Darryl Plummer Post Lesson Reflection (8 November 2013) 1. To what extent were lesson objectives achieved?

(Utilize assessment data to justify your level of achievement) Daily Objectives: Students will be able to (SWBAT) Relate to the reasons a region or people might want to separate from their existing political structure Vote on the issue at hand in a way that benefits them most Defend their decision to vote the way they did Evaluate how the activity is analogous to real world politics Debate their plan of action with peers

After students started working on the Basque persuasive paragraph assignment (this is 5 days later) one of them shouted out Mr. Plummer, youre a genius! On asking why, she said the activity now made so much sense and really gave her a perspective on how to write her paragraph. I think students really excelled at this activity. At each step of the process, I gave students time to discuss their course of action with each other, with the opposition, and with me. Also, at each step of the process, I had each side explain to me why they were doing what they were and what they were feeling. My assessment was based on observation of the debate between students and on questions I asked. There was only 1 student who chose not to participate, but those who did all had comments, critiques, and answers that demonstrated they were getting the objectives. One student, when asked why she chose to secede from their country even though the other country had treated her side as fairly as they could said I dont want to have to rely on them to make the fair choice, I want to be able to make it myself. Everyone on her side nodded in agreement and I thought that comment really demonstrated mastery of objective 1, 2, and 3. At the end, I asked the students point blank why they thought we did this activity. Immediately 5 hands went up and the person I called on said Its just like NE Colorado wanting to leave Colorado. They dont feel they are properly represented in the Colorado government. The class emphatically agreed. To me, this indicates understanding of objective 4. For objective 5, I think most students were able to do this successfully, but this was the weakest level of understanding for the class. A few students devolved into name calling and throwing around accusations at each other rather than debating the issue at hand. I corrected them, but I will have to see from a different activity if they can achieve objective 5.

Darryl Plummer 2. What changes, omissions, or additions to the lesson would you make if you were to teach again? I would lay out the proper way to debate an issue. I would specifically state that students were not to attack each other personally but rather attack the evidence. Although most students did this well, there were a few that made personal attacks and let their emotions take over. 3. What do you envision for the next lesson? (continued practice, reteach content, etc) I will be able to use this activity to talk about the Basque country (a case study) and I will be able to pull on lessons from this activity. At some point in the future, Id like to set up another debate, but not in this unit.