Ximena Mejia Gonzalez

PSIII
Weekly Reflection

Week Seven was all about the Adjustment Process. We began looking at World War One
on Thursday. We watched this fantastic video about the 4 M.A.I.N Causes of WWI. While
watching the video, I asked students to write down some of their 'AHA Moments" (things they
found interesting." The short video is a wonderful video and a great visual for students to
visualize the complicated factors that sparked the war. However, the video was 23 minutes
long; it might have been too long, with a lot of information being thrown at them in a short
time. While students were able to write some stuff down, it took us a little more time to be able
to get the main themes of the video. Which is fine, but I began to feel like students were feeling
a little under-stimulated and checked out. For the next lesson, I wanted to provide them with
the opportunity to guide their own learning and, in shorter intervals, to break up the
information. I created "Battle Stations," where students were able to explore some of the
battles of WWI. Students had the option to watch a short video or read an article (some
students prefer to read and other students prefer watching videos). Additionally, students had
the option to explore the battles in a 1-2-3 manner (individually, with a partner, or with two
partners). I also gave students a chart to guide their learning. All of this was in an effort to
accommodate all learners in the classroom. For Period 3, this worked fantastically! Students
loved the Battle Stations, and I loved the conversations we had while I was walking around.
However, for period 4, students were super excited for the first two stations, but by the third
station, students lost their momentum. It could have been the fact that it was the end of the
day and students were tired after a long day at school. The day after, I had a conversation with
Catherine regarding the pace of the class, and she suggested that I cut out some of the details
around the First World War and focused on the overall effect it had on the world and how it's
set up the tensions that caused World War Two. I had to change and modify some of my
lessons in order to make these adjustments. I decided to merge the strategies of the past two
days to attempt to create an engaging learning experience for the students. I kept the battle
station structure but focused on 4 major events for the day. However, I approached as a guided
lesson, I chose three videos (7 minutes max), and we discussed them together. I wrote down
the major ideas on the board, and we discussed the details together. This helped students
understand the things I wanted them to understand from the video and created some great
discussion. During period 3, I began the conversation about the Russian Revolution in a way
that did not generate the discussion and conversation I wanted. So, for period 4, I began asking
students what they thought the word revolution was and what were the things that came to
mind when I said the word revolution. Students started to tell me about the French Revolution
(which we studied before in class) and telling me how people were hungry and angry with the
way the government ran the country. I then asked them, "keeping all of that in mind, what do
you think happened during the Russian Revolution?". This sparked some great conversations,
and students were able to generate some great answers! Every day is a new learning
opportunity and I love that I have both classes back to back (and that they flip) so I am able to
apply the Adjustment process evenly!
 Additionally, I took your advice from last week reflections, and I had conversations with
my students about missing assignments and the upcoming report card date. I have them half of
the period to get assignments done. Like you mentioned students are overwhelmed and most
of my students work or have afterschool responsibilities, so in class time to works was greatly
appreciated it. However, I created new expectation. I told my students that since they had half
of the period to work, they needed to turn in at least one assignment. It worked! Students took
advantage of the time and turned in assignments! Adding that expectation to the worked
period really helped getting those assignments in, so thank you 