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be a hindrance on my students educations. But I feel there is tangible hope for this, because I suspect
that it is directly linked to my limited experience with students and so a lack of first-hand feedback that
really only comes from authentic real-world experiences. I was planning lessons for something I had
never taught before for an audience I did not know and do not yet fully understand. As the days and
lessons of my unit progressed, speculation turned into skepticism and I felt uncertain as to where I should
take the unit each consecutive day. With my upcoming student teaching placement, I believe I will gain
the experience I need to get beyond this stifling aspect, and be able to concentrate my self-critical
tendencies into something entirely positive.
A major weakness of my unit plan is that I do not believe it demonstrates the scope of my
understanding of various methods and forms of assessment. During my planning as well as the drafting
of my lessons, I sought desperately to find and incorporate different activities that would allow for a range
of student assessment in their understandings both of the theory of Deconstruction as well as of the texts
they would be reading. Not wanting to divide the unit into two entirely distinct components the texts
and the critical theory, I decided it best to focus on the theory and utilize the texts as the tool by which to
explore it in hopes that in doing so the texts themselves would also be taught concurrently though through
the lens of Deconstruction. Instruction in critical theory is not an element of most secondary education,
and so is neither a part of secondary education training. Assessment tools taught to new teacher
candidates are focused around the demands of meeting local, state, and federal education standards of
which critical theory is not an express component. This greatly restricted my ability to demonstrate my
understanding of assessment as I was restricted to using largely real-time assessment during in-class
discussion as my major means of gauging student understanding. I had not anticipated this prior to
choosing my unit focus and beginning the unit plan, whereas had I been conscious of this limitation I
would most definitely have opted for a different theme and concept for my unit plan. But in this I feel
there is also a good strength, as this plan does demonstrate what I am capable of doing when I am
constrained in my options by the nature of the subject at hand. I think that despite not showcasing my
range as a teacher, it does serve well as a demonstration of my understanding of and ability to design a
class focused on inquiry-based learning. This is potentially highly valuable, as it is not (in my
experience) a method of teaching employed by conventional teachers and helps to reinforce my
philosophical ideals as to what teaching and education are all about namely, the highly individualized
and personal growth and development of the student.
In the end, although I feel I can do better and that my own decision as to the topic of my unit
significantly limited my ability to demonstrate the full scope of my skills and understanding of
pedagogical methods, I am proud of the unit plan I have created. If compared to those of other teachers at
this stage of their educations and careers, I have no doubt that it will stand out as unique, and a
respectable and quality attempt at a unquestionably ambitious topic of instruction. This assignment was a
true test of my abilities as well as of my resourcefulness and my personal resolve and commitment to
personal and professional improvement. I have learned much over the course of completing it too
much, in fact, to discuss here in its entirety, and (although entirely spent) I am nothing but grateful for the
experience. As I now take some time to relax and ready myself for the forthcoming semester and my
student teaching placement and all it will require of me, I do so with a deep sense of calm. I know that I
still have much to learn, and that the next several months will test me in ways I am yet able to even
conceive of; but despite this, I truly feel that I am well prepared and I am confident in my ability to meet
the challenges of student teaching head-on. This has been a taxing, but invaluably formative experience and I am certain I am all the better for it.