CEP 800: Lesson Plan Reflection

Course Subject: World History                   Student Body: Summer School class of 20 students.

For module 5 I wrote a lesson plan about introducing my students to the religions of the world.  The major religions that we study are: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism.  I chose to present the information using an application called Nearpod.  With Nearpod I can keep track of who is logged in to the program and viewing the presentation.  I can also view and share student responses.  Thanks to a recent update in the system, students can also view the presentation online by entering the PIN code.   I had to make a few changes to my initial plan because I didn't have all of the necessary resources in my summer school classroom and I also had to work within the limits of Nearpod.  For example I found some wonderful videos that I would like to have used but they were longer than 3 minutes and I don’t have the ability to play sound in my classroom.  The only technology equipment I have access to is my personal iPad, a projector and my teacher computer.  

When I began presenting the information many of my students weren't quite ready for the presentation to start, nor were they ready to start discussing the essential questions.  In the future, I need to remember to prime them with journal questions and open dialog.  Or start with something that will grab their attention.   I like to ask students about stereotypes. I like to address the bias heads on.  In the past the students jump at the chance to speak their mind but this group was fairly quiet.  They claim that they were “still asleep” and that it is hard to get the day started.  For the initial instruction, they worked well and few students responded. 

Once we got into the topic, they started to participate more.  I like to present basic facts about each religion and then ask what they all have in common.  While the concept of comparing 5 religions might seem daunting, they handled it well.  Using the graphic at right, the discovered that all religions have a sacred text, believe in at least one god, have a place of worship, and promote nonviolence.   I then asked the students to select two religions that they would like to learn more about or that they could consider adopting as their own faith.  I instructed them to create a pamphlet comparing the two religions.  Their goal is to decide which one is better and why.   Overall by the end of the day the lesson seemed to be going well. 

The main issue I had was dealing with the students who are taking my class to get ahead in the high school credits as well as the students who have fallen behind and failed the class before.  One-third of my class works faster than the other two-thirds and that has made a difficult dynamic to plan for.  As for the technology component, I would love to have had the ability to show them videos about each religion to introduce some more detailed information and provide some support for the essential questions.  I only had a few students with the ability to interpret and answer the questions. 

I have yet to master the timing of lessons and transition in a summer school class.  I’m also having troubles with the limits being placed on our program by the school we are utilizing.   I don’t have access to everything that I need and as much as I ask, I won’t get anything else.   This lesson as planned would have been at least ten times better when utilized during a regular school year with appropriate access to technology.   This lesson really left me with more questions than answers.   I began to wonder if there is an effective way to use technology to help students master content in a limited amount of time.  Is there an effective way to use technology when all you have access to is a computer and a projector?  My students all have an electronic device of some kind however I’m not allowed to let them use it.  Overall I’m not sure how to reflect on this experience because I feel defeated by the circumstances of the classroom. 

This lesson will defiantly have to be revised further in the future.  However I want to try it again before giving in to the notion that it needs to be completely revamped.  I’d like to add components of website links to expose students to more information and have them research each religion.  Take the students on a digital scavenger hunt within the lesson.