Greg Coode

MTV Presentation Reflection

I feel as though my lesson was very effective. I chose a topic that was controversial so

there would be different perspectives, but also one that everyone would have some background

knowledge on. I also think I did a good job of assigning which side each person would represent

so that both sides would feel equally represented and it would challenge everyone to possibly

represent a point of view that they didn’t necessarily agree with. I could easily use my lesson for

a variety of social studies topics. It could help to expand why some people thought the way that

they did and allow for students to critically think about things rather than just take the side that is

the “right” side in history. If I had to teach my lesson again, I would be more cognizant of my

proximity to everyone. I tended to gravitate towards whoever was talking and almost made it a

one-on-one conversation. If I could go back, I would take a step back and make it so the person

felt like they were talking to the class rather than alienating them.

I choose the explanation game as another strategy that I could model in my classroom. I

think it would be a good idea to play a speech from history and have the students think about the

meaning behind it. One of the speeches that I could use would be Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I

have a dream.” I would be able to asses students learning by having the students write down

what they think the speech is about and then to have them back up their claim with evidence

from the speech. This would show critical thinking skills as well as make sure that they were

paying attention during this skill. I could also walk around while they were talking in small

groups and listen to the conversations being had to make sure that they were relevant and on

topic.