Unit Planning
2017-2019
Unit Planning, like lesson planning, requires a strong understanding of curriculum overall and specific expectations. Working at Hillside (under the Alberta curriculum) for 2 years have given me opportunities to develop my lesson plans with an end goal in mind.
Unit plans require looking at a unit and setting a plan to reach an intentional set of goals. It takes a lot of time to go through not only the curriculum, but also the unit of study that the plan is on.
To illustrate, I have placed a link outlining various Literature Circles that took place every Tuesday and Friday until the book was finished. The unit plan is on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The pictures are examples of student work.
Blendspace & Preparing YouTube Video Lessons
November 2020 – Present
In response to the new math curriculum that came in last summer (2020), I have been doing elementary research on both recording software and streaming devices (cameras, microphones, lighting, editing). I have tried a few programs (Screen-cast-o-matic and Davinci Resolve), using digital manipulatives during recording, preparing lesson materials for delivery, and reading up on copyright issues.
I spent some time thinking about helping students meet learning outcomes without actually seeing their work personally (as it meant for viewers around grade 6-8 Ontario-wide). I found Blendspace to be a great platform in providing students with assessments for their own learning: if they feel comfortable with the problems provided on the platform, they have met the learning outcome for the video lesson.
Each Blendspace lesson would contain the video lesson, several assessment assignments, and an exit ticket. Learning about Blendspace was incredibly valuable as it connects to a multitude of different platforms and can be used both virtually, in a blended classroom, and for any student in Ontario (or virtually anyone) to peruse. Below is a link to an exemplar of the assessment materials used in conjunction with the lesson Place Value.