Nicholas Flores

HIS 463
Dr. Slaughter
Teaching Self-Evaluation

My lesson was delivered on Wednesday, February 14th, in Building 9, Room 217 at Cal Poly
Pomona. My partner, Francisco Guzman, and I created the lesson about the experience of African
Americans during Reconstruction for the eight-grade level. I have previously studied and taken
classes about the Civil War and Reconstruction, so I felt prepared to construct an effective and
educational lesson on the topic. However, I quickly learned that creating a lesson would not be as
easy as I originally believed. I struggled to think of a strong opener that would draw students into
the African American experience during Reconstruction, a subject full of complexities and
controversy. A challenge I had with the lesson that was more problematic than the opener was the
organization of the direct instruction. The narrative of African Americans during Reconstruction is
one of frequently alternating progress and struggle, and my first instinct was to organize the subject
topically with progress in the first half of the direct instruction and struggles in the second. Through
much review and editing, I found that organizing the direct instruction topically robbed the lesson
of its historical narrative and trajectory. My partner and I then decided to organize it
chronologically, rearranged the presentation, and found that the logic of the lesson was much more
understandable as a result.

The delivery of the lesson had several strong qualities and some things that could be
improved. After reorganizing the direct instruction, I found that the overall organization of the
lesson was one of the strongest parts. Our questions that came before and after the opening image
also worked well since they directed the analyzation of the image. Our other images throughout the
presentation were strong, and our guided practice worked well because it was entirely based on
political cartoons. Our wrap-up was strong since we asked questions that addressed the bigger
picture rather than strictly review the material. I also felt that our independent practice assignment
worked well because it was rooted in a primary source and was designed to be interesting and
entertainment. Areas where the lesson could have been improved were the pacing and amount of
information appropriate for the lesson. The direct instruction portion was on the slower end, and I
presented information that would have already been covered in a previous lesson. The way to
improve this in the future is to ensure that I am keeping a good pace when delivering a lesson and
ensure I don’t repeat unnecessary information as well. The areas for improvement show the
challenges of creating a lesson on a subject with information that is difficult to cover in one class
period. The feedback that I found the most insightful was more positive than negative. Classmates
said that our lesson was well organized, had strong imagery, and asked significant questions. They
also said that it was good to have our main objectives at the start of the lesson and that we had a
strong independent practice assignment. The constructive criticism they gave was simply that it was
a bit slow and that there was some unnecessary information, which will be addressed and corrected
in future lessons. Overall, I felt that our lesson was interesting and effective. It took the serious
topic of African Americans during Reconstruction and made it simple for an eighth-grade class to
understand. I feel that the lesson accomplished what my partner and I set out to do, which was teach
a complicated portion of Reconstruction history while encouraging students to connect it with the
modern day and ask deeper questions about the ideas surrounding Reconstruction like freedom,
citizenry, and social participation.