Reflection of Lesson

Looking back at this semester and all the work we put into this lesson...I thought everything went really well. I honestly was expecting the class behavior to be a lot worse. Sandra, Meredith, and I really took advantage of the class time we had in the computer lab. I think because we were so focused and determined we got a tremendous amount of work completed. In addition to collaborating in class we also met several times outside of class to work out the details of the lesson.

Our objectives were for students to be able to read, listen, and answer comprehension questions on The Tell Tale Heart. They should be able to write a one minute essay as well as work in groups to create an original project based on the story. As far as assessment, informally we walked around the classroom and had participation rubrics for each student. Our formal assessment was the written one minute essay, the written comprehension questions, and the final project. Of course as we learn more about being future educators nothing goes exactly as you planned it. We executed almost everything we planned and I'm really happy with what we did.

Aside from our objectives, the most important thing we wanted out students to take away from the lesson was a greater appreciation for literature. I think our lesson was really interesting and engaging and I hope we sparked some peoples interest in the life and works of Edgar Allen Poe. What I learned from the students was that you always need to be one step ahead of them. The more prepared you are the better off you are. Realize that not everything is going to be perfect and not everyone is going to like you.

I always say that "there is always room for improvement." If there was anything I would change about the lesson would be the whole notion of detention slips. For the sake of our college class we wanted to be prepared to discipline, but I think in a normal high school classroom that would be a little overkill. Also, I would make sure that we have proper closure of the lesson. All in all, I thought it was an extremely effective lesson!