Reflection piece
Next opportunity to execute lesson:
Team building activity – took place in the boardroom. Students sat back to back. One student created a drawing of what the other student described. They had 5 index cards with shapes: Triangle, circle, square, field goal post, stop sign. The students completed the activity much sooner than I anticipated. Based on this, I made-up part II on the fly: without your partner looking draw 5 more shapes and do the same activity (sit back to back, describe, etc.). As a result of the follow-up questions with the class, it was determined that the student who was describing the picture — for example, the circle — they did not know how to describe it without saying, “Draw a circle.” I found this to be frustrating at first, but it was actually a teachable moment. We were able to create a list of ways to describe how we could communicate drawing a circle without actually giving away the shape. The students completed a worksheet at the end of the activity that proved they learned following instructions and giving feedback are important to effective communication. Sidebar: I was particularly impressed with one group. The student describing her 5 index cards was actually each letter of the student’s name who was drawing. I thought this was so creative. It proves that when you let students take ownership of their education positive things result and this was no exception.
Webquest – this was a group activity. It was comprised of several components that required the students to answer questions based on researching the Malaysian Content Code. To modify this in the future, I would set up the questions in a graphic organizer while still holding the student accountable for using complete sentences and proper grammar. The students surpassed the benchmark for the webquest. Our goal was to have 80% of the students pass with 80% or better, and actually I had four groups pass with a 92% or better and only 1 group that did not meet the requirement based on turning it in late. The webquest provided a springboard to the Animoto commercial project.
Commercial project – students created two 30-second commercials: Malaysian and American. I collected the links to the commercials and constructed an evaluation sheet. We watched the commercials as a group. The students were able to use the evaluation sheet to conduct a peer-evaluation to determine if the following criteria was met: Product placement, lifestyle graphic, logo, and 30-seconds. The students thoroughly enjoyed watching their peer’s commercials; and I thoroughly enjoyed their responses to their peer’s commercials. The students were picking up on the fact that “this was missing” or “you could have done this to meet that requirement” and “I can show you how I did that”. For the students who turned their work in late, they were anxious about showing their commercials. In fact, one student wanted her commercial evaluated by her peers. Peer evaluation turned out to a positive contribution to the class. In fact, at the end of the week when I did a reflection exercise, I asked the students what activity meant the most to them and the majority wrote the commercials.
As a result of some of the first commercials turned-in, it was obvious that I did not clearly explain what is product placement. To better illustrate this, I found a YouTube video. The students watched it once, and then the second time through I had them write down each product they saw. We shared the results as a class. This lead to students going one-step further in creating their images for the commercial. I observed students taking images from Google and pasting them into Power Point. Students were manipulating graphics to create pictures since they were unable to find what they were looking for. I thought this strategy was awesome — it made me very proud!
Textbook packets – these assisted the students in their reading/comprehending of the chapter. Students completed chapter 8.1 and turned-in their packet for 30 points; likewise, students completed 8.2 and turned-in their packet for 30 points. We reviewed the packets as a class to ensure the students recorded the correct answers. 80% of students earned a 25/30 in this exercise, which indicates that the activity was successful.
The Michelle Obama speech provided students with two formative assessments. First, they read and annotated the speech. They filled in a graphic organizer that assisted them with organizing the important events and provide support for each. As well, they had to indicate how the speech relates to marketing. To follow-up students were to log-in to Schoology and take a 50-point quiz. The first formative assessment benchmark was met: 80% of students earned 20/25 on the graphic organizer which indicated that students were able to pick out the significant points of the speech. As well, 80% of students passed the quiz which was an indication that they retained the information. The information from the speech was linked (it was linkable) to information from the chapter and packets, which ultimately enabled students to have a clear example of textbook theory and applied it to a real-world setting.
The Frayer Model vocabulary exercise — we turned off the computers for this activity. Students were to use poster board, markers, scissors and pictures from a magazine to complete the exercise with a partner. The poster board was split into quadrants: Word, definition, example and facts/characteristics. Ultimately, this was a jigsaw activity as each think-pair-share was to complete their assigned vocab word and once completed, we presented the byproducts to the class and filled out a worksheet which resulted in a jigsaw effect because at the end of the activity everyone pieced together the terms, definitions, pictures and facts/characteristics. Hearing, seeing, and recording exposed the students to multiple variations which, based on the model, should increase critical thinking.
