Course Synthesis

I have really enjoyed attending this course over the last semester. It has given me a much broader view of how I can structure my curriculum to be more effective and also more engaging to my students. All of the strategies that  we have learned can really help our disciplines come alive and be more motivating for our students as they help establish an environment that is learner friendly. Some of my favorite include ways to improve vocabulary instruction, comprehension, critical literacy, and differentiation for diverse learners.

For vocabulary instruction, I think a world wall is a useful tool that could really be beneficial to my students. I would add to the word wall by not only placing words there that I felt were important to understand but also allow my students to place words there that confused them. They would then be instructed to create their own student-friendly definitions that included the subjects of "you," "someone," and "something" to really help the definition be understandable and relatable to the students. I would also try to really highlight these words with their definition multiple times throughout lessons, texts, and homework assignments.

I've learned that one of the best ways to increase comprehension of one's instruction is by implementing different comprehension strategies throughout a lesson. I really like the before, during, and after concepts of dividing a lesson up into three parts to help broaden student's understanding. Examples of this are listed below as I explain further teaching tools.

I think critical literacy is a valuable tool that is so important not only for my discipline in health and physical education but also for a student's life in general. There are so many concepts such as media affects and perceptions, body image, applying healthy eating strategies etc. that require critical literacy in health. One example of how I can teach my students critical literacy in health is by focusing on how media can distort and change the messages that it sends to young adults. There are multiple ways that I can do this. First I could introduce multiple health products to the students that are commonly advertised (pre-lesson activity). Then I could collect multiple advertisements from the internet, magazines, or off of TV and then have students analyze the messages that are being sent (during lesson activity). What is this advertisement trying to sell? Who is it targeting? How is it portraying the product and the product's users? What are the hidden messages?  Are these hidden messages true? A follow-up to this activity would be to challenge the students to devise a counter-ad to a particular ad that challenges the hidden messages that are trying to be sent (after-lesson activity).

Another example would be for a lesson on body image. The main idea would be to help students see that what the media portrays is not always reality. Again we could look at magazines with their picture perfect models and movie stars that are often held up as the perfect standard. Questions that I could ask the students include: What makes these models/movie starts desirable? How are they portrayed to be perfect? What does the fashion industry want you to think is the definition of beauty? (pre-learning activity). Then I could include a lesson on body image, its influences, perceptions of body image across different cultures, and ways to develop a positive body image. I could also include a youtube clip that shows the truth behind picture perfect models and how this is not a reality (during-learning activity). To culminate the lesson, I would have the students reflect on their thought and feelings towards their own perceptions of body image and how they view themselves. I would ask them to explore how the media influences them and ways that they can combat those influences (post-learning activity).

Some of my favorite clips off of youtube pertaining to this topic that I would include in these lessons to really help my students see and understand are:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=litXW91UauE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

I've learned that differentiation is something that not only helps ELL learners but all learners as I consider all learners to be diverse. Everyone of my students will come from a different background with a different culture than their classmates. The more differentiation that I include the more I will help all of my students succeed. Ways to do this include implementing different activities that include different learning styles. I can use different forms of presentation such as lectures, PowerPoint presentations, Prezi presentations, guest lectures, YouTube clips, and internet based learning.  I can also include hands-on activities that involve creating something, getting up and actively participating, or allow students to express their creativity. I can also allow choices on assignments or presentations such as what is presented or what type of presentation is given. Not only does this make these assignments fun for students but it also allows them to utilize their strengths while they learn.

There are many tools that I hope to implement from this course and overall, I have found this class to be a very helpful in developing ways that I can make learning in my classroom more interactive and productive.