CANDIDATE WORK SAMPLE

MICHAEL FAUST

BUTLER UNIVERSITY - COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

111 N. Harrison Avenue, Kirkwood, MO 63122

314-616-9362 | mfaust@butler.edu | michaelfaust.weebly.com
CONTEXTUAL FACTORS

PIKE HIGH SCHOOL

Pike High School is an urban school in Marion County,
Indiana.

Currently, enrollment stands at 3,306 with a Student-

to-Teacher ratio of 18:1.

Pike students have recently increased their graduation

rate, now at 94%.

Pike emphasizes both college and career readiness,

with over 61% of students enrolled in career or
technical program.

The Social Studies department is made up of 16

teachers across all 6 social studies disciplines.

I had the pleasure of working with Mr. Melvin Lee, a 9th

grade World History Teacher at Pike.

The following information comes from the unit titled

"The Enlightenment & Revolution" in our World History
II class (1300 CE - Present Day).

SURVEY OF STUDENT STRENGTHS

Strengths: Areas for Potential Growth:
Utilizing maps Group work
Simulations Computer skills
Individual inquiry Small group discussion
Connecting current Detecting bias and
events reliability of sources
UNIT PLAN & OVERVIEW
"The Enlightenment & Revolution"
INDIANA WORLD HISTORY STANDARD 5.2 INDIANA WORLD HISTORY STANDARD 5.3
Explain the key ideas of the Enlightenment in Examine the key causes, events, and consequences of
European history and describe its impact upon the French Revolution as well as the rise and fall of
political and religious thought and culture in Napoleon.
Europe and the Americas
including the foundation LONG-RANGE GOAL:
 of American government. Describe what contributions Enlightenment Philosophes made that
affected social and political change in the modern world

BACKWARD
BIG IDEAS:
MAP OF Reason, philosophy, politics, art, architecture, music, revolution,
THE UNIT monarchy, democracy, constitutional amendments, independence

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
How can people affect change by only using their words? How do we see
the Enlightenment today? How are modern political revolutions connected?

ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS:
Enlightenment effects on politics and the criminal justice system in
America, John Locke's influence on the American and French Revolutions

STUDENT ACTIVITIES:
Graphic Organization, Stations, Baseball/Trading Cards, Art & Music
Analysis, Simulation, Write-to-Learn, Create-Your-Own Booklet

ASSESSMENTS:
Formative- observations, participation in class discussion, listening to
conversations, homework checks, exit slips
Summative- Enlightenment Thinker Baseball/Trading Card, "French
Revolution for Dummies" Booklet

WHY TEACH THIS LESSON?

The Enlightenment may be the single-most influential revolution of the modern era, as almost all
democracies around the world model themselves after these ideas in some way. The French and
American Revolutions include some of the most obvious outcomes of this time period.
ASSESSMENT PLAN
Pre-Instruction
OUTLINE OF PRE-UNIT DISCUSSION PRE-INSTRUCTION
Support for accessing previous understandings ASSESSMENTS USED TO
comes from the introduction to the topic at the MEASURE LEARNING:
beginning of the lesson. Formative: 
          • Teacher observation of
The teacher should ask the following questions in               participation in discussion
order to stimulate student thought and interest:            • Homework check
     • What are the most important documents in the
         United States?
     • How can words affect change?

During Instruction
ASSESSMENTS USED DURING Leading a class discussion at the beginning
LESSON 1- THE ENLIGHTENMENT of a lesson
Enlightenment Thinker Chart & Creative Assessment INSTRUCTION TO
(Baseball/Trading Card or Newspaper Ad) MEASURE LEARNING:
Formative: 
LESSON 2- THE ENLIGHTENMENT SPREADS           • Teacher observation
Completion Check & Feedback           • Homework check/feedback
          • Listening to conversations
LESSON 3- THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION           • Checks for understanding
Group Declaration of Independence / Letter  Summative:
          • Baseball/Trading Card &
LESSON 4- THE FRENCH REVOLUTION               Newspaper Ad
French Revolution for Dummies Booklet           • Group write
          • Project: student-created
              booklet
A student's "Baseball Card" of Enlightenment

Post-Instruction  Philosophe Mary Wollstonecraft

FEEDBACK TO STUDENTS POST-INSTRUCTION

It is imperative that students receive feedback each FEEDBACK GIVEN TO
and every time they submit something for a grade. In STUDENTS TO ASSIST IN
this lesson, I strived to give meaningful comments FUTURE LEARNING:
that allowed students to not only recognize the good
          • Comments directly on
work they did, but also to find ways to turn their
              assignments
good work into great work.
          • Comments on a separate
              sheet of paper:
While I give students feedback, I also take note of
                   •  General Sentiment
the general comments among all of their work. This
                   • "How you succeeded"
allows me to inform my next lesson, in which I may
                   • "How to challenge
have to reteach or skip content based upon the
                        yourself"
general level of mastery of the class.
The comments on a separate sheet of paper
given to a student to inform their future
learning
SAMPLE LESSON PLANS
Lesson 1: Introduction to the Enlightenment
Strong action verbs, such as Bloom's Verbs, are more often measurable through
assessment. When creating learning objectives first, we know how to address content
with students, giving us the platform to engage students deeply with objectives in mind.

The National Council

for the Social Studies
provides 10 thematic
standards across grades
6-12. While these do
not address content as
state standards do, they
ensure that teachers
prepare lessons with
content literacy in mind.

Specifying IEP/ILP/504
Plan accommodations
in backward-designed
lesson plans allows for
the lesson to be tailored
to all students, rather
than to only the
"average" student.
Additionally, outlining
the specific
accommodation from
the plan helps with
understanding what
needs to be explicitly
addressed with the
student(s) in the lesson.
SAMPLE LESSON PLANS
Lesson 1: Introduction to the Enlightenment
The first and last 2
minutes of class look the
same across all periods.
This is done to establish
a routine for students so
they feel comfortable
via consistency in the
classroom each day.

Planning for content

literacy goes beyond the
NCSS standards, it also
goes into the learning
activities and the
intended goals of them.
Text-text/world/self
connections are critical
in social studies.

Adjusting to feedback
from others and
students is imperative if
I want to improve. In this
section, I describe how I
began to realize that I
was the sole source of
answers for students.
Instead, I needed to
have students rely on
each other and their
resources, promoting
social learning as well as
a critical social studies
skill.
SAMPLE LESSON PLANS
Lesson 1: Introduction to the Enlightenment

The moments between

classes is a great
opportunity to build
teacher-student
relationships,. I
emphasize this in the
lesson plan to continually
remind myself to be
available to students for
content-based and
personal questions and
comments.

Varying amounts of time

spent on work is critical
to retain student
engagement across class
periods. Last class,
students were working
for 45 minutes on an
assignment, whereas
this class students will
split 20 and 25 minutes
on different
assignments.
SAMPLE LESSON PLANS
Lesson 1: Introduction to the Enlightenment

As described above,
good assessment is
critical to good
teaching. Whether
they be summative or
formative,
assessments inform us
of student growth and
learning, as well as
provide feedback as to
what our next
instructional decisions
should be.

Preparing for possible outcomes of instruction is critical to making

informed "on-the-fly" decisions during a lesson. In this example,
knowing that the content may be difficult for students allows me
to brainstorm options of how to re-address this in a different way,
better aiding and supporting student understanding.
SAMPLE LESSON PLANS
Lesson 2: The Enlightenment Spreads

Standard indicators
outline the specific
content that should be
covered throughout a
curriculum. Using these
in a backward-designed
lesson allows for the
creation of content
objectives relative to
the goals of the unit and
the institution with
which a school is
affiliated.

By using stations, whether virtual or in the

classroom, differentiation is able to be used easily
and effectively. Students' interests can be piqued in
some way through the four topics, and various
learning styles can even be accounted for (aural
through music, visual through architecture, etc.).
SAMPLE LESSON PLANS
Lesson 2: The Enlightenment Spreads
Asking questions such as "who,
what, when, where, and how" are
quick and easy ways to encourage
student engagement. While it is
not higher-order thinking in itself,
it gives students easy "wins" in the
classroom, after which they will be
more willing to take chances on
higher-order thinking questions
such as "why?"
Current events are critical to a
social studies classroom, as
they allow students to see the
text-self and text-world
connections in their everyday
lives. All aspects of social
studies are interconnected and
often repeated, making it easy
for students to remain
engaged in the content both in
and outside of the classroom.
SAMPLE LESSON PLANS
Lesson 2: The Enlightenment Spreads

Considering classroom
management is one of
the most important
parts to lesson
planning. With each
learning activity
presents a new
challenge to
management, thus
planning for those
obstacles is critical to
being fully prepared
for a lesson.

Often times, brief

conversations at the
end of class allow for a
quick formative
assessment, as well as
provide an opportunity
for the student and
teacher to conference
and connect about the
content in ways that
circulation and whole-
class instruction
cannot provide.
SAMPLE LESSON PLANS
Lesson 2: The Enlightenment Spreads
Addressing multiple levels of higher
order thinking should be done in
each lesson. Though it can be difficult
to stay on pace with a curriculum
map and address all levels of higher
order thinking in a single lesson, it
should be the goal to do just that.
Deeper critical thinking, when paired
with well-planned instructional
methods and activities, allows for
higher content literacy and
engagement across a unit.
Lessons do not exist in a vacuum.
Planning lessons together in a
sequence is mandatory to any well-
designed unit. While tweaks will
always be necessary and decisions
made "on-the-fly," proper sequential
planning leads to good instruction
and great learning opportunities for
students.
INSTRUCTIONAL
IMPACT
WHAT STUDENTS WERE ABLE TO DO
Overall, students did an incredible job explaining the
role major philosophes played during the
enlightenment. They were able to take this (in their
chart) and apply it to modern culture through music,
art, and architecture, as well as to political
revolutions such as the French and American
Revolutions. They met the long-range goal of
"Describe what contributions Enlightenment
Philosophes made that affected social and political
change in the modern world," measured through the
assessments outlined above.
Students were able to accurately define the
WHAT STUDENTS NEED MORE SUPPORT IN Enlightenment from class discussion, as well as
attribute major philosophical beliefs to the proper
As shown in one of the images to the right, students thinkers of the era.

need more support in analyzing primary sources.

While their overall understanding was good and
adequately measured, they struggled with this
essential social studies skills. Thus, in the following
unit, I was sure to have primary sources for students
to analyze both as a class and individually. They
possessed some background knowledge on the skill,
but their understanding and knowledge of the skill
Students overall did well with the reading, but some
needed to be scaffolded for a better synthesis of struggled with analyzing primary sources. This
documents. became a focus over the next unit as a result

REFLECTION
MY JOURNEY IS ONLY JUST BEGINNING
My experience at Pike High School showed me that I can
be an engaging teacher and role model in a community far
different from my own. I was able to find ways to relate to
students that I would have never thought possible before
my 8 weeks of student teaching. But, it would not be
possible without the help of my professors (Dr. Adams
pictured in the right image), cooperating mentor (Mr. Lee
pictured in the left image along with our 5th-period class),
family, and friends. The support I have received from all
has left a deep impact on me, one which I will never
forget. I have learned the "science" and the "art" of being
a teacher from them, but recognize that I have many
learning experiences ahead of me. To all those who have
helped me along the way: THANK YOU, and I hope to
make you proud and show that your work on me paid off!