Mini-lesson Activities

Rationale:  As a beginning teacher, you’ll be expected to prepare lessons for your students, and this assignment will give you practice for that. Analyzing the lesson in terms of the teaching and learning theories we’ve been studying will help you understand why a particular lesson works (or doesn’t) and will demonstrate your familiarity with the theories we’ve been discussing.  Reflection is an essential part of becoming an active teacher-researcher, and again this assignments gives you practice to that end.  A crucial part of participating in a workshop is the mini-lesson.  Effective workshop classes typically include relevant mini-lessons that help everyone do what they’re doing better.  In our case, we’ve all done a mini-lesson on some form of technology presented in the Kadjer and Hicks texts.  Now you will assess your own needs for reading and writing and propose another mini-lesson you can present to the class.  
       
The mini-lesson assignment:  You will need to plan at least one more mini-lesson for about 10 minutes of class time.  You’ll lead the rest of the class through the lesson, or as much of it as you’d like to, just as you would in a regular classroom. You’ll also get some feedback from me and your “students” from the teaching demo.
       
In order to meet the target goals for the minilesson, you should:

• plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology        
• implement curriculum plans that include methods and strategies for applying technology to maximize student learning    
• apply technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies     create an inclusive and supportive learning environment in which all students can engage in learning            
• use practices designed to assist students in developing habits of critical thinking and judgment examine and select resources for instruction such as textbooks, other print materials, videos, films, records, and software, appropriate for supporting the teaching of ELA
• align curriculum goals and teaching strategies with the organization of classroom         environments and learning experiences to promote whole-class, small-group, and individual work
• integrate interdisciplinary teaching strategies and materials into the teaching and learning process for students            
• engage students in critical analysis of different media and communications technologies.
• thoroughly analyze the lesson(s) by articulating the pedagogical theories that underpin the lesson
• revise plans based on reflection and feedback            
• write the lesson(s) so that a qualified substitute could carry out the lesson(s).