lesson_washington

=Who was George Washington?=

Lois Ann Nieves ([|Blogspot]) and Daniel Vargas

 * Websites [[file:lois_nieves.htm]]
 * Lesson Plan: Who was George Washington? [[file:nieves_vargas.doc]]
 * Research Paper [[file:nieves_vargas_paper.doc]]
 * [|Blogspot]

Our lesson plan was full of surprises for at first we had to learn how to deal with the ERIC database. Once we got used to the ERIC system it became easier to find research articles that enabled us to see how others use strategies to teach.

Instead of concentrating on particular lesson plans relating to George Washington, we focused on teaching strategies that would help us develop a lesson plan that was appropriate. Once we found some information on teaching strategies, we looked for an article relating to George Washington and found information on the George Washington Monument. The next thing we focused on was developing a fun lesson plan which would include computers and interactive play. In this way we hoped to make learning both educational and fun.

Summary
When reflecting on the research that entails making up a lesson plan I have found that it was a little more complex than what I first thought it would be for I have always considered myself to be computer literate, however, I ran into some difficulty from the start. First, I followed the instructions provided by Professor Lewis and found the web site that would enable me to read the documentation that was assigned to the class and ran into a problem…my computer program that enabled me to read PDF files was acting up. I resolved this conflict by downloading a program that enabled me to read PDF files but it took two days before I could find the appropriate one for my computer. Then satisfied that I had corrected this minor set back I finally was able to print out the reading material. Next was the ability to locate lesson plans that were appropriate for the grade level that I would be teaching. This was not difficult to do given the sources in the ERIC website, however, the selection of lesson plans was so great that I was overwhelmed and really had to give some thought as to how I would construct and modify the lesson plans so that I could create one that was up to state standards and my own standards as well. Speaking of state standards, I found that finding the state standards to go along with the lesson was a bit more difficult. Then a stroke of luck …my eyes had failed to see the link at the side of the ERIC website that had the state standards, this took me another day until my eyes caught wind of the website and then I was more relaxed. Continuing on my technological journey, I sent a draft of my lesson plan ideas to my partners for their comments and modification input along with a copy of the state standards so as to ease their work load just in case they had undergone the same difficulty in locating it as I had. My next job was to keep track of the websites that I had been to in order to gather the information necessary to create my lesson plan and as of yet this is still a work in progress (March 2, 2007), however, I am satisfied that the lesson plan is up to state standards and I am eager to see what my fellow classmates had to add to the mix. In conclusion I would like to add that creating the template to the lesson plan was a little complex to some degree but I believe that it was very helpful for us to learn how to do this for we will most definitely need it during our teaching careers. In order to better adapt to the idea for lesson plans I think that I will practice it on my own with various subjects just to get a feel for it and thus help myself get accustomed before I start teaching. My classmates have also agreed to look into lesson planning further. Most interesting to note in our search for an appropriate lesson plan was the website that we located on the election process. In this technological era a website such as this will help children become an interactive part of their learning process and make it more entertaining to them as well. I also found some ideas that I modified to suit our needs as was a rexo sheet with the outline of George Washington so that the students would be able to use their writing skills as well and the class would be reinforced about George Washington and some words could be added to their vocabulary while at the same time making the process enjoyable. My partner, Daniel Vargas, even went so far as to meet me at home so that we could discuss any changes ,and, so that we could organize our material. Vanessa joined us at a later date but I am happy to say that our cooperative endeavor was a success, at least I think so. What did we learn from this lesson? That lesson planning can become overwhelming if you do not know where to look and what to look for. We f