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PSII: Final Reflection

What changes did you make in your original unit plan? Why?

The main changes I made had to do with scheduling and timing. I followed my first three lessons closely,
but once I gave the first quiz, I made some revisions according to their learning.

Before I dive into the changes I made in schedule, I want to mention an important piece that I’ve
learned about myself. Upon reflection with my University Consultant, I’ve learned that I love the big
picture of a unit. I love unit planning and brainstorming all the fun activities I can use, but when it comes
to lesson planning and the more specific, meticulous details, such as brain breaks and attention
grabbers, I find that I am a bit more stressed or feel limited. Because of it, I overcompensate for the
details as I am afraid I may miss things. My lesson plans are, therefore, very thorough. I spent a lot of
time on them, and found that writing them was almost a rehearsal for the class. Once I stepped into the
classroom though, I rarely looked at my lessons. Because of the rehearsal-like act of writing them, I was
prepared. But then I found I was reluctant to make lesson plans because I wasn’t using them.

By mid-unit, I had a “bag of tricks” to pull from when my students needed a break, if I needed to get
their attention, or if I needed to bring down energy/ volume levels. I didn’t find it necessary to plan
these details ahead of time. Albeit, I have an appreciation for the preparation and confidence that
lesson planning gives you; I had few concerns stepping in front of my students if I had a plan ready to go.

In regards to the quiz: After marking their first quiz, I realized that there were some disparities in their
learning that I wanted to clear up before moving on. I made a formative review worksheet that had
students go over the questions most of them struggled to answer correctly, and dedicated an entire
class to reviewing and reflecting on what we had learned so far. This realigned us back to where we
needed to be. I had to be flexible in order to do this, “losing” a day in my unit calendar meant I needed
to shuffle things around, but I did so gracefully as the rest of my activities and lessons were not
disturbed or cut off. This sense of flexibility was one of my strengths during this unit as I shuffled things
around to optimize the amount of engaging activities we could fit into our five week unit.

Another example of this flexibility in scheduling was when I found a guest speaker to visit our classroom.
After conducting an entire unit revolving around Alberta beef, I wanted to bring in an Albertan rancher
debunk some myths within the industry, as well as represent the perspective of Alberta Beef Producers
(who we studied throughout the unit). The week he was available was the week I had promised review
time to my students before their unit test. I moved a few things around so that Kody, the rancher, could
talk for 15-20 minutes, while still delivering review material and ensuring my students were prepared for
their unit test.

What was the most successful element in your original plan? Why?

The most successful element of my original plan was the diverse activities I used. I wanted to try
something different every day, and each time I tried something new, I made note of what was effective
and what needed some adjustments. It is difficult to choose one activity that was the most successful,
because there were so many lessons that I was proud of! Four activities stand out to me:

1) The class debate on the double boycott involving Alberta Beef and Earl’s restaurant, where
students participated in a tag team debate (which holds everyone accountable to participate).
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2) To teach the marketing methods, I decided to let students teach the class in a "reverse
classroom". Students performed skits representing marketing methods of groups of six. The
marketing skits was the activity where all of my students demonstrated strengths, whether it
was leading their group in planning and practicing, the theatrical talents of students who took
lead acting roles, and those who have great ideas but were hesitant to perform in front of
everyone. It was such a memorable way for students to memorize the six marketing methods,
and it was fun to refer back to when reviewing marketing
3) The guest speaker, who spoke to so many relevant points that we had studied as a class. He was
engaged with the students, and I was pleased to see my students were attentive and asking lots
of good quality questions. I used a connection to find Kody – I was redirected by three farmers-
and this networking benefitted our class very much. This idea was recognized by the principal
(Mike) who turns out to know Kody and saw Kody post about his time at St. Mary’s on Facebook.
Mike came down to our classroom to tell me I had done a good job and likes making those
connections! Michelle (my TA) took his contact information so that she can bring him back in
future years.
4) The gallery walk was a wonderful celebration of my students’ learning and work on their
creative responses. I was so impressed by the argumentation and creativity that I knew I had to
honour their work together as a class. I had them do a quiet gallery walk with KWL chart exit
slips (to hold them accountable and take the walk seriously, reflecting on each other’s work).
Students were excited to see their friends’ work, and after doing the walk, I knew had we
skipped it, it would’ve been an injustice to their efforts!

What was the most challenging part for the students? For yourself? Why do you think this was so?

The most challenging part of my unit was the concepts. Because we did so many fun activities,
sometimes students missed out on thorough explanations lecture-style. I taught two grade nine classes,
and the one has a teacher who does a lot of lecturing, so they have adapted to learn aurally. Hence, I
took a class to clarify Gross Domestic Product and other concepts they found difficult. I’m learning that
it is a balancing act to carry out fun, engaging activities while some students struggle to focus on the
content being learned within the activity. I’m confident that they learned, however, as so many students
so strongly displayed their new knowledge and developed perspectives.

What do you wish you could have done differently?

I wish I would have given them more time to do their creative responses. I still got quality work from
them, but a lot of students complained that they didn’t have enough time to finish. I would have also
dedicated a full class to the gallery walk so that students could have more time to self-reflect on their
assignment feedback and their learning. I would take that work in again (formatively), but the process
would give them more autonomy in and responsibility of their learning.

What would you do differently if you were to teach this unit again?

I would give more time to teach how consumerism impacts identity. We spent a lot of time discussing
health and safety, marketing, concern for the environment, and jobs. I had one student even say “hey,
why didn’t we talk more about identity?” I would have done an activity revolving students taking a look
at their belongings and asking how consumerism has shaped their identity (and vice versa), and make
note that a lot of it happens subconsciously.
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What are the most significant insights your planning and teaching experience provoked for you in
terms of engaging students in meaningful social studies learning?

Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration! I was happy to be teaching my unit on consumerism, which

more economically-based, as opposed to historical. I really felt like ideas came naturally to me because
consumerism is so relevant to students – it’s happening now and has occurred for centuries. It was
easily tied to current events, local issues and student lives.

My UC inspired me a lot to incorporate collaboration into every lesson. Because so many of my lessons
were long, engaging activities, I felt that I had enough collaboration. But once I had one lesson where
they remained in their desks the whole class, he pointed out some ways that I could have got them up
and moving, whether it be a brain break or partner work to fill out their worksheets. This greatly
impacted the rest of my lessons. Luckily, I taught two classes, giving me a lot of reflexive learning, and a
second shot at lessons that I felt I could ramp up. For the class debate, my first class brainstormed as
two teams, but for my second class, I had them partner up and brainstorm, and then meet as teams.
This held every student accountable to get brainstorming and talking, and I saw a much more diverse
array of arguments within the actual debate as students, who think so differently from one another,
offered unique rebuttals that fit well with one another. This as a quick, two minute exercise of
collaboration that had such an impact on the remainder of the class period!

The other insight is relevance. Anytime I felt stuck to get students interested (more so with my English
class, actually), my teacher mentors steered me towards making it relevant to them. If it’s too far-
fetched to apply to their own lives, they won’t engage with the topic. Some things were truly just not
relevant to them, so I made them personal by giving personal anecdotes or sharing my own experiences.
I used videos and imagery almost every day, and students looked forward to a lesson when they saw me
type “YouTube” into the URL bar.

I feel very blessed to have been paired with amazing mentors, awesome students and a school that feels
like a family. I couldn’t have delivered such a successful social studies unit without their help!