Stage I – Desired Results
Established Goal(s) [all standards/proficiencies]: D2 His. 4 6-8 Analyze multiple factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras D2 His.4 6-8 Explain the multiple causes and effects of events and developments in the past D2 Eco 1.6-8 Explain how economic decisions affect the wellbeing of individuals, business & society
Understanding (s): Students will understand that… The different factors and results of the the Great Depression and the Great Recession Form a working understanding of the factors and causes of the Great Depression and Great Recession	Essential Question(s): What impact did the great depression and recession of 2008 have the lives of Americans economically and socially? How were the experiences across each period similar? How were they different? What factors created the conditions for the great depression and recession of 2008? How were the experiences across each period similar? How were they different? What effect do both of these events have on modern day Americans.
Students will know… The different factors and results of the the Great Depression and the Great Recession Students will be able to… Use research skills to pull ideas and content out of historical and narrative texts. Draw connections from the past to understand the lasting influence of these events on American life

The performance assessment I was considering for my unit of study was a group presentation followed by a group discussion to culminate the unit. The first part of the final assessment I would have the class split into two separate groups; one for the Great Depression and another for the 2008 Recession. Each group would independently research for a set portion of the unit and at the end of the research period the groups would create a presentation and teach the other half of the class about their event. Through presenting I would be able to see how effectively students apply their research skills when drawing information through content. The second part of the assessment would involve a class discussion comparing and contrasting the two events around the basis of our essential questions. The group discussion would allow for me to assess understanding at an individual level of the content. Between both of these assessment strategies I feel as though I could reach a fairly competent judgement on whether or not students reach the proficiencies selected for my unit.

Performance Criterion 7.2: Candidates plan instruction by drawing upon knowledge of learners to meet rigorous learning goals.

Through assessing with a presentation and a group discussion I put a significant level of student achievement in the hands of the students. How effectively students use their research skills and allocate time will reflect their level of achievement. How much effort students put towards their own achievement in this unit will reflect on the class’s achievement as well. Since students become responsible for educating their peers the knowledge they acquire and distribute will be what influences the level of understanding and content acquisition of the class. Thus how effectively students learn and distribute their knowledge will determine if the students can achieve proficiency with the standards outlined in the unit.

At this point in time I would argue my lesson plan is in a state of near infancy. Conceptually I believe that I have an understanding of how to reach this performance criteria within my unit. I would argue that I would know how to go about how to using student knowledge to set and meet learning goals. My next steps would be to put the methods of reaching this performance criteria in more concrete terms and then putting them into practice within a classroom. Through specifying assessment I can more clearly display what specific methods I would use in the classroom to demonstrate that student knowledge is directing the learning goals of the unit. Then through putting those methods into practice I can obtain an higher level of proficiency through the act of real world application.  

Education Philosophy and Defining Literacy

Education Philosophy, Explain Everything

-Using the App Explain Everything we were assigned to create a multimedia presentation explaining our education philosophy. The presentation was to be 3-5 minutes long and required insight on at least two theorists/philosophers.

What is Literacy, Shadow Puppet

-Using the App Shadow Puppet in pairs, we defined what digital literacy is and what various forms of literacy there is within our own content areas.

Our graduates are reflective and contemplative practitioners.

The processes through which these projects were created by defining literacy and my educational philosophy were most definitely reflective and contemplative experiences on my pathway to becoming a future educator. Through defining my educational philosophy I was able to think about how my education philosophy will effect my approaches and motivations when teaching. The process made me reevaluate my motivations for teaching and what I’d like to accomplish as a future educator.

Performance Criterion 4.1: Candidates accurately communicate central concepts of the discipline.

Through defining literacy within history with the Shadow Puppet presentation I was able to identify some of the skills required of students within my content area. Thus forming a further understanding of what approaches to take in the classroom to guide students to become proficient and literate historians. Through the explain everything presentation on my education philosophy I was able to identify and explore some of the concepts related to being an educator in general. Allowing me to explore questions such as what are my goals and intentions as an educator, what approaches will I take when presenting an idea or concept or what approaches can be taken to help students discover and learn on their own tuition.

If the goal of education is to give individuals the skill sets to succeed within their respective society, than curriculum is the approach to providing those skill sets to students and literacy is the level of comprehension in each respective skill set. Through defining my education philosophy and defining what literacy means within my content area, I was able to further my understanding of the connection between literacy and curriculum. Within Social Studies research skills and the ability to contextualize content is part of being a literate individual in the field. Thus curriculum is the approach through which educators take to provide to provide those skill sets. Defining the specific literacy within my content area helped me to further refine ways to approach teaching. By forming a working understanding of what it means to be proficient in a skill set one can begin to form objective goals for their students to reach that proficiency. For example, through creating my presentation on the different forms of literacy within history I was able to further conceptualize curriculum forming questions within the field. Through doing so I was also coming to the realization that curriculum is built around objective literacy goals and the approaches through which to obtain those goals.  

When researching Critical Theory/Reconstructionism one specific quote kept coming into mind by Albert Einstein “No problem can be solved by the same level of consciousness that created it.” I found that quote to be congruent with the themes of Critical Theory. Through researching my education philosophy I reaffirmed my personal held belief that teaching is a necessary good for a society to be prepared to carry on in an ever more complex world.