Taylor Mullen

Professor Haddy

RDG 323

Written Reflection Module 2

10 October 2020
 How can I plan and design instruction so students will actively engage in literacy and

discipline specific activities?

When planning and designing instruction, we as teachers, make sure to implement

strategies that give the students the opportunity to engage and achieve in the classroom. Many

strategies to get students involved can include connecting the content to real-life experiences,

allowing students to complete projects, and even participating in discussions where they can

share and gather new ideas. In order to motivate students to learn, I want to provide ways for

students to feel comfortable with the content being taught. The article Student Motivation,

Engagement, and Achievement suggest that “In some cases, it is the classroom culture that

prompts or supports reluctant readers and writers to want to engage with literacy tasks, resulting

in their being more open to instruction” (Dukes, Irvin, and Meltzer). Establishing a school

culture is important for getting a student into being a part of the educational backdrop.

As a teacher, it is my job to ensure that there is excitement in the classroom. As a result,

students will be able to learn better and become more committed to the learning experience.

When it comes to engaging students into a deeper level of learning, there are a few steps to

follow into that process. For instance, we must provide learning goals that act as a way for

students to see what they can do and how they will be knowledgeable of the objectives and

learning content in the end. Another thing to take into consideration is the idea of developing a

collaborative cultural setting in the classroom. This justifies a social learning process that allows

the use of flexible, collaborative groups, Socratic Seminars, academic discussions, and even

online experts. Teachers need to provide tools and resources that allow more access to the

learning process that demonstrate a student’s learning and skills. Deeper learning is effective as
it applies to student’s creating opportunities for themselves and allowing them to think critically,

develop self-management, and lastly, master the academic content.

Besides implementing deeper learning, I want to provide effective assessments that

challenge a student’s abilities and skills. For example, in the article Assessments That Highlight

Strengths and Challenges, the authors claim “In order for students to know what to do next, to

set goals, and to learn from the assessment itself, an assessment system must be multifaceted”

(Fisher and Frey, 7). The different types of assessment that I can use, determines what students

are learning and what information they are interpreting. In many ways, teachers can utilize tools,

such as Pear deck, Wazelet, Padlet, Kahoot, and/or Mentimeter. Within these platforms, students

are periodically demonstrating their knowledge of a given topic and this allows teachers to check

for understanding overall. Students are learning and growing, as I can give live assignments to

students, which allows different styles and adjustments to the lessons if need be.

Another important aspect of teaching is to provide clear methods of learning through the

use of content and language objectives. In the video, What Are Content and Language

Objectives? Karen Lewis explains the concepts of student interaction and how they will “develop

language skills they need to accomplish the goals of the lesson and communicate about content

using academic language” (youtube.com). This specific tool is helpful on many occasions

especially when it comes to creating lesson plans for students. In Language Arts, I can create

objectives that are used as a checking point for students. For example, I might say “Today,

students will analyze a poem and develop an understanding of the author’s purpose.” Within this

type of learning objective, students get a sense of what they will learn and how they can develop

skills relating to thinking and analyzing a given text. In addition, there are frameworks for

planning instruction as well. When discussing disciplinary instruction, teachers use a structure
called B-D-A. In my classroom, I can construct a lesson that implements an activity that

strengthens students’ skills before, during, and after they read a specific text. So, if I am asking

the students to read and analyze a poem, some of the methods I would use refers to establishing

prior knowledge, actively responding to the reading, and lastly, elaborating ideas that relate to

what the author is addressing.

 References

ASCD Guest Blogger. Dimensions of Deep Learning: Levels of Engagement and Learning.

Retrieved 10 October 2020.

https://inservice.ascd.org/dimensions-of-deep-learning-levels-of-engagement-and-

learning/

Dukes, M. S., Irvin, J. L., and Meltzer, J. Student Motivation, Engagement, and

Achievement. Retrieved 10 October 2020.

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/107034/chapters/Student-Motivation,-

Engagement,-and-Achievement.aspx

Fisher, Douglas, and Nancy Frey. Assessments that Highlight Strengths and Challenges.

Retrieved 10 October 2020.

https://secondaryliteracies.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/assessments-strengths-

challenges.pdf

Lewis, Karen. What Are Content and Language Objectives? Retrieved 10 October 2020.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfIheht9hGw&feature=emb_logo