Journal Entry on the First Video

It was a gorgeous morning in Washington, DC, where I was to give a lecture on US foreign policy following World War II (Dcprimaryschools, 2011). I was quite excited to discuss our country’s history with the students in my tenth-grade class. In my class, I emphasized the significance of challenging pupils at all levels. I was quite aware that the kids had varying degrees of aptitude, since some had no trouble picking up new ideas and responding to questions, while others had more trouble understanding and responding. The fact that some students are fast learners while others are slow learners is common in most classroom settings, not only in my case, and so I had to make my lesson as inclusive as possible. All students whether fast or slow learners ought to understand my teachings. This was a perfect way to address the diversity in the classroom best on the level of intelligence of the students.

It was an exciting experience for me while in the classroom because particularly focused students offer to help, who participated in the class sessions effectively and made me, feel proud of whom I am. To make all students understand the lessons, I engaged students at all learning levels in rigorous work. They were attentive and cooperative in the classroom, which was very commendable of them. In the process of making the students understand new concepts quickly, I provided them with primary documents concerning the topic and asked them to extract and analyze the most critical statements concerning the concept being studied. This was individual work and not group work, and so, I had the opportunity of assessing each learner. I had a chance to discover the strengths and weaknesses of each student and how I could help them maximize their learning strengths and dealing with their shortcomings. For instance, to enable the students to understand the new policies that the US is implementing after World War II, I asked them to look at the Marshall Plan and extract the most relevant sentences that indeed seem to highlight new policies (Dcprimaryschools, 2011).

It is imperative to note that the idea of asking the students to extract most relevant sentences from the primary documents provided challenged them to analyze and summarize the main points. I was teaching them on how to interpret their readings and make the texts meaningful to them as well as making them not easily forget the concepts that they learn. After making the students read, I also incorporated a question and answered session to identify who understood and who did not understand the lesson. The performance of the students in the question and answer sessions enabled me to devise new ways of dealing with student diversity regarding their memorizing ability. Such strategies included taking more time to explain the concepts to the seemingly weak students or starting with easier concepts before developing to advanced concepts. One question that I wanted my students to answer was for them to explain the new policies that the US was trying to come up with after the World War II (Dcprimaryschools, 2011).

The learning session was as interactive as I expected because one particular student quickly gave a convincing answer, while the other was challenged to offer her opinion on what had been said. I asked one student to explain any new policy, and the student pointed out that the US is committed to promoting peace throughout the world. To put more emphasis on this particular point, I asked another student to challenge this point. The second student responded by affirming that indeed the US is committed to promoting peace in the world by eliminating communism and trying to help economies develop a democratic form of governance.

I was encouraged that the students had an understanding of the concepts taught and that they were becoming more advanced as time progressed. The lesson was accessible to all students at all different learning levels. In dealing with diversity in the classroom, I went around asking different questions to the various levels of students, and I formulated the questions based on the groups. To those students that seemed to struggle with their studies, I began by asking them seemingly simple issues such as the dates of various occurrences that they could remember much quickly.

Another question that I posed to students wanted them to identify the differences between World War I and World War II (Dcprimaryschools, 2011). One student argued that the Great Depression is an important phenomenon that occurred between the two World Wars. As earlier indicated, I formulated the questions depending on their level of ability of my students. Another important fact about my lesson is that it balanced teacher-directed instruction and the student-centered learning. For instance, I allowed the students to split into different groups for purposes of engaging with each other in discussions and trying to understand new concepts. The grouping enabled the students who struggle to understand new concepts to get a different perspective from their peers such that they are in a better position to put across their ideas confidently. An important thing that I realized about all students is that they have the content, but they have trouble in expressing their answers clearly and correctly. In this case, I tried to understand the different levels of students by giving them different types of assessments and paying attention to how each student answers the different questions. I believe that all students are diverse and would give their original answers, which will enable me to rank them and know who needs more assistance than the other. Another practical strategy that I used in helping the weaker students to understand the lesson was to allow them to hear the perspectives of their fellow students so that when they went back to their groups, they would become more confident (Dcprimaryschools, 2011).

In summary, there are three essential points that a student or policy maker can extract from this learning lesson. Firstly, the teaching is accessible to all students at different levels since I walked around the classroom and asked students questions depending on their level of ability. Secondly, the lesson balanced the teacher-directed instruction and student-centered learning whereby students formed groups and engaged in classroom discussions. Lastly, the experience challenged the students at different learning levels such that they progressively proceeded to the next step, which was very encouraging to me. Moreover, I managed to deal with diversity in my classroom by devising various ways to make each student understand the concepts. For instance, I allowed the rather weak students to hear the perspectives of their fellow students so that when they went back to their groups, they became more confident.

Journal Entry on the Second Video

This lesson mainly focused on continuity, change, and the role of belief systems in the US. The experience was very interactive, and I began by reminding the students about the idea of continuity and change which they had covered previously. This quick preview prepared the students in understanding a new concept or belief, which is the focus of the lesson (Massachusetts ESE, 2015). Using the quick reminders, I was able to engage the students of all races since some of them were black while others were white. Some were more gifted than the others while others and I, therefore, had to make sure that every student regardless of his/her state is accommodated.

I provided the students with charts, which formed the basis for learning the concept of belief. I also asked the students to identify the patterns of belief from the charts provided, and they included values, influence, ethics, religion, propaganda, and conformity. It is imperative to note that the lesson was student-centered and I asked the students questions as I walked around the class. I wanted to allow as many students as possible to participate in the classroom discussion while walking around the classroom so that I could know whether all students whether black or white, gifted or not, understood my lessons.

By identifying patterns of beliefs, the next part involved evaluation. The assessment of beliefs was guided by questions and answers posed to students (Massachusetts ESE, 2015). For instance, one student stated that value is something that is of high importance to someone, which was a correct answer. In the effort to critically evaluate and understand the belief systems in the US, I broke down the lesson into a question and answered session where students answered different questions based on their opinions. There are two main guiding questions for the reading were whether it was possible for a nation to exist without a purpose and whether a powerful nation is the protector of the whole world.

The responses from the first question were interesting to me because a majority of the students subscribed to the idea that a nation cannot exist without a purpose. However, only a few students are of the different opinion that a nation can exist without a purpose. I made sure that many students as possible from my classroom answered to my questions. I did not want to offer only the white students a chance to respond to the questions so that I may not appear racist. Moreover, I did not give only the gifted students an opportunity to answer my questions because I would seem that I neglected the academically weak students. Thus, I was on the right track towards addressing the concept of diversity regarding racial diversity, special needs, and social, economic and gifted students within the classroom environment.

As the lesson progressed, I continued walking around the class and challenged all the students to give their opinions regarding the questions that I asked. I was impressed by the positive responses that students gave me. Some of them volunteered to answer the questions by raising their hands, which was commendable. In my other question, I challenged the students to think beyond the boundaries of America. Being aware that America is one of the most powerful nations, students were required to explain whether America should be the world’s protector (Massachusetts ESE, 2015). Majority of the students agreed that indeed a powerful nation should be the world’s protector.

I also guided the students through to have an understanding of the different components of belief and belief systems with the help of a cause and effect wheel. They were able to learn that belief is defined by certain actions that have causes and effect. In this case, the action may have a positive or adverse effect. They also learned that destiny is a term used to describe the path of a belief system. It referred to something that is bound to happen, and it is guided by a set of actions that. For example, America operates on manifest destiny. This means that America is destined for greatness. Students learned quite many things, and the lesson was much interactive, a fact that greatly impressed and motivated me as a teacher.

Key points to take home are that my experience focused on beliefs and belief systems in the US and their applicability in other countries (Massachusetts ESE, 2015). The lesson was very interactive, and I guided the students through various learning materials including charts. The lesson was also student-centered in the sense that it majorly relies on their opinions regarding specific questions. That is why I asked my students questions throughout the lesson without discrimination as part of my agenda to address diversity issues relating to students’ gifting, racial differences, among other factors. I guided the discussion by providing in-depth analyses of specific concepts. This ensured that the students had subject mastery such that they could express their ideas confidently without me forcing their contribution.

However, it is imperative to note that I did not group my students based on their different levels of ability. In this case, students were required to have short discussions with their desk mates or raise their hands to agree or disagree with a particular point. For example, I asked the students to lower their thumbs if they agree with the idea that a nation cannot exist without a purpose. Alternatively, students with a different opinion could raise their thumbs. The idea of raising or lowering thumbs was a powerful tool for me in identifying strong and weak students. Keen students take less time to evaluate a concept and answer questions correctly. Poor students, on the other hand, will have trouble in answering questions. These are some of the ways that enabled me to grade my students and know who needs more help than the other. Students were diverse and unique, and therefore, I had to accommodate all of them and not leave out any because of any shortcoming that they appeared to have.

The most important steps that I took to ensure that weaker students learned a lot involved making them participate in class actively by reading sentences from the learning documents provided (Massachusetts ESE, 2015). Moreover, I tended to direct questions to such students so that they could critically think and understand concepts quickly. The fact that I remembered some of the students’ names vividly made them get the chance to participate in classroom discussions actively, which was fundamental to their academic success.

Journal Entry on the Third Video

In this lesson, students had to engage with multiple resources to explore the bystander effect (Massachusetts ESE, 2015). To engage the students and make them understand the bystander effect, I asked the questions in which they could either agree or disagree. Those who agreed moved to one side of the classroom, while those who disagree go to the opposite side. It is worth noting that no student had the option to stay neutral (Massachusetts ESE, 2015). All students had to belong on either side, and then, I randomly asked them why they agreed or disagreed depending on the question. Using this technique, I was able to know how diverse my students were regarding getting answers correctly as well as how they justified their sentiments. Each student had an equal chance of participation, and therefore, there was no discrimination at all.

The first question challenged the students to agree or disagree if they would be willing to make personal sacrifices indeed, if armed forces have volunteered to assist the country during the period of war (Massachusetts ESE, 2015). Students who agreed to the question gave me various interesting responses. Firstly, some said that family comes first and it is the responsibility of any person to make sacrifices and protect their family in times of danger. Secondly, the war affects the country, and therefore there is a need for everyone to show care for the country by making sacrifices.

However, it is worth noting that some students disagree with the idea of making sacrifices since it involved taking risks and putting oneself in danger. In the effort to bring harmony between those who agree and disagree, I explained that making sacrifices did not need to involve being on the waterfront, but it might include making sacrifices such as providing essential social amenities including food and shelter to the victims of war.

I challenged the students using another question that wanted them to agree or disagree if America was to be prepared to make great sacrifices to preserve their freedom and protect liberty and rights of other countries. Some of the students believed that protecting the freedom and rights of other nations is not America’s business. As I continued to ask different questions, I was keen to observe who changed sides regarding agreeing or disagreeing on various issues. That enabled me to gauge the confidence level of my students as well as to determine who was sure of what he/she was saying or who was operating on mere guesswork. The overwhelming feedback from my students impressed me greatly.

The next class activity involved reading and analyzing an essay and answering some questions as to whether the content presented in the article is descriptive or persuasive. In this session, I required all students to be in their seats (Massachusetts ESE, 2015). The essay under consideration involved a narrative of the American-Japanese family experiencing social challenges. The primary objective of the lesson was to make the students understand the bystander effect. Typically, a teacher, I included, is interested in knowing how each student would react upon witnessing the violation of another person’s rights. In this situation, one could be either a defender or a bystander.

Majority of the students subscribed to the idea that they would be defenders if they witnessed the violation of the rights of another individual. However, in reality, most people are bystanders due to certain reasons. Firstly, bystanders suffer from pluralistic ignorance where they argue that they cannot step in and help if other people are not doing the same. Secondly, bystanders may notice the injustice happening, but they fear to step in and act. Thirdly, some bystanders see the crime happening and assume that others will protect the victimized person. Lastly, some bystanders doubt their abilities such that they are afraid to participate in protecting other people. All these are different characteristics of bystanders.

The last activity involved an in-depth analysis of the bystander effect where I divided the students into groups (Massachusetts ESE, 2015). Students in each group had an obligation to analyze learning materials provided at their group stations and perform specific tasks assigned to them. The primary activity involved watching a video and highlighting any unusual happening. Each group had to provide feedback from their observations. The bottom line of this action was to enable students to identify the violation of another individual’s rights. For instance, one group noticed an act of slavery in the video whereby a person had it mandatory to keep moving and avoid staying in places reserved for white people.

Towards the end of the lesson, I provided the students with a copy of UN universal declaration of human rights, and they are required to identify human rights that stood out to them. Examples of human rights that had a preference by the majority of the students included the right to education, freedom of expression, right to democracy, right to a nationality, freedom of movement, right to life, right to privacy, and protection from discrimination. Lastly, students had the chance to extract excerpts from learning materials provided and identify a violation of any of the human rights. In this case, I wanted my students to prepare a summary of how they will react in a situation whereby there was a violation of another person’s rights.

I ended the lesson having the satisfaction that I had achieved the lesson’s overall objective to make students responsible citizens such they avoided being bystanders and acted wisely by defending people against violation of their rights. The lesson was very interactive and informative to my students since I guided the different activities and ensured that all the students actively participate without discrimination as part of dealing with the diversity of my students.

References

Dcprimaryschools. (2011, June 24). Reality PD | High School Social Studies | Engage students at all learning levels in rigorous work [Video file]. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/15-qWMHuja8

Massachusetts ESE. (2015, October 27). 10th Grade ELA/Social Studies [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/NSY0dG59qjo

Massachusetts ESE. (2015, October 27). High School Social Studies [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/DDdv3JXJ2nU