp. 26-27). Her research allows students to understand themselves as

learners and individuals while hinting at influences that shape our selves (a lesson that comes

later). It is both a means of understanding the self and a useful primer for this unit.

Gardners research serves a similar purpose. He argues that there are several intelligences

and that human beings possess the capacity to develop the several intelligences. At any one

moment, a human being will have a unique profile, because of both genetic (heritability) and

experiential factors (Nichols). Used together, Gardner and Dwecks research can transform a

students conception of themselves as individuals and learners, while giving them a belief in

their intellectual capabilities. The value of this work goes well beyond a single unit.

After this decidedly theoretical lesson, I delve into literature. I am assuming that students

will have completed summer reading homework, though I am uncertain whether such homework

is effective. But for my purposes here, I gave myself flexibility to explore several texts and

perspectives. As Claude Steele argues in A Threat in the Air, one of the most important ways to

engage students and to fight against stereotype threat which occurs when students who

identify with a certain group underperform because of negative stereotypes about that group is

to value multiple perspectives (pp. 616, 625). From the first unit, I want students to understand

that I give every individual and group a voice. My choice of literature reflects that imperative.

I open with Ayn Rands Anthem. I begin with this text for several reasons. It is arguably

the simplest (and shortest) of the three. It is also, however, the most controversial, and it teaches

students that in my class, they are not expected to and indeed should not blindly accept what
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is taught. On the contrary, they are encouraged to challenge and question. Anthem opens the

doorway to this inquiry. Rand not only clearly introduces individualism or her bold vision

thereof, which became known as objectivism but she also makes problematic assertions that

enable us to analyze the negative ramifications of individualistic ideologies.

Then we transition into Henry David Thoreaus Walden, which parallels Rands work but

comes from a transcendentalist point-of-view. Students are encouraged to compare the two

works and the distinct interpretations of individualism therein while considering a larger

question that both writers evoke: What are the outside forces that threaten the individual?

Ralph Ellison in Invisible Man takes this question further, pushing us to think about the ways in

which the individual is shaped by others. Ellisons text is particularly critical, offering a distinct

vision of individuality through the lens of an African-American man. In this way, I offer both

ideological diversity in my texts, as well as diversity along lines of race and gender.

Ellisons book must logically come last in the unit, as it represents one of the final stages

in our transition from the micro to the macro. If Rand and Thoreau focus more intensely on the

individual, Ellison instead makes a fascinating choice to focus on the other, even going so far as

to avoid naming his central protagonist. Ellison also introduces themes that will carry through to

subsequent units by reminding us that our selves are part of a larger picture, that we are but

members of larger, distinct cultures, that our identities are molded by those around us.

Once I made my literature selections, I needed to very intentionally design the unit and

lesson outlines. For the first lesson, I was inspired by Erin Giorgios This or That activity,

which shifted from fun and trivial to serious. I want ice-breakers to have value both for students

and for me, as we get to know each other as individuals and as learners. I also want to give

students a questionnaire, so that I have access to important information about my students.

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The second lesson, focused on Rand, fascinates me the most, with its problematic

intricacies. So I developed a full lesson plan based around Anthem. In devising this plan, I was

especially inspired by Carol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe, who emphasize the importance of

teaching responsively. As they explain, teachers must be attuned to students varied learning

needs and make modifications in how students get access to important ideas and skills with

an eye to supporting maximum success for each learner (Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006, p. 18).

I open the lesson with an activity inspired by our LGBTQ workshop. Students pair up and

talk about what they did the day before, without using first-person pronouns or emphasizing

themselves in the story. This parallels the dystopia depicted in Anthem, putting students in the

shoes of the protagonist. Then we have a think-pair-share conversation in which students respond

to the activity and think about the importance of the self. I then provide a concise mini-lesson

using a PowerPoint presentation that outlines Rands philosophy and draws connections to

Anthem, to prepare students to engage in subsequent activities. I would also provide handouts as

a guide for students who struggle concentrating on both the slides and the teachers commentary.

This idea came from Leaders of Change, where we learned students liked having a handout that

included the material from the PowerPoint and space for notes. My handout would be similar.

I prefer cooperative learning to direct instruction, so I would keep my presentation rather

short and move on to another activity, this time a role-playing one. This idea also came from a

Leaders of Change activity, in which students acted as participants in a school board meeting.

Students had to think critically in assuming their roles, but they seemed too busy enjoying the

activity to recognize the inherent challenge. In this lesson, my scenarios require students to play

the role of objectivists or of people trying to convince objectivists to think beyond themselves. It

encourages students to analyze ethical dilemmas posed by Rands vision of individualism.

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Students should have concerns and questions after this activity, which they can express in

a gallery walk. I want to accommodate students who might still be uncomfortable engaging with

the whole class, so I will provide alternatives to full-group discussions, like think-pair-share and

this gallery walk. In this activity, students break into groups and silently write down questions

and concerns. They then rotate around the room and respond to those of their peers, before

coming together in as a class to address questions and tie big ideas together. To close the lesson,

I give students an exit ticket, asking them to depict in any medium that reflects their multiple

intelligences, whether it be writing, drawing, or another form what an objectivist society would

look like. In this way, I accommodate students intelligences, learning styles, and interests, while

gauging their understanding of objectivism and their opinions of Rands vision of individualism.

To be responsive to students needs, I am using a variety of teaching strategies. In my

subsequent lesson on Walden, I open with silent meditation outside. I am not asking students to

journal or to interact with one another. I am asking them to sit in solitude, to experience nature

and the world as Thoreau did, and to think about the self in relation to the world of nature

surrounding them. Part of differentiated instruction is teaching in ways that you might have

never considered before, using unorthodox methods to think beyond yourself as an educator and

to meet the needs of a diverse array of students. I imagine that as I found patterns of

instruction, I would start to find the activities that work for my students, but I would still like to

use a wide variety of unique strategies throughout the year (Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006, p. 19).

I close the unit with a class dialogue about expectations for the semester and with an

autobiography project. Both are inspired by A.J. He was the first educator who gave me power to

set expectations. As a constructivist educator, I want to do the same, to give my students a voice

in the classroom, to grant them some degree of power to guide the course. Opening the year with
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a dialogue on expectations not only allows me to establish with my students my trust in them and

our relationship as co-participants in an educational experience, but it also allows us to connect

our exploration of the individual and identity to the classroom. How are our selves and our

identities manifested in the classroom? How can I support my students as individuals and as

learners? And how can my students support one another both as unique individuals with distinct

backgrounds and cultures and as fellow members of an academic community?

A.J.s educational autobiography assignment challenged me to think about myself as an

individual and as a learner, in ways that I had never thought about myself before. In this unit on

identity and the self, I wanted my students to do the same. I ask them to create a project that

reflects their intelligences. (Later assignments would push them to explore other intelligences.)

Their project must speak to who they are as individuals and learners, how their selves are shaped

by those around them, and the role their identities play in their education. They must make

connections to the texts used in the unit. This assignment is a culmination of the unit but also

prepares us for questions we will encounter later. And it reminds students that I am committed to

celebrating all experiences and to engaging responsively with students individual needs.

This is the first time I have ever designed an introductory unit, and while there is room

for growth and improvement and I have many questions about the unit and lessons I have

designed, I am confident nonetheless that I am beginning to tie threads between crucial concepts

like differentiated instruction, social justice, and equitable education. Over the past five weeks, I

have begun to integrate new ideas and concepts into my pedagogical philosophy and my teaching

plans. Looking at the unit plan that I have developed, I am proud and hopeful. I have learned and

grown so much, and it is only the beginning.

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References

Delpit, L. (1998). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people's

children. Harvard Educational Review, 53(3), 280-298.

Dweck, C. (2010). Mind-sets and equitable education. Principal Leadership, 10(5), 26-29.

Ellison, R. (1965). Invisible man. London: Penguin Books.

Giroux, H. (1988). Teachers as intellectuals., 121-128.

Nichols, V.A beginner's guide to the theory of multiple intelligences (MI). Retrieved from

http://multipleintelligencesoasis.org/about/

Steele, C. (1997). A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and

performance. American Psychologist, 52(6), 613-629.

Thoreau, H. D. (1908). Walden, or, life in the woods. New York: J.M. Dent.

Tomlinson, C. A., & McTighe, J. (2006). Integrating differentiated instruction and

understanding by design. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum

Development.