Butcher 1

Allison Butcher

Dr. Nolte

April 29th, 2020

ENG 419

Outcomes Essay

A1: Romeo & Juliet Drama Unit

The reason I chose the Romeo & Juliet Drama Unit for this outcome was because I

thought I displayed differentiated instruction best throughout this unit in comparison to the

others. Differentiated instruction is difficult to fully comprehend because the plans are for a

classroom that does not yet exist. Because I was able to have a larger clinical experience this

semester that required me to interact with the students more than I have previously done before, I

was able to picture each of their individual needs and what would work best for those who do not

learn in a traditional way.

My unit specifically mentions students who are anxious, easily distracted, extroverted,

introverted, gifted, have vision problems, or have ADD/ADHD. There are also differentiated

instruction for students who work at a slower pace and students who learn best visually or

auditory. Because I was able to include accommodations for all of these types of learners in one

unit, it shows that I have adequately demonstrated recognition that not all students learn the same

way, but all students can accomplish learning. Some specific accommodations that I made were

allowing students who may be gifted or work faster than others the ability to start on the next

project in an alternate setting so that they are not bored, and the other students are not distracted.

Another example of this is during the prereading activities when I accommodated for students

who are often anxious to take small steps into Romeo & Juliet before jumping in immediately.
Butcher 2

A2: Short Story Unit

This unit fits objective A2 best because if the students were to come across these short

stories on their own, then the chances that they would finish them or read them at all are very

low. The three short stories mentioned in this unit are “A Worn Path” by Eudora Welty, “The

Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield, and “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. This objective

specifically mentions a balance of what students need to read in order to fulfill objectives and

choosing texts that the students will learn from. I selected these short stories because each of

them has an overall story that directly ties to obstacles that some, if not all, students will be

facing or have faced in their lives already. I was able to take learning to a new level and allow

the students to not only learn about the topics that the objectives address, but also learn about

life.

The unit that I wrote formulates a way for the three short stories to tie together to bring

up race and class issues. Having the class that I was in for clinicals in mind, these would be

relatable topics for the students in the class. Even if they were not facing either of these issues

themselves, their friends were. Another important thing to mention, is the classical aspect of

these texts. These short stories are a higher level of reading than many students may be used to,

but because there are so many relatable aspects throughout, the students really get a chance to

engage with the texts. Students need to become familiar with this language in order to broaden

their vocabulary, be able to have higher comprehension levels in all reading, and score higher on

college readiness tests.

A3: Poetry Unit

The reason that my two-day poetry unit best fits this objective is because of the heavy

utilization of Rhythm and Resistance by Linda Christensen and Dyan Watson. This was by far
Butcher 3

my favorite mentor text from the course because of the strong emphasis on social justice, so I

pulled multiple ideas from it in times that I could. One way that I developed my methods was

using a couple of the poems from this book that I thought would relate best to the students in my

clinical classroom. I know that if I stay in southern West Virginia to teach, then I will be

working with students who are stricken with poverty, raised in an unconventional family setting,

and/or facing issues of loneliness. This is one way that this unit ties into a lifelong practice and

heavily on culture.

I rated myself as distinguished on this outcome because of the strength of my unit.

Overall, because of the readings, activities, and integration of social justice topics, this was the

strongest unit that I completed. I was able to reflect on a reading that was new to me, while also

coming up with my own ideas for the students. Something else that made this unit stand apart

from the others was the rationale that goes along with it. Students typically ask the “why are we

doing this?” question, and I will have the answer prepared right in front of me when it comes up.

A4: Poetry Day 1

My Poetry Day 1 standard works best for this standard because of the emphasis put on

student sharing. As soon as the students complete their bell ringer, they are asked to begin

sharing. I made accommodations for sharing in this lesson plan because of the sensitive topics

that are being discussed. Though I want to have an open and accepting classroom, I understand

if some students do not want to share personal stories. For example, the bell ringer on this day

asks the students to talk about a time where they felt alone. Though the students are required to

share with their groups, only one person from the group has to share with the class.

Later in the lesson plan, the students are asked to highlight sections of “Jorge the Church

Janitor Finally Quits” by Martín Espada. After the students do this, they are asked to discuss
Butcher 4

with their groups and try to decide what these sections mean. This values diversity of opinion

and interpretation because students will most likely not all individually highlight the same

sections of the poem. This will encourage them to share their interpretations with their other

group members.

I rated myself as distinguished for this because this is a topic that every student can or has

been able to relate to at some point in their lives. If students are able to relate to a topic, then

they will be more likely to participate in the discussion or assignment. If almost all of the

students in the class feel particularly motivated by a topic, then it ensures that the discussion will

be lively and have a larger amount of diversity because of the larger amount of participation.

Feeling alone may be a topic that students are hesitant to volunteer information about, but once

the sharing begins, then other people will be more likely to join in.

A5: Short Story Day 1

When I was creating this lesson, I knew that I wanted to do groups because I had not

created a lesson with groups before and I thought that it would fit well with the type of

environment that I want my future classroom to have. I did some research for this by looking up

ways that other teachers typically teach groups about characters. Though some may not take this

website seriously, I always like to browse teacherspayteachers.com for inspiration when I am not

feeling creative. I never copy the assignments directly without paying for them, but it is always

helpful for me to see what has worked for others. I have always been told to ask expert teachers

for their advice, and this is my way of mirroring that outside of a school setting.

Though I did use some resources that we were given in class to help this lesson plan

become strong, such as the essential question in the beginning, most aspects of this plan were

found from resources that I found independently or came up with on my own. I rates myself as
Butcher 5

distinguished on this objective because I felt that the four groups were strong and beneficial to

learning and helped the students meet all of the requirements of the state standard. This lesson

plan was well rounded, and students were able to begin by learning about themselves in the

beginning and transition to learning about Phoenix during the rest of the lesson. I also thought

that the homework was similar enough to the in-class lesson that the students would understand

how to adequately complete it, but also different enough because of the new and slightly more

complicated story to keep the students’ attention.

A6: Poetry Unit Plan Reflection

Though I mentioned earlier that my poetry unit was my strongest, nothing is ever perfect

on the first round. After rereading my lesson and looking over the recommended revisions from

a fellow group member and professor, there were some things that I needed to change in order to

ensure that my lesson would help the students learn to the best of their abilities. I started out this

reflection by talking about how I came up with the idea for the lesson, led into the process of

choosing standards and poems, and ended with a connection and revision plans. One word in the

standard that really stood out to me was willingness. Though I thought these were my strongest

plans, I am agreeing that they are not perfect. This understanding demonstrates that I am

accepting of the revision practice.

I rated myself as distinguished on this revision because I thought that it was very specific

when it came to all aspects. My reasonings for all of the decisions that I made within are clearly

visible and easy to find in the first three paragraphs. Within these same paragraphs are

statements that are making an argument for why this reasoning works best for the lesson at hand.

The two paragraphs at the end are clear on the steps that I want to take, how I plan to fix them,

and why I think it is a good idea to do so.

Butcher 6

A7: Literacy Philosophy

I chose my literacy philosophy for this standard because of the broadness of the standard

itself. Though I hope that my love for my students shines through in my lesson plans, my

literacy philosophy is the place where my reasoning for the decisions that I make regarding my

classroom comes back to all the things that make a great teacher a great teacher. In this

philosophy, I speak about teacher examples and being vulnerable with my students. This is the

only way that I will be able to have the classroom environment that I want. This shows both my

willingness to take risks and my love of students and the learning process.

Because I want my students to be able to directly relate to the texts that I choose for the

class, I will have to do a lot of reading on my own. This is because students are constantly

changing. Just because one classic novel seemed perfect for all of my classes one year, does not

mean it will have a high success rate the next. This will also require getting to know my students

on a personal level so that I will be able to choose texts that discuss struggles that they may be

facing. This part of the philosophy covers my love of reading, and always being present and

prepared.

My literacy philosophy continues and mentions specific theorists, such as Kelly

Gallagher and Norman Eng that I hope to model in my classroom because of their brilliant ideas.

This shows my sense of professionalism because I am researching ways to better my classroom

during my schooling so that I can teach to the best of my ability in ways that have been shown to

work well for students.

Lastly, I mention the growing lack of student motivation and how I plan to get students to

focus in my classroom. This directly relates to my personal responsibility for working and

learning actively on a communal schedule. If students are not motivated or engaged in a lesson,
Butcher 7

then it will either take them forever to complete it, or they will complete a lengthy lesson super

quick so that they are able to move on to something else. Speaking of this shows that I will be

prepared for a situation such as this, so that when it does happen, I can more easily address the

problem and find a solution without losing out on valuable learning time.

I rated myself as proficient on this because I felt as though the end of my philosophy was

a little disorganized and I was not sure how to rearrange it in a way that would make it have

more flow. I also thought that I could have talked a little bit more about literacy directly rather

than other topics that will influence my classroom. I found it very easy to get off on tangents in

writing a paper with a topic like this, and I feel as though I may have done so in my writing a

little too often.

C1: Shakespeare Unit

I chose my unit centered around Romeo & Juliet to meet this standard because it covered

such a range of texts that it could not be completed with a single plan, or a plan that focused on a

specific type of reading only. Though my ten-day plan only speaks of a week of pre-reading

activities and then a week of post-reading activities, I would imagine a full unit where more of

these texts would be used. This unit already covers film, drama, poetry, and fiction. When the

students are reading the play during the second week of the unit, I will most likely have them use

the version called No Fear Shakespeare where the play has a translation in modern English. This

would make the play more comparable to YA literature.

The drama genre being covered is self-explanatory, but I would like to describe the way

that I used the other genres in my unit. For film, I am not having the students watch the film, but

I am having them create a broadcast of a scene from an act of the play as part of a group project.

I am covering poetry by having the students read a sonnet by Shakespeare as a pre-writing

Butcher 8

activity that will help them get used to reading things in the language that he writes in. Romeo &

Juliet did not happen in real life, which makes it fiction and is also something that happens to be

self-explanatory. However, I am also having the students write an article from a journalist’s

perspective which will add another fiction component to this unit.

I rated myself as proficient on this lesson plan because I felt as though it was not as

detailed as my other units. I tend to grade myself based on what I have shown my capability to

be. Because I was almost overly descriptive in both my poetry and short story lesson plan, the

bar was set very high. Though this unit may not be comparable to my other units in terms of

description, it is still high quality when it comes to activities, critical thinking, and use of theorist

work. I think that this plan very solidly deserves to be rated as proficient.

C2: Short Story 4

This lesson plan best fits the C2 objective because it shows the students engaging with all

three of the short stories that have been read the three previous days before this and writing about

how they relate to each other and common social justice topics. In their bell ringer, the students

will write about which social justice issues have been discussed in their short stories, which have

been briefly mentioned in the days before. After this, the students will find quotes in their short

stories that show how they relate to the social justice topic that they mentioned in their bell

ringers. The students will have to justify their quotes to their other classmates. After this, the

students are to write three full paragraphs about how these stories, or their favorite story, tackled

the issue of their choice.

The students analyzed the short stories by figuring out which social justice issue was

addressed in all three. They interpreted by finding a quote that backed up their thought. They

evaluated by having to justify the quote that they chose to their peers. Lastly, the students
Butcher 9

responded by writing three paragraphs about one or all of the short stories in terms of how they

tackled social justice issues.

I rated this plan as distinguished because I thought that the students got quality learning

time while still having enough time to get a good start on their writing of the three paragraphs

near the end of their lesson. Multiple objectives were covered by having the students complete

all of the aspects of the plan that are mentioned above. After reading the objective, I felt as

though this plan was made to suit it because it covered the listed verbs used in detail in the order

that they were listed. This plan also completed the task from a variety of perspectives well

because of the sharing activity in the middle of the day and the large probability that students

will interpret direct quotes from the short stories under different social justice topics.

C3: Poetry Unit Day 2

This lesson plan best fits the C3 objective because of the foldable activity that students

make on this day to go along with the figurative language topic of this day. On this day, the

students will either learn or relearn, depending on their previous teachers, the meaning of

multiple figures of speech including, alliteration, metaphor, and simile. Separate from this, the

students will also learn or be refreshed on the concept of sensory details. The students not only

have to know the meaning of these terms but put them to use later in the lesson when they find

these terms in a poem that is new to them. The students apply these in poems that they write

themselves after they have displayed their knowledge of the terms.

I rated myself as distinguished on this lesson because I felt as though the students are

accomplishing a great deal by learning new terms, finding them in someone else’s work, and

then using them in their own. Because the students have to write about questions that they still

have and what they want to learn more about regarding this topic, I will get the opportunity to
Butcher 10

show the students examples of how these terms are used as tools in writing on ways other than

only possibly adding entertainment.

C4: Poetry Unit Day 1

This plan demonstrates that I am able to research a text and then apply it to reading and

teaching because of the way that I used the two poems from Rhythm and Resistance by

Christensen and Watson. These two authors did a great deal of research regarding teaching

social justice to students through the form of poetry and used many remarkable authors to add

poems and stories into the text in order to help make the lessons inside more relatable for the

students in classrooms everywhere. I am applying this to my teaching because I think that it will

directly relate to the demographic of students that I will teach in the future assuming I stay in this

area. Reading this book allowed me to use a poem for the lesson that the students will be able to

both connect to and also apply to their lives outside of the classroom.

I rated myself as distinguished for this lesson plan because the students got not only a

lesson about poetry by the end of the class period, but also a valuable life lesson that encourages

them to think about people who they walk by everyday who do not get appreciated. This plan

also has a strong combination of techniques used from professionals and me as a soon to be fresh

graduate. After students have completed this lesson, my hope is that they are not as afraid of the

concept of poetry and view it more as an escape that everyone can use when they are feeling the

way that Jorge felt in their poem.

C5: Short Story Unit Reflection

One of the main reasons that I thought this reflection would work best for the C5

objective is because it focuses on reading. During the unit, the students are reading three

somewhat challenging short stories and there are multiple methods used within to allow the
Butcher 11

students to be able to interpret these stories to the best of their ability. Because a reflection is to

be completed after the plans in the unit are fully written, this piece of work gave me the

opportunity to look at the inner workings of the unit with a clear eye and place my reasoning

behind each activity or story that is placed inside. I thought that my short story unit was strong

as is after first creating it, but after some rereading, I discovered while writing my reflection that

there are some small changes that would benefit the students. Though I thought that this unit

was strong already, I decided to make a few changes because writing the reflection allowed me

to realize how much stronger it could be.

I rated myself as distinguished on this reflection mostly because of the strong

organizational skills within. This paper first speaks of my thought processes behind my

choosing, goes on to discuss my focus points, speaks of how the students should relate to the

stories, the methods that I used within, and then revision ideas. Though I did not decide to

change all of the choices from this paper for the final portfolio, this reflection will be great to

keep for future use in case my plan does not work out how I intend it to. Because of the

simplicity of the paper’s structure, I will be able to skim through this reflection and find alternate

ideas to best benefit students while still keeping the strong core of my plan.

C6: Victim or Villain Essay Assignment Sheet

This assignment sheet works best for the C6 objective because it shows an activity where

students are directly engaging with a text. Though I did not get the opportunity to place this

assignment in a fully completed unit, it is the best assignment sheet that I have written because of

the strong attention to detail and level of student engagement. Essays can be intimidating to

students at all grade levels. Because I was able to break the assignment up into six steps, it will

allow the students to focus on each aspect of the paper as separate in their minds which will be
Butcher 12

less intimidating for them. The text that this lesson is for is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

This text is a classic novel that students would struggle to read without the proper help. The

specific instructions given on this sheet will help the students to improve their writing about

texts.

I rated myself as distinguished on this assignment sheet because of my ability to present

the students with a clear and well-organized group of instructions. The aesthetics of this sheet

will help the students be able to clearly navigate the assignment and easily comprehend the

details of each section. Outside of the looks and setup, this assignment is strong and will allow

the students to really look at the mind of Guy Montag which will encourage them to reread some

sections of the text so that they can best understand him. Students will not be able to complete

this assignment by backing up their argument without knowing the text and where in the story

they can find evidence for their claims.

P1: Short Story Day 5

This day of my short story unit best aligned with the learning objectives within the

lesson. The two learning objectives were focused on combining main ideas into a presentation

and comparing multiple stories and learning experiences. The students accomplish the first one

by using their homework from the previous night. The homework was for the students to finish

writing about how one of the stories discussed a social justice topic. In a group of people who

wrote about the same story as them, the students should combine the main ideas of their writings

onto a large post-it paper that they will later present. The students fulfill the second learning

objective by both listening to each of the groups present and focusing on what they can learn

from this and also communicating with their groups to see how each person viewed the stories

differently.
Butcher 13

I rated this lesson plan as distinguished because presentation days can tend to have too

much emphasis on sitting and listening but giving the students time to meet with their groups

before this helps to eliminate that by allowing the students opportunity to collaborate with one

another. The students are also getting to participate in a Kahoot! at the beginning of class which

will help raise their energy levels hoping to allow for more motivation to discuss the stories in

their groups with each other and ask questions to the groups after they have presented. The

students also have to use their listening skills in order to remember what they learned from each

group for the closing activity.

P2: Romeo and Juliet Day 7

I chose this lesson plan to fulfill the P2 objective because it was one great day where

students learn both individually and collaboratively. In this day, the students are on their second

day of the summative assessment group project. They are writing an article individually but are

allowed to collaborate if they have questions about what they should do or what the best way to

go about something is. At the ending point of their writing on this day, the students get the

opportunity to collaborate by reading the unfinished article of the person sitting on their left and

asking them a question about it. The students are expected to answer this question in their

writing as they finish because if their group members have it, then there is a chance that the rest

of the class will as well during the presentation aspect. Though this is the individual section of

the plan, it is necessary that the students are in a group for support and additional beneficial

writing methods.

I rated myself as distinguished on this day of the Shakespeare unit because the students

are not expected to sit there and write silently the entire class period but are interacting during

their writing. I organized this day into beginning, middle, and end of writing and the students are
Butcher 14

engaging in something separate during each section of the class. The students will be able to

quickly get started on their writing as well because their closing activity on the previous day was

to write down three main points that they want to include in their article. By the time the average

student gets bored of sitting still and writing, they are encouraged to think about where they are

going to add Shakespearean vocabulary and which words they will use. The students are also

not expected to finish the entire article in one sitting, they are given the opportunity to work on

finishing their assignment as homework if they need additional time.

P3: Short Story Unit

I chose to fulfill the P3 objective with a unit rather than a single lesson because of the

broadness of it. My short story unit gives students to opportunity to read multiple engaging texts

that discuss social issues such as class and race. There are a wide variety of assignments such as,

group stations, creative visuals, jigsaw grouping, around the classroom activities, and a

presentation. Because these activities cover multiple learning styles, my hope is that all students

will be able to affectively interact with the three stories that are being read. When the students

are studying about figurative language in combination with the stories, they analytically engage

with the text because during these assignments they are asked to engage with logical reasoning.

The students are asked to consider whether the author means what they are writing figuratively

or realistically. Interpretation is a large part of this unit because the students will most likely not

view everything the same exact way throughout the reading. This is actually crucial in this

lesson because as ninth graders it will teach the students that in English, arguments are allowed

to be made when it comes to viewing pieces or overall meanings of a text differently.

I rated myself as distinguished on this unit because of all of the topics that were covered

within it. There is something for every student in this unit when it comes to learning styles
Butcher 15

which can help them to see that classic short stories are nothing to be intimidated by if you go

about them the right way and allow yourself to use critical thinking skills when you are

interpreting. Though students do not realize it because it is not directly labelled, they are also

learning how to annotate in this lesson which is really important once they get into higher level

English classes. I am proud of this lesson and strongly believe that it will work well in an actual

classroom setting.

P4: Shakespeare Summative Assessment

This assessment sheet best fits the P4 objective because it discusses a summative project

containing two major sections that the students will be expected to complete in order to show

that they have met the required objectives of the unit. In this assessment, the students are to

complete a major writing requirement of an article where they must use a certain amount of

Shakespearean language to show that they have learned both the way that Shakespeare speaks

and what Romeo & Juliet is about. The students are also expected to write a script containing

stage directions and then act this script out with their group members and record it for a

presentation. All of these large projects within an overall project will allow me to measure the

level of student achievement from this unit. If the students are able to adequately complete an

assignment of this size regarding a text, then they must be able to interpret the play itself.

I rated myself as distinguished on this assignment sheet because I included multiple

assignments from the pre-reading activity so that students would be able to put a purpose behind

assignments that may have seemed meaningless before. I was also able to use multiple

differentiated instruction strategies that allowed me to accommodate both for multiple learning

styles and disorders. Overall, though this assignment is lengthy and challenging, I think that the

students will enjoy completing the project. Because I want my students to be experienced with
Butcher 16

project-based learning by accomplishing multiple summative assessments such as this, I am

hoping that they will be used to creating assignments of this level before we reach the Romeo &

Juliet section of the semester.

P5: Romeo & Juliet Day 2

This lesson plan best meets the P5 objective because of the connections made between

the activities, objectives, and state standards. This day of the unit focused on Shakespearean

vocabulary and the state standard mentioned using context, identifying parts of speech,

consulting a dictionary, and checking the initial meaning of the word. The learning objectives

for the lesson that I created were for the students to predict the definition of a word using context

and use technology to find the definition in a dictionary. The weird words worksheet that I used

as my major activity on this day requires the students to use context do guess what the words

mean and look the words up at merriam-webster.com. Merriam-Webster’s website also has

multiple meanings for a word and includes the part of speech for the students to see. This shows

that my activity connects with both the learning objectives and the state standard.

I rated myself as proficient on this day of the unit because I was not as detailed as I

typically am in a lesson plan. Though this day is strong, I did not include an example of the

worksheet. I also used a large amount of time for the students to be completing a worksheet.

Even though it is very involved, uses technology, and requires the students to use a great deal of

critical thinking, I possibly should have the students begin the worksheet in class and finish ti for

homework while they begin a new activity.

P6: Romeo and Juliet Day 1

The Romeo and Juliet Day 1 plan has the highest level of connection between assigned

reading and the lesson plan. The lesson topic is introduction to plays, and in the time span of the
Butcher 17

lesson, the students will learn about stage directions and show their knowledge by completing an

activity and worksheet where they create their own scene. This demonstrates an assigned

reading connection because it is a worksheet from the book Reading Shakespeare with Young

Adults by Mary Ellen Dakin. This was an assigned reading in the class that I completed in order

to find this assignment. Out of all of the assignments in the novel I thought that this one would

work best because I had my summative assignment chosen ahead of time. I thought that this was

the best activity for day 1 as a pre-reading assignment because it gave students the opportunity to

get the feel for how their reading the next week would look.

I rated myself as proficient on this lesson plan because even though the lesson plan is fun

and engaging for the students, I felt that more learning should have occurred. I really enjoyed

writing this plan because I could imagine a group of students enjoying themselves as they

complete it, but the only thing that they are learning on this day is the concept of stage directions,

and they are only writing a small amount as an activating strategy. I know that this will prepare

the students for the play, especially if they have never read a play before, but I feel that I should

have added another activity where the students are required to do a higher level of thinking.

P7: Short Story Day 1

The reason that I chose Short Story Day 1 for this objective even though I had multiple

other lesson plans that could have also fulfilled it was because this day fulfilled it the most. I had

mentioned in an earlier reflection that I thought the short story on this day was the most on-level

for the students because of its length and language. Though the story is written in a way where

Phoenix speaks in a certain dialect, I still think that the students will be able to comprehend what

she is saying and the meaning behind her words and what she encounters. I also think that the

students will be able to feel sorry for her when she is treated poorly by people along the journey.
Butcher 18

The point of this lesson plan is for the students to analyze characters. Phoenix is an interesting

character that the students will enjoy getting to know. The short story is also explicitly

descriptive in terms of what Phoenix looks like and how she dresses which will help the students

ground their thoughts when they are completing the station activities.

I rated myself as distinguished on this plan because it was strong from beginning to end.

It tackles multiple learning styles and allows the students to see directions in detail. This lesson

would be completely usable for multiple readings because of the flexibility of the groups. If the

students are reading a larger text, such as a novel, then I will be able to make small changes to

the groups in order for the students to complete the activities in a way that best fits the reading.

In this day, the students will have effectively learned the material that is needed to help them best

comprehend the short story.

P8: CI 470 Penniman Chart

This chart best fits the P8 objective because it was created to teach in an actual classroom

environment. The Penniman Chart contains two weeks of poetry lessons that were created to

show that poetry is not something that the students should be afraid of. While creating this chart,

I was keeping the classroom of students that I had been observing in mind. There was a lot to

take into consideration such as the routine they are used to, the level that they are on, and the

expectations that I should have for them. Because I did not get the opportunity to teach these

students from day 1 of school, it was sometimes difficult to get them to abide to my teaching

style when I was helping my cooperating teacher with lessons that he made. I tried to make this

plan at a level that was low enough so that the students would not give up and stop working,

which is something that I had seen them do multiple times before. Taking all of this into
Butcher 19

consideration, this plan would have worked well if I would have been given the opportunity to

have a normal semester and teach this unit.

I rated myself as proficient on this unit because I felt as though I did not include any

social justice issues. I want my future classroom to be comfortable with discussing topics such

as this, but because I did not know this class super well, I was not sure that they would be

comfortable with it. I regret not taking that chance with them because it could have been a

beneficial learning experience for both myself and the students. Using Rhythm and Resistance

by Christensen and Watson would have been in my best interest. If I have to create another plan

similar to this at any point, then I will try to step out of my comfort zone and worry less about

just writing something that gets approved and try to challenge myself more.

P9: Fahrenheit 451 Discussion/Debate

This assignment sheet best fits the P9 objective because I have documentation of the idea

from the beginning to the end. Though I did not get to use this in a unit, the changes made in this

debate are worth documenting. This assignment was meant to be used at the halfway point of the

novel. It asks the students to choose a moral question in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and

plan to debate it in a group. My first draft of this assignment was created on a scrap piece of

notebook paper so that I could get all of my ideas down in one place. You can tell that I was still

in the decision-making phase here because of the details on this being marked through after I had

done some time calculations. This became a well written assignment sheet that lists instructions,

group roles, steps, possible points, and other necessary notes. The assignment sheet is in a

formal that the students in my class will be used to seeing based on their other assignments. On

my original sheet, I thought about including the questions that the students could debate on the
Butcher 20

sheet, but I decided not to because I had planned to ask the students what questions they would

like to debate before I gave them my ideas.

I rated myself as distinguished on this because of the visible journey that this idea has

taken. This would be a stellar assignment for the students to complete that they would both

enjoy and learn from. I think that learning from a discussion that requires participation such as

this is beneficial for the students because it requires them to plan based on the material that they

have read so far. Because a debate mirrors a competition, this will cause students to want to

participate even more because of our generations obsession with winning.