Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist Campaign Ad Power Point Activity
Many students wondered about when they were going to be able to use the computer labs and iPads during the semester. The development of the artifact was to allow students to express their ideas and views on the early debates of ratifying the U.S. Constitution and allow students the chance to utilize their technology skills and their creativity through a formative assessment. The activity was to allow students to create a political campaign ad power point to persuade other to favor either the Federalist or Anti-Federalists. Today, students are well-versed, value, and are submerged in a society full of technology. This activity allows students to use their prior knowledge of campaign ads and the content learned about the ratification debate of the U.S. constitution to create their own campaign ad. Students are also able to show off their skills with power point and show off their creativity skills as well as their computer graphic or internet research skills through the use of animations, diagrams, and pictures in their presentations. Students were excited to be able to use the computer lab and show off their talents, skills, and their learning with the power point presentations. The activity also allowed students a chance to improve upon their content knowledge by working with the content and having to apply their own views and thinking to relate to the content. The power point presentations allowed students to bring their skills to the classroom and fill the classroom with their own learning through the presentation of their campaign ads.
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Student Choice Activity
The development of the artifact was in response to student surveys that my mentor teacher and I had employed to the students to give feedback about our teaching and the classroom environment. Many students reminded me that they were visual learners or kinesthetic learners and that I wasn’t doing enough since I had been doing too much of questioning and lecture. The student feedback reminded me that there is a very diverse group of learners in the classroom and many students have their own talents and skills that they can bring to the classroom. Some students liked to work alone, while others liked to work together as a group. In order to improve my teaching and improve student engagement in the classroom, I created a lesson based on student choice. Students were allowed to choose between working individually or in a group and choose between creating a piece of artwork, a poem, a rap/song, an essay, or a skit to demonstrate their understanding of content the class was working on. The students were allowed to choose formative assessment that they felt they would be strongest at or most interested in. If students chose to work in cooperative learning groups, student each had to have a job and was able to choose a job where they felt their talents and skills could shine. Students would also present and share their project, information, and the connections they made with the content to the class. Students were engaged and highly excited about the chance to choose and show off their ability to tie their interests and skills to their academics.
Student Extracurricular Activities
I have found that the best way to become part of the community and learn about student values, interests, and talents is by attending student extracurricular activities. Throughout my year long internship I have helped student council and attended student basketball games. Helping with student council has allowed me to see my students’ interests in improving their school and community. It was one of the most exciting experiences to be able to see the school spirit, student interests, and student athletic talents at its peak during Thompson K-8 International Academy’s basketball season. Student interests, activities, and their experiences has been a very helpful tool in the classroom since it allows me to draw from student knowledge, create analogies that students can relate to, and help show that I genuinely care about the values, interests, and culture that my students bring into the classroom. Attending student extracurricular activities, like sporting events has also given me the chance to become part of the community by cheering and showing support for students alongside other staff members and parents. It has been wonderful to learn about the school culture and the student culture through my year long internship.
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2012 Presidential Campaign Attack Ads
The development of the artifact was in response to the many students inquiring about the presidential candidates during the 2012 election. The artifact was intended to help students learn about the purpose of presidential campaigns ads, help students develop the skills necessary to critically analyze media messages, and share their ideas about the candidates. The artifacts are two attack ads found on http://pcl.stanford.edu/campaigns/2012/. The sources of inspiration that led to my development of this artifact was a combination of a project for my Michigan State University coursework asking me to utilize media in the classroom, my students desire to learn more about the 2012 election, my curiosity to learn about the political ideas of my students, and to help my students become well informed democratic citizens. One half of the class would watch “Mandatory”, a Barack Obama attack ad, and the other half of the class would watch “New Normal, a Mitt Romney attack ad on their iPads. After watching the video, the students are to watch it again to try to answer the questions on their campaign ad analysis sheet and to discuss with their partner what they found, saw, heard, and felt about the ad. Then the pairs would find a pair from the other half of the class and share their ads and ideas with each other. Students held great discussions and debates about the candidates and the ads. Students analyzed the information and shared their own ideas, thoughts, and emotions about the ads, politics, and the candidates. Students also brought in their prior knowledge and prior experiences involving the candidates’ campaign ads to their discussions and debates.
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