DesignforInstruction

Whenthepreassessmentwasadministered,studentsweretoldthattheywerenot
expectedtoknowtheinformationonthepreassessment.Iletthemknowthatitwasmeantto
helpmeplanforinstructionthatthepretestwouldnotbegraded.However,Ididtellthemthatit
wasimportantforthemtoputinsomeeffortbecauseIwouldbeusingtheirscorestoplanour
nextunit.Studentswereencouragedtomaketheirbestguessesonquestionstowhichtheydid
notknowtheanswers.

PreassessmentResults:
StudentNumber

Score(%)

StudentNumber

Score(%)

1.EB

63

11.KK

77

2.KB

74

12.RL

43

3.TB

89

13.JM

83

4.AB

69

14.KR

86

5.CC

74

15.TS

77

6.RC

71

16.AT

71

7.BD

63

17.CT

83

8.DD

71

18.PW

80

9.JH

71

19.BW

80

10.SH

66

20.SW

46

Averagescore:

72%

AsmentionedintheAssessmentPlannarrative,thepreassessmentthatIdevelopedfor
thisunitalignstolearninggoalsoneandtwoofthisunit.Iretroactivelycreatedtheremaining
learninggoalsbasedontheresultsofthepreassessment.

Whileanalyzingtheresultsofthepreassessment,Iwaspleasantlysurprised.Mostofthe
scoreswerebetween60and80%.Theaveragescoreforthisclasswas72%.Beforetestingthe
students,Iwasawarethattheyhadbeenpreviouslyexposedtosomeofthematerial,butIdidnot
expectthemtodosowellonthispreassessment.Thisbeingsaid,therewerestudentswhodid
notscoresowell.Forexample,studentRLscored43%andstudentSWscored46%onthetest.
ThesetwostudentsareexchangestudentsfromChina,sotheirscoresmaybeattributedtosimply
notbeingexposedtoUSHistoryEducationinthepast.Ilookedmorecloselyatthequestions
thatmoststudentsansweredincorrectlytoseehowthiscouldinfluencemyinstruction.
This,forme,wasasubjectiveexperiencebecausesomeofthequestionsweresimplytied
tocontentthatIthoughtwasnotnecessaryusefulorvitalforthestudentstoknow.Forthemost
part,however,thequestionsthatmanystudentsansweredincorrectlydidtietocontentthatI
believedwouldbebeneficialforthemtolearn.Thisprocesshelpedmetodeveloptherestofthe
learninggoals,aswellasfigureoutwhattypesofcontentIneededtofocusoninthelessons.
Duetothegeneraltrendofstudentsknowingthecontentbeforehand,IfeltIcouldmakeoneof
thetwofollowingdecisions.Thefirstwouldbetodesignthisunittobeshortwithastrongfocus
inthecontentthatstudentslackedinthepreassessment.Thesecondoptionwouldbetoprovide
thestudentswithanopportunityfordeeperthinkingandlearning,whilecoveringthecontentthat
theyprovedneededmoreattentionfromthepreassessment.Ichosethelatter.
Iplannedthisunittofocusonbiggerconceptsandthemestomakemystudentsthink
deeperaboutwhattheyalreadyknowandwilllearnabouttheCivilRightsMovement.Thisis
preciselywhatgavemetheideaforLearningGoal#3,connectingtheirknowledge(newandold)
oftheCivilRightsMovementtotoday.Ifoundoneresourcethatmatchedmyvisionperfectly.

Thisresourcecamefromanorganizationcalled
TeachingTolerance.
Mylessonsforthisunit
wereanadaptationofthecurriculumguide:
ATimeforJustice
.

UseofContextualFactorsAnalysis:

ThroughwritingmyContextualFactorsAnalysis,Ilearnedasignificantamountof

informationsurroundingthebackgroundsandindividualneedsofmystudents.Theresearch
informedmyinstructioninmanyways.Forexample,whenIdiscoveredthatthemajorityof
studentscamefromruralwhitefamilies,Ifeltitwassafetoassumethatthestudentsmayhave
notbeenexposedtomuchcultureotherthantheirown.Thisignitedapassioninmetowards
teachingthesestudentsaunitontheCivilRightsMovement.Somestudentsevenshowedsigns
ofoutwardracialbiaswithinthefirstcoupleofclasses.
AnotherexampleofhowtheContextualFactorsAnalysisinformedmyinstructionisthe
MultipleIntelligencesquizthatIgavetoeachstudent.Learningabouthoweachstudentlearns
bestisbeneficialinnotonlyplanningforwholegroupinstruction,butalsoinknowinghowto
expressthoughtsorideastoeachindividualstudent.Knowingthisinformation,Icanplanto
exploitstudentsstrengthsaswellascreateactivitieswhichcouldfortifytheirweaknesses.

UseofTechnology:
EverylessonofthisunitincorporatesaslideshowwhichIprojecttothefrontofthe
class.Thisisusedtostatethelearningobjectiveandtohostimportantinformationsuchas
contentrelatedtopictures,videos,andnotes.Directionsforassignmentscanbefoundand
printedonboththeslideshowandhandouts.IalsouseGoogleClassroom,CNNStudentNews,

andEmail.Studentsusechromebooksinordertoconductresearchandcompleteassignments,
sothemajorityofthecourseworkthatIcreatepertainstosomesortoftechnology.