Lesson Plan: Teaching Internship

University Supervisor: Linda Hill

November 9th, 2018
Carlin Wetzel

Cultivating Curiosity Re-Set

Context:
Course name: “Cultivating Curiosity”: Humanities Elective
Grade level: 11th and 12th
Length of lesson: 60 minutes
Description of setting, students, and curriculum—and any other important contextual characteristics:

Monticello High School is located in Albemarle County. At Monticello there are several “levels” of
English for students to take. We have Standard Collaborative, Academic, Academic Advanced, Honors,
Dual Enrollment, and Advanced Placement. Dual Enrollment and Advanced Placement are specifically for
upperclassmen students. The students in this class are of mixed ability levels, but heavily on the Dual
Enrollment and AP “side of the spectrum”. Many of the students had Mr. Eliason for AP 11 Language and
Composition last year. Out of 28, 23 are seniors. There are four black students, one Hispanic student,
and the rest of the students are white. The class is split almost evenly between male and female.

The situation:
In the class period prior to this video, we had a student raise their hand and ask to be candid with
constructive criticism on the course. This is the first year that this course has ever existed, and the hope
is that we will build the curriculum co-constructively with the students. As a result of this conversation,
Mr. Eliason and I decided to change the curriculum plan almost completely (mostly in the day-to-day
class set-up). The class operates on an in-class discussion model, and an out-of-class independent study
model simultaneously. In order to prepare for a more open discussion space, we needed to re-set
ground rules and retroactively build community that had been lost through student frustration with the
course.

Objectives (KUD format)

Students will know…

1. Students will know how to write an actionable norm.

Students will understand…

2. Students will understand the importance of norm-setting in a discussion-based class.

Students will be able to…

3. Students will be able to develop a set of norms for a discussion-based class.
Common Core Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.B
Work with peers to promote civil, democratic discussions and decision-making, set clear goals and
deadlines, and establish individual roles as needed.

Methods of Assessment:
Diagnostic Formative Summative

Title of assessment tool: Title of assessment tool: Title of assessment tool:

Feedback Form (prior class-block) Mid-class check-in (informal): Final Code of Conduct
Who has created norms before?
Students will demonstrate what Students will demonstrate what
they need from our re-set— Students will demonstrate what they have learned about
which will drive this class’s they already know about norm- actionable norm setting.
structure—prior to the class setting.
period using the Google Form Criteria: Each student will
feedback tool. Criteria: Students will raise their participate in a small-group
hands to indicate prior discussion, develop 3-4
Criteria: Student must reflect on knowledge or experience with actionable norms, and then
their needs and dissatisfactions norm-setting in a classroom advocate for and vote on a
with the course. setting. whole-class set of actionable
norms.
How data will be used: I will use How data will be used: I will use
this data to design the nature of this data to inform how in-depth How data will be used: I will use
our re-set class and inform what my explanation is of norm- this data to inform whether or
norms we need to see setting in addition to the not students are ready to have
represented in our generated list. student volunteers we take to “risky” discussions in an
explain. unconventional classroom
How students will receive setting, without my guidance.
feedback: Students will receive How students will receive
verbal feedback from me during feedback: Students will receive How students will receive
this class period as we discuss immediate verbal feedback from feedback: Students will receive
and co-create the future of the me, and delayed verbal ongoing affirmative or
class. Students will also receive feedback from me as we build constructive feedback from me
feedback by seeing their requests the norms list together. I will on their progress with
answered or considered in the also conference with small following the norms
re-set process. groups to guide them toward throughout the remainder of
actionable norm writing. the semester.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.B,
U2, K1, D3 D3
Differentiated Instruction to accommodate one or more of my students:

Student Name Readiness Interest Learning Environment

Mako Mako is extremely vocal

and needs to have his voice
heard often in class. In
order to provide a space for
him to both listen and
speak, the small group to
large group discussion
model will provide space for
him to do both. This model
will hopefully allow Mako to
practice his listening skills
by providing plenty of space
for other students to talk in
the designated whole-class
and small-group times.

Cara Cara is (on the other end of

the spectrum) very shy and
does not like to speak in
front of the whole class. In
order to provide space for
her to be comfortable and
have her voice heard, she is
in a specifically chosen,
smaller group, where she
will have plenty of space to
talk without needing to talk
in front of the whole class.
This model will hopefully
help her build confidence to
talk in front of the whole
class through time.
Procedures/Instructional Strategies

Beginning Room Arrangement: The students have had free-seating all semester until today. During our
feedback class prior to this session, students voiced a desire both publicly and anonymously through a
feedback mechanism that they want to know more of their classmates more personally and have an
opportunity to talk democratically with a larger population within the class. Therefore, students will be
moving to new, assigned seats today that are openly based on students that they do not know well. We
will rotate into different table-top groups every two weeks. Students will know to go to their new seats
because a seating chart will be projected on the board when they enter the room.

1. Re-Set Overview & Opening Questions (10 minutes)

Hi everyone! Welcome back. Let’s have a quick check-in before we jump into our plan for the day. If you’ll
remember, your homework was to look through the re-set document and the extra credit opportunities
to accompany your final website-check grade. Please take those papers out now and we’ll take a few
questions. [I will get the document projected onto the screen as students take a moment to get their
copies in front of them. If by chance anyone has lost theirs, they can follow along on the screen.]

Before we take a few questions, I would like to say thank you from Mr. Eliason and I both again for your
honesty last class. Your willingness to co-create this curriculum with us is what makes this class so
special, and that requires boldness, honesty, respect, and maturity. All of which you demonstrated as a
class. Now, are there any questions about our new class set-up based on your feedback? [Take a few
questions. Answer the imperative questions and check for understanding with thumbs up, head nods,
and wait time to make sure all students are clear on the expectations as we move forward.]

Great, now let’s talk about why you are sitting in new seats today! Obviously you all saw the board as
you walked in and found your new temporary home, so let’s do something productive with this change.

2. Get-to-Know-You Community Building (15 minutes) (Differentiation for Mako—designated self-

sharing time)

If you’ll remember from last class, a lot of you voiced publicly and through the anonymous feedback form
that you wanted to hear from more of your classmates and get to know each other more personally.
Based on our observations and our prior knowledge of some of your relationships from Mr. Eliason’s
class last year, we have grouped you with people who are likely much less familiar to you! To start, you’ll
see on the board that there are some beginning questions. Now, we won’t make any assumptions about
who knows whose name—even though we’re late in the game of the year. If we are able to leave these
assumptions at the door, we can continue to build a strong community of democratic discussion in a
myriad of ways. So, with that being said, please take the next 10 minutes to go around your table and
answer each of the following questions. Get to know the people you will be discussion with and working
with for the next two weeks!
[This class is fairly mature and self-sufficient, as a whole they also love discussions! I will circulate the
room while students discuss and make sure each voice is heard at each table. I will attempt to stay with
each group through one round of a question. This will allow me to gauge overall comfort with this new
environment and make sure that every voice is being heard.]

3. Norm-Setting: Small Group (15 minutes) (Differentiation for Cara—small groups first)

Great, thank you for participating in that community building activity! By the end of the year, the goal is
that you will know each member of this class personally as we work to be more vulnerable with each
other and accept each other’s ideas openly. Today was a great demonstration of that. We can’t trust
each other enough to share if we don’t know the people we are choosing to trust!

Now, let’s take an informal poll. Can you please raise your hand if you’ve ever created norms in a class
before? [Pause and look around at hands raised. No matter what, I will ask at least one student—
possibly two—to explain the purpose and process of writing norms. I will guide them toward mentioning
the importance of norms for a healthy discussion environment, and how they should be actionable,
through questioning.]

Thank you for that explanation! So today we are going to write a new set of norms, or a “Code of
Conduct” for our class discussions. The goal of these norms is for every student to feel as though their
voice is heard, and for every student to feel comfortable sharing—which are both requests made by the
majority of you in your feedback forms. Using these guiding questions, take about 10 minutes to discuss
3-4 actionable norms to propose with your table. After this, we will build a list as a whole class and vote
on each individually. Mr. Eliason and I will circulate to listen to what’s most important to you.

[I will circulate as students discuss. This is to get a gauge on share norms across the room, but also to
guide students toward actionable norms instead of vague norms that would be hard to follow
logistically.]

4. Norm-Setting: Whole Class (15 minutes)

Now that you’ve had some time to discuss with your group, we’ll go table by table and share our 3-4
actionable norms. As you share, I will type them onto the screen. After each major norm, we will take an
informal vote as to whether we want to move forward with that norm or not. Remember, push
yourselves to make them actionable. If norms are too vague, they will be hard to follow on a day-to-day
scale. Let’s start with the front left corner group. Would one person from your table please share your 3-
4 norms?

[As students share, I will moderate rebuttals by calling on students. I will also give feedback by repeating
what I hear them saying and commenting on the perceived value of that norm. After each major norm,
we will informally vote as a class by asking for any rejections. Some norms will morph together as we
circulate the room. At the end, we will take a whole-class vote.]
Great, this looks like a solid list of actionable discussion norms, guys. Let’s take a final, formal vote. If you
are in favor of keeping this code of conduct as seen, please raise your hand. [Count hands.] All opposed?
[Count hands. If there is any opposition, ask for those students to share if they are willing exactly what it
is they feel opposed to or would like changed.]

Great work, team! These are our new norms! I hope that you feel as though your voice was heard today
and like you are on board with where our class is headed. If for any reason you do not, please utilize the
ongoing, anonymous feedback form available to you on Google Classroom, or stop by during our
planning periods to chat. Remember, get that extra credit done if you are in need before the end of
Quarter 1! We’ll see you all next class!

Materials Needed (list):

1. PowerPoint presentation
2. Whiteboards (for group brainstorm) & whiteboard markers

Appendix A: PowerPoint of “CC Reset” (see attached documents)